雙語讀電影 《飛屋環(huán)游記》第03章 :眼睜睜地看著卡爾的房子飛走了
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CHAPTER 3
“Sorry, Mr. Fredricksen. You don’t seem like a public menace to me.” The police officer smiled apologetically as she dropped Carl off at his front door. Carl had just spent the entire day in court. The judge had ruled that Carl was guilty of assaulting the construction worker.’“Take this.” The officer handed Carl a brochure for Shady Oaks Retirement Village. “The guys from Shady Oaks will be by to pick you up in the morning, okay?”
Carl heard the police car drive away. He looked down at the cheerful, good-looking people in the brochure. The judge had said that Carl couldn’t live by himself anymore. He didn’t have to go to jail— but he did have to go to a retirement home. To Carl, that was just as bad. He didn’t want to leave his little house—Ellie’s clubhouse.
“What do I do now, Ellie?” he wondered aloud.
That night, Carl walked through the quiet house. Every single thing brought back memories of Ellie. As Carl dug his suitcase out of the closet, he found Ellie’s old adventure book. Carefully, he untied the string that held it closed. He flipped through the photos of Charles Muntz and his famous blimp.
When Carl came to the page marked STUFF I’M GOING TO DO, he stopped and sighed. He couldn’t read any further. Ellie had never gone on her adventure. He’d promised her. He’d crossed his heart. But he’d waited too long.
Slowly, Carl closed Ellie’s book. He gazed up at the mantel over the fireplace. He looked at the poster of South America, the pottery, the woven rug, the bird figurine, and the little toy blimp. But most of all, he looked at Ellie’s painting of their house on the tepui.
Then he glanced at the Shady Oaks pamphlet.
As he looked up at the mantel one more time, Carl’s eyes narrowed just a bit. He smiled, and then crossed his heart. He’d made a decision.
By the middle of the night, most of the block was quiet and dark. Only the Fredricksen house was bright, the lights still on. Inside, Carl worked late into the night. He had a lot to prepare.
The next morning was sunny and clear as the Shady Oaks van pulled up in front of Carl’s house. Two men got out. They were nurses from the retirement home.
The nurse named George knocked on the door.
“Morning, gentlemen,” Carl said, opening the door. He had a suitcase in his hand.
“Good morning, Mr. Fredricksen,” George said. “You ready to go?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Carl handed the suitcase to the other nurse, A.J. “Would you do me a favor and take this? I’ll meet you at the van in just a minute. I, uh, want to say one last goodbye to the old place.”
“Sure,” George said, and he nodded politely. “Take all the time you need, sir.”
“That’s typical,” A.J. muttered as Carl closed the door. He and George walked toward the van. “He’s probably going to the bathroom for the eightieth time.”
George eyed the lawn. It was littered with empty helium tanks. “You’d think he’d take better care of his house？”
At that moment, a dark shadow fell over the van. George and A.J. looked up, and their jaws dropped. Hundreds of balloons were rising from behind the house. They shot into the air like water from a fountain. Their strings were all tied to Carl’s house through the chimney. As the balloons rose, the house teetered. Then it groaned. Finally, it pulled away from its foundation and floated.
Up … up … up …
The floating house knocked the van, setting off the car alarm. Carl poked his head out the window and shouted triumphantly, “So long, boys!”
George and A.J. couldn’t do anything but gape at what Carl had done!
The house soared over the town. People stared up, unable to believe what they were seeing. Birds flew alongside the house. Carl watched them, smiling to himself. He adjusted the compass and unfurled the sails, which were made of curtains hanging on curtain rods. They flapped and billowed in the wind.
Carl and Ellie were finally headed to South America. He kissed her photo.“We’re on our way, Ellie,” he said. With a happy sigh, Carl settled into his favorite chair by the fireplace.
He had just closed his eyes when he heard a knock at the door.
Carl’s eyes snapped open. A knock?
“Huh?” He stared at the front door. For a moment, he didn’t hear anything. He had finally managed to convince himself that he had imagined the knock when it sounded again.
Grumbling, Carl shuffled over to the door. He looked through the peephole. All he saw were the front porch and the clouds beyond. He threw open the door.
“Aaah!” Carl cried. Russell was clinging to the outside wall, holding on for dear life.
“Hi, Mr. Fredricksen,” Russell said nervously. “It’s me, Russell.”
“What are you doing out here, kid?” Carl demanded.
“I found the snipe,” Russell explained, “and I followed it under your porch, but this snipe had a long tail and looked more like a large mouse.”
Carl rolled his eyes. That wasn’t a snipe. It was a rat! What kind of Wilderness Explorer doesn’t know the difference between a rat and a nonexistent snipe? he wondered.
“Please let me in,” Russell begged.
“No!” Carl snapped. He shut the door.
Russell stared at the bright sun, the blue sky, and the white clouds drifting peacefully around him. This was the worst day ever.
After a moment, the door creaked open. “Oh, all right,” Carl said reluctantly, “you can come …” Russell darted inside like a bullet.
“… in,” Carl finished.
Russell panted for a moment, collecting himself. Then he looked around. “Huh. I’ve never been in a floating house before.” It was a lot like a regular house. He walked over to the fireplace and found Ellie’s drawing of the house lying on top of an open page in the atlas. “Wow, you going on a trip?” Russell asked. “‘Paradise Falls: A Land Lost in Time,’” he read from the drawing. “You going to South America, Mr. Fredricksen?”
“Don’t touch that!” Carl snatched the page from Russell’s hand and put it in his pocket. Then he slammed the atlas shut. “You’ll soil it.”
“You know, most people take a plane,” Russell said brightly, “but you’re smart because you’ll have your TV and clocks and stuff.”
Russell noticed the steering rig that Carl had set up in the living room. It was made from an old-fashioned coffee grinder with a crank handle. Carl had attached it to the weather vane with ropes. “Whoa. Is this how you steer your house?” Russell asked. “Does it really work? Oh, this way makes it go right, and that way’s left.”
Carl stumbled through the house. The way Russell was steering was making him seasick! “Kid, would you stop with the—let go of the—knock it off!”
Carl realized that he couldn’t keep Russell with him. It was too dangerous, for one thing. For another, it was too annoying.
Russell ran to the window. “Hey, look, buildings!” He looked down at the office buildings and the people bustling past on the street. Everyone was busy. Nobody looked up and noticed the house flying overhead. “That building is so close, I could almost touch it.”
Carl shuffled to the fireplace. Clearly, he didn’t have a choice. He was going to have to pull the plug on the adventure. He’d have to land the house right where they were and send Russell home.
“I know that cloud,” Russell said as he stared out the window. “It’s a cumulonimbus. Did you know that a cumulonimbus is formed when warm air goes by cool air and the airs go by each other, and that’s how we get lightning?”
But Carl wasn’t listening. He was sawing at the balloon strings with his keys. “Stayed up all night blowing up balloons … for what?” he muttered. Russell was still talking. He never seemed to stop. “That’s nice, kid,” Carl muttered, reaching up and turning off his hearing aid.
“Mr. Fredricksen,” Russell said nervously, “there’s a big storm coming. It’s starting to get scary.” Carl was still ignoring him, so he raised his voice. “We’re going to get blown to bits! We’re in big trouble, Mr. Fredricksen!”
Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed outside. The light got Carl’s attention. He turned his hearing aid back on. “What are you doing over there?” he demanded.
Russell pointed out the window at the dark clouds. “Look!”
Carl went to the window. “See?” Russell said. “Cumulonimbus.”
Thunder rumbled outside as lightning lit up the house.
Carl gasped and ran to the steering rig. He tried to steer the house out of the dark clouds, but the storm was too strong. The wheel spun, knocking Carl backward. He fell to the floor, and Russell let out a scream.
Rain lashed the house, and thunder roared. The house shifted, and Russell went flying. He landed on his back. Plates fell from the cupboards, books spilled from the shelves. Russell jumped up and tried to hide behind an umbrella stand. His backpack slid past. “My pack!” He pounced on it.
“Gotcha!” Russell kept sliding down the hall on top of the backpack. The front door swung open. Russell was about to slide through, but the door swung shut again. Russell crashed into it.
Carl struggled to his feet as photos and pictures fell from the walls. He tried to rescue his things. He grabbed what he could and tried to secure it.
Finally, Carl collapsed into his chair, exhausted. Before he knew it, his eyes had closed.
第 3 章
“費(fèi)迪遜先生，很抱歉?？赡悴幌袷墙o我們制造麻煩的人啊。”警官把卡爾送到他家前門時抱歉地笑了笑。整整一天的時間，卡爾都是在法庭上度過的。法官裁定卡爾犯有襲擊建筑工人的罪行。“拿著這個，”警官遞給卡爾一本橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的小冊子，“明早，橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的人會來接你，好吧？”
警車漸漸開遠(yuǎn)了，卡爾低頭看了一眼小冊子，上面印著笑容滿面、和藹可親的老人像。法官之前已經(jīng)告訴卡爾，他以后不能獨自在家里生活了。雖然他不用坐牢，但是他必須住進(jìn)一家養(yǎng)老院。對卡爾來說，這也沒好到哪兒去。因為他不想離開這座小房子——艾莉的俱樂部。
“我該怎么辦，艾莉？”他大聲地問道。
那天晚上，卡爾在這間安靜的房子里踱來踱去。這里的每一件物品都能勾起他對艾莉的回憶?？枏墓褡永锇阉氖痔嵯淅鰜頃r，看見了艾莉的那本舊探險書。他小心地解開系書的繩子，一頁一頁地翻看著查爾斯·蒙茲以及他著名飛船的照片。
看到標(biāo)有“心愿單”那一頁時，卡爾不由得停下來，嘆了口氣。他翻不下去了。艾莉未曾真正地去探險過?？栐蛩S諾過，發(fā)過誓，但卻遲遲沒有帶她去探險。
卡爾慢慢地合上了艾莉的探險書，盯著壁爐架，然后看了看旁邊的南美洲地圖、陶器、手工編織的毯子、鳥的雕像，還有小玩具飛船。最終，他望向了艾莉描繪的房子——他們在特普伊山上的房子。
然后，他瞥了一眼橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的小冊子。
他又抬頭望了一眼壁爐架，微微瞇起眼睛。他忽然笑了，在胸口畫了個十字，心里做出了決定。
夜深了，整個街區(qū)都變得漆黑而安靜，只有費(fèi)迪遜家還亮著燈?？栒苟荚诜块g里收拾，他有很多準(zhǔn)備工作要做。
第二天早上，陽光明媚，橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的面包車停在卡爾的房子前面。車上走下來兩個人。他們是來自橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的護(hù)理工。
名叫喬治的護(hù)理工敲響了門。
“早上好，先生們。”卡爾說著打開了門。他提著一個手提箱。
“早上好，費(fèi)迪遜先生，”喬治說，“您準(zhǔn)備好了嗎？”
“時刻準(zhǔn)備著。”卡爾把手提箱遞給護(hù)理工A.J.，“可以幫我拿著這個箱子嗎？我一會兒就到車那兒去找你們。我，嗯，想跟這個老地方道個別。”
“當(dāng)然可以，”喬治說著，禮貌地點了點頭。“先生，不著急，您慢慢來。”
“還是老樣子，他就是不愿來。”卡爾關(guān)上門的同時，A.J.喃喃地嘀咕著。他和喬治一起走向面包車。“他可能是去廁所了，該是第80次了。”
喬治看著草坪。上面扔滿了空氦氣罐。他忽然問了一句：“你不覺得他該對自己的房子好點嗎？”
正說著，一個黑影出現(xiàn)在面包車上。喬治和A.J.抬頭望去，他們驚訝得下巴都要掉下來了。只見成百上千只氣球從房子后面騰空升起。它們像噴泉噴出的水花一般，躍向空中。氣球的線全都穿過煙囪系在卡爾的房子上。隨著氣球逐漸升騰，房子搖搖晃晃地掙脫地面，發(fā)出“吱嘎吱嘎”的聲音。最后，房子竟然脫離了地基，慢慢地升向空中。
上升……上升……氣球把房子帶得越來越高。
這座飄浮的房子撞到了橡樹蔭養(yǎng)老院的面包車，觸響了車子的警報?？柊杨^探出窗口，揚(yáng)揚(yáng)得意地喊道：“再見了，孩子們！”
喬治和A.J.眼睜睜地看著卡爾的房子飛走了，什么都做不了！
房子在城市上空翱翔。人們注視著這座神奇的房子，無法相信眼前發(fā)生的一切。鳥兒在房子旁邊翩翩起舞?？柨粗麄儯牢康匦α?。他調(diào)整好羅盤，展開了由掛在窗簾桿上的窗簾制成的風(fēng)帆布。風(fēng)帆在風(fēng)中滾滾飄動。
卡爾和艾莉終于朝著南美洲的方向前行了?？栁橇宋前虻恼掌f：“我們上路了，艾莉。”說完，他高興地舒了口氣，坐在壁爐旁他最喜歡的那把椅子上。
他剛剛閉上眼睛，就聽到了敲門聲。
卡爾猛地睜開了眼睛。有人敲門？
“嗯？”卡爾盯著前門。但等了一會兒，又沒了動靜。他盡力說服自己這敲門聲不過是自己幻聽罷了，但這時敲門聲卻再次響起。
卡爾一邊抱怨著，一邊慢吞吞地走向門口。他通過貓眼向外探視，但除了前廊和天空中飄浮的朵朵白云，什么都沒有。他驟然把門打開。
“??！”卡爾被嚇得叫起來。原來是小羅，他正緊緊抓著墻，生怕自己小命不保。
“嗨，費(fèi)迪遜先生，”小羅緊張地說，“是我，小羅。”
“你在這兒干什么，孩子？”卡爾問道。
“我找到了鷸，”小羅解釋道，“我在你的門廊下找到了它，但是這只鳥有一條長長的尾巴，看上去更像一只大老鼠。”
卡爾翻了個白眼。那才不是鷸。它就是一只老鼠！究竟是什么樣的野外探險家，竟然不知道老鼠和虛構(gòu)的鷸之間的區(qū)別？他心里想道。
“請讓我進(jìn)去吧。”小羅懇求道。
“不行！”卡爾吼道，關(guān)上了門。
小羅凝視著明媚的太陽、蔚藍(lán)的天空和身旁飄過的朵朵白云，一切都那么靜謐而美好。但對他來說，這卻是最倒霉的一天。
過了一小會兒，門“吱呀”一聲打開了。“哦，好吧，”卡爾無奈地說，“你可以進(jìn)……”話沒說完，小羅就像一顆子彈似的沖向里面。
“……來了”卡爾這才把話說完。
喘息片刻之后，小羅平復(fù)了一下自己的情緒。然后他開始四處張望。“哈。我從沒到過一間會飛的房子里。”它和普通的房子看起來沒有什么兩樣。他走到壁爐邊，看見艾莉畫的房子就平放在打開的地圖冊上。“哇，你要去旅行嗎？”小羅問道。“‘天堂瀑布：即將消失的土地’，”他讀著畫上寫的字，“你要去南美洲，費(fèi)迪遜先生？”
“別碰它！”卡爾一把從小羅的手中搶過這頁紙，把它裝進(jìn)了口袋里，然后“啪”的一聲把地圖冊合上了。“別給弄壞了。”
“很多人坐飛機(jī)去旅行，”小羅高興地說，“但你很聰明，因為你把電視、時鐘和其他用品都帶上了。”
小羅注意到卡爾擺放在客廳里的駕駛臺，它是由一個老式的咖啡研磨機(jī)與曲形手柄組合而成的?？栍美K索把它綁在了風(fēng)向標(biāo)上。“哇。你是這樣‘開’房子的？”小羅問，“真的可以開動嗎？哦，往這邊搖房子就會向右行進(jìn)了，往另一邊搖房子會向左行進(jìn)。”
卡爾在房子里站不住腳，歪歪扭扭地走動著。小羅的轉(zhuǎn)向幅度讓他感到眩暈！“孩子，你能停下來——放開手中的——停下來！”
卡爾意識到不能把小羅繼續(xù)留在身邊了，他早晚會闖禍。而且這個小男孩太令人討厭了。
小羅跑到窗口處：“嘿，看啊，是高樓！”他低頭看了看辦公樓和街上的人。每個人都忙忙碌碌的，沒有人抬起頭來注意到他們頭頂飛過的房子。“那座高樓離我們好近哦，我?guī)缀蹩梢悦剿?rdquo;
卡爾搖搖晃晃地走到壁爐旁。顯然，他別無選擇，他不得不切斷探險的源頭。他必須原地降落，把小羅送回家。
“我知道那種云，”小羅注視著窗外說，“那是一片積雨云。你知道積雨云是怎樣形成的嗎？當(dāng)暖空氣上升，冷空氣和暖空氣相遇時，就形成了積雨云，這也是閃電出現(xiàn)的原因。”
但卡爾并沒有聽他在講什么，他正在用鑰匙把氣球的繩線鋸斷。“整晚都在吹氣球……我這是為了什么？”他小聲嘀咕著。小羅還在繼續(xù)講，看樣子一時半會兒不會停下來。“很好，孩子。”卡爾咕噥著，伸手關(guān)掉了自己的助聽器。
“費(fèi)迪遜先生，”小羅緊張地說，“暴風(fēng)雨就要來了。一切都變得可怕極了。”卡爾還是不理他，于是小羅提高了聲音，“我們就要被吹成碎片了！我們遇上大麻煩了，費(fèi)迪遜先生！”
就在這時，一道閃電劃過窗外。閃電的亮光吸引了卡爾的注意力。他把助聽器重新打開。“你在那兒干什么？”他質(zhì)問道。
小羅指了指窗外的烏云：“看！”
卡爾走到窗口。“看見了嗎？”小羅說，“那是積雨云。”
閃電照亮了整個房子，窗外雷聲隆隆。
卡爾倒吸了一口氣，連忙跑到駕駛臺處。他試圖把房子“開”出來，擺脫烏云，但暴風(fēng)雨實在是太大了。柄輪打滑，敲中了卡爾，他向后倒去，摔在了地上，小羅嚇得發(fā)出一聲尖叫。
雨滴像鞭子一樣抽打著房子，窗外雷聲轟鳴。房子不停地?fù)u晃，把小羅拋向空中，落了個背朝天。盤子從櫥柜上掉出來，摔在了地上；書籍從書架上散開，落了一地。小羅跳了起來，試圖躲到傘架的后面，不料他的背包卻滑走了。“我的背包！”小羅一個猛撲，去抓自己的背包。
“抓住了！”話音剛落，小羅便隨著身下的背包滑向門廊。這時，前門被晃開了，小羅就要滑出去了。就在這千鈞一發(fā)之際，門“砰”的一聲又關(guān)上了。小羅重重地撞到了門上。
看到照片和圖片從墻上嘩嘩地掉下來，卡爾極力地掙扎著站起來，試圖拯救自己的物品。他盡可能地抓住身旁的物品，試圖保證它們的完好。
但最后，卡爾筋疲力盡，癱倒在了椅子上。他合上了眼皮，不省人事了。
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