读者文摘:奇迹生还的男孩(1)（在线收听）

The stainless steel skewer that Xavier Cunningham found in his backyard two Septembers ago was about a foot and a half long and the width of his pinkie.

两年前，泽维尔·坎宁安在自家后院发现了一根不锈钢串肉杆，大约有一英尺半长，和他小手指的宽度差不多。

One end had four sharp prongs, and the other had a single point—it was the kind of rod used to cook rotisserie chicken over a grill.

它一端有四个尖头，另一端只有一个尖头——那是一种用来在烤架上烤制烤鸡的杆子。

It also made the perfect spear, and Xavier and his friends Silas and Gavon, all ten years old, took turns seeing who could chuck it the farthest.

它也是个完美的矛，十岁的泽维尔和他同岁的朋友轮流比试谁掷地更远。

When they got bored, they ditched the skewer near a neighbor's tree house, sticking the four prongs in the ground as an anchor.

玩的无聊了，他们就把这个杆子放在邻居家树屋边上，把四箭头的一端插在地上，当作一个锚。

They then climbed up the tree house's ten-foot ladder.

然后他们就爬上树屋的十英尺的梯子。

Apparently, the boys hadn't seen the large wasp nest wrapped around the back of the tree, for once they were in the hut they were under attack.

很明显，孩子们没有看见那只绕在树后的大马蜂窝，因为他们一进了小屋就受到了攻击。

The swarm was so aggressive that Silas kneeled in the corner and started praying.

蜂群非常凶猛，塞拉斯跪在角落里开始祈祷。

"I'll get my mom!" Xavier said as he descended the ladder. About halfway down, a wasp stung his left hand.

“我去找我妈！”泽维尔说在他从梯子上下来时，下到一半的时候，一个马蜂叮了他的左手。

Xavier swatted at it with his right, lost his balance, and fell, facedown.

泽维尔用右手猛击它，失去平衡，脸朝下倒了下去。

Before breaking his fall with his arms, he felt a sting just under his left eye.

在他用胳膊防止摔倒之前，他感受到左眼下方的刺痛。

Was that a wasp? he wondered. In fact, it was the skewer. About six inches of it was now buried in his head.

这也是马蜂蛰的吗？他在想。实际上，那是尖杆。它插进了泽维尔头部六英寸深。

Screaming, he got up and ran to his home, some 50 feet away.

尖叫着，他起身跑到50英尺外自己的家中。

Gabrielle Miller, 39, was upstairs folding laundry in the house she shared with her husband, Shannon Miller, and their four children.

39岁的加布里埃尔·米勒正在楼上叠衣服，她和丈夫香农·米勒以及他们的四个孩子一起住在这栋房子里。

Shannon, a teacher, had taken two of their kids to an arcade, while Gabrielle, who manages a title-insurance business, stayed home with Xavier and his 14-year-old sister, Chayah.

加布里埃尔经营着一家产权保险公司，香农则是一名教师。那天香农带着两个孩子去了一家游乐场，而加布里埃尔则在家里照看泽维尔和他14岁的姐姐查亚。

She heard her son screaming and thought, When will he grow out of this stuff?

她听到自己的儿子的喊声，就在想，什么时候他才能长大呢？

Xavier—called Bear by his family, after a story Shannon had told him as a toddler—always made a fuss over the smallest scratch.

香农在他蹒跚学步时给他讲了一个故事后，他的家人就叫他“熊”。泽维尔总是有一点小事就大惊小怪。

If one of their two dogs jumped up on him, he'd start screaming; he was too scared to walk Max, the coonhound he'd gotten as a puppy, because the dog pulled on the leash.

如果他们的两条狗中的一条跳到他身上，他就会尖叫起来；他太害怕了，不敢遛他小时候得到的那只猎浣熊犬马克斯，因为那只狗会拉皮带。

Gabrielle was almost down the stairs, Chayah right behind her, when Xavier pushed the front door open, shrieking, "Mom, Mom!" Chayah took one look and fled back upstairs in horror.

在加布里埃尔几乎要走下楼梯时，泽维尔推开前门，尖叫着：“妈妈，妈妈！”在她身后的查亚看了一眼，惊恐地跑回楼上。

Gabrielle was trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "Who shot you?!" she said.

加布里埃尔想搞清楚她看到的情况。她说，“谁射击你了？！”

It looked like there was an arrow through her son's face, and a single trickle of blood ran down from it.

看起来有一支箭插在儿子的脸上，一股鲜血流了出来。

On the back of his neck was a lump—the tip of the skewer that hadn't pierced the skin. "Chayah, go find the boys.

他脖子后面鼓了起来-箭的尖端没有穿过皮肤。“查亚，去找找别的小孩。

I'm taking Bear to the hospital!" As Gabrielle backed the car out into the road, a neighbor watching them thought, That boy's not coming home.

我带熊儿去医院！”当加布里埃尔把车倒在马路上时，一个邻居看着他们，心想：那个男孩回不了家了。

Emergency room personnel acted quickly when Xavier walked in, giving him painkillers and send- ing him for X-rays.

当泽维尔走进医院时，急诊室的工作人员迅速采取了行动，给他开了止痛药，并给他拍了x光片。

The skewer didn't appear to have hit his spine, but an X-ray can't show tissue damage.

尖杆似乎没有击中他的脊柱，但x光片无法显示组织损伤。