捡椰子，等“风”来

2017-11-15

新东方英语·中学版 2017年11期

在颶风即将来临之前被派去捡椰子是一种怎样的感觉？

This is how I learned about Calvin. I came out of my room this morning and found Mom and Dad standing in front of the TV. Standing meant they weren&apos；t watching for fun—something was happening. On the screen， Tony Verrazo pointed to an orange pinwheel1）. Calvin， he said， had turned west and was headed for land.

I didn&apos；t understand what was happening， but suddenly Mom and Dad were in a big hurry to do stuff.

"I&apos；m going to check on the generator2），" said Mom. "I&apos；m going to the grocery store，" Dad said. He turned to my brother， Mike. "You can start closing the shutters3） while I&apos；m gone." "You pick up coconuts， Jason，" Dad said， pointing at me.

"Coconuts？" I couldn&apos；t think of anything else to say， so he left.

I prepared my own cereal4） and went outside to look things over. We had a bunch of palm trees5） and plenty of coconuts， but we&apos；d never bothered with them before. Why pick them up now？

I found Mom and Mike in the utility room6）. "The barometer7） has gone down again，" Mom was saying. "That&apos；ll pull Calvin right in，" answered Mike.

"Have I ever been in a hurricane？" I asked before they could talk more Martian8）. "Yes，" Mom nodded. "Its name was Flora， but I bet you don&apos；t remember anything about it." "You were too little，" said Mike. "You had a babysitter while we got ready."

I wanted to ask about the coconuts， but Mom shook her head. "I&apos；m sorry， Jason， but I don&apos；t have time for more questions，" she said. "And you have a job to do."

I had been too little. No wonder I felt as if I&apos；d landed on Mars. I had no idea what was going on.

I kicked a few coconuts until my toes hurt and then opened the back gate and walked down to the beach. I wanted to be the first one to spot Calvin， but I wasn&apos；t really sure what to look for.

The beach was deserted except for two men in street clothes standing in the sand. One held a camera on his shoulder. The other， with his back to the ocean， was talking into a microphone. I&apos；d recognize Tony Verrazo anywhere. He was the same guy I&apos；d seen on TV this morning.

"Folks，" Tony Verrazo was saying， "we have a hurricane watch for Calvin， which means hurricane conditions are possible in the next thirty-six hours. Stay tuned9） for another update in thirty minutes."

"Hi， kid，" said Tony Verrazo， smiling. "What&apos； up？" "I&apos；m just hanging out，" I said. "You&apos；re not helping your folks？" "Oh， I am. I&apos；m taking a break from picking up coconuts，" I lied. I expected him to laugh； instead， he took a pen and small notebook out of his pocket. "Coconuts，" he said thoughtfully. "I forgot all about them."endprint

He started writing while walking away. Halfway up the beach， he turned around. "Hey， kid， you want to be on TV？ Stand over here and tell the camera who you are and what you&apos；re doing."

"Hi，" I said awkwardly， taking the microphone. "My name is Jason. I&apos；m picking up coconuts because Calvin is coming." "Thanks， kid，" Tony Verrazo said， taking back the microphone. "I have to get going. You better head home and finish your job！"

I think being mad gave me energy to pick up coconuts. Dad gave me this silly job， Mom didn&apos；t prepare breakfast， and Mike didn&apos；t come to help me. But mostly I was mad at Tony Verrazo for making me tell all of America what I was doing—or not doing. I was trapped10）.

After hours of working， I&apos；d filled every trash bag I could find. At last， Mike came to get me. "You better clean up while we still have running water，" he said.

I had been too busy to notice the blackening sky. The ocean， too， had gotten dark and angry. Large waves broke hard and fast on the beach， and globs11） of sea foam blew in my face. "Calvin？" I asked. "It&apos；s coming，" said Mike. When we got inside， history was repeating itself—Mom and Dad were standing in front of the TV， and Tony Verrazo was talking.

"Folks，" he was saying. "We&apos；re going to show you this footage12） again because if you haven&apos；t done so already， you need to go pick up coconuts."

"I saw this before，" Mike said， grabbing my arm and pulling me in front of the TV. "It&apos；s so cool. See， they take a coconut and put it inside a wind tunnel13）. At eighty miles an hour， the coconut busts through a board as if somebody shot it out of a cannon14）. You&apos；ve never seen anything like it."

I tried to understand. "Don&apos；t you get it？" asked Mike. "Hurricane-force winds15） can make flying coconuts really dangerous！"

Tony Verrazo&apos；s face came back on the screen. "Folks， we want to give credit to the person who gave us the idea for this story."

And suddenly there I was， holding the microphone and saying， "Hi， my name is Jason. I&apos；m picking up coconuts because Calvin is coming." "Great， Jason！" said Tony Verrazo after I faded out16）.

"Wow！" Mike grinned and nudged17） me with his elbow. I finally found my voice again. "All day， I thought I had to pick up coconuts just because I was little and had to stay out of everybody&apos；s way." "And yet you did it anyway？" asked Mom. "I picked up every single one，" I told her. "Tony Verrazo made me." "Tony Verrazo？ I can&apos；t wait to hear that story，" said Mom. "But first， let&apos；s go over the checklist."endprint

She nodded at the rest of us. "The generator is ready to run if the power goes out." "The windows are OK， and the shutters are locked tight，" said Mike. "We have plenty of food and drinking water，" Dad said. "There&apos；s gas in the car in case the water gets too high and we have to leave."

They turned to me. "There are no coconuts on the ground，" I said proudly. "Then we&apos；re agreed，" Dad said. "This family is ready！"

After hearing about Calvin all day， I was more than ready.

以下就是我如何了解卡爾文的。今天早上我从自己的房间出来，发现爸爸妈妈正站在电视机前。站着看电视意味着他们并不是为了消遣，而是有事情发生了。屏幕上，托尼·维拉佐指着一个橙色的玩具风车。他说卡尔文已经转而向西并朝陆地进发了。

我不明白发生了什么，但爸爸妈妈赶紧忙活了起来。

“我去检查发电机。”妈妈说。“我去杂货店。”爸爸说。他转向我的哥哥迈克，“我离开以后，你就可以开始关百叶窗了。”“你去捡椰子，贾森。”爸爸指着我说。

“椰子？”我想不出来还能说点什么，于是他就走了。

我自己做好了麦片，然后就走到外面去查看情况。我们有一片椰子树和好多椰子，但以前我们从未为它们操过心。为什么现在要把它们捡起来呢？

我发现妈妈和迈克在储物间里。“气压又下降了。”妈妈说。“这很快就会把卡尔文给招来的。”迈克回答。

“我之前经历过飓风吗？”在他们可能会说更多的火星文之前我问道。“经历过。”妈妈点点头，“那次飓风名为弗洛拉，但我敢打赌你什么都不记得了。”“你那时候太小了，”迈克说，“我们在做准备时你还被保姆照看着。”

我想问一下有关椰子的事，但妈妈摇了摇头。“抱歉，贾森，可我没时间回答更多的问题了，”她说，“况且你还有活儿要干呢。”

当时我太小了。难怪我觉得自己现在就跟降落在了火星上似的，不知道发生了什么。

我踢开了几个椰子，直到脚趾都踢疼了，然后我打开后门朝海滩走去。我想成为第一个发现卡尔文的人，可我真的不确定要找的是什么。

海滩上空无一人，除了沙滩上站着的两个身着便服的男人。他们一个肩上扛着一台摄像机，另一个背朝大海，正对着麦克风讲话。在哪儿我都能认出托尼·维拉佐，他跟我今早在电视上看到的一模一样。

“各位，”托尼·维拉佐在说，“我们启动了对飓风卡尔文的监测，这就意味着在未来36小时内飓风可能会出现。请继续关注30分钟后的最新报道。”

“嗨，孩子，”托尼·维拉佐微笑着跟我打招呼，“有什么事吗？”“我就是在闲逛而已。”我回答。“你没有去给家里人帮忙吗？”“噢，我在帮忙呢。我在捡椰子，现在要休息一下。”我撒了谎。我以为他会笑的；相反，他从口袋里拿出一支笔和一个小笔记本。“椰子，”他若有所思地说，“我完全把这一茬给忘了。”

他一边走开一边开始记录。刚朝海滩走了一半，他又转过身来。“嘿，孩子，你想上电视吗？站在这儿，对着摄像机说你是谁，你在干吗。”

“嗨，”我接过麦克风局促不安地说，“我叫贾森，我在捡椰子，因为卡尔文就要来了。”“谢谢你，孩子。”托尼·维拉佐边说边拿回了麦克风。“我得走了。你最好回家去，把你的活儿给干完！”

我想愤怒给了我捡椰子的劲头儿。爸爸给我派了这个愚蠢的活儿，妈妈连早餐都没准备，迈克也不来帮我。可最主要的是托尼·维拉佐让我告诉所有美国人我正在干吗或者没有在干吗，对此我很气愤。我上了他的当。

经过几个小时的工作，我把所有能找到的垃圾袋都装满了。终于，迈克来找我了。“趁我们还有自来水，你最好去梳洗干净。”他说。

我刚刚一直都在忙，都没注意到天在变黑。大海也已变得阴沉汹涌，巨浪猛烈而迅速地拍打着海滩，一滴滴海水泡沫吹打在我的脸上。“卡尔文？”我问。“它就要来了。”迈克说。当我们走进屋子里时，历史又在重演——爸爸妈妈站在电视机前，托尼·维拉佐正在讲话。

“各位，”他说，“我们要再把这段视频给您播放一遍，如果您还没有去捡椰子的话，那么您需要去做这件事了。”

“我以前看过这个视频，”迈克边说边抓住我的胳膊把我拉到电视机前，“太酷了。瞧，他们拿起一个椰子然后把它放进风洞里面，椰子能以80英里（编注：约129公里）的时速击穿一块木板，就好像有人把它从大炮里射出来一样。你可从来都没有见过这种事儿。”

我试着去理解。“你没弄明白吗？”迈克问，“强飓风会使飞舞的椰子变得非常危险！”

托尼·维拉佐的脸庞又一次出现在屏幕上。“各位，我们想要对给我们这则报道提供灵感的人给予表扬。”

突然间我出现在了屏幕上，手里握着一只麦克风说，“嗨，我叫贾森，我在捡椰子，因为卡尔文就要来了。”当我从画面中消失后，托尼·维拉佐说：“好样的，贾森！”

“哇！”迈克咧嘴笑着，并用胳膊肘轻轻推了我一下。我终于又能开口说话了。“这一整天，我都觉得就因为我年龄小并且一定不能妨碍大家，我才得去捡椰子的。”“即使如此你还是去做这件事了？”妈妈问。“我把掉在地上的每一个椰子都捡起来了。”我告诉她。“托尼·维拉佐让我这么做的。”“托尼·维拉佐？我迫不及待地要听听这个故事了，”妈妈说，“不过首先，我们得过下检查事项。”

她向我们其他人点头示意。“如果停电的话发电机是可以运转的。”“窗户也没问题了，百叶窗都锁紧了。”迈克说。“我们已经备好了充足的食物和饮用水，”爸爸说，“万一水涨得太高我们必须要离开，车里也有油。”

他们转头望向我。“地上没有椰子了。”我骄傲地说。“那咱们就一致认为，”爸爸说，“咱家准备好啦！”

听了一整天的卡尔文后，我已经准备充分了。

1. pinwheel [?p?nwi?l] n. 玩具风车

2. generator [?d?en?re?t?（r）] n. 发电机

3. shutter [???t?（r）] n. [常作复数]百叶窗

4. cereal [?s??ri?l] n. （常加牛奶作早餐用的）谷类食物

5. palm tree：棕榈树，在这里指coconut palm，即椰子树（椰子是棕榈科植物）。

6. utility room：（放置洗衣机、冰箱等生活用品的）杂物室，储物间

7. barometer [b??r?m?t?（r）] n. 气压计

8. Martian [?mɑ??n] adj. 火星的；火星人的

9. stay tuned：继续收听（或收看）