Thimble Summer《银顶针的夏天》.docVIP

Thimble Summer《银顶针的夏天》 　　伊丽莎白?恩赖特（Elizabeth Enright， 1909～1968），美国儿童文学家、插画家、小说家，生于美国伊利诺伊州，她的母亲是杂志插画家，父亲是政治漫画家，所以从小就受到了浓厚的文化艺术熏陶。1937年，伊丽莎白出版了第一本书，之后便对创作产生了极大的兴趣，其代表作有《银顶针的夏天》（Thimble Summer）和《消失的湖》（Gone-Away Lake）等。 　　《银顶针的夏天》讲述了一个酷热的夏日，一个年近十岁的小女孩Garnet （加妮特）在干涸的河床上捡到了一枚银顶针，这枚银顶针仿佛具有魔法一般，让她经历了一连串奇妙的事情。小说展现了上个世纪三四十年代美国乡村祥和、静谧的田园风光，深受读者的喜爱，获得了1939年纽伯瑞儿童文学奖金奖。除此之外，《消失的湖》也在1958年获得了纽伯瑞儿童文学奖荣誉奖。 　　下文节选自小说第七章，讲述了Garnet在搭便车回家途中，帮助卡车司机抓回散落的小鸡的故事。 　　Oh the good smell of fields in the country！ They could have their trolley1） cars， those city people. Yes， and they could have their green stoves and fur coats， and hot dogs and everything else. 　　Been shopping？ asked the driver looking at her bundle. 　　I certainly have， said Garnet laughing. Thats why Im hitchhiking2） home； I spent every penny I had！ Then she told him all the things shed bought， and all about her family. 　　When they drove down the main street of Hodgeville Garnet heard a sort of crash， and she saw a boy yelling and pointing. She stuck her head out of the window. Behind them there were chickens running all over the street. 　　Stop！ shouted Garnet to the driver. One of the crates3） fell off and its broken. 　　Them doggone4） chickens， sighed the driver as he stopped the truck. He sounded as if this had happened to him before. I tell you Id rather be hauling a load of wild bull5） elephants！ 　　Garnet hopped out6） too， and began chasing hens. Cars honked and could not pass； heads poked7） out of upstairs windows， and people stopped on the sidewalk. Hodgevilles one policeman， Gus Winch， appeared from nowhere and gave advice. People laughed and laughed. 　　Garnet grabbed at and caught a hen by its feet. She reached for another on the radiator cap8） of a car. The truck driver already had three wildly clucking9） scrambling10） bundles of feathers in his arms. 　　How many more are out？ panted Garnet， holding onto the hens. 　　Lets see. Weve got five； must be one more someplace. The truck driver was very red in the face