Everywhere in town I could smell the goat ranch
镇上到处都能闻到羊牧场的味道
—if I ever needed to catch my bearings, I would just turn my nose until the scent was the strongest, and that way lay home.
——如果我需要辨别方向的话,我就会调转头,气味最强烈的方位就是家所在的方位。
One day we were in the park and an older boy was throwing a plastic toy for his dog to catch.
有一天在公园里时,一个年纪稍大的男孩正在扔一个塑料玩具,让他的狗去接。
The dog was a black female, short, and all business
那只狗是一只黑色的母狗,个子小小的,,穿的煞有介事。
—when I trotted up to her she completely ignored me, her eyes on the plastic toy, which was a thin, brightly colored disk.
——当我小跑跑向她时,她完全无视了我,她的眼睛只盯着塑料玩具,那是一个薄薄的、颜色鲜艳的圆盘。
It would soar through the air and she would run and leap and snag it before it even touched the ground,
那个圆盘会在空中飞翔,那只小狗会在圆盘落地之前又跑又跳地把它抓住,
which I suppose was a pretty impressive trick if you liked that sort of thing.
喜欢这种戏法的人,应该会觉得很有意思。。
“What do you think, Bailey? Do you want to do that, boy?” Ethan asked me.
“你有什么想法不,贝利?你想玩儿这个吗?”伊森问我。
His eyes were shining as he watched the little dog catch the plastic disk,
他看着那只小狗接住塑料飞盘的时候,眼睛都在闪闪发光。
and when we got home he went right to his room and got busy making what he called the “flip.”
我们到家之后,他径直走进自己的房间,开始忙着制作他所谓的“筋斗云”。
“It’s like a cross between a boomerang, a Frisbee, and a baseball,” he told Grandpa. “It will fly twice as far, because the ball gives it weight, see?”
他对爷爷说:“这就像是回旋镖、飞盘和棒球的混合体。但飞行距离是它们的两倍,因为球给了它重量,明白吗?”
I sniffed at the object, which had been a perfectly good football before Ethan cut it up and asked Grandma to put new stitches in it.
我闻了闻这个东西,这球已经很完美了,但伊森把它切开并让奶奶缝上了新的针线。。
“Come on, Bailey!” the boy shouted.
“来吧,贝利!伊森喊道。
We raced outside.
我们在外面跑。
“How much money can you make on an invention like this?” the boy asked his grandpa.
“像这样的发明,能赚多少钱?”伊森问爷爷。
“Let’s just see how she flies,” Grandpa observed.
“我们看看它飞得如何吧”爷爷说。
“Okay, ready, Bailey? Ready?”
“贝利,好了,好了吗?准备好了吗?”
I took this to mean that something was about to happen and stood alertly.
我把这句话理解为要发生什么事了,于是我警觉地站着。
The boy cranked his arm back and flung the flip into the air, where it twisted and fell from the sky as if it had hit something.
男孩把手臂向后一伸,把球抛向空中,球就像撞到什么东西一样从天上掉了下来。
I trotted off the porch and went over to sniff it. “Bring the flip, Bailey!” the boy called.
我小跑着跑出门廊,走过去嗅了嗅它。“把它捡回来,贝利!”伊森喊道。
Gingerly I picked the thing up.
我小心翼翼地把它捡了起来。
I remembered the short dog chasing the elegant flying disk in the park and felt a pang of envy.
我想起了公园里那只追逐优雅飞碟的小矮狗,心里一阵妒忌。
I took it back over to where the boy was standing and spat it out.
我把它拿回到男孩站的地方,把它从嘴里放下来。
“Not aerodynamic,” Grandpa was saying. “Too much resistance.”
爷爷说,“这不符合空气动力学,阻力太大了。”
“I just need to throw it right,” the boy said.
“只要我扔得好就可以”伊森说。