Wheeling the Snake

Wheeling the Snake, written by Stephen Cosgrove, illustrated by Carolyn Laporte.

《滑大蛇渠》，作者：斯蒂芬·科斯格罗夫，绘者：卡罗琳·拉波特。

In eastern Washington, there are rolling hills called the Horse Heavens. There are natural springs here, which feed Elliott's Lake. From a dam at the head of the lake, concrete ditches nearly 10 feet deep and 15 feet wide channel irrigation water down to the farmlands below. One of these ditches snakes five miles down to the alfalfa fields near Benton City. In November and December the water is stopped and the concrete pipeline is empty.

在华盛顿州东部，有一片连绵起伏的山丘，名叫马天堂山。 这里有天然泉眼，水源注入埃利奥特湖。 湖的上游建有水坝，深度近10英尺、宽15英尺的混凝土渠将灌溉水引向下游的农田。 其中一条水渠像蛇一样蜿蜒五英里，一直延伸到本顿市附近的苜蓿田。 每年十一月和十二月会停水，混凝土渠就空了出来。

From Benton City, you can see the concrete ditch twisting down from the lake. The skateboarders and inline skaters at the Drury Middle School and Benton High call it the snake. The goal is to ride the snake on your choice of wheels all the way to the bottom. When you fall, they call it being bitten. Those few who have actually wheeled the snake, Sew a coiled snake patch on their jackets.

站在本顿市，就能看见这条混凝土渠从湖边蜿蜒而下。 德鲁里中学和本顿高中的滑板手、直排轮滑手都叫它“大蛇”。 挑战的目标就是滑着自己的轮子，一路到底滑完整条大蛇。 如果摔倒了，他们就叫“被蛇咬了”。 少数成功滑完大蛇的人，都会在外套上缝一块盘蛇徽章。

Late Halloween night, ten -year -old Isaac Green was still awake. He lay in bed with no hope of getting to sleep anytime soon. He had been out trick -or -treating earlier, consuming most of his candy along the way. He got a lot of candy. He ate a lot of candy. But it wasn't the sugar that was keeping him awake. Earlier that day, the gates on the irrigation system had been closed. The snake was alive.

万圣节深夜，十岁的 艾萨克·格林还没睡着。 他躺在床上，知道自己一时半会儿肯定睡不着。 他早些时候出门去 讨糖果，路上就吃掉了大半收获的糖果。 他拿到了好多糖果。 也吃掉了好多糖果。 但让他睡不着的可不是糖分。 这天早些时候，灌溉系统的水闸已经关上了。 “大蛇”已经可以滑了。

Isaac lay there dreaming of hips, corners, curves, and the 20 -foot long, 2 -foot high iron rail that ran along the bottom in an area called Lizard Ditch. Then there was the snake itself. Only a handful of older teenagers had ever wheeled the snake without being bitten and earned the patch. Isaac wanted that patch in the worst of ways. Last year, as he skated Lizard Ditch, he would look up at the snake and dream about how he would ride it. Of course, he never did. But Isaac knew he and his best friend Sam were going to do it. He and Sam were two of the three best skaters in their school.

艾萨克躺在床上，脑子里全想着斜坡、弯道、曲道，还有蜥蜴渠那段长20英尺、高2英尺的底栏铁栅。 接下来就是大蛇本身了。 只有少数几个年长的少年成功滑完没摔倒，拿到了这块徽章。 艾萨克实在太想要这块徽章了。 去年滑蜥蜴渠的时候，他总会抬头望着大蛇，幻想自己滑完全程的样子。 当然，那时候他从来没尝试过。 但艾萨克知道，今年他和最好的朋友萨姆一定要挑战成功。 他和萨姆是学校里前三强滑手里的两位。

Even though it was late, he decided to call Sam and tell him that this was the year. He reached for the phone just as it rang. Startled, he answered, hello? Hi, it's Jesse. Jesse was the third best skater in his school, even if she was a girl and also Isaac's friend. Let's do it, she said. Do what?

虽然已经很晚了，他还是决定打给萨姆，告诉萨姆今年就要挑战。 他刚伸手去拿电话，电话就响了。 他吓了一跳，接起电话问：喂？ “嗨，我是杰西。” 杰西就是学校前三强滑手里的第三位，她是个女生，也是艾萨克的朋友。 她说：我们出发吧。 出发去干什么？