9 Ditch

Chapter 9 Ditch ditch (v) to abandon, get rid of, give up; in sleight of hand, to get rid of an object secretly Jessie managed to get downstairs first, but just barely. Evan was right behind her, pushing and bumping in his effort to get to the rabbit trap before she did. They actually knocked the screen door off its track as they rushed onto the porch. But when they finally made it to the traps, Jessie shouted, "Wait! Don't touch anything!" and they both stared at the boxes. Two of them were knocked on their sides, the sticks fallen over and the radishes gone. Two of them were still set up with their bait intact. But one of them was collapsed closed, just the way it was supposed to when it caught a rabbit.

第九章沟沟（五）放弃、摆脱、放弃；杰西设法先下楼了，但好不容易才成功。 埃文就在她后面，他又挤又撞，想赶在她之前到达兔子陷阱。 他们冲进门廊时，把纱门撞飞了。 但当他们终于到达陷阱时，杰西喊道：“等等！不要碰任何东西！”他们俩都盯着盒子。 其中两棵树被撞倒在地，树枝倒在地上，萝卜也不见了。 其中两只鱼饵依然完好无损。 但其中一个被压得合拢了，就像它抓到一只兔子时应该有的样子。

Jessie walked once all the way around the box. "What are you waiting for?" asked Evan. "We need a plan," said Jessie. "What kind of plan? You pick up the box and grab the rabbit." "It's not that simple," said Jessie. "What if the rabbit bites?" "Rabbits don't bite!" "They might. They have teeth. Two sets of incisors. When they get scared, they sometimes lunge." And suddenly Jessie thought of the rabbit being scared, which hadn't occurred to her before. And she thought about being inside that small, closed, dark space, and her skin got shivery. Jessie didn't like to be closed up in dark spaces. "I'm not scared," said Evan. "It's just a rabbit. You pick up the box and I'll grab it." "You need gloves," said Jessie. "Something that will protect you in case it scratches." "Rabbits don't scratch." "They have claws."

杰西绕着盒子走了一圈。 “你在等什么？”埃文问。 “我们需要一个计划，”杰西说。 “什么样的计划？”你拿起盒子，抓住兔子。” “没那么简单，”杰西说。 “如果兔子咬人怎么办？”“兔子不咬人！”“他们可能。 他们有牙齿。两副门牙。 当它们害怕时，有时会猛扑过去。” 突然，杰西想到兔子被吓坏了，这是她以前从未想到过的。 她想到自己在那个狭小、封闭、黑暗的空间里，她的皮肤开始颤抖。 杰西不喜欢被关在黑暗的地方。 “我不害怕，”埃文说。 “它只是一只兔子。你把盒子拿起来，我去拿。” “你需要手套，”杰西说。 “它能保护你，以防划伤。” “兔子不抓人。”“它们有爪子。”

"How do you know so much about rabbits?" "I read," said Jessie. Which was true. She had spent an hour on Sunday night reading about rabbits. And although she hadn't come across a single story of a rabbit attacking a human being, rabbits had all the necessary body parts: sharp teeth, claws, and powerful kicking legs. You couldn't be too careful. That was Jessie's motto. "Get the oven mitts from the kitchen. They'll protect your hands and arms." A minute later Evan came out with the bright red quilted mitts on his hands. He looked like a gingerbread man. "I'm never going to be able to catch the rabbit wearing these." "You don't have to catch it. Just keep it from running away. I'll flip the box over and scoop up the rabbit, like a bulldozer. Then you cover the top of the box with your hands. Okay?" "Okay." He crouched down so that he was right in front of the box, like a baseball catcher in front of home plate. "But Evan, you have to be really careful. Don't

“你怎么知道这么多兔子的事？”“我读书，”杰西说。 这是真的。星期天晚上，她花了一个小时读关于兔子的书。 虽然她没有遇到过兔子攻击人类的故事，但兔子的身体部位都很好：锋利的牙齿、爪子和有力的踢腿。 你再小心也不为过。 这是杰西的座右铭。“去厨房拿烤箱手套。 它们会保护你的手和胳膊。” 一分钟后，埃文走了出来，手上戴着亮红色的棉絮手套。 他看起来像一个姜饼人。 “我永远也抓不到穿这个的兔子。” “你不必抓住它。 别让它跑掉。 我会把盒子翻过来，把兔子铲起来，就像推土机一样。 然后用手盖住盒子的顶部。 没事吧?”“好吧。”他蹲下来，这样他就在盒子的正前方，就像一个棒球接球手在本垒板前。 “但是埃文，你必须非常小心。 不

grab it, because rabbits have special bones that can break like that." Jessie snapped her fingers to show him how delicate a rabbit's skeleton is. "It's what helps them squeeze into tiny hiding places." Evan stood up. "Maybe we shouldn't do this, Jess. What if the rabbit's already hurt under there?" Jessie could see the worried look on Evan's face. That was an easy look to spot. His eyebrows came down on the insides and he made this squiggly-line smile that wasn't happy or sad. It was worried. But there was no evidence that the rabbit was hurt, so Jessie wasn't going to let herself get all worried for no reason. The only thing that made sense was to lift the box and find out. That's what a scientist would do, and Jessie liked science. Much more than animals. "We have to look," she said sternly. "Are you ready?" Evan crouched down. "Ready." "One, two, three, lift!" Jessie flipped the box over onto its side and scooped it at the same time that

抓住它，因为兔子有特殊的骨头，可以像那样折断。” 杰西打了个响指，向他展示兔子的骨骼有多脆弱。 “这有助于它们挤进狭小的藏身之处。” 埃文站了起来。“也许我们不应该这么做，杰西。 如果兔子已经在下面受伤了怎么办？”杰西可以看到埃文脸上焦虑的表情。 那表情很容易被发现。 他的眉毛从里面垂下来，他做了一个弯弯曲曲的微笑，既不快乐也不悲伤。 它很担心。但没有证据表明兔子受伤了，所以杰西不会让自己无缘无故地担心。 唯一合理的办法就是把盒子拿起来看看。 这是一个科学家应该做的，而杰西喜欢科学。 比动物多得多。“我们必须去看看，”她严厉地说。 “你准备好了吗？”埃文蹲了下来。 “准备好了。”“一，二，三，举！”杰西把盒子翻到一边，同时把它舀了起来

Evan rushed forward, his oven mitts acting as a barricade. Something dark was moving on the grass; then there was a scratching and scrabbling sound in the box, and Jessie finished scooping the box so that it sat on the grass with its opening facing up to the sky. "Wow, we got it!" shouted Evan, and they both peered into the box. There at the bottom was a small dark brown animal, frantically running along the edge of the box. It was not a rabbit. "What is that?" asked Evan. "It's a mole," said Jessie, feeling as if she'd just been given a birthday present and opened it up, only to find out it was socks. "A mole?" said Evan. "I didn't know we had moles in the yard." Jessie looked at Evan. Her plan was ruined. They didn't have a rabbit, and now Evan wouldn't let her be his assistant. She would be stuck selling tickets and ushering people to their seats. "I don't suppose

埃文冲上前去，他的手套起到了路障的作用。 草地上有个黑乎乎的东西在动；然后，盒子里传来了抓抓的声音，杰西把盒子铲完，把它放在草地上，开口面向天空。 “哇，我们找到了！”埃文喊道，他们俩都往盒子里看了看。 盒子底部有一只深棕色的小动物，正沿着盒子边缘疯狂地奔跑。 那不是一只兔子。“那是什么？”埃文问。 “这是一颗痣，”杰西说，感觉好像她刚收到一份生日礼物，打开它，却发现是袜子。 “鼹鼠？”埃文说。“我不知道院子里有鼹鼠。” 杰西看着埃文。她的计划泡汤了。 他们没有兔子，现在埃文不让她做他的助手。 她将被困在卖票和引导人们到座位上。 “我不这么认为

you could use a mole in your magic act?" "Nah," said Evan. "That little guy would just tunnel his way out. Look at him go!" It was true. The mole was already scraping at the side of the box with his two large paws. "But Jess, I don't think you should try to catch any more rabbits. You know?" Jessie nodded. If the rabbit had been hurt—even if the mole had been hurt!—she would have felt terrible. She didn't like animals, but she didn't want to hurt them. Last winter she'd even stood up to a couple of boys who were doing mean things to a frog. And the boys had been older! But Jessie had stood her ground and made them stop. Almost single-handedly. She tilted the box and watched the mole disappear into the woods. "But now you don't have a rabbit for your show," she said. "It's okay. I'll use Peter Rabbit." Evan had an old stuffed Peter Rabbit toy, complete with a blue jacket and an orange carrot. "It's not as good," said Jessie, shaking her head.

你可以在你的魔术表演中使用鼹鼠吗？”“不，”埃文说。 “那个小家伙会挖地道出去。 看他走吧！”这是真的。 鼹鼠已经在用他的两只大爪子刮箱子的侧面了。 “但是杰西，我认为你不应该再抓兔子了。 你知道吗?”杰西点点头。如果兔子受伤了——即使鼹鼠受伤了！-她会感觉很糟糕的。 她不喜欢动物，但又不想伤害它们。 去年冬天，她甚至反抗了几个对青蛙做坏事的男孩。 男孩们的年龄更大了！但杰西坚持了自己的立场，让他们停下来。 几乎以一己之力。她倾斜箱子，看着鼹鼠消失在树林里。 “但现在你的节目里没有兔子了，”她说。 “这是好的。我要用彼得兔。” 埃文有一个旧的彼得兔毛绒玩具，里面有一件蓝色的夹克和一根橙色的胡萝卜。 “没那么好，”杰西摇着头说。