【双语讲解】第10课：一种叫做“Snipe”的鸟

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Carl’s hearing aid shrieked in his ear.

“It’s going to be great,” Russell went on. “There’s a big ceremony, and all the dads come, and they pin on our badges.”

卡尔的助听器里传来了尖锐刺耳的噪声。

“那简直太棒了，”小罗继续说道，“我们还会有一个盛大的仪式，到时候，所有的爸爸都会参加，亲手给自己的孩子带上徽章。”

“So you want to assist an old person?” Carl asked.

“所以，你想帮助一个老人？”卡尔问。

“Yep! Then I will be a Senior Wilderness Explorer!” Russell grinned.

“是啊！那样我就能成为一名高级野外探险家了！”小罗说着，美滋滋地笑起来。

Carl looked left, then right. Then he leaned in to whisper, “You ever heard of a snipe?”

“Snipe?” Russell shook his head.

卡尔先向左看看，再向右瞅瞅，然后俯下身低声对小罗说，“你听说过鹬吗？”

“鹬？”小罗摇了摇头。

“Bird. Beady eyes. Every night, it sneaks into my yard and gobbles my poor azaleas.

I’m elderly and infirm; I can’t catch it. If only someone could help me.”

“一种鸟。眼睛又小又圆。它每天晚上都溜进院子偷吃我的杜鹃花。我老了，身体不好，抓不住它。如果有人能帮我就最好不过了。”

“Me!” Russell bounced up and down with excitement. “Me! I’ll do it!”

“我来！”小罗兴奋地跳了起来。“我来！我可以帮你的！”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Carl said doubtfully, “it’s awfully crafty. You’d have to clap your hands three times to lure it in.”

“哦，帮不帮得上，这可说不准，”卡尔怀疑地说，“它相当狡猾。你得拍掌三下，才能把它引诱出来。”

“I’ll find it, Mr. Fredricksen!” Russell promised.

“我一定会找到它的，费迪逊先生！”小罗向卡尔保证道。

“I think its burrow is two blocks down. If you go past—”

尔对小罗说：“我觉得它的洞穴就在两个街区之外。如果你经过——”

But Russell was already on the case. “Two blocks down! Got it!” He hurried away, clapping and calling, “Sni-i-i-pe. Here, snipey, snipey!”

卡尔话没说完，小罗已经进入状态了。“两个街区！知道了！”他急忙动身，边拍手边喊道，“鹬——鹬，这里，鹬，鹬！”

“Bring it back here when you find it!” Carl shouted.

“找到了就把它带给我！”卡尔冲着小罗喊道。

That should keep him busy for a while,Carl thought. He knew something that Russell didn’t: There was no snipe. He’d made it up.

这应该够他忙活一阵子了，卡尔想。他很清楚，根本就没有鹬这种鸟，这完全是卡尔编出来支走小罗的理由，但小罗并不知道。

Carl started to close his door, but the beeping sound of a large truck backing up caught his attention. One of the construction workers was directing the truck—and it was headed right toward Carl’s mailbox!

卡尔正要关门，一辆大卡车倒车的嘟嘟声引起了他的注意。一名建筑工人正在指挥卡车倒车，而这辆卡车正向着卡尔家信箱的方向开过来！

Crunch!

嘎吱嘎吱！ 

“Hey!” Moving faster than he had in years, Carl picked up his cane and hurried toward the mailbox. “Hey, you!” he hollered at the construction worker. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“嘿！”卡尔好久没有这么麻利了，他迅速拿起手杖，匆匆忙忙地向信箱的方向走去。“嘿，说你呢！”他冲着建筑工人大声喊道，“看看你都做了些什么？”

“I am so sorry, sir.” The worker really did look sorry. He bent over to try to fix the mailbox.

“先生，我很抱歉。”这名工人满脸歉意。他弯下腰试图修理信箱。

“Don’t touch that!” Carl barked, reaching for it.

“别碰它！”卡尔一把抱住信箱咆哮道。

“No, no, no,” the worker said. “Let me take care of that for you.”

Carl struggled to keep his grip on the box. The construction worker didn’t understand. To him, it was just a mailbox. But to Carl, it was Ellie’s mailbox. The one she had painted. The one with their handprints. “Get away from our mailbox!” Carl warned.

“不，不，不，”工人说，“我来帮你。”

卡尔牢牢地抓住信箱。建筑工人一脸疑惑。因为在他看来，这只是一个很普通的信箱。但对卡尔而言，这是艾莉的信箱，是艾莉喷绘的那个信箱，是印有两人手印的信箱。“别碰我们的信箱！”卡尔警告工人。

“Hey, sir, I—”

“I don’t want you to touch it!” Carl cried. He batted at the construction worker with his cane.

“Ow!” The worker fell to the ground, holding his head.

“嘿，先生，我——”

“不准碰它！”卡尔声嘶力竭地喊道。他举起了手杖就往建筑工人头上敲去。

“啊哟！”工人手抱着头，倒在了地上。

Carl cradled the mailbox in his arms and retreated to the house. His heart was thudding in his chest. He hadn’t realized that he was still strong enough to hurt another person. People had gathered around to make sure the construction worker was okay. A few glanced nervously at Carl.

卡尔牢牢地把信箱抱在怀里，回到自己房子的地方，心“怦怦”地跳得厉害。他万万没想到，自己竟有这么大的力气，能打伤别人。周围的人纷纷围了上来，查看建筑工人的伤势如何。其中有几个人紧张地瞄了卡尔一眼。

Quickly, Carl went inside the house and shut the front door. He also closed the curtains, but kept one open a little so he could peek out. He saw a police car roll up beside the crowd of people. The real estate boss was there, too, and he was staring right at Carl. Scared, Carl pulled away from the window. He knew he’d made a mistake. A big mistake. 

卡尔赶紧回到屋子里，关上前门。他把窗帘也拉了下来，不过并没有拉严，而是留了一条缝。这样，他就可以偷偷地观察外面的情况了。他看到一辆警车穿过人群，疾速赶来。房地产老板也站在那里，一直盯着卡尔的方向。惊吓之下，卡尔逃离了窗户附近。他知道自己犯错了，犯了一个大错。