By the time I got home, I knew it would be selfish of me to boycott the Loskis’ dinner party.
当我回到家时，我知道拒绝参加洛世奇的晚餐派对会很自私。
My mother had already spent a lot of time humming over pie recipes and going through her closet for “something suitable to wear.” She’d even bought a new shirt for Dad and had scrutinized what the boys intended to wear. Obviously she was looking forward to the dinner — not that I really understood that, but I didn’t want to ruin everything by telling her about my newfound hatred of Bryce.
我妈妈已经花了很长时间准备派，并翻遍了她的衣橱寻找“适合穿的东西”。她甚至为爸爸买了件新衬衫，并仔细检查了男孩们打算穿的。很明显她对晚餐很期待——我并不能完全理解，但是我不想因为告诉她我对布莱斯新发现的仇恨，而毁掉了一切。
So that night I went through the motions of baking pies with my mother and convinced myself that I was doing the right thing. One dinner couldn’t change anyone’s life. I just had to get through it.
所以那天晚上我帮妈妈烘焙了派，并说服自己我做的是正确的事。一个晚餐不会改变任何人的生活。我只是必须要度过。
Friday at school I avoided the blue-eyed brat the best I could, but that night as I got dressed, I found myself staring at the painting my father had given me and became furious all over again. Bryce had never been a friend to me, ever! He hadn’t made a stand for the tree, he’d thrown away my eggs, and he’d made fun of me at my uncle’s expense… Why was I playing along like we were jolly friends and neighbors?
星期五在学校我尽可能地避开了那个蓝眼睛的坏蛋，但那天晚上我穿衣服的时候，我发现自己注视着爸爸送给我的画，又一次怒气冲天。布莱斯从来没把我当成朋友，从来没有！他没有保护我的树，他扔掉我的鸡蛋，嘲笑我的同时还侮辱了我的叔叔…为什么我以前像对待好朋友和邻居那样对待他？
And Dad felt bad enough about David already. The last thing he needed was to hear about crackpot comments made by immature eighth graders.
而爸爸已经因为大卫的事感到很糟糕。他最不需要听见的就是未成年八年级学生做出的怪异批评。
Chet answered the door. Maybe I should’ve been mad at him, too, for telling the Loskis about my uncle, but I wasn’t. I hadn’t asked him not to tell, and he certainly wasn’t the one making fun of David.
切特开了门。也许我也该对他生气，因为他告诉了他们我叔叔的事，但是我没有。我没要求他不告诉，而他绝对不是嘲笑我叔叔的人。
And wasn’t that just dandy? That left me alone in the foyer with Bryce.
那不是极好的吗？这让我和布莱斯单独留在了门厅。
When my mother called that it was time to go, I went out in the hall with every intention of telling her that I would not, could not go to the Loskis’ for dinner, but she looked so lovely and happy that I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I took a deep breath, wrapped up a pie, and shuffled across the street behind my brothers and parents.
当我妈妈催我时间到了时，我就打算告诉她我不能，不能去洛世奇家吃晚餐，但是她看起来很美丽和快乐，让我不忍心。我做不到。我做了个深呼吸，包起一个派，拖着脚步跟着我父母和哥哥穿过了马路。
He said hi to me and I lost it. I spun on him, snapping, “Don’t you speak to me! I overheard you and Garrett in the library, and I don’t want to talk to you now or ever!”
他对我说了嗨而我迷失了。我转向他，厉声说：“别和我讲话！我偶然听见了你和加瑞特在图书馆里，而我现在和以后都不想和你说话！”
Mrs. Loski came up behind Chet, whisked us in, and fluttered about. And even though she had quite a bit of makeup on, I was surprised to see the blueness of bags beneath her eyes. Then Mrs. Loski and my mother went off with the pies, my brothers vanished down the hall with Lynetta, and my father followed Chet into the living room.
洛世奇太太从切特后走来，招呼我们进去，而且非常激动。虽然她画了点淡妆，但看到她眼睛下的眼袋我还是很惊讶。当洛世奇太太和妈妈把派拿进去时，我的哥哥们和琳内塔一起在大厅消失了，而爸爸跟着切特去了客厅。
“No! No you don’t! I… I was feeling bad about, you know, the eggs and what I’d said about your yard. I didn’t know anything about your uncle or what kind of situation your family was in, okay? I just wanted to talk to someone about it.”
“不！你不知道！我…我为此感觉很糟糕，你知道，鸡蛋还有我说的关于你的院子。我当时不知道任何关于你叔叔的事，或者是你们家的情况，好吗？我只是想和一个人谈谈。”
I started to walk into the living room, but he stopped me. “Juli! Juli, wait!” he whispered. “I’m not the bad guy here! That was Garrett. That was all Garrett!”
我开始走进客厅，但是他阻止了我。“朱莉！朱莉，等等！”他低语道，“我不是坏人！是加瑞特。都是加瑞特说的！”
Our eyes locked for a minute, and for the first time the blueness of his didn’t freeze up my brain. “I heard you laugh. He made a joke about me being a retard, and you laughed.”
我们的眼睛定住了一会儿，而第一次那蓝色没有让我的脑子冰冻。“我听见你笑了。他说了一个关于我是智障的笑话，而你笑了。”
I glared at him. “I know what I heard.”
我怒视着他：“我清楚我听见的。”
“Juli, you don’t understand. I wanted to punch him! Really, I did! But we were in the library…”
“朱莉，你不懂。我想要揍他！真的，我想这么做！但是我们在图书馆里…”
“So instead you laughed.”
“所以你反而笑了。”
He shrugged and looked miserable and sheepish. “Yeah.”
他耸了耸肩，看起来既绝望又困窘。“是的。”
I left him. Just walked into the living room and left him. If he was making it up, he was quite an actor. If he was telling the truth, then Chet was right — he was a coward. Either way, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
我离开了他。就那样走进客厅离开了他。如果他编造了这些，他是个很好的演员。如果他在告诉我真相，那么切特说对了——他是个懦夫。无论如何，我只是不想靠近他。
My father and Chet glanced at each other, chuckled, then shrugged, giving me the sense that they’d just agreed to let me into a secret club. My father explained, “It’s a machine that runs without any external power source.”
我爸爸和切特瞥了对方一眼，轻声地笑了，耸了耸肩，给了我一个信号，他们刚刚同意我加入了一个秘密社团。我爸爸解释道：“是一个不用任何外部力量来源就能够运转的机器。”
At that moment I was feeling absolutely no scientific curiosity. But in a desperate attempt to block Bryce Loski from my mind, I asked, “What’s a perpetual-motion machine?”
在那个瞬间我绝对没有任何对科学的好奇心，但是为了绝望地尝试着把布莱斯逐出我的脑海，我问道：“永动机是什么？”
I stood beside my father and tried to follow his discussion with Chet about something they’d both read in the paper. My father was saying, “But what he’s proposing would require a perpetual-motion machine, so it’s not possible.”
我站在我爸爸房间，试图跟上他和切特的谈话，关于他们都在报纸上读到过的什么东西。我爸爸说：“但是他的提议还是有赖于永动机，那是不可能的。”
Chet replied, “Maybe in the context of what scientists know now, but do you rule it out completely?”
切特回答：“也许在科学家所知的情况下，但是你把它完全否决吗？”
“No electricity, no fuel, no water propulsion, nothing.” Chet glanced over my shoulder and asked rather absently, “You think that’s a doable thing?”
“没有电，没有燃料，没有水推进，什么都没有。”切特瞥着我的肩膀后面然后心不在焉地问：“你认为这可行吗？”
What had distracted him? Was Bryce still in the foyer? Why didn’t he just go away?
是什么让他分心呢？布莱斯还在门厅吗？他为什么不走开呢？
I forced myself to focus on the conversation. “Do I think that’s a doable thing? Well, I don’t really know. All machines use energy, right? Even real efficient ones. And that energy has to come from somewhere…”
我强迫自己专注于谈话：“我认为它可行吗？嗯，我并不知道。所有的机器都需要能源，对吗？就算是真正高效能的。而能源必须是从什么地方来的…”
“What if the machine generated it itself?” Chet asked, but one eye was still on the foyer.
“如果机器可以自己产生能源呢？”切特问，但一只眼睛还停留在门厅。
“How could it do that?”
“它怎么能这么做？”
Neither of them answered me. Instead, my father stuck out his hand and said, “Good evening, Rick. Nice of you to have us over.”
他们都没有回答我。相反地，我爸爸伸出手说道：“晚上好，里克。你能邀请我们来很好。”
He was joking. I think. But my father didn’t take it that way, and neither did Chet. I was afraid of what might happen next, but then Mrs. Loski tinkled a little dinner bell and called, “Hors d’oeuvres, everybody!”
他在开玩笑，我想。但是我爸爸并不这么认为，切特也没有。我正为接下来可能发生的事感到害怕，但洛世奇太太摇响了一个小小的晚餐铃并喊道：“开胃菜，大伙儿！”
Mr. Loski pumped my dad’s hand and joined our group, making little comments about the weather. When that topic was all dried up, he said, “And wow, that yard of yours has really come along. I told Chet here that we ought to hire him out. He really knows his pickets, doesn’t he?”
洛世奇先生拉了拉我爸爸的手并加入了我们，对天气做了些评论。当所有的题目都说完后，他说：“哦，你们的院子看起来真的不错。我告诉切特我们最好也雇用他。他很了解他的木桩，不是吗？”
The hors d’oeuvres were delicious. But when my father whispered that the teeny-tiny black berries on top of the crackers weren’t berries at all, but caviar, I stopped midbite. Fish eggs? Repulsive!
开胃菜很美味。但然后我爸爸低声说薄脆饼干最上面小小的黑莓根本不是黑莓，而是鱼子酱，我停下了吃了一半的东西。鱼蛋？令人厌恶！
Then my father pointed out that I ate chicken eggs all the time, so why get squeamish over fish eggs? He had a point. I hesitantly finished the cracker, and before long I was having another.
然后我爸爸指出我总是吃鸡蛋，为什么对鱼蛋这么讨厌？他说到了重点。我犹豫着吃下了薄脆饼干，而没多久我就又吃了一个。
My father laughed. “Mad scientists all over the world.”
我爸爸笑了：“全世界的疯狂科学家。”
“Really?”
“真的？”
Bryce was standing all by himself across the room, and every time I happened to look his way, he was staring at me.
布莱斯单独一人站在房间对面，而每一次只要我看着他，他都盯着我。
It was Bryce.
是布莱斯。
“Yes. For hundreds of years.”
“是的。有一百年了。”
Finally I completely turned my back on him and said to my father, “So who’s trying to invent a perpetual-motion machine, anyway?”
最后我完全背对他对我爸爸说：“那么，无论如何，谁在试图发明永动机？”
It wasn’t long before Chet was in on the discussion. And just as I was finally starting to catch on to magnetism, gyroscopic particles, and zeropoint energy, I felt someone standing behind me.
没多久切特也加入了讨论。而当我终于开始弄清磁性、回转微粒和零点能源时，我感觉到有人站在我身后。
I could feel my cheeks flush with anger. Couldn’t he see I wanted to be left alone? I took a step away from him, but what that did was open up the group and allow him to move forward. Now he was standing in our circle listening to our discussion!
我能感觉到我的面颊因为生气而涨得通红。他难道看不到我想要单独呆着吗？我离开他一步，但我做的却是打开了一个缺口，同意他往前。现在他站在我们的圈子内停着我们的讨论！
“Well, what do they do? What’s one look like?”
“嗯，他们怎么做的？看起来怎么样？”
Well! Surely he was not interested in perpetual motion. I barely was myself! So, I reasoned, continuing our discussion would drive him away. I dove back in, and when the conversation started to peter out, I came up with my own ideas on perpetual-motion machines. I was like a perpetualidea machine, spinning ridiculous suggestions right out of the air.
好吧！他当然对永动机不感兴趣。我自己也没多大兴趣！所以，我细想，继续我们的讨论能把他赶走。我又转回去，而当谈话开始逐渐消失，我会提出自己的永动机观点。我就想一个永动观点机，让荒谬的提议在空中旋转。
And still he wouldn’t leave. He didn’t say anything, he just stood there, listening. Then when Mrs. Loski announced that dinner was ready, Bryce held my arm and whispered, “Juli, I’m sorry. I’ve never been so sorry about anything in my whole life. You’re right, I was a jerk, and I’m sorry.”
而他还是不肯离开。他什么都没说，他只是站在那儿，听着。然后洛世奇太太宣布晚餐准备好了，布莱斯抓住我的手低语道：“朱莉，我很抱歉。我一生中从没这么抱歉过。你说对了，我是个坏蛋，我错了。”
I yanked my arm free from his grasp and said, “It seems to me you’ve been sorry about a whole lot of things lately!” and left him there with his apology hanging wounded in the air.
我猛地把我的手抽出来说道：“在我看来你最近对很多事情都感到抱歉！”然后离开他和他的道歉在空中飘浮。
I sneaked a peek at him across the table, but he was watching his dad, who was asking my brothers about graduating and their plans for college.
我隔着桌子偷偷瞟了他一眼，但他正看着他爸爸，他正在文我哥哥们关于毕业和上大学的计划。
It didn’t take me long to realize that I’d made a mistake. I should have let him say he was sorry and then simply continued to ignore him. But I’d snapped at him in the middle of an apology, which somehow made me the rude one.
没过多久我就发现自己犯了个错。我应该让他说完他很抱歉，然后简单地继续无视他。但是我在道歉中途打断了他，这不知怎么让我变成了无礼的一方。
I had, of course, seen Mr. Loski many times, but usually from a distance. Still, it seemed impossible that I’d never noticed his eyes before. They were blue. Brilliant blue. And although Mr. Loski’s were set farther back and were hidden somewhat by his eyebrows and cheekbones, there was no mistaking where Bryce had gotten his eyes. His hair was black, too, like Bryce’s, and his teeth were white and straight.
我，当然，见过洛世奇先生很多次，但实际上还是有段距离。尽管那样，我之前好像不可能没注意到过他的眼睛。它们是蓝色的。闪光的蓝色。而虽然洛世奇先生的眼睛距离更远，而且还藏在眉毛和颧骨后面的某个地方，毫无疑问的，布莱斯遗传了他的眼睛。他的头发也是黑色的，而他的牙齿又白又直。
Mrs. Loski gave a small gasp, and everyone looked at Lynetta. “Well, it’s not,” she said.
洛世奇太太微微倒抽了口气，而所有人看着琳内塔，“诶，是真的。”她说。
Even though Chet had called Bryce the spitting image of his father, I’d never really thought of them as looking alike. But now I saw that they did look alike, though where his dad seemed kind of smug, Bryce seemed… well, right now he seemed angry.
虽然切特把布莱斯说成是他爸爸的翻版，我从来没有真正思考过他们看起来相似。但现在我看见他们的确很像，虽然他爸爸看起来有点儿自满，布莱斯看起来…嗯，他现在看起来生气。
Then from the other side of the table, I heard, “Your sarcasm is not appreciated, Dad.”
然后在桌子的另一边，我听见，“你的讽刺并没有受到感激，爸爸。”
In all the years we’ve lived across the street from the Loskis, I’ve said about ten words to Lynetta, and she’s said fewer back. To me she’s scary.
这么多年来我们住在洛世奇家对面，我大概只对琳内塔说了十句话，而她也回了几句话。对我来说她很可怕。
Suddenly Lynetta got up and dashed down the hall, but she was back in a flash with a CD in her hand. And when she put it in the player, I recognized one of my brothers’ songs blaring through the speakers.
突然间琳内塔站起来闯进了大厅，但几秒钟后她手里拿着一盘唱片回来了。而当她把唱片放进唱机，我听出从音响里高声播出的是我哥哥的歌。
So it wasn’t a surprise to see her glaring at her father, but it was uncomfortable. Mrs. Loski was keeping a smile perched on her face, but she was blinking a lot, glancing nervously around the table. I looked from one person to the next, too, wondering if dinner at the Loskis’ was always this tense.
所以看到她怒视着他父亲并没有很惊讶，但这很不舒服。洛世奇太太脸上一直保持着微笑，但是她眨了很多次眼，紧张地环视着桌子。我也依次看过了每个人，心想洛世奇家的晚餐是否都是这样令人紧张。
My brothers were feeling pretty good, too, you could tell. And it was no wonder, with the way Lynetta was carrying on about how great “Candle Ice” was. She was positively gushing, which seemed very odd, coming from Lynetta.
我哥哥们也感觉很好，你能看出来。而没有怀疑，琳内塔也在继续说“蜡烛冰”有多好。她极其地滔滔不绝，这些话从琳内塔说出来变得有些奇怪，别有用意。
She seemed a little uncertain, but in a happy way. She was sharing secret smiles with my father, and honestly, I think she even giggled. My dad was looking amused, although he was very reserved about it, and it took me until the end of the song to realize that he was proud. Proud that this noise came from his boys.
她看起来有些不确定，但挺开心。她正在和我爸爸分享神秘的微笑，而诚实地说，我认为她甚至咯咯笑了起来。我爸爸看起来被逗笑了，虽然他还是有些矜持，直到整首歌的结尾我才发现他在自豪。为这些噪音是从他的男孩们传来感到自豪。
We’d heard this song, “Candle Ice,” pouring out of my brothers” bedroom at least a million times, so we were used to it. But I looked over at my mom, worried that she might be embarrassed by the distorting guitars and the gritty lyrics. This was definitely not caviar music.
我们听到过这首歌，“蜡烛冰”，至少有百万次从我哥哥们的房间里传出来，所以我们已经习惯了。但我看着我妈妈，担心她会为扭曲的吉他和坚硬的抒情感到尴尬。这肯定不是什么鱼子酱音乐。
That surprised me. Dad has never been real big on any rendition of my brothers’ band, although he’s never really criticized it either. But then Mr. Loski started grilling Matt and Mike about how they’d afforded to record their own music, and they explained about working and saving and shopping for good deals on equipment, and that’s when I realized why my father was proud.
这令我惊讶。爸爸从来没认为哥哥们的任何一场演出很重大。但然后洛世奇先生开始盘问马特和迈克关于他们怎么支付得起录音，而他们解释了关于为了好的设备交易而工作，储蓄和购物，而那时我才发现我爸爸为什么自豪。
As I looked around, it struck me that we were having dinner with a group of strangers. We’d lived across the street for years, but I didn’t know these people at all. Lynetta did know how to smile. Mr. Loski was clean and smooth on the outside, but there was a distinct whiff of something rotten buried just beneath the surface. And the ever-efficient Mrs. Loski seemed flustered, almost hyper. Was it having us over that was making her nervous?
当我环顾四周时，我发现我们在和一群陌生人吃晚饭。我们两家住在对面这么多年，而我根本不了解这些人。琳内塔确实知道怎么微笑。洛世奇先生外表光鲜，而他外表下有些截然不同的东西已经腐烂。还有一直以来都很能干的洛世奇太太看起来不安，几乎是过度激动。是因为请我们过来使他紧张吗？
Nothing.
什么都没有了。
Then there was Bryce — the most disturbing of all because I had to admit that I didn’t really know him, either. And based on what I’d discovered lately, I didn’t care to know any more. Looking across the table at him, all I got was a strange, detached, neutral feeling. No fireworks, no leftover anger or resurging flutters.
然后那里是布莱斯——最令人烦恼的一个，因为我必须承认我并不真正了解他。而在我最近所发现的基础上，我也不在乎了解他了。看着桌子对面的他，我在看个陌生人，疏远，模糊的感觉。没有火药味，没有未用尽的怒火或是复苏的悸动。
After we’d had dessert and it was time to go, I went up to Bryce and told him I was sorry for having been so fierce when we’d first come in. “I should’ve let you apologize, and really, it was very nice of your family to have us over. I know it was a lot of work and, well, I think my mom had a really good time and that’s what matters to me.” We were looking right at each other, but it was almost as though he didn’t hear me. “Bryce? I said I’m sorry.”
我们吃过甜点，该是离开的时间了，我走到布莱斯那儿告诉他我为刚进来时这么凶狠感到抱歉。“我应该让你道歉的，而且真的，你们家能邀请我们很好。我知道有很多工作要做而且，嗯，我认为我妈妈过得很愉快，这对我来说才是重要的。”我们就直视着对方，但是这几乎像他没有听见我。“布莱斯？我说我很抱歉。”
We all wound up in the kitchen, and Matt poured himself a glass of milk and said to Mike, “That Mr. Loski was sniffing us out pretty good tonight, wasn’t he?”
我们都聚集在厨房里，马特给自己倒了一杯牛奶，对迈克说道：“那个洛世奇先生对我们嗤之以鼻整晚了啊，是吧？”
He nodded, and then our families were waving good-bye and saying good night.
他点头，然后我们家在道别说着晚安。
I walked behind my mother, who was holding hands with my father, and beside my brothers, who were carrying home what was left of our pies.
我走在我妈妈后面，她正牵着我爸爸的手，而爸爸正拿着剩余的派。
“Not me, dude! You?”
“我没有，兄弟！你？”
Mike got himself a glass of milk, too. “That’s Skyler’s gig. No way I’d go there.” He grinned. “But she was really cool tonight. Did she come down on papa bear or what?”
迈克也给自己倒了杯牛奶。“那是斯凯勒（Skyler，我终于会翻了）的专属。我才不会前进一步。”他露齿而笑。“但是她今晚很酷。她承受住了她爸爸的负担对吗？”
“Aw, he’s just, you know… entrenched,” Matt said. “Gotta adjust to the perspective and deal from there.” Then he added, “Not that I’d want him as my dad…”
“哦，他只是，你知道…非常顽固，”马特说，“应该调整下透视再分配。”然后他补充，“我不会想要他这样的爸爸…”
“No kidding. Maybe he thinks we’re hot for his daughter.”
“没开玩笑。也许他认为我们看上了他的女儿。”
Mike practically sprayed his milk. “Dude! Can you imagine?” Then Matt gave my dad a slap on the back and said, “No way. I’m sticking with my main man here.” My mom grinned from across the kitchen and said, “Me too.”
迈克几乎喷了他的牛奶：“老兄！你能想象吗？”然后马特在我爸爸后背上一拍说道：“决不！我就和这个最好的男人在一起了。”我妈妈隔着厨房露出了笑容说道：“我也是。”
My dad took a paper plate out of the cupboard and cut a slice of pie. “You boys showed a lot of restraint tonight. I don’t know if I could’ve kept my cool that way.”
我爸爸从柜橱里拿出一个纸盘，并给自己切了一块派。“你们两个男孩今天晚上很有规矩。我不知道我自己也能这么冷静。”
I’d never seen my father cry. And he didn’t exactly sit there bawling, but there were definitely tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked them back the best he could and said, “Don’t you boys want some pie to go with that milk?”
我从没见过我爸爸哭。而他也没有确切地坐在那儿放声大哭，但他的眼里绝对盛满了泪水。他尽可能把它们眨回去，然后说：“男孩们，你们不想要一些派和牛奶一起吗？”
“Dude,” said Matt as he straddled a chair. “I was just thinking that.”
“老兄，”马特一边跨坐在一把椅子上一边说，“我正是这么想的。”
“But we just ate,” my mother cried.
“但我们才刚吃完。”我妈妈喊道。
“Get me a plate, too!” I called as Mike dug through the cupboard.
“也给我一盘！”我在马特翻着柜橱时喊道。
“Yeah,” Mike added. “I’m starved.”
“是啊，”迈克补充道，“我饿死了。”
“Come on, Trina, have some pie. It’s delicious.”
“来啊，崔娜，吃些派。很美味的。”
I went to bed that night feeling very full and very happy. And as I lay there in the dark, I wondered at how much emotion can go into any given day, and thought how nice it was to feel this way at the end of it.
那天晚上我怀着充实和开心的心情去睡觉。当我躺在黑暗中时，我思考着有多少情感能够进入所度过的每一天，并想着在一天结束时有这样的感受是多么美好。
And as I nestled in and drifted off to sleep, my heart felt wonderfully… free.
而当我舒适地躺在那儿进入梦乡时，我的心感到极其的…自由。
The next morning I still felt good. I went outside and sprinkled the yard, enjoying the splish and patter of water on soil, wondering when, when, that first little blade of grass would spring up into the sunshine.
第二天早晨我还是感觉很好。我出去给院子浇水，享受着水花飞溅在土壤上，想知道何时，何时，那第一棵小小的草能够迎着阳光跳跃。
Then I went out back, cleaned the coop, raked the yard, and dug up some of the bigger weeds growing along the edges.
然后我走到了后院，清扫了鸡笼，耙平了院子，然后挖起了长在边缘的几棵更大的杂草。
I shook my head, then said, “They were just my chicks that grew into chickens and started laying eggs. I never really thought of it as a business.”
我摇了摇头，然后说：“它们只是我的小鸡，长成了大鸡后开始下蛋。我从来没真正把它想成过生意。”
It was true. Bonnie and Clydette and the others were only laying about half the eggs that they used to, but a rooster? “I don’t think the neighborhood would appreciate my getting a rooster, Mrs. Stueby. Besides, we’d get chicks and I don’t think we can handle any more poultry back here.”
这倒是真的。邦妮、克莱蒂特和其他鸡现在只下平常一半的蛋，但一只公鸡？“我不认为邻居们会感激我得到只公鸡，史努比太太。再说了，这样我们会有些小鸡，而我并不任为我们能应付更多的家禽。”
Mrs. Stueby leaned over the side fence as I was shoveling my rakings and weeds into a trash can and said, “How’s it going, Julianna? Making neat for a rooster?”
史努比太太在我把杂草铲进垃圾桶时靠在了侧面的栅栏上，说道：“怎么样，朱莉安娜？在为公鸡做窝吗？”
“A rooster?”
“公鸡？”
“Nonsense. You’ve spoiled these birds, giving them the whole yard. They can share the space. Easily! How else are you going to maintain your business? Soon those birds won’t be laying anything a-tall!”
“胡说。你宠坏了这些鸟儿们，给了它们整个院子。它们能分享场地。这很简单！你还有什么别的办法保持生意？没多久这些鸡就不会再下蛋了！”
“They won’t?”
“不会吗？”
“Why, certainly. Those hens need some motivation to start laying more!”
“怎么了，当然啊。那些母鸡需要一些下更多蛋的动力！”
“Well, very little.”
“是啊，大概会只有一点点了。”
“Well, my runnin’ a tab has probably contributed to that, and I’m sorry. I’ll be sure and get you the whole sum this week, but consider buying yourself a rooster with some of it. I’ve got a friend down on Newcomb Street who is positively green over my deviled eggs. I gave her my recipe, but she says hers just don’t taste the same.” She winked at me. “I’m certain she’d pay handsomely for a supply of my secret ingredient if it became available.” She turned to go, then said, “By-the-by, Julianna, you have done a mighty fine job on that front yard. Most impressive!”
“嗯，我欠的钱可能能给你些贡献，而我对此很抱歉。我会确认这周一次性付清，但考虑一下用一部分钱买只公鸡。我有个朋友住在纽科姆街上，她对我的芥末鸡蛋很是嫉妒。我给了她我的配方，但她说她的味道不同。”她对我眨眼。“我很确定她会慷慨地用我的秘密配料换一顿饭，如果这有价值的话。”她转身要走，然后说：“对了，朱莉安娜，你把那个前院弄得非常好。令人印象深刻。”
Should I really get a rooster? I’d heard that having one around made chickens lay more, whether they were in contact with each other or not. I could even breed my chickens and get a whole new set of layers. But did I really want to go through all of that again?
我真的应该弄到一只公鸡吗？我听说过弄到一只能够让母鸡下更多蛋，不管它们是否接触过。我甚至还能繁殖一部分，得到一批新的母鸡。但是我真的想要再重复一遍吗？
I finished scooping up the piles I’d made and thought about what Mrs. Stueby had said.
我结束了铲除我弄出的垃圾，然后想了想史努比太太所说的。
Not really. I didn’t want to be the neighborhood rancher. If my girls quit laying altogether, that would be just fine with me.
不太想。我也不想成为邻居的大农场主。如果我的母鸡们不再下蛋，这对我来说也没什么。
Little did I know how a few days back at school would change all of that.
我并不知道回到学校的几天后，一切都会改变了。
“Thanks, Mrs. Stueby,” I called as she slid open her patio door. “Thanks very much.”
“谢谢，史努比太太，”我在她打开露台门时喊道，“非常感谢。“
I put away the rake and shovel, clucked a kiss on each of the hens, and went inside. It felt good to take charge of my own destiny! I felt strong and right and certain.
我把耙子和铲子放好，给了每只鸡一个吻，然后走了进去。让我自己的命运有所改变感觉很好！我感到强壮、正确和肯定。
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