After they cut down the sycamore tree, it seemed like everything else fell apart, too. Champ died. And then I found out about the eggs. It was Champ’s time to go, and even though I still miss him, I think it’s been easier for me to deal with his death than it has been for me to deal with the truth about the eggs. I still cannot believe it about the eggs.
他们砍掉梧桐树之后，似乎所有的事都脱离了正轨。钱普死了。然后我发现了关于鸡蛋的事。钱普的时候到了，尽管我很想念他，我还是认为面对他的死亡比面对鸡蛋的真相要容易得多。我仍旧不敢相信关于鸡蛋的事。
The eggs came before the chickens in our case, but the dog came before them both. One night when I was about six years old, Dad came home from work with a full-grown dog tied down in the back of his truck. Someone had hit it in the middle of an intersection, and Dad had stopped to see how badly it was hurt. Then he noticed that the poor thing was skinny as a rail and didn’t have any tags. “Starving and completely disoriented,” he told my mother. “Can you imagine someone abandoning their dog like that?”
事实上，鸡蛋是在鸡之前来的，但是狗比它们来得更早。我大约六岁的一天晚上，爸爸下班回来，带着一只拴在卡车厢里未成年的小狗。有人在十字路口撞到了它，所以爸爸停下来看它伤得有多重。然后他发现它瘦得像根杆儿，而且没挂任何牌子。“很饿又完全迷失了方向，”他告诉我妈妈。“你能想象有人这样抛弃他的狗吗？”
The whole family had converged on the front porch, and I could hardly contain myself. A dog! A wonderful, happy, panty dog! I realize now that Champ was never much of a looker, but when you’re six, any dog — no matter how mangy — is a glorious, huggable creature.
我们全家都聚在了门廊前面，而我几乎无法控制自己。一条狗！一条很好的，快乐的小狗！我现在才发现钱普其实并不好看，但是当你只有六岁，任何狗——不管有多脏——都是一个伟大的，令人喜爱的生命。
“Trina,” my dad said, “it’s not a matter of ownership. It’s a matter of compassion.”
“崔娜，”爸爸说，“这跟所有权没关系，这跟同情心有关。”
“You’re not springing it on me as a… a pet, then?”
“所以说…你并不想让我把它当作一个…一个宠物？”
“Well, then what do you intend to do?”
“好吧，那你的打算是什么？”
She eyed him from across the threshold. “There’ll be no “maybe” about it.”
她抬着眼看他。“这里没有‘也许’。”
“That is definitely not my intention.”
“这绝对不是我的打算。”
My father put one arm around Matt’s shoulder and the other around Mike’s. “Someday, boys, we’ll get a puppy.”
爸爸把一只手搭在马特肩上，另一只在迈克肩上，“总有一天，我们能有条小狗。”
“But Mo-om,” they moaned.
“但是，妈妈，”他们抱怨道。
My brothers said, “We don’t get to keep him?”
哥哥们说：“我们不把他留下来吗？”
He looked pretty good to my brothers, too, but from the way my mother’s face was pinched, I could tell she was thinking, Abandon this dog? Oh, I can see it. I can definitely see it. What she said, though, was simply, “There is no room for that animal in this house.”
他在我的哥哥们眼里也挺好，但是从我妈妈的脸部表情，我就能看出她在想，抛弃这条狗？哦，我当然能看出来。我绝对能。但是她说的却很简洁，“我们家没有任何房间给这条狗。”
“Give him a decent meal, a bath… then maybe we’ll place an ad and find him a home.”
“给他一顿像样的晚餐，洗个澡…然后也许我们做个广告给他找一个家。”
“That’s right.”
“没错。”
“It’s not open to discussion,” she said. “He gets a bath, he gets a meal, he gets an ad in the paper.”
“这没得商量，”她说，“他能一个澡，他能得到一顿饭，他能有一张广告。”
My mother was already heading back inside, but over her shoulder came, “Not until you learn to keep your room neat, boys!”
妈妈已经走了进去，但她回过头，“在你们懂得如何保持房间清洁之后，男孩们！”
Then my mother started noticing an odor. A mysterious odor of indeterminate origin. We all admitted we smelled it, too, but where my mother was convinced it was Eau de Champ, we disagreed. She had us bathing him so often that it couldn’t possibly be him. We each sniffed him out pretty good and he smelled perfectly rosy.
然后妈妈开始注意到了气味。一股没来源的神秘的臭味。我们都承认闻到了，但是当我妈妈相信是来自钱普的时候，我们全都不同意。她让我们经常给他洗澡，几乎不可能是他。我们每个人都闻过他，而他闻起来绝对很好。
By the end of the week, the dog was named Champ. By the end of the next week, he’d made it from the backyard into the kitchen area. And not too long after that, he was all moved in. It seemed nobody wanted a full-grown dog with a happy bark. Nobody but four-fifths of the Baker family, anyway.
那周结束前，他被命名为钱普。又过了一周，他已经从后院占领了厨房。在那之后没多久，他就到处乱跑。好像没有人会想要一只会乱叫的未成年狗。除了五分之四的贝克一家。
My personal suspicion was that Matt and Mike were the ones not bathing enough, but I didn’t want to get close enough to sniff them. And since our camp was divided on just who the culprit or culprits were, the odor was dubbed the Mystery Smell. Whole dinnertime discussions revolved around the Mystery Smell, which my brothers found amusing and my mother did not.
我个人怀疑没有经常洗澡的是马特和迈克，但是我不想走近去闻。而自从我们家被分为了嫌疑人和侦探两方，那气味被命名为神秘气味。整个晚餐时间讨论都围绕着神秘气味，哥哥们觉得很有趣，可妈妈却不那么认为。
Then one day my mother cracked the case. And she might have cracked Champ’s skull as well if my dad hadn’t come to the rescue and shooed him outside.
然后有一天妈妈发现了问题，她有可能直接砸开钱普的头颅，如果爸爸没有前去援救，把他先赶到了院子。
My father raced with a roll of paper towels to where Champ had been, and said, “Where? Where is it?”
爸爸拿起一卷卷纸到了钱普呆过的地方，“哪儿？在哪儿呢？”
All of three drops were dripping down the table leg. “There,” my mother said, pointing a shaky finger at the wetness. “There!”
有什么东西沿着桌腿往下滴，“那儿，”妈妈说，用颤抖的手指指着湿的地方，“就在那里！”
“Exactly!” my mother said with her hands on her hips. “Which is why I’ve never been able to find anything. That dog stays outside from now on. Do you hear me? He is no longer allowed in this house!”
“确实如此！”妈妈双手叉腰地说，“这就是为什么我不能找到任何线索。从现在开始那条狗呆在外面。
Mom was fuming. “I told you it was him. The Mystery Smell comes from the Mystery Pisser! Did you see that? Did you see that? He just squirted on the end table!”
妈妈当时非常愤怒。“我告诉过你是他。神秘气味就是从神秘尿人身上来的！你看见了吗？看见了吗？他就尿在了桌子底下！”
“How about the garage?” I asked. “Can he sleep in there?”
“那地下室呢？”我问，“他能睡在那儿吗？”
Dad wiped it up, then checked the carpet and said, “It was barely a drop.”
爸爸把它擦干净，然后边检查地毯边说，“只是一点点而已。”
“And have him tag everything that’s out there? No!”
“然后让他把那儿的东西也画上标记？不行！”
“Yeah! Cool!”
“好啊，太酷了！”
Mike and Matt were grinning at each other. “Mystery Pisser! That could be the name for our band!”
迈克和马特正咧着嘴笑，“神秘尿人！那可以是我们乐队的名字！”
“Band?” my mother asked. “Wait a minute, what band?” But they were already flying down to their room, laughing about the possibilities for a logo.
“乐队？”妈妈问，“等等，什么乐队？”但是他们已经飞到了楼上的房间，笑着讨论关于商标的可能性。
So Champ became an outside dog, and he might have been our only pet ever if it hadn’t been for my fifth-grade science fair.
就这样钱普变成了外面的狗，而如果不是我五年级的科学展，他可能一直都是我们唯一的宠物。听见了吗？他再也不能进这个家了！”
Everyone around me had great project ideas, but I couldn’t seem to come up with one. Then our teacher, Mrs. Brubeck, took me aside and told me about a friend of hers who had chickens, and how she could get me a fertilized egg for my project.
我周围所有人都有很好的课题，但是我似乎想不到。然后我们的老师，布鲁贝克太太，把我拉到一边告诉我她有一个朋友在养鸡，她可以弄到一个可受精的鸡蛋作为我的课题。
“But what if it dies?”
“但是万一它死了呢？”
She smiled and put her arm around my shoulders. “You don’t have to be an immediate expert at everything, Juli. The idea here is to learn something new.”
她微笑着把手搭在我的肩上，“你不需要突然变成一个专家，朱莉。这个主意是想让人学些新的东西。”
“But I don’t know anything about hatching an egg,” I told her.
“但是我根本不知道任何有关孵蛋的事。”我告诉她。
My father and I spent the rest of the day sniffing out and destroying criminal evidence. My dad used a spray bottle of ammonia; I followed up with Lysol. We did try to recruit my brothers, but they wound up getting into a spray-bottle fight, which got them locked in their room, which, of course, was fine with them.
而我和爸爸用了剩下一天的时间闻气味并消灭犯罪证据。爸爸用一瓶氨水喷雾剂；我跟着再喷消毒液。我们试着让哥哥们一起，但是他们开始用喷水器打架，这让他们被锁住了房间里，当然，这对他们来说没有关系。
“Then it dies. Document your work scientifically and you’ll still get an A, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“那就死了呗。只要证明你的工作很科学你就能拿到优秀，如果这是你担心的。”
Suddenly there was real appeal in building a volcano or making my own neoprene or demonstrating the various scientific applications of gear ratios.
突然间制作模拟火山或制造自己的橡胶，或是展示齿轮各种各样的科学应用对我变得有吸引力。
I said, “But…,” but she was gone. Off to put an end to some other student’s battle with indecision.
我说，“但是…，”但她已经走了。去解决另一个学生和犹豫不决的战争。
I was supposed to control humidity, too, or horrible things would happen to the chick. Too dry and the chick couldn’t peck out; too wet and it would die of mushy chick disease. Mushy chick disease?!
我还应该控制湿度，否则会有很糟糕的事发生在鸡上。太干了小鸡不会孵出来；太湿了它会因为软小鸡病而死去。软小鸡病？！
An A? Being responsible for the death of a baby chick — that’s what I was worried about.
一个优秀？要承担一个小鸡的死亡——这才是我担心的。
But the ball was in motion, and Mrs. Brubeck would have no more discussion about it. She pulled The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens from her bookshelf and said, “Read the section on artificial incubation and set yourself up tonight. I’ll get you an egg tomorrow.”
但是这已经开始了，而布鲁贝克太太不会再更多地讨论这个问题。她从书柜上抽出《养鸡新手指南》，说道：“阅读人工孵化的章节，做好准备。明天我会给你鸡蛋。”
“But…”
“但是…”
“Don’t worry so much, Juli,” she said. “We do this every year, and it’s always one of the best projects at the fair.”
“别再担心了，朱莉，”她说，“我们每年都做，这每次都是最好的展品之一。”
That night I was more worried than ever. I’d read the chapter on incubation at least four times and was still confused about where to start. I didn’t happen to have an old aquarium lying around! We didn’t happen to have an incubation thermometer! Would a deep-fry model work?
那天晚上我从没这么担心过。我至少读了四遍有关孵化的章节可是还是不知从何开始。我们没有孵化的场地！我们也没有一支孵化温度计！测油温的温度计能用吗？
My father, however, understood that you can’t refuse to do your teacher’s assignment, and he promised to help. “An incubator’s not difficult to build. We’ll make one after dinner.”
然而，爸爸了解你不能拒绝老师的任务，然后他保证会帮忙。“一个孵化器并不难做。吃晚饭我们可以做一个。”
My mother, being the sensible person that she is, told me to tell Mrs. Brubeck that I simply wouldn’t be hatching a chick. “Have you considered growing beans?” she asked me.
妈妈，作为一个敏感的人，告诉我去告诉布鲁贝克太太我不能孵出小鸡。“你考虑过种豆芽吗？”
How my father knows exactly where things are in our garage is one of the wonders of the universe. How he knew about incubators, however, was revealed to me while he was drilling a one-inch hole in an old scrap of Plexiglas. “I raised a duck from an egg when I was in high school.” He grinned at me. “Science fair project.”
我很想知道爸爸是怎么知道那些东西放在地下室的什么位置的。然而当他在一个树胶玻璃的碎片上钻一英寸的孔时，他向我透露了他怎么会知道有关孵化的事。“我高中的时候养了一只鸭，它也是从蛋孵化而来的。”他对我露齿而笑。“科学展的课题。”
“A duck?”
“一只鸭？”
“Yes, but the principle is the same for all poultry. Keep the temperature constant and the humidity right, turn the egg several times a day, and in a few weeks you’ll have yourself a little peeper.”
“是啊，不过任何家禽的原理都是一样的。保持温度不变，湿度正确，一天翻几次蛋，没过几个星期你就会等到一只小鸡。”
He handed me a lightbulb and an extension cord with a socket attached. “Fasten this through the hole in the Plexiglas. I’ll find some thermometers.”
他递给我一个灯泡和一根带插头电缆的电话线。“把这个穿过树胶玻璃上的孔然后系紧。我会找到一些温度计。”
“A hygrometer?”
“一个湿度计？”
I smiled. “No mushy chick disease?”
我微笑。“没有软小鸡病了？”
“We have to make you a hygrometer.”
“我们要为你做一个湿度计。”
“Some? We need more than one?”
“一些？我们需要不止一个吗？”
He smiled back. “Precisely.”
他回了一个微笑。“的确如此。”
Documentation? Of what? I had to turn the eggs three times a day and regulate the temperature and humidity, but aside from that what was there to do?
档案？什么档案？我需要每天翻三次鸡蛋并控制温度和湿度，但是除此之外还有什么要做的呢？
“To check the humidity inside the incubator. It’s just a thermometer with wet gauze around the bulb.”
“为了检查孵化器内的湿度。只是个玻璃泡上裹了湿纱布的温度计。”
By the next afternoon I had not one, but six chicken eggs incubating at a cozy 102 degrees Fahrenheit. “They don’t all make it, Juli,” Mrs. Brubeck told me. “Hope for one. The record’s three. The grade’s in the documentation. Be a scientist. Good luck.” And with that, she was off.
第二天下午我得到了不是一个，是六个鸡蛋，它们被孵化在舒适的华氏度一百零二度。“它们不会都成功，朱莉，”布鲁贝克太太告诉我。“希望能有一个。记录是孵出了三个，分数会记录进档案。做个科学家。祝你好运。”说完，她就走了。
That night my father came out to the garage with a cardboard tube and a flashlight. He taped the two together so that the light beam was forced straight out the tube. “Let me show you how to candle an egg,” he said, then switched off the garage light.
那天晚上爸爸拿着一个硬纸管和一把手电筒进了地下室。他把它们贴在一起，这样光线就能直接从纸管透出来。“让我来演示怎么照射鸡蛋，”他说，然后关掉了地下室的灯。
I’d seen a section on candling eggs in Mrs. Brubeck’s book, but I hadn’t really read it yet. “Why do they call it that?” I asked him. “And why do you do it?”
我在布鲁贝克太太的书里看到过照射鸡蛋的章节，但是我还没读过。“他们为什么这么叫它？”我问他，“为什么要这么做呢？”
“Why? Wouldn’t it just not hatch?”
“为什么？它们不只是不能孵出来而已吗？”
“People used candles to do this before they had incandescent lighting.” He held an egg up to the cardboard tube. “The light lets you see through the shell so you can watch the embryo develop. Then you can cull the weak ones, if necessary.”
“在没有电灯之前人们用蜡烛做这个。”他把一个鸡蛋放在硬纸管上。“灯光能让你看到蛋壳里面，你可以看见胚胎发育。然后你可以剔除那些虚弱的胚胎，如果有必要的话。”
“The thing that looks like a bean?”
“看起来像豆子的东西？”
“Cull them. Remove the ones that don’t develop properly.”
“剔除它们。移除那些发育不正常的。”
Explode! Between mushy chick disease, exploding eggs, and culling, this project was turning out to be the worst! Then my father said, “Look here, Julianna. You can see the embryo.” He held the flashlight and egg out so I could see.
爆炸！在软小鸡病，鸡蛋爆炸和剔除之间，这个课题正变成最糟的！然后我爸爸说：“看这里，朱莉安娜。你能看见胚胎了。”他把手电筒和鸡蛋举起来让我能看见。
He looked at me. “Leaving an egg you should cull might have disastrous results on the healthy ones.”
他看着我。“留下一个应该剔除的鸡蛋可能会给那些健康的带来严重灾难。”
I looked inside and he said, “See the dark spot there? In the middle? With all the veins leading to it?”
我看着里面，然后他说：“看见那里的暗点吗？在中间？所有的纹理都指向它的？”
“Kill them?”
“杀死它们？”
Suddenly it felt real. This egg was alive. I quickly checked the rest of the group. There were little bean babies in all of them! Surely they had to live. Surely they would all make it!
突然间它感觉很真实。这个鸡蛋是有生命的。我很快地检查了剩下的。每一个鸡蛋里都有个豆子般大小的小宝宝！它们当然都能存活！它们当然能成功！
He went back to lighting up the egg. “It might explode and contaminate the other eggs with bacteria.”
他继续照射着鸡蛋。“它可能会爆炸，然后让其他鸡蛋染上细菌。”
“That’s it!”
“就是它了。”
“But… wouldn’t that also kill them?”
“但是…那样不会杀死它们吗？”
For the next two weeks I was completely consumed with the growing of chicks. I labeled the eggs A, B, C, D, E, and F, but before long they had names, too: Abby, Bonnie, Clyde, Dexter, Eunice, and Florence. Every day I weighed them, candled them, and turned them. I even thought it might be good for them to hear some clucking, so for a while I did that, too, but clucking is tiring! It was much easier to hum around my quiet little flock, so I did that, instead. Soon I was humming without even thinking about it, because when I was around my eggs, I was happy.
接下来的两周我全心全力地关注鸡的成长。我给鸡蛋标记了A，B，C，D，E和F，但是没多久它们就有名字了：艾比，邦妮，克莱德，德克斯特，尤妮斯和弗洛伦斯（Abby，Bonnie，Clyde，Dexter，EuniceandFlorence）。每一天我给它们称重量，照射它们，翻它们。我甚至想到听到母鸡叫可能对它们有好处，所以我试了一会儿，但是学鸡叫太累了！对着我的鸡群哼唱要容易多了，所以我这么做了。没过多久我连想都不用想就开始哼唱，因为当我围绕着我的鸡蛋时，我觉得很快乐。
“I was going to suggest the same thing. Why don’t you prop open the door? I’ll carry it for you.”
“我正好有相同的提议。你先去把门打开，我帮你拿着它们。”
I read The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens cover to cover twice. For my project I drew diagrams of the various stages of an embryo’s development, I made a giant chicken poster, I graphed the daily fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and I made a line chart documenting the weight loss of each egg. On the outside eggs were boring, but I knew what was happening on the inside!
我从头到尾读了《养鸡新手指南》两遍。我画了胚胎发育各个不同阶段的图表做课题，我做了张特大的小鸡海报，我用折线统计图展示了每一天温度和湿度的波动，我用条形图记录了每个鸡蛋每天减少的重量。从外表看鸡蛋很无聊，但是我知道里面正发生着变化！
“Dad? Can I take the incubator inside? It might get too cold out here at night, don’t you think?”
“爸爸，我能把孵化器拿到里面吗？晚上这儿可能会太冷，你认为呢？”
So the three of us crowded around and watched Bonnie’s heart beat, and even my mother had to admit that it was absolutely amazing.
所以我们三个人就这样围在了一起看邦妮的心跳，甚至连妈妈都承认那非常不可思议。
Clyde was the first to pip. And of course he did it right before I had to leave for school. His little beak cracked through, and while I held my breath and waited, he rested. And rested. Finally his beak poked through again, but almost right away, he rested again. How could I go to school and just leave him this way? What if he needed my help? Surely this was a valid reason to stay home, at least for a little while!
克莱德是第一个开始啄的。他就在我准备去学校前开始。他的尖嘴啄开了蛋壳，但正当我屏住呼吸等待的时候，他停了下来。又停了下来。最后他的尖嘴又伸了出来，但就在这时，他又停了下来。我怎么能去学校把他这样留下来呢？如果他需要我帮助呢？这当然是个留在家的正当理由，至少再留一会儿！
He studied it for a moment, then smiled and said, “Let me get your mother.”
他盯着它看了一会儿，然后微笑着说：“我去叫你妈妈。”
My father tried to assure me that hatching out could take all day and that there’d be plenty of action left after school, but I’d have none of that. Oh, no-no-no! I wanted to see Abby and Bonnie and Clyde and Dexter and Eunice and Florence come into the world. Every single one of them. “I can’t miss the hatch!” I told him. “Not even a second of it!”
爸爸试着说服我，破蛋而出需要一整天的时间，而学校里有许多事会落下，但是我很坚持。哦，不不不！我想看到艾比，邦妮，克莱德，德克斯特，尤妮斯和弗洛伦斯来到这个世界。它们每一个。“我不能错过孵化过程！”我告诉他，“一秒钟也不行！”
Then two days before the science fair I was candling Bonnie when I noticed something. I called my dad into my room and said, “Look, Dad! Look at this! Is that the heart beating?”
然后在科学展的两天前，在我照射邦妮的时候我有了重大发现。我把爸爸叫进我房间说道：“看，爸爸！看这个！那是心的跳动吗？”
Clyde and Bonnie were the first ones out. It was disappointing at first because they just lay there all wet and matted, looking exhausted and ugly.
克莱德和邦妮是最先出来的。一开始很令人失望因为它们只是躺在那儿，全身湿透，毫无光泽，看起来疲惫而丑陋。
But by the time Abby and Dexter broke out, Bonnie and Clyde were fluffing up, looking for action.
但是到了艾比和德克斯特破壳而出的时候，邦妮和克莱德已能够扇动着羽毛试着走动。
The last two took forever, but Mrs. Brubeck insisted that I leave them alone, and that worked out pretty great because they hatched out during the fair that night. My whole family came, and even though Matt and Mike only watched for about two minutes before they took off to look at some other demonstration, my mom and dad stuck around for the whole thing. Mom even picked Bonnie up and nuzzled her.
最后两个用了无休止的时间，但是布鲁贝克太太坚持要我让它们单独呆着，那很成功，因为它们在晚上的展览期间孵了出来。我们全家都来了，尽管马特和迈克只看了大概两分钟就离开去看了一些别的展示，妈妈和爸爸一直都在那儿。妈妈甚至举起了邦妮，和她紧挨在一起。
Mrs. Brubeck didn’t mind a bit. She was so busy helping kids with their projects that I got to spend nearly the entire day watching the hatch.
布鲁贝克太太一点儿都没介意。她忙着帮助其他学生的课题而我几乎用了一整天看它们孵化。
“So take it to school with you,” my mother said. “Mrs. Brubeck shouldn’t mind. After all, this was her idea.”
“那就把它们一起带到学校，”妈妈说，“布鲁贝克太太不会介意。毕竟，这是她的提议。”
Sometimes it pays to have a sensible mother. I’d just set up for the science fair early, that’s what I’d do! I packed up my entire operation, posters, charts, and all, and got a ride to school from my mom.
有时有个明智的母亲是值得的。我只是早点为科学博览会做准备，我就是这么做的！我收拾好了整个手术、海报、图表等等，然后从妈妈那里搭车去学校。
That night after it was all over and I was packing up to go home, Mom asked, “So do these go back to Mrs. Brubeck now?”
那晚过后一切都结束了，当我准备回家的时候，妈妈问道：“所以这些要还给布鲁贝克太太吗？”
“Do what go back to Mrs. Brubeck?” I asked her.
“什么要还给布鲁贝克太太？”我问她。
“The chicks, Juli. You’re not planning to raise chickens, are you?”
“小鸡们，朱莉。你没在计划养鸡吧？”
To be honest, I hadn’t thought beyond the hatch. My focus had been strictly on bringing them into the world. But she was right — here they were.
老实地说，我还没想到这么远。我的注意力完全集中在了把它们带到这个世界上。但是她说对了——它们已经出来了。
Six fluffy little adorable chicks, each of which had a name and, I could already tell, its own unique personality.
六个毛茸茸的可爱的小家伙，每一个都有名字而且，我已经能说，它们都有独一无二的个性。
To my relief and my mother’s horror, Mrs. Brubeck said they were indeed mine. All mine. “Have fun,” she said, then zipped off to help Heidi dismantle her exhibit on Bernoulli’s law.
面对我的宽慰和妈妈的恐慌，布鲁贝克太太说它们当然是我的。全都是。“玩得开心。”她说着就离开我去帮助海蒂解开她的展览品关于伯努利法则的问题。
I tracked down Mrs. Brubeck, but I was praying that she didn’t want me to give them back to her friend. After all, I’d hatched them. I’d named them.
我追上了布鲁贝克太太，但是我在祈祷她不想让我把它们还给她朋友。毕竟，我孵出了它们。我给它们起了名字。
Mom was quiet the whole way home, and I could tell — she wanted chickens like she wanted a tractor and a goat. “Please, Mom?” I whispered as we parked at the curb. “Please?”
整个回家路上妈妈都很安静，我知道——她对鸡的想法就对拖拉机和羊一样。“求你了，妈妈？”在我们停止路边时我轻声说，“求你了。”
I’d saved them from mushy chick disease! These little peepers were mine!
我让它们远离了软小鸡病！这些小东西是我的！
“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. “I’ll ask Mrs. Brubeck.”
“我…我不知道，”我结巴地说，“我会问问布鲁贝克太太。”
Dad turned around and said, “Out. Both of you, get out. Go find a name elsewhere.”
爸爸转过来说：“出去。你们俩，出去。到别的地方玩儿去。”
“They’ll get along, Mom. I’ll teach him. I promise.”
“它们能一起，妈妈。我会教他。我保证。”
So they scrambled out, and the three of us sat in the car with only the gentle peep-peep- peep from my little flock breaking the silence. Finally my mother heaved a heavy sigh and said, “They don’t cost much to keep, do they?”
他们冲了出去，我们三人坐在车里，只有温柔的吱吱声从盒子里传来，打破了宁静。最后妈妈沉重地叹了口气说道：“留下他们不会有太大开销，是吗？”
My dad said softly, “They’re pretty self-sufficient, Trina.”
爸爸温和地说：“它们都挺自给自足的，崔娜。”
“You mean like we’re chick killers? Or like we kill the chicks?”
“你的意思是我们都是小鸡杀手？或者我们都杀死小鸡？”
My brothers looked at each other with enormous eyes and started up all over again. “Kill the Chicks! That’s it! Get it?”
哥哥们瞪大眼睛看着对方，然后又重新开始。“杀死小鸡！就是它了！明白吗？”
“Whoa! Yellow Already — cool name.”
“喔！已经黄色——好酷的名字。”
“Oh, yeah — forget that!”
“哦，是啊——忘了吧！”
But then the boys piped up with, “Champ’ll piss ’em to death, Mom,” and suddenly they were on a roll. “Yeah! But you won’t even notice ’cause they’re yellow already!”
但是男孩们冲出来说道：“钱普会把它们尿死的，妈妈，”他们突然又开始异想天开。“没错！但你根本不会注意到因为它们已经是黄色的了！”
“That could work! But wait — people might think we mean our bellies!”
“听起来很好！但是等等——人们可能会误会的！”
“Yeah, just let him kill the chicks.”
“恩，就让他杀死小鸡好了。”
“In the backyard?” I didn’t know what else to suggest.
“在后院？”我不知道还有什么提议。
“What about Champ?”
“那钱普呢？”
She covered her face. “Where are we going to raise chickens, Juli? Where?”
她拉下了脸：“你要在哪里养鸡，朱莉？哪里？”
My dad shook his head. “They eat bugs, Trina. And a little feed. They’re very low- maintenance.”
爸爸摇摇头。“他们吃虫子，崔娜。只需要一点点喂食。饲养费会很低。”
“Bugs? Really? What sort of bugs?”
“虫子？真的吗？哪一种虫子？”
“Earwigs, worms, roly-polys… probably spiders, if they can catch them. I think they eat snails, too.”
“蜈蚣、蠕虫、西瓜虫…可能还有蜘蛛，如果他们能抓到的话。我认为他们也吃蜗牛。”
“Seriously?” My mother smiled. “Well, in that case…”
“真的吗？”妈妈微笑了，“恩，如果这样的话…”
“Oh, thank you, Mom. Thank you!”
“哦，谢谢你，妈妈。谢谢！”
And that’s how we wound up with chickens. What none of us thought of was that six chickens scratching for bugs not only gets rid of bugs, it also tears up grass. Within six months there was nothing whatsoever left of our yard.
我们就这样开始养鸡。只是我们都没想到六只鸡寻找虫子不仅会消灭虫子，还拔掉了草。不到六个月我们的院子里就什么都没有了。
Then my brothers started trapping the mice, which I thought was just to help out. I didn’t suspect a thing until the day I heard my mother screaming from the depths of their room. They were, it turns out, raising a boa constrictor.
接着哥哥们开始捕老鼠，我以为他们是想帮忙。我没往别的地方想，直到有一天我听见妈妈在他们的房间里尖叫。原来他们在抚养一直蟒蛇。
What we also didn’t think of was that chicken feed attracts mice, and mice attract cats. Feral cats. Champ was pretty good at keeping the cats out of the yard, but they’d hang around the front yard or the side yard, just waiting for him to snooze so they could sneak in and pounce on some tender little mousy vittles.
我们也没有想到鸡饲料吸引老鼠，而老鼠吸引猫。野猫。钱普在把猫赶出院子方面是个能手，但是它们会聚集在前院或侧院，等到他打盹的时候可以溜进来抓几只脆弱的小老鼠吃。
“They’re not chicks, Mom… they’re eggs!”
“它们不是小鸡，妈妈…是鸡蛋！”
As it turns out, my hens laid more eggs than we could eat. At first we tried to keep up, but soon we were tired of boiling and pickling and deviling, and my mother started complaining that all these free eggs were costing her way too much.
结果，它们下的蛋供过于求，我们家都吃不完了。一开始我们还试图多吃点，但是没多久我们煮蛋、煎蛋、各式各样的鸡蛋都吃了遍，妈妈开始抱怨这些鸡蛋实在是源源不绝。
Mom’s foot came down in a big way, and I thought she was going to throw us out, lock, stock, and boa, but then I made the most amazing discovery — chickens lay eggs! Beautiful, shiny, creamy white eggs! I first found one under Bonnie, then Clyde — whom I immediately renamed Clydette — and one more in Florence’s bed. Eggs!
妈妈脚步沉重地从楼上下来，我以为她会把我们、储藏物和蛇一起都扔出去，但我有了一个不可思议的发现——鸡下蛋了！光滑的乳白色鸡蛋！我先在邦妮下找到了一个，然后是克莱德——我立即给她改名叫克莱蒂特——还有一个在弗洛伦斯下面。鸡蛋！
I raced inside to show my mom, and after a brief moment of blinking at them, she withered into a chair. “No,” she whimpered. “No more chicks!”
我冲进房间给妈妈看，在看着它们傻眼了一会儿之后，她跌进一把椅子。“不，”她啜泣着，“别再有更多鸡了！”
“Oh.” The color was coming back to her cheeks. “Is that so?”
“哦。”她的脸色这才开始好起来。“是这样吗？”
She was still looking quite pale, so I sat in the chair next to her and said, “We don’t have a rooster…?”
她看起来还是很苍白，所以我在她边上坐下说：“我们没有公鸡吗…？”
“I’ve never heard a cock-a-doodle-do, have you?”
“我从没听到过鸡鸣，你呢？”
She laughed. “’41 blessing I guess I’ve forgotten to count.” She sat up a little and took an egg from my palm. “Eggs, huh. How many do you suppose they’ll lay?”
她笑了。“幸亏我也没有。”她坐直了点然后从我掌心拿了一个鸡蛋。“鸡蛋，哈。你认为它们会下多少蛋？”
“I have no idea.”
“我不知道。”
“Really?” I asked.
“真的？”我问。
“Most certainly. Nothing quite like free-range eggs. Two dollars a dozen sound fair to you?”
“当然。没什么能和养鸡蛋相比。两块钱一打可以吗？”
Then one afternoon as I was collecting eggs, our neighbor Mrs. Stueby leaned over the side fence and said, “If you ever have any extra, I’d be happy to buy them from you.”
直到一天下午我在收集鸡蛋，我们的邻居史努比太太从栅栏上探出头来，“如果你有多余的鸡蛋，我可以买一点儿。”
“Okay, then. Whenever you have some extras, just bring ’em over. Mrs. Helms and I got to discussing it last night on the phone, but I asked you first, so make sure you offer ’em up to me before her, okay, Juli?”
“好吧。只要有多余的蛋就拿来给我。哈姆斯太太和我昨晚电话讨论过了，但是我先问你的，所以一定要先给我再给她，好吗，朱莉？”
Between Mrs. Stueby and Mrs. Helms three doors down, my egg overflow problem was solved. And maybe I should’ve turned the money over to my mother as payment for having destroyed the backyard, but one “Nonsense, Julianna. It’s yours,” was all it took for me to start squirreling it away.
有了史努比和哈姆斯太太，我多余的鸡蛋终于有着落了。但是也许我应该定期把那些钱交给妈妈，因为我毁掉了后院，但是一句“胡说，朱莉安娜。钱是你的，”就让我只能把钱都存了起来。
“Sure thing, Mrs. Stueby!”
“没问题，史努比太太！”
Then one day as I was walking down to Mrs. Helms’ house, Mrs. Loski drove by. She waved and smiled, and I realized with a pang of guilt that I wasn’t being very neighborly about my eggs. She didn’t know that Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Stueby were paying me for these eggs. She probably thought I was delivering them out of the kindness of my heart.
然后一天当我去哈姆斯太太家的时候，洛世奇太太正好开车经过。她招手对我微笑，但我感到一阵内疚因为在鸡蛋方面我没有表现得很友善。她不知道哈姆斯和史努比太太为鸡蛋付了钱的。她可能认为我送鸡蛋是因为我很好心。
Two dollars a dozen! I laughed and said, “Sure!”
两块钱一打！我笑着说：“当然。”
And maybe I should’ve been giving the eggs away, but I’d never had a steady income before. Allowance at our house is a hit-or-miss sort of thing.
也许我不应该把鸡蛋送出去，但我从没有过固定的收入。在我们家通常都不会有零用钱。
Usually a miss. And earning money from my eggs gave me this secret happy feeling, which I was reluctant to have the kindness of my heart encroach upon.
而通过鸡蛋赚钱给了我一种神秘的快乐感，这似乎占据了我的好心。
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Mrs. Loski deserved some free eggs.
但是我越想越觉得，洛世奇太太应该得到一些免费鸡蛋。
She had been a good neighbor to us, lending us supplies when we ran out unexpectedly and being late to work herself when my mother needed a ride because our car wouldn’t start. A few eggs now and again… it was the least I could do.
她是个很好的邻居，经常帮助我们家，我家车坏了时，还让我妈妈搭顺风车。我只有送些鸡蛋表示感谢。
There was also the decidedly blissful possibility of running into Bryce. And in the chilly sparkle of a new day, Bryce’s eyes seemed bluer than ever. The way he looked at me — the smile, the blush — it was a Bryce I didn’t get to see at school. The Bryce at school was way more protected.
而且这还有极大的可能遇到布莱斯。在这样寒冷的充满生气的新的一天，布莱斯的眼睛看起来湛蓝无比。他看着我的方式——他微笑脸红的样子——是我没在学校里见过的。在学校的布莱斯似乎更加防备。
By the third time I brought eggs over to the Loskis, I realized that Bryce was waiting for me. Waiting to pull the door open and say, “Thanks, Juli,” and then, “See you at school.”
当我第三次去洛世奇家送鸡蛋时，我发现布莱斯特意在等我。等着打开门说，“谢谢，朱莉，”然后，“学校见。”
I was upset and pretty dazed for a while. It was raining a lot and I was riding my bike to school to avoid having to take the bus, and each day when I’d get home, I’d retreat to my room, lose myself in a novel, and simply forget about collecting eggs.
整个星期我都很伤心，精神恍惚。虽然经常下雨但我仍旧骑车上学避免了乘公车，当我每天我回到家，我会退回我房间，沉迷在一本小说里，直接忘记了收集鸡蛋。
It was worth it. Even after Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Stueby offered me more money per dozen, it was still worth it. So, through the rest of sixth grade, through all of seventh grade and most of eighth, I delivered eggs to the Loskis. The very best, shiniest eggs went straight to the Loskis, and in return I got a few moments alone with the world’s most dazzling eyes. It was a bargain.
这很值得。就算在哈姆斯和史努比太太加价了之后，我还是觉得值得。所以，六年级剩下的时间，整个七年级和大部分的八年级，我送鸡蛋到洛世奇家。最好的、闪亮的鸡蛋总是给洛世奇家，而我可以和那双世界上最闪亮的眼睛单独相处几分钟。一切都值了。
Then they cut down the sycamore tree. And two weeks later Champ died. He’d been spending a lot of time sleeping, and even though we didn’t really know how old he was, no one was really surprised when one night Dad went out to feed him and discovered he was dead. We buried him in the backyard, and my brothers put up a cross that reads:
然后他们就砍掉了梧桐树。两个星期后钱普死了。他当时有很长时间都在睡觉，虽然我不知道他究竟有几岁，但是有天晚上爸爸出去喂他时发现他死了我们都没有很惊讶。我们把他葬在了后院，哥哥们立了一个十字架，上面写着：
Mrs. Stueby was the one who got me back on schedule. She called to say she’d read about the tree in the paper and was sorry about everything that had happened, but it had been some time now and she missed her eggs and was worried that my hens might quit laying. “Distress can push a bird straight into a molting, and we wouldn’t want that! Feathers everywhere and not an egg in sight. I’m quite allergic to the feathers myself or I’d probably have a flock of my own, but never you mind. You just bring ’em over when you’re up to it. All’s I wanted was to check in and let you know how sorry I was about the tree. And your dog, too. Your mother mentioned he passed away.”
史努比太太把我拉回了时间表。她打电话过来说她在报纸上读到了关于树的事，她感到很抱歉，但是已经过了一段时间而她开始想念鸡蛋，并且担心那些母鸡们会不再下蛋。“悲痛会让鸡脱毛，而我们不希望那样！羽毛到处飞却见不到一只鸡蛋。我对羽毛过敏，否则我就会自己养一群，但是别担心。当你想到的时候就带些过来。我只是打个招呼并让你知道我为树感到抱歉。还有你的狗。你妈妈提到他过世了。”
HERE LIES THE MYSTERY PISSER P. I. P.
神秘尿人在此长眠。
He took the half-carton and said, “You know, you don’t have to give us these…”
他接过那半盒然后说：“你知道，你不需要给我们这些…”
My heart started beating faster, and when the door whooshed open and his blue eyes looked right at me, it took everything I had just to say, “Here.”
我的心跳开始加速，当门打开的时候，他的蓝眼睛直视着我，它让我只能说出一句话，“给你。”
So I got back to work. I cleared away the eggs I’d neglected and got back into my routine of collecting and cleaning. And one morning when I had enough, I made the rounds. First Mrs. Stueby, then Mrs. Helms, and finally the Loskis. And as I stood at the Loskis’ threshold, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Bryce in the longest time. Sure, we’d both been at school, but I’d been so preoccupied with other things that I hadn’t really seen him.
所以我重新开始工作。我扔掉了坏掉的蛋，重新开始常规的收集和清洁。当一天早上我有足够的鸡蛋时，我开始分头送。先是史努比太太，然后哈姆斯太太，最后是洛世奇家。当我站在洛世奇家门前时，我发现这是我最久一次没见到布莱斯。当然，我们都在学校，但是我只对其他的事情专注，而有些忽略了他。
We stood there for a record-breaking amount of time saying nothing. Finally he said, “So are you going to start riding the bus again?”
我们一言不发站在那儿的时间肯定又破了纪录。最后他说：“你什么时候开始乘车？”
“I know,” I said, and looked down.
“我知道。”我说着，低下了头。
“It doesn’t look so bad anymore. It’s all cleared. They’ll probably start on the foundation soon.”
“它看起来没那么糟了。都清理得差不多了。他们大概很快会开始建地基。”
I looked up at him and shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t been up there since… you know.”
我抬头看着他，耸了耸肩：“我不知道。从那以后我就不太想乘车。”
“Well,” he said, “I’ve got to get ready for school. See you there.” Then he smiled and closed the door.
“嗯，”他说，“我要去准备上学。到时候见。”然后他微笑着关上了门。
I reached over and said, “Do you need some help?” because it looked like he was about to spill the trash. Then I saw the corner of an egg carton.
我伸出手说：“你需要帮忙吗？”因为他看起来像要撒掉垃圾。然后我看到了角落里的鸡蛋盒。
For some reason I just stood there. I felt odd. Out of sorts. Disconnected from everything around me. Was I ever going to go back up to Collier Street? I had to eventually, or so my mother said. Was I just making it harder?
因为一些原因我只是站在那儿。我感觉很奇怪。不知为什么。有什么把我和一切都隔开了。我什么时候要再回科里尔街？这是迟早的事，妈妈也这样说。我让一切都更糟糕了吗？
It sounded perfectly awful to me.
这听起来很糟糕。
He startled me, too. I didn’t know what I was still doing there. And I was so flustered that I would probably just have run home if he hadn’t started struggling with the trash, trying to shove the contents down.
他也吓了我一跳。我也不知道我为什么还在那儿。我极其慌乱，如果他没有一直和垃圾作斗争，试着把东西塞下去的话，我可能会直接跑回家。
Suddenly the door flew open and Bryce came hurrying out with an overfull kitchen trash can in his hands. “Juli!” he said. “What are you still doing here?”
突然间门打开了，布莱斯抱着一个满了的垃圾桶走出来。“朱莉！”他说，“你还在这儿呢？”
And through the little blue cardboard arcs I could see eggs.
透过蓝色的硬纸板我还能看见鸡蛋。
This wasn’t just any egg carton either. It was my egg carton. The one I’d just brought him.
而那不是其他的鸡蛋盒。那是我的蛋盒。我刚送给他的。
He pushed past me and went around the house to the trash bin, and I followed him, waiting for an answer.
他绕过我走向垃圾桶，我跟着他，等待一个答案。
“It is not!” I cried, but the truth was sitting right across the street, impossible to deny. My throat suddenly choked closed and I found it painful to speak. “Have you… always thrown them away?”
“它没有！”我哭喊道，但是真相就在街对面，无法否认。我的喉咙突然间开始颤抖，连说话都很疼痛：“你…一直都把它们扔掉吗？”
“Poisoned! Why?”
“中毒！为什么？”
He shook the garbage out, then turned to face me. “Does the word salmonella mean anything to you?”
他扔掉垃圾，然后转过来看着我。“你知道沙门氏菌吗？”
I looked from him to the eggs and said, “What happened? Did you drop them?”
我把视线从鸡蛋移到他身上：“发生了什么？你摔了它们吗？”
I followed him back to the porch. “Are you saying she won’t eat them because –“
我跟着他回到门廊。“你的意思是她不吃是因为——”
“Because she’s afraid of being poisoned.”
“因为她害怕中毒。”
“Because your backyard is, like, covered in turds! I mean, look at your place, Juli!” He pointed at our house and said, “Just look at it. It’s a complete dive!”
“因为你的院子，像，到处都是鸡粪！我的意思是，看看你们的地方，朱莉！”他指着我们的家说，“看看它，实在太糟了！”
“Salmonella? But…”
“沙门氏菌？但是…”
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Yeah, and I’m really sorry about that.”
“是的，”他迅速地说，“是的，我感到很抱歉。”
He tried to stop me, but I took the carton from the trash, saying, “All of them?” I opened the carton and gasped. Six whole, perfect eggs. “Why’d you throw them away?”
他试图阻止我，但我把盒子从垃圾里拿了出来，说，“所有的吗？”我打开盒子，倒抽了口气。六个完整的鸡蛋。“你为什么把它们扔掉？”
“My mom doesn’t think it’s worth the risk.”
“我妈妈认为不该冒这个风险。”
“You’re kidding.”
“开什么玩笑。”
I stumbled home, embarrassed and confused, my heart completely cracked open.
我跌跌撞撞地跑回家，既尴尬又困惑，我的心都碎了。
“I’m sorry, Juli,” he whispered.
“我很抱歉，朱莉。”他轻声说。
I was fighting back tears, but it was hard. I choked out, “I was trying to be neighborly…!”
我把眼泪憋回去，但是这很困难。我哽咽着说：“我只是想友好一点…！”
“Oh,” he said, and looked away. Then he eyed me and said, “Well, why did you just give them to us?”
“哦。”他说，移开了视线。然后他注视着我说：“那你为什么只送给我们？”
“No way.”
“不可能。”
“It’s true! All those eggs I gave to you I could’ve sold to Mrs. Stueby or Mrs. Helms!”
“是真的。我给你的那些鸡蛋我都可以卖给她们！”
“No! They pay me two dollars a dozen!”
“我没有！她们付我一打两块钱！”
“My feelings? Do you realize Mrs. Stueby and Mrs. Helms pay me for my eggs?”
“我的感情？你难道没发现史努比和哈姆斯太太买我的鸡蛋吗？”
He put down the trash can, then did something that made my brain freeze. He held me by the shoulders and looked me right in the eyes. “Mrs. Stueby’s your neighbor, isn’t she? So’s Mrs. Helms, right? Why be neighborly to us and not them?”
他把垃圾桶放下，然后做了一件让我大脑冻结的事。他握住了我的肩，直直地看着我的眼睛。“史努比太太是你的邻居，对吗？哈姆斯太太也是，对吗？为什么对我们友好却不是她们？”
I couldn’t find any words. None at all. I just stared at him, at the clear, brilliant blue of his eyes.
我无话可说。我只是盯着他，看着他眼中清澈光辉的蓝色。
What was he trying to say? Was it still so obvious how I felt about him? And if he knew, how could he have been so heartless, just throwing my eggs away like that, week after week, year after year?
他想要表达什么呢？我对他的感情还是这么显而易见吗？如果他知道，他怎么能如此狠心地把我的鸡蛋扔掉，一周又一周，一年又一年？
He shrugged and looked down. “Juli, look. We didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
他耸了耸肩，低下了头，“朱莉。我们只是不想伤你感情。”
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