VIII—A Swimming Pool at Last
第八章——终于有了游泳池
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN were so tired that they slept until ten o’clock Sunday morning.
棚车孩子们累坏了，一直睡到星期天上午十点才醒。
When they woke up at last, they hurried through breakfast and went to work on the swimming pool.
他们终于醒来后，匆匆吃完早饭，便开始着手修建游泳池。
“We’ll make a dam across the brook,” said Henry.
“我们要在小溪上筑一道坝，”亨利说。
“Here is my cart,” said Benny. “I’ll cart stones and logs in it.”
“这是我的小车，”本尼说，“我可以用它来运石头和木头。”
“Good for you,” laughed Henry.
“真棒，”亨利笑着说。
First the four children went down the brook to look at the pool Jessie had seen.
首先，四个孩子顺着小溪走下去，去看杰西之前发现的那个水潭。
The water was quiet here, and there was clean sand all around the little pool.
这里的水面很平静，小水潭四周都是干净的沙子。
“It’s big enough for a swimming pool,” Henry remarked, “but I don’t think it’s deep enough.”
“做游泳池足够大了，”亨利评论道，“但我觉得还不够深。”
He put a long stick in it to see how deep it was.
他把一根长棍子插进水里测量深度。
When he looked at the wet stick, he found that the water was about a foot deep.
当他查看湿了的棍子时，发现水深大约只有一英尺。
“The swimming pool should be three times as deep,” he said.
“游泳池应该有三倍那么深才行，”他说。
“Then it will be deep enough to swim in and won’t be too deep for Benny.”
“那样的话，深度就足够游泳了，而且对本尼来说也不会太深。”
“We’ll build the dam here with logs and stones.”
“我们就在这里用木头和石头筑坝吧。”
While the other children started the dam, Jessie washed all their stockings.
当其他孩子开始筑坝时，杰西把大家所有的长袜都洗了。
“We won’t want our stockings on while we are working in the brook,” she remarked, as she rinsed them and hung them on the clothesline to dry.
“在小溪里干活时我们不需要穿长袜，”她一边漂洗袜子，一边把它们挂在晾衣绳上晾干时说道。
“So this is a good time to wash them.”
“所以现在正是洗袜子的好时机。”
It was hard work building the dam, but the children liked hard work.
筑坝是件苦差事，但孩子们喜欢这种体力劳动。
Henry and Jessie pulled the logs to the brook, and Violet and Benny carried the stones, with the help of the cart.
亨利和杰西把木头拖到小溪边，维奥莱特和本尼则借助小车运送石头。
Now and then Henry was called on to help with a heavy stone.
偶尔亨利会被叫去帮忙搬沉重的石头。
But the two younger children carried most of them.
但大部分石头还是由两个年幼的孩子搬运的。
“Splash the stones right into the water,” Henry told them.
“直接把石头扔进水里，”亨利告诉他们。
“But be careful to keep them in a line between these two trees.”
“但要小心，让它们在这两棵树之间排成一条直线。”
The children watched with delighted eyes as the wall of stones under the water began to grow higher and higher.
孩子们欣喜地看着水下的石墙越垒越高。
“The rock wall will help to hold the logs in place,” said Henry.
“这道石墙有助于固定木头的位置，”亨利说。
At last it was time to lay the logs across the brook.
终于到了把木头横架在小溪上的时候了。
“Let’s lay the first ones between these two trees,” said Jessie.
“我们把第一批木头架在这两棵树之间吧，”杰西说。
“Then the trees will hold both ends of the logs.”
“这样树就能撑住木头的两端了。”
“Good work!” cried Henry, much pleased.
“好主意！”亨利高兴地喊道。
“That’s just what we’ll do.”
“我们就这么办。”
But when the first big log was splashed into place on top of the stone wall, the water began to run over the top of the log and around both ends.
但是，当第一根大木头被哗啦一声放到石墙顶上时，水开始漫过木头顶部并从两端绕流过去。
“Oh, dear!” cried Jessie.
“哎呀！”杰西叫道。
“The water runs around the ends every time! What shall we do?”
“水总是从两头流走！我们该怎么办？”
“We’ll have to put lots of logs on, with brush between them,” said Henry.
“我们得多放些木头，中间塞上树枝，”亨利说。
“We’ll put on so many that the water can’t get through.”
“我们要堆得密密实实，让水透不过去。”
They laid three logs across, with three more on top of them, and three more on top of those.
他们横着放了三根木头，上面又叠了三根，再上面又加了三根。
Violet filled her arms with brush and held it in place until each log was laid.
维奥莱特怀里抱满树枝，按住它们直到每根木头都铺好。
Benny filled the holes at the ends of the logs with flat stones.
本尼用扁平的石头填满了木头两端的空隙。
Such wet children never were seen before, but the hot sun would dry them off, and no one cared.
从来没见过浑身这么湿的孩子，但烈日很快会把他们晒干，谁也不在乎。
When the three top logs were laid in place at last, the four tired children sat down to watch the pool fill.
当最上面的三根木头终于安放到位后，四个疲惫的孩子坐下来看着水池蓄满水。
But Henry could not sit still as the water came higher and higher up the dam.
但随着水位沿着大坝越升越高，亨利再也坐不住了。
“See how deep the pool is getting!” he cried.
“看这水池变得多深啊！”他喊道。
“See how still it is!”
“看水面多平静啊！”
At last the pool was full, and the water came over the top of the dam and made another waterfall.
终于，水池满了，水漫过大坝顶端，形成了另一道瀑布。
“Just like a mill dam!” said Henry.
“简直就像磨坊的水坝一样！”亨利说。
“Now the pool is deep enough for all of us to swim in.”
“现在水池够深，我们所有人都可以在里面游泳了。”
“You boys can have the first swim,” said Jessie.
“你们男孩可以先游，”杰西说。
“We girls must go and get dinner. We’ll ring the bell when we are ready.”
“我们女孩得去做饭了。准备好了我们就敲铃。”
The boys splashed around in the pool, while the girls made a fire and hung the kettle of brown stew over it, stirring it now and then.
男孩们在水池里扑腾嬉戏，女孩们则生起火，把炖肉汤锅挂在火上，不时搅拌一下。
Violet cut the bread and then got the butter, hard and cold, out of the refrigerator.
维奥莱特切好面包，然后从冰箱里拿出又硬又冷的黄油。
When everything was ready, Jessie rang the dinner bell.
一切准备就绪后，杰西敲响了开饭铃。
This bell was only a tin can from the dump.
这个铃其实只是从垃圾场捡来的一个锡罐。
Jessie had hung it on a tree with a string, and she rang it with a spoon.
杰西用绳子把它挂在树上，用勺子敲响它。
Then she got the ladle and began ladling out the stew.
然后她拿起长柄勺，开始盛炖肉汤。
“That’s the dinner bell,” said Benny.
“那是开饭铃，”本尼说。
“I know it is. Come, Watch. Don’t you want some dinner?”
“我知道。来吧，沃奇（狗名）。你不想吃点午饭吗？”
Watch had had a swim, too.
沃奇也游了泳。
He came out of the water and shook himself.
它从水里出来，抖了抖身上的水。
The two boys put on their dry clothes and went to Sunday dinner.
两个男孩换上干衣服，去吃周日午餐了。
“Let me ring the bell again,” said Benny.
“让我再敲一次铃吧，”本尼说。
“I like stew even better today,” said Henry, eating hungrily.
“今天的炖肉汤吃起来格外香，”亨利狼吞虎咽地说。
“That’s because we worked so hard,” remarked Jessie.
“那是因为我们干活太辛苦了，”杰西评论道。
“Let’s go for a walk in the woods this afternoon.”
“今天下午我们去树林里散散步吧。”
“Oh, let’s!” cried Violet.
“噢，走吧！”维奥莱特叫道。
“Let’s go exploring again.”
“让我们再去探险吧。”
The children washed the dishes and then started on their walk.
孩子们洗完盘子，便出发去散步了。
As they went along, Watch began to bark.
走着走着，沃奇突然叫了起来。
At first the explorers were frightened.
起初，小探险家们吓了一跳。
“Oh, what is it?” cried Violet.
“噢，怎么了？”维奥莱特惊呼。
“Maybe it’s a rabbit,” said Henry.
“也许是只兔子，”亨利说。
Then they saw a hen running away through the woods.
接着，他们看见一只母鸡穿过树林跑开了。
Watch ran after her, but Henry called him back.
沃奇追了上去，但亨利把它叫了回来。
“Don’t run after the poor hen,” he said.
“别追那只可怜的母鸡了，”他说。
“The hen had a nest,” remarked Benny.
“那只母鸡有个窝，”本尼说道。
“What?” asked Jessie.
“什么？”杰西问。
“She had some eggs in it,” said Benny. “Come here and see.”
“窝里有几个蛋，”本尼说，“快过来看看。”
Jessie looked on the ground where Benny was pointing and saw a nest with five eggs in it.
杰西顺着本尼指的方向看向地面，看到一个窝里有五个蛋。
“A runaway hen!” said Jessie.
“是一只离家出走的母鸡！”杰西说。
“She wanted to hide her nest so she would have some chickens.”
“它是想把窝藏起来孵小鸡呢。”
“We’ll have the eggs for supper. I know how to cook eggs.”
“我们晚饭就吃这些蛋吧。我知道怎么做。”
The eggs made a delicious supper.
这些蛋做成了一顿美味的晚餐。
Jessie put them in a bowl, with a little salt, and Violet took a spoon and stirred them as hard as she could.
杰西把蛋打进碗里，加了点盐，维奥莱特拿着勺子拼命搅拌。
“Put in some milk, Violet,” said Jessie, “and stir them some more.”
“加点牛奶，维奥莱特，”杰西说，“再多搅一会儿。”
Henry started up the fire.
亨利重新生起了火。
The big kettle was hung over the fire, and Jessie put in some butter.
大锅挂在火上，杰西放了一些黄油进去。
She watched the butter until it was nice and brown, and then she put in the eggs.
她盯着黄油直到它变成漂亮的焦褐色，然后把蛋液倒了进去。
“Sit down,” she said. “Be all ready to eat when the eggs are done.”
“坐下吧，”她说，“等蛋炒好了就可以吃了。”
Violet put the blue tablecloth on the ground.
维奥莱特把蓝色的桌布铺在地上。
She got the bread and butter and the plates and spoons, and the children all sat ready for supper.
她拿来了面包、黄油、盘子和勺子，孩子们全都坐好等着吃晚饭了。
“Here I come!” cried Jessie. “Hold out your plates.”
“我来啦！”杰西喊道，“把盘子伸过来。”
“Oh, Jessie!” cried Benny.
“噢，杰西！”本尼叫道。
“This is the best meal I ever ate. I found the eggs, and you cooked them.”
“这是我吃过最棒的一顿饭。蛋是我发现的，是你做的。”
“Yes, you did, Benny,” said Henry. “Thank you for a fine meal.”
“没错，是你发现的，本尼，”亨利说，“谢谢你让我们享用了这顿美餐。”
“Tomorrow we’ll have to eat bread and milk,” said Jessie.
“明天我们只能吃面包和牛奶了，”杰西说。
But when tomorrow came, the children had more than bread and milk, as you will soon see.
但当明天到来时，孩子们吃的可不止面包和牛奶，这一点你很快就会看到。
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