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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A bolt of lightning ripped across the night sky.
“One, one-thousand,” whispered a frightened voice.
“Two, one-thousand,” whispered another.
“Three, one-thousand, four, one-thousand,” counted four soft voices together.
“Five, one—”
Thunder shook the house.
The four Alden children huddled1 on Henry’s bed, staring out the window. The storm had awakened2 them in the middle of the night. Six-year-old Benny was the first to tiptoe to his big brother’s room. Violet and Jessie soon followed, with Watch scampering3 close behind.
“Will this storm ruin everything?” asked Violet.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Henry said.
“It can’t rain tomorrow,” said Benny. “It just can’t.”
Watch whimpered. Benny patted the dog and hugged him tight.
Downstairs in the kitchen, boxes and baskets and buckets of old things stood near the back door. On top of them lay bright green and pink posters the children had made:
Boxcar Backyard Sale
Saturday and Sunday 10–4:00.
Toys, books, clothes,
and much, MUCH more!
For one whole week, the children had cleaned out their closets, drawers, and shelves. Into boxes went clothes that didn’t fit. Into baskets went toys no longer used. Into buckets went books no longer read. But there could be no yard sale if it was storming outside.
Another bolt of lightning turned the black sky bright. “One, one-thousand, two, one-thousand, three, one-thousand.” They counted until the thunder boomed.
“The storm is coming closer,” said Henry. “When it’s right over our house, the lightning and thunder will come at the same time.”
The children’s hearts pounded as they watched and waited. Once, they had no home to protect them from storms. After their parents died, the children were supposed to live with their grandfather. But when they heard he was mean, they ran away.
It was during a storm like this that they found shelter in an old railroad car. The boxcar quickly became their home, and they lived in it until Grandfather found them. When they saw how nice he was, they came to live with him. Later, he surprised them by bringing the boxcar to the backyard so they could play in it whenever they liked.
Suddenly, a burst of lightning and clash of thunder came all at once. “Oh, no!” cried Benny, jumping under the covers with Watch. They made such a funny lump in the bed that everyone laughed.
After a while, the storm drifted so far away they could hardly hear it. Then, four tired children and one sleepy dog curled up on Henry’s bed and fell fast asleep.
The next morning, the yard sparkled with sunshine. The children ate a quick breakfast of cereal with milk and bananas, then washed their dishes and went to work.
Twelve-year-old Jessie piled their yard-sale signs onto a red wagon4 and tossed in a ball of string and a pair of scissors. “See you later,” she said, hurrying off to hang the signs around the neighborhood.
Violet set up a table with a sign that read, “Violet’s Tasty Treat Table” in the shade of the large oak tree. The ten-year-old spread out a red-and-white tablecloth5.
On this she put a tall pitcher6 of lemonade, plastic cups, napkins, and two plates of fresh-baked cookies.
Henry began making a cashier’s table out of a board he’d found in the alley7. The fourteen-year-old slipped the claw end of his hammer under a few old nails and pulled them out. Then he rubbed sandpaper over the board, making it smooth so no one would get a splinter.
As Benny emptied the boxes, baskets, and buckets of their old things onto tables, a familiar black truck rattled8 down the alley. Sticking up in the back were a three-legged chair, a kitchen sink, one snow ski, and a lamp with a torn shade.
Everyone in Greenfield knew Mr. Robbins’s truck. Every morning, the retired9 carpenter drove up and down alleys10 collecting things people threw away. “Junking” he called it. He always came by early because, he said, “This old robin11 is the early bird that catches the worms.” Back home in his workshop, he’d clean what needed cleaning and fix what needed fixing. Then he’d sell it all at Greenfield’s flea12 market.
His truck creaked to a stop at the Aldens’ fence. “Mornin’,” he called.
The children waved. “Good morning, Mr. Robbins,” said Violet.
“And why, may I ask, are the Alden children up and out so early in the day?”
“We’re having a yard sale,” said Benny. “Do you think people will buy our things?”
Mr. Robbins laughed. “Benny, my boy, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Just because you’re done with a thing doesn’t mean someone else can’t make good use of it. Good luck,” he said, his truck rattling13 off down the alley.
Henry finished sanding his cashier table and set it on top of two sawhorses he had found in the garage. Next, he set out their money box, which was really an old fishing-tackle box that Grandfather said they could use for the sale. Yesterday, Henry had cleaned out all of the rusty14 hooks, broken bobbers, and dried-up rubber worms, then gave the box a good scrubbing. Now he made a sign for his table:
$$ CASHIER, PLEASE PAY HERE $$
“I’m ready,” he said.
“Me, too,” said Violet.
“Me, three,” said Benny.
What they needed now were customers.
Their yard-sale signs worked! All day long, people strolled through the Aldens’ backyard. A few came just to see the famous old boxcar that stood next to the fountain in the garden. But nearly everyone bought at least one thing. And Violet’s lemonade and cookies were selling fast!
By four o’clock, the last few shoppers had left the yard. Henry’s tackle box was crammed15 with coins and bills. He looked at his watch. “Time to stop for today,” he said.
Benny frowned at the nearly empty tables. “We hardly have anything left!”
“That’s great,” said Henry. “We want to sell our old stuff to make money to buy something new.”
Benny still looked unhappy. “But our signs say the sale is Saturday and Sunday. What will we sell tomorrow?”
“Wait,” said Violet, running into the house. She came back lugging16 a shopping bag filled with her Prairie Girls adventure books. “I’ve read these so many times, I know them by heart.” Now that she’d turned ten, she was ready to read something new. Benny helped her put the books on a table.
“I’ll go collect the signs,” said Jessie, “so they won’t be ruined if it rains tonight.” She wheeled the wagon out of the yard.
Henry unstuffed the money from the box and made piles of one-, five-, and twenty-dollar bills. Next, he sorted the pennies, nickels, dimes17, and quarters into the tackle box compartments18.
“How much did we make?” asked Benny.
“I don’t know yet,” Henry said. “We’ll count it together when Jessie comes home. Meanwhile, we can clean up.”
A skinny woman wearing a floppy19 hat wandered into the yard. Her big sunglasses made her look like an owl20. The cart she pushed overflowed21 with old silverware, teapots, dolls, and lace. Clearly, she had been to many other sales that day.
“Sorry,” Henry said, “but we’re closed. Please come back tomorrow.”
“I’m just looking,” she snapped, wheeling her cart from table to table. “Just looking.”
Violet wiped the lemonade table with damp paper towels, then packed the leftover22 cookies into plastic bags to sell the next day.
“What can I do?” asked Benny.
“You can bring me the boxcar donations,” said Henry.
Benny ran back to the old railroad car. A poster set against a tree stump23 said:
Tour a real boxcar, $1.
All tour money will be donated to the
Greenfield Homeless Shelter
A large metal Crispy Crackers24 can sat on the stump near the sign. When the Alden children lived in the boxcar, they heated their water in this can. Now, instead of water, the old green can was filled with dollar bills.
Benny brought it to Henry.
“Great,” said Henry “We’ll count this later, too.” He pressed the lid on the can. It was so rusty he had to pound it with his fist to make it stay shut. He set the can under his table while he finished sorting the yard sale money.
The woman with the floppy hat wheeled her cart toward Henry. “Nothing here for me,” she said. “I’m looking for old things, antiques.” She peered over the tops of her glasses at the tackle box. “How much do you want for that?”
“This?” said Henry. “It’s not for sale.”
“Humph,” she said. “Figures.” She jutted25 her chin toward Violet’s books. “How much?”
“Ah-um …” What was the right price? She didn’t know. “Ah-um, twenty-five cents each?” Had she asked too much for such old books? The woman grabbed all the Prairie Girl books from the table and shoved them into her cart. She threw down a few dollar bills and hurried off.
Jessie pulled the wagon full of signs into the yard. She shook her head at all the bare tables. “We’re going to need a lot more things to sell tomorrow.”
Violet sighed. All she had left were a few barrettes and two dolls with no clothes. “I brought out everything I could find.”
“Me, too,” said Jessie.
Henry put the bills into the tackle box and snapped the latches26 shut. “Well,” he said, with a sly grin, “I guess I could sell my old hockey skates.”
“You wouldn’t!” said Benny, who was waiting to grow big enough to wear them.
“Henry,” Violet said, “don’t tease.”
Henry smiled. “Oh, all right. Then I guess I don’t have anything, either.”
Violet picked up the pitcher of lemonade to take inside. “We should ask Grandfather if he has things we can sell.”
A moving truck rumbled27 down the street and screeched28 to a stop at the Aldens’ driveway. “Best Movers” was painted on the side. Violet thought the truck needed a good washing. She guessed someone else did, too, because Wash Me was written in the dust on the side of the truck.
“Hey,” called the driver, waving a piece of paper, “any of you kids know where …” he squinted29 at the paper, “… where …” he squinted harder, “where I can find 332 Locust30?”
“Sure,” said Henry, pointing. “That’s two blocks over and one block down.”
“Thanks.” The driver squinted at Violet’s pitcher. “Is that lemonade?”
“Ice cold,” said Henry. “Twenty-five cents a cup.”
“I’ll take two,” said the driver. “Driving this rig is thirsty work. Can’t wait to drive up to Minnesota where it’s nice and cool.”
Violet poured the lemonade. The driver chugged the first cupful without taking even one breath.
“Are new people moving in on Locust?” asked Jessie, hoping for another twelve-year-old girl to play with.
“Nope,” said the driver, “moving out, to Minneapolis.” He finished the second cup as quickly as the first. “Boy, that sure hit the spot. Thanks.” He handed Violet a dollar. “Keep the change.”
Benny watched the truck drive away. He seemed deep in thought. Suddenly, he turned to the others. “We’ve got to get over there,” he said.
“Where?” asked Henry.
“332 Locust.”
“Why?”
“Because, when people move, they throw out all kinds of great stuff. Stuff they don’t want to take with them.”
“So?” asked Violet.
“Maybe we’ll find things to sell at our yard sale!”
“Good thinking,” said Henry. “I’ll come with you, but first we need to put all of our things inside the garage in case it rains again.”
“I’ll bring the wagon with us to Locust Street,” said Jessie as she unloaded her signs.
The children quickly brought the few items they hadn’t sold into the garage and began to walk towards Locust.
Violet lagged behind. Warning shivers tickled31 her spine32. Some of those big old houses on Locust looked creepy.
Jessie stopped at the corner and looked back. “Violet,” she called, waving, “hurry up.”
“C-c-coming,” said Violet, running after them, wondering just what sort of things they would find.
收听单词发音 |
1
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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scampering
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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tablecloth
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| n.桌布，台布 | |
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pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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lugging
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| 超载运转能力 | |
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dimes
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| n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 ) | |
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compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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19
floppy
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| adj.松软的，衰弱的 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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overflowed
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| 溢出的 | |
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leftover
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| n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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24
crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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jutted
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| v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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latches
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| n.（门窗的）门闩( latch的名词复数 )；碰锁v.理解( latch的第三人称单数 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上） | |
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rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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locust
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| n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐 | |
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tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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