Chapter 11

Chapter 11 A Total Loss total loss (total loss) n. Goods so damaged that there's no point in repairing them (or they can't be repaired at all). The first cup was an easy sell. The second cup, too. It was on the third cup that a little girl, about six years old, said, "Ew, there's a bug in my drink." Then her brother said, "There's one in mine, too." "Gross," said an older boy on a skateboard. "There are, like, three in mine. I want my money back, man," he said, dumping his lemonade on the ground. The mother of the little girl and boy looked into their cups carefully. "I think you need to check your lemonade, honey," she said to Evan.

第十一章全损全损【例】 货物损坏到没有必要修理（或根本无法修理）。 第一杯卖得很好。 第二杯也是。在喝到第三杯的时候，一个大约六岁的小女孩说：“哎呀，我的饮料里有虫子。” 然后她哥哥说：“我也有一个。” “恶心，”一个玩滑板的大男孩说。 “我的脑子里大概有三个。 我想要回我的钱，伙计，”他说着，把柠檬水倒在地上。 小女孩和小男孩的母亲仔细地看着他们的杯子。 “亲爱的，我想你需要检查一下你的柠檬水，”她对埃文说。

Evan unscrewed the cap and everyone looked in. The surface was swimming with dead bugs: fruit flies, worms, and a soggy brown caterpillar. "Oh my goodness," said the mother. The boy started spitting on the ground like he was going to die. The girl started wailing. "Mommy! I drank bugs. I have bugs in my tummy!" Evan couldn't believe his eyes. How did this happen? Did they crawl in somehow? They couldn't have. He had screwed the lid on tightly. He was sure of it. And anyway... one or two bugs crawling in— maybe. But fifty dead fruit flies and two inchworms and a caterpillar? It just wasn't possible. Evan was burning with embarrassment as everyone looked at him and his buggy lemonade. Frantically, he reached into the cooler and started to scoop out the dead bugs with his hands. "Uh, sweetheart," said the mother, "you can't sell that lemonade." "I'll get them all," said Evan. "I'll get every last one out."

埃文拧开盖子，大家都往里看。 水面上到处都是死虫：果蝇、蠕虫和一只湿漉漉的棕色毛毛虫。 “哦，我的天哪，”母亲说。 那男孩开始朝地上吐口水，好像要死了一样。 女孩开始哭泣。“妈妈!我喝虫子。 我肚子里有虫子！”埃文简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 这是怎么发生的？他们是怎么爬进来的？ 他们不可能。他把盖子拧得很紧。 他对此很有把握。无论如何…… 也许会有一两个虫子爬进来。 但是50只死果蝇，两只尺蠖和一只毛毛虫？ 这是不可能的。当大家看着埃文和他的破柠檬水时，他感到非常尴尬。 他疯狂地把手伸进冷却器，开始用手把死虫子挖出来。 “哦，宝贝，”母亲说，“你不能卖柠檬水。” “我会把它们都抓来的，”埃文说。 “我会把最后一个都弄出来的。”

"No, dear. You really can't. You need to dump it out," she said. Evan looked at her like she was crazy. Dump it out? Dump it out? He'd spent forty dollars of his hard-earned money on that lemonade and another dollar for the cups. He wasn't going to dump it out. "I'll do it at home," he said. "No. You should do it here, I think. I need to be sure it's all disposed of properly." Evan looked at her. He didn't know her, but he knew her type. Boy, did he know her type. She was the kind of mother who thought she was the mother of the whole world. If you were on a playground and she thought you were playing too rough, she'd tell you. If you were chewing gum in line at the 7-Eleven, she'd say, "I sure hope that's sugarless." Mothers like that never minded just their own business. Or just their kids' business. They thought they had to take care of every kid in the kingdom. "It's too heavy for me to dump," he said. "I'll take it home and my mom can help."

“不,亲爱的。你真的不能。 你需要把它倒出来，”她说。 埃文看着她，好像她疯了一样。 倒出来？倒出来？他花了40美元的血汗钱买柠檬水，又花了1美元买杯子。 他不会把它扔出去的。 “我在家做吧，”他说。 “没有。我觉得你应该在这里做。 我需要确保它们都被妥善处理了。” 埃文看着她。他不认识她，但他知道她喜欢的类型。 天啊，他真了解她的类型。 她是那种认为自己是整个世界之母的母亲。 如果你在操场上，她觉得你玩得太粗暴了，她会告诉你的。 如果你在7- 11便利店排队嚼口香糖，她会说：“我真希望那是无糖的。” 那样的母亲从不只关心自己的事。 或者只是他们孩子的事。 他们认为他们必须照顾王国里的每一个孩子。 “它太重了，我没法扔掉，”他说。 “我把它带回家，我妈妈可以帮忙。”

"I'll help," said the busybody mother of the world. "All we need to do is tip it a little." She grabbed one handle of the big cooler. Evan had no choice but to grab the other handle. Together they tipped and the lemonade poured out of the top of the cooler. They poured and poured and poured. The lemonade sparkled in the sunlight, like a bejeweled waterfall, and then disappeared without a trace, soaking into the parched September grass. As the last sluice of lemonade slipped out of the cooler, a slick of mud poured out. "Oh my goodness," said the mother. Evan couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe how quickly his victory had turned to defeat. It was just like the lemonade. It had disappeared into the grass, leaving nothing behind. A total loss. The mother smiled sympathetically as Evan returned her two dollars. The skateboard dude had already skated off with his refund. There was nothing to do but go home.

“我来帮忙，”爱管闲事的世界之母说。 “我们需要做的就是给它一点小费。” 她抓住大冷藏箱的一个把手。 埃文别无选择，只能抓住另一个把手。 他们一起倾斜，柠檬水从冷却器的顶部倒了出来。 他们倒啊倒啊倒。 柠檬水在阳光下闪闪发光，像一个镶嵌着宝石的瀑布，然后消失得无影无踪，浸泡在九月的焦枯的草地里。 当最后一杯柠檬水从冷却器里流出时，一层泥浆倒了出来。 “哦，我的天哪，”母亲说。 埃文简直不敢相信。他不敢相信他的胜利这么快就变成了失败。 就像柠檬水一样。 它消失在草丛中，什么也没留下。 完全输了。当埃文还给她两美元时，母亲同情地笑了。 那个玩滑板的家伙已经带着他的退款滑走了。 除了回家别无他法。

Evan walked slowly, dragging the wagon with the empty cooler rattling inside. With every step he took, the wagon handle poked him in the rear end. Step. Poke. Step. Poke. He felt like someone was nudging him forward. "Evan, Mom wants to see you in her office. Right away!" That had been weird. His mom had had no idea what he meant. "I didn't call you. I didn't call anyone," she had said. "I've been on the computer." "Evan, Mom wants to see you." He had been coming up the stairs. Jessie had been in the garage. She had looked anxious. "Right away!" she had said. Evan stopped walking. He stared at the empty cooler. Then he started to run. The wagon bounced crazily along the uneven sidewalk. Twice it tipped over. What did it matter? thought Evan angrily. There's no lemonade to spill. By the time he got home, he had it all figured out. He looked in the kitchen trash and found the

埃文拖着马车慢慢地走着，车厢里的空冷藏箱在嘎嘎作响。 他每走一步，马车的把手就戳他的屁股。 一步。戳。一步。戳。他觉得有人在推他前进。 “埃文，妈妈要你去她的办公室。 马上!”这很奇怪。 他妈妈不明白他的意思。 “我没有给你打电话。我没有给任何人打电话，”她说。 “我一直在用电脑。” “埃文，妈妈想见你。” 他一直在上楼。 杰西刚才在车库里。 她看上去很焦虑。“马上！”她说。 埃文停下了脚步。他盯着空冷藏箱。 然后他开始跑。马车在凹凸不平的人行道上疯狂地颠簸着。 它翻了两次。这有什么关系？ 埃文生气地想。没有柠檬水可以洒。 当他回到家时，他已经把一切都弄明白了。 他翻了翻厨房垃圾，发现了

three Ziploc bags, inside out and sticky with lemonade. He shook the fruit bowl and noticed how few fruit flies took to the air. If he'd had the right materials, he would have dusted the cooler for fingerprints. But there was really no need for that. He knew what he would have found: Jessie was all over this one. "That RAT! That lousy rotten stinking RAT of a sister!" he shouted. He went back to the garage and kicked the wagon. He knocked the cooler to the floor. He tore up his Lemonade-on-Wheels sign into a dozen pieces. He was going to lose. She had a hundred dollars (he was sure of it) and he had just sixty-two left. Tonight, before the fireworks, when they counted their money, she would be the winner and he would be the loser. Winner takes all. Loser gets nothing. It was so unfair. Evan stomped upstairs to his room. He slammed

三个密封袋，里面有柠檬水。 他摇了摇果盘，发现飞到空中的果蝇很少。 如果他有合适的材料，他会在冷却器上采集指纹。 但其实没必要这么做。 他知道他会发现什么：杰西对这个人很感兴趣。 “那只老鼠!那个讨厌的臭老鼠妹妹！”他喊道。 他回到车库，戒除毒瘾。 他把冷却器打翻在地。 他把“车轮上的柠檬水”的牌子撕成了一打。 他要输了。她有一百美元（他很有把握），而他只剩下六十二美元。 今晚，在燃放烟花之前，当他们数钱的时候，她会是赢家，而他会是输家。 赢家通吃。失败者一无所有。 这太不公平了。埃文跺着脚上楼回自己的房间。 他砰的一声