03 The Great Shake

Chapter 3, The Great Shake. A cloud of dust billowed around Jack. He could hardly breathe. He couldn't see, but he could hear Annie coughing. Jack opened his mouth to call to her, but dust filled his throat. Jack! Between coughs, Annie shouted his name. Jack! I'm here, he said hoarsely. I think I'm in trouble, she said.

第三章 大地震颤 一团尘土在杰克周围滚滚扬起。 他几乎喘不过气来。 他什么都看不见，却能听到安妮在咳嗽。 杰克张嘴想喊她，喉咙里却灌满了尘土。 杰克！ 安妮咳得断断续续，大声喊着他的名字。 杰克！ “我在这儿。”他声音沙哑地说。 “我好像遇到麻烦了。”她说。

Jack tried to sit up. He hurt all over. His clothes were ripped and covered with dirt. His cap was gone. Where are you? He called. Here, said Annie. Jack started to stand, but he fell down again. His legs were like rubber. Where? He repeated. Jack cleaned his glasses then looked around, but he still couldn't see Annie through the thick haze of dust. I fell into the ground, said Annie. Jack crawled in the direction of Annie's voice. Keep talking, he said. Here, she coughed. Here. Jack felt a ledge with his hands. He looked down into a huge crack in the street. Through the dust, he could see Annie right below him.

杰克想坐起来。他浑身都疼。衣服破破烂烂的，全是灰。他的帽子也不见了。 “你在哪儿？”他喊道。“我在这儿。”安妮说。 杰克试着站起来，却又摔了下去。他的腿软得像橡皮一样。 “在哪儿？”他又问了一遍。 杰克擦了擦眼镜，四下张望，可浓浓的尘雾里还是看不到安妮的身影。 “我掉到地缝里啦。”安妮说。 杰克朝着安妮声音的方向爬过去。 “继续说话，别停。”他说。 “我在这儿，”她咳着说，“在这儿。” 杰克伸手摸到了一个边缘，他低头往下看，街上裂了个好大的缝。 透过尘土，他看见安妮就在他正下方。

You found me, she said between coughs. I'll pull you out, said Jack. He grabbed Annie's hands. He tried to pull her out of the crack, but she was too heavy. I can't do it, he said. Bring me something to stand on, Annie said. Maybe I can get out by myself. Jack stood up and stumbled away from the crack. He gathered an armload of bricks. Then he went back to the crack and handed them down to Annie, one by one. Annie carefully stacked the bricks on top of each other. I need more, she said. Jack ran to get more bricks. He was afraid there'd be another earthquake and the crack would close with Annie inside. He handed the bricks down to her.

“你找到我啦。”她咳得断断续续地说。 “我拉你上来。”杰克说。 他紧紧抓住安妮的手。 他想把她从缝里拉上来，可她太重了。 “我拉不动。”他说。 “给我找点能踩的东西来。”安妮说。 说不定我自己就能爬上去。 杰克站起身，踉踉跄跄地离开地缝。 他抱了满满一胳膊砖块。 然后他回到地缝边，把砖块一块一块递下去给安妮。 安妮小心地把砖块一块一块摞起来。 “我还要更多。”她说。 杰克跑去找更多的砖块。 他怕还会再有地震， 地缝会合拢，把安妮困在里面。 他把砖块递给下面的她。

Hurry, he said. I'm hurrying, she said. At last Annie finished stacking the bricks. She stood on the stack. With her bare hands she slowly pulled herself up.

“快点。”他说。 “我在加快速度啦。”她说。 安妮终于把砖块都摞好了。 她站到摞好的砖块上。 她徒手慢慢往上爬。

Jack helped her stand. She was covered with dirt. Her stockings were torn. Her knees were skinned. Are you hurt? Jack asked. A little scraped, said Annie. How about you? A little shaky, said Jack. Actually, he was very shaky. Me too, said Annie. I think San Francisco just had a really huge earthquake, Jack said. He coughed. His throat was clogged with dust. Annie coughed too. What's the book say? She said. Jack pulled his research book out of his leather bag. His hands were trembling. He could hardly turn the pages.

杰克扶她站起来。她浑身都是灰。袜子破了，膝盖也擦破皮了。 “你受伤了吗？”杰克问。 “擦破了点皮而已，”安妮说，“你呢？” “有点腿软。”杰克说。 事实上，他浑身都抖得厉害。 “我也是。”安妮说。 “我觉得旧金山刚刚发生了一场超级大的地震。”杰克说。 他咳了起来，喉咙里堵满了尘土。 安妮也咳了起来。 “书上怎么说的？”她问。 杰克从皮包里拿出他的研究手册。他的手在抖，几乎都翻不开书页。

I'll find it," said Annie. She took the book from him and found a picture of a torn -up street. She read aloud, At 5 .13 a .m. on April 18, 1906, the people of San Francisco were shaken awake by one of the biggest earthquakes the United States has ever known. Some called it the Great Shake. No wonder we feel shaky, said Jack. I wonder if a lot of people got hurt, said Annie. They looked around. Through the dust -filled air, families were stumbling out of their crumbling houses. They all were barefoot and still wore their night clothes.

“我来找。”安妮说。 她从他手里拿过书，找到了一张路面裂开的图片。 她大声读了起来： 1906年4月18日凌晨5点13分，旧金山的居民被一场地震晃醒，这是 美国有史以来最大的地震之一。 有些人把它叫做“大地震颤”。 “难怪我们都觉得站不稳呢。”杰克说。 “不知道是不是有很多人受伤了。”安妮说。 他们环顾四周。 透过满是尘土的空气， 家家户户都踉踉跄跄地从快要塌的房子里跑出来。 他们全都光着脚，身上还穿着睡衣。