07:47
Abdu in the Traffic Jam
Abdu in the Traffic Jam
‘Oh no... Look at this! It’s going to take forever to get home now!’
‘噢，不...看看这个！现在不知道要什么时候才能到家！’
Abdu’s mum pressed the brakes on the car. It slowed downtill it was hardly moving. Then it came to a stop, at the very end of the traffic jam.
阿卜杜的妈妈踩了汽车的刹车。车慢慢停下来，直到几乎没有动静。然后在交通拥堵的尽头停止了。
‘I hate this motorway,’ she said.
她说：“我讨厌这条高速公路。”
Abdu looked at the road ahead. Hundreds of cars were crawling along the motorway, bumper to bumper. His mum was right. It would take hours to get home.
阿卜杜看着前方的路。数百辆汽车沿着高速公路爬行，一波又一波。他的妈妈是对的。回家要花几个小时。
‘Maybe there has been an accident?’ he said.
他说：“可能发生了事故？”
‘Maybe. Or maybe there are just too many cars on the road these days!’ She turned the radio on. ‘It’s a bad end to a good weekend.’
也许吧。也许这几天路上汽车太多了！’她打开收音机。 ‘这对一个美好的周末来说是一个糟糕的结局。’
‘A great weekend,’ said Abdu. They had been to stay with family, up in Manchester. Now he was tired. He wanted to go to bed – he had school tomorrow. But he couldn go to bed until he had done his homework.
“一个美好的周末，”阿卜杜说。他们曾和家人呆在一起，住在曼彻斯特。现在他累了。他想上床睡觉-明天要上学。但是直到完成功课他才能上床睡觉。
Mrs Hussain, his teacher, wanted everyone in the class to write a story.
他的老师侯赛因太太希望班上的每个人都写一个故事。
‘Write a true story,’ she said, ‘about something that has happened to you.’
她说：“写一个真实的故事，关于你身上发生的事情。”
Abdu had groaned. ‘Nothing exciting ever happens to me,’ he said.
阿卜杜呻吟了，说道：“我没有遇到什么激动的事。”
And now it was Sunday night, Mrs Hussain wanted the story tomorrow, and still Abdu had no idea what to write.
现在是星期天晚上，侯赛因夫人明天就要这个故事，但阿卜杜仍然不知道该写些什么。
Mum kept moving the car forward, bit by bit. The motorway was packed. There were three lanes full of cars, lorries and vans. Mum was in the middle lane. The left lane had the lorries. One was much taller than all the others. The back part of it was a metal container, painted dark green. There was no writing on it.
妈妈不断地把汽车一点一点地向前移动。高速公路挤满了人。一共有三车道，车，卡车和货车。妈妈在中间道上。左车道是卡车，其中一个卡车比其他所有的都高，它的后部是一个金属容器，漆成深绿色，上面没有写字。
Abdu rolled downhis window. The evening was warm; he was feeling hot. He leaned out and looked at the cars ahead. Their brake lights flashed red, on and off, on and off.
阿卜杜摇下窗户。晚上天很暖和，他感觉很热。他俯身看了看前方的汽车。他们的刹车灯呈红色闪烁，一会儿闪，一会儿不闪。
Suddenly there was an almighty thumping sound, deep and metallic, like someone had hit an enormous drum.
突然传来全能的重击声，深沉而有金属感，就像有人敲了一个大鼓。
‘What was that?’ said Abdu. ‘Was it thunder?’
“那是什么？”阿卜杜说。 ‘是雷声吗？’
‘I didn’t hear anything,’ said Mum. She moved the car forward a bit more. Now the tall green lorry was closer.
妈妈说：“我什么都没听到。”她把汽车往前移了一点。现在高大的绿色货车更近了。
‘That!’ he cried. ‘Did you hear it then?’
“那！”他哭了。 ‘那你听到了吗？’
‘No,’ said Mum.
‘不，’妈妈说。
‘Turn down the radio. You’ll hear it then.’
‘把收音机声音放低，然后您会听到的。’
She turned it down.
她调低了声音。
‘There! It was really loud that time. You must have heard it.’
那里！它刚刚的声音真的很大。你一定是听到了。’
‘No, love. I think you’re dreaming!’ Mum turned the radio upagain.
没，亲爱的。我想你是在做梦！’妈妈又把收音机声音调高。
The tall green lorry came closer. It was no more than 50 meters away now, on Abdu’s left.
高大的绿色货车靠得更近了，现在离阿卜杜左手边不超过50米。
This time the lorry moved. Abdu saw it clearly. The whole of the container shook. There was something inside it. There had to be! There was something inside, banging against the wall and making the drumming sound.
这次卡车移动了。阿卜杜清楚地看到了。整个容器都摇了摇。里面有东西。必须有！里面有东西，撞在墙上，发出鼓声。
Abdu saw the metal move. The side of the lorry had a dent now, like something had punched it from inside. What on earth...?
阿卜杜看到金属移动了。卡车的侧面现在有凹痕，就像是什么东西从内部打了孔一样。到底怎么回事...？
The back of the lorry rocked from side to side.
货车的后面左右摇摆。
‘What is in that lorry?’ he cried. ‘Mum! Have you seen it?’
“那辆卡车是什么？”他哭了。 ‘妈妈！你看到了吗？
‘Seen what, love?’
“看到了什么，亲爱的？”
‘That green lorry, there. It keeps rocking from side to side.’
‘那辆绿色货车，在那儿，它不断左右摇摆。’
Mum turned round in her seat and looked at him. ‘Are you OK?’
妈妈在她的座位上转过身，看着他。 你还好吗？
‘Yeah. I just don’t understand why you can’t hear the noise or see the rocking.’
‘是的，我还好。我只是不明白为什么你听不到噪音或者看不到它在摇摆。’
Mum shook her head, turned back and moved the car again.
妈妈摇了摇头，转回去，又把车开了。
Abdu looked intothe other cars. No one else seemed interested in the green lorry. Was he the only one who could see this?
阿卜杜看着其他汽车。似乎没有人对这辆绿色卡车感兴趣。他是唯一可以看到这一切的人吗？
Then there came a new sound. A terrible sound of ripping metal - and five enormous claws ripped through the side of the green lorry.
然后传来新的声音。划开金属的可怕声音-绿色货车的侧面划出了五个巨大的爪子。
It came again, but this time it was the roof of the lorry. Abdu saw a foot kick its way out. A gigantic armoured foot, like a dinosaur foot.
它又来了，但是这次是卡车的屋顶。阿卜杜看到脚踢了出来。巨大的装甲脚，如恐龙脚。
The whole of the roof was kicked offand a tyrannosaurus rex stood up in the back of the lorry. A tyrannosaurus rex. Abdu knew his dinosaurs. He had watched Jurassic Park fifteen times.
整个屋顶都被拉开了，霸王龙在卡车的后面站了起来。是一只霸王龙。阿卜杜（Abdu）知道他的恐龙。他看了十五次侏罗纪公园。
The t-rex climbed out ofthe smashed lorry and jumped down onto the motorway. Then it leapt over the fence beside it and marched away across the fields.
霸王龙爬出粉碎的货车，跳到高速公路上。然后，它越过了它旁边的篱笆，越过了田野。
Abdu looked again at the cars all around him. No one had seen it! Unbelievable.
阿卜杜再次注视着他周围的汽车。没有人看过！简直难以置信。
Mum moved the car forward. Now they were creeping past the green lorry. Abdu stared atthe metal, ripped where the claws had sliced through.
妈妈把汽车往前移。现在他们正爬过绿色货车。阿卜杜（Abdu）凝视着金属，爪子穿过划破了的地方。
The lorry driver didn’t look worried. He was eating an apple.
卡车司机看上去并不担心。他在吃一个苹果。
Abdu leaned outof his window.
阿卜杜俯身走出窗外。
‘Mister! Mister! You’ve lost your dinosaur! I saw it escape. It ripped the roof off and ran away across the fields!’
先生！先生！您已经失去了恐龙！我看到它逃脱了。它撕破屋顶，跑过了田野！’
The lorry driver looked at him in horror.
卡车司机惊恐地看着他。
‘No!’ he wailed. ‘Really? Then I am in trouble. That is the second t-rex I have lost this week!’
“不！”他哭了。 真的？那我有麻烦了。那是我这周跑掉的第二只霸王龙！’
Abdu fell back in his seat. What a crazy thing! But he hadn’t imagined it. It really had happened.
阿卜杜回到他的座位上。太疯狂了！但是他想都没有想过。它真的发生了。
And it would make a great story!
这将是一个很棒的故事！
He pulled his homework book out of his bag, found a pen and began...
他从包里拿出作业簿，找到笔，开始了写作...
