英语小达人 415 A Boy with a Mission(1)

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　　男孩的使命

　　In 1945, a 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing¹. But the price—five dollars—was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family.

　　1945年，一个12岁的男孩在一家商店橱窗里看到一样令他心动的东西，但是——5美元——远不是鲁本·厄尔能付得起的。5美元几乎够买全家一周的食品呢。

　　Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. Everything Mark Earle made through fishing in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada. Reuben's mother, Dora, stretched like elastic² to feed and clothe their five children.

　　鲁本不能向父亲要钱。马克·厄尔的每一分钱都是靠在加拿大纽芬兰的罗伯茨湾捕鱼挣来的。鲁本的母亲多拉，为了不让五个孩子冻着饿着，差不多是一个钱当两个钱用。

　　Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing³ proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, "But I don't have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?"

　　尽管如此，鲁本还是推开商店那扇久经风雨的门走了进去。他穿着面粉袋改做的衬衫和洗得褪了色的裤子，站得笔直，丝毫不觉困窘。他告诉了店主他想要的东西，又加上一句：“可我现在还没有钱买它，您能为我预留一段时间吗？”

　　"I'll try," the shopkeeper smiled. " Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while."

　　“我尽量吧，”店主微笑着说，“这儿的人买起东西来，一般不会花那么大一笔钱的，一时半会儿卖不出去 。”

　　男孩的使命.jpg

　　Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the sunlight with the bay rippling⁴ in a freshening wind. There was purpose in his loping stride. He would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.

　　鲁本很有礼貌地碰了碰他的旧帽沿儿，走出店外。阳光下清新的微风吹得罗伯茨湾的海水泛起阵阵涟漪。鲁本迈着大步，下定决心：他要凑齐那5美元，而且不告诉任何人。

　　Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea.

　　听到街边传来的铁锤声，鲁本有了主意。

　　He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in Hessian sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded in the flurry of building, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece.

　　他循声跑过去，来到一处建筑工地。罗伯茨湾的人喜欢自己建房，用的钉子是从本地一家工厂买的，都用麻袋来装。有时干活时忙乱中麻袋就被随手丢弃，而鲁本知道他可以 5分钱一条把麻袋再卖给工厂。

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