Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Out of Whack The next morning, Pete showed Evan how to use a plumb bob to determine a true vertical. They were replacing the windows on the second floor, and they needed to get the window casings set in straight. It turned out to be a lot trickier than he thought. "You can't just set 'em according to the studs," said Pete, "because this is an old house and the studs are cockeyed. And you can't use the floor or the ceiling to mark against, because the floor slopes and the ceiling sags. Old houses. Everything is out of whack." Evan nodded. Old houses and old people, he thought. Pete showed him how the plumb bob worked. It was a heavy metal weight tied to a length of

第二天早上，皮特教埃文如何用铅锤来确定真正的垂直线。 他们正在更换二楼的窗户，他们需要把窗框装直。 事实证明，这比他想象的要棘手得多。 “你不能根据螺柱来定，”皮特说，“因为这是座老房子，螺柱都歪了。 你不能用地板或天花板来做标记，因为地板会倾斜，天花板会下垂。 老房子。一切都不正常。” 艾凡点点头。老房子和老人们，他想。 皮特向他展示了铅锤的工作原理。 那是一个重金属重物，绑在一根

string, and when you let the weight hang free, the string made a straight line "that goes all the way to the center of the earth," according to Pete. "Really?" asked Evan. "Yep. No matter where you go, no matter what you're standing on, if you have a plumb bob, it points straight to the center of the earth." He handed the plumb bob to Evan to try out. "That's gravity for you." Evan hung the plumb bob from his finger like a yoyo. "That is so cool." "Well, like my dad always said, 'Gravity is our friend.'" Now that Pete had gone to the hardware store to buy a new box of galvanized screws, Evan was wandering around the house with the plumb bob to see if he could find even one thing that was the way it was supposed to be. It was surprising. Evan would look at a door and think it was

根据皮特的说法，当你让重物自由悬挂时，绳子会形成一条直线，“一直延伸到地球的中心”。 “真的吗？”埃文问。“是的。 无论你走到哪里，无论你站在什么地方，如果你有一个铅锤，它总是指向地球的中心。” 他把铅锤递给埃文试一试。 “这就是你的重力。”埃文把铅锤像溜溜球一样挂在手指上。 “这太酷了。”“嗯，就像我爸爸常说的，‘重力是我们的朋友。’”既然皮特已经去五金店买了一盒新的镀锌螺丝，埃文就拿着铅锤在房子里转来转去，想看看能不能找到一件本来应该是这样的东西。 这很令人惊讶。埃文看到一扇门就会以为是

straight, but then when he held up the string, he could see that it was crooked. The front door was out of whack. The railings on the stairs were out of whack. All the windows in the living room were out of whack. "This house is crazy!" he announced loudly, even though there was no one there to hear him. His mother had gone into town to talk with the insurance agent handling the fire claim, Jessie was off with Maxwell, and Grandma was taking a nap. "You can say that again!" A voice came from the kitchen. Evan walked in to find his grandmother wrapping her new scarf around her neck. Her injured arm was still in its sling, but she managed to get the scarf on with just one good hand. "Grandma, you're supposed to be napping." He put the plumb bob on the kitchen counter next to the toaster and noticed that his mom's cell phone was plugged into the outlet, charging.

直的，但当他举起绳子时，他发现它是弯曲的。 前门坏了。 楼梯上的栏杆坏了。 客厅里所有的窗户都坏了。 “这所房子疯了！”他大声宣布，尽管没有人在听他说话。 他的母亲到城里去和处理火灾索赔的保险代理人谈话了，杰西和麦克斯韦尔出去了，奶奶在睡觉。 “你说得对！”厨房里传来一个声音。 埃文走进来，发现他的祖母正在脖子上缠着她的新围巾。 她受伤的手臂还挂着绷带，但她只用一只手就把围巾戴上了。 “奶奶，你应该在打盹。” 他把铅锤放在厨房柜台上烤面包机旁边，注意到他妈妈的手机插在插座上，正在充电。

His mother's phone was old, and the battery ran out just about every day. She kept saying she was going to replace it, but she never did. "Says who?" said Grandma. "Mom said." "I'm not four, Evan. I know when I'm tired, and I know when I'm not." Evan was so relieved to hear that she knew who he was, he smiled. But then he saw that she was putting on her snow boots, and the smile disappeared from his face. "Where are you going?" "For a walk," said Grandma. "It makes me crazy being all cooped up." "No," said Evan firmly. "Mom doesn't want you going out—" He was about to say alone, but he stopped himself. "Since when does your mother tell me what to do?" Grandma had gotten both boots on her feet and was now reaching for her dark green barn jacket. She slipped her good arm through one

他妈妈的手机很旧，几乎每天都没电。 她一直说要换新的，但她从来没换过。 “谁说的？”奶奶说。”妈妈说。“ “我不是四岁，埃文。我知道自己什么时候累，什么时候不累。” 听到她知道他是谁，埃文如释重负，他笑了。 但当他看到她正在穿上雪地靴时，他脸上的笑容消失了。 “你要去哪儿？”“去散步，”奶奶说。 “被关在笼子里让我发疯。” “不，”埃文坚定地说。“妈妈不想让你出去——”他刚想一个人说，但又忍住了。 “你妈妈什么时候开始对我指手画脚了？”奶奶把两只靴子都穿上了，现在正伸手去拿她那件深绿色的马褂。 她把一只没受伤的胳膊从其中滑了进去

sleeve and buttoned the loose coat over her injured arm. Evan was surprised to see how quickly and easily she managed the buttons. His grandmother really was amazing. "Please don't go, Grandma," said Evan. "It's getting late. It'll be dark soon." "I'll be quick. I just need to stretch my legs and see the sky. The trees are calling to me. Can't stand being in the house all day." She was going. Evan could see that there was nothing he could do to stop her. That panicked feeling came back. Something bad was going to happen. How could he stop it? What was he supposed to do? "I'll come with you," he said. "Fine, but be quick. There's not much daylight left. I'll wait for you out front." Grandma pulled her hat on her head, looped Jessie's scarf once more around her neck, and walked out the back door. Evan slipped his coat on first and checked to

在她受伤的手臂上套上宽松的大衣的袖子和纽扣。 埃文惊讶地看到她如此迅速而轻松地按下了这些按钮。 他的祖母真的很了不起。 “请不要走，奶奶，”埃文说。 “时间不早了。天很快就黑了。” “我会很快的。我只是想伸伸腿看看天空。 树木在呼唤我。 我受不了整天呆在家里。” 她要走了。埃文看得出来，他无法阻止她。 那种恐慌的感觉又回来了。 不好的事情就要发生了。 他怎么能阻止呢？他应该怎么做？ “我和你一起去，”他说。 “好吧，不过要快。白天已经不多了。 我在外面等你。” 奶奶把帽子戴在头上，又把杰西的围巾绕在脖子上，走出了后门。 埃文先穿上外套，然后停下来

make sure he had both gloves in his pockets. Then he started to hunt for his boots. One of them was in the boot bin, but the second one was missing. He emptied out the entire bin, looked under the bench, and even checked in the kitchen, but the boot was nowhere to be seen. After five minutes had gone by, he finally thought to look between the clothes dryer and the wall, and there was his boot, wedged in tight. He wrestled it out and got it on his foot, then hurried out the back door and around the house to the front yard. But Grandma was gone.

确保他的两只手套都在口袋里。 然后他开始寻找他的靴子。 其中一个在后备箱里，但第二个不见了。 他把整个箱子都倒空了，又在长凳下面找了找，甚至还在厨房里找了找，但就是找不到那只靴子。 五分钟过去了，他终于想到在干衣机和墙壁之间看看，他的靴子紧紧地卡在里面。 他把它拽了出来，戴在脚上，然后匆匆走出后门，绕着房子来到前院。 但是奶奶已经走了。