曉菲

◆原作節(jié)選◆

Chapter EightTuckers Lifes Savings

Chester Cricket was having a dream. In his dream he was sitting on top of his stump back in Connecticut（康涅狄格州）， eating a leaf from the willow tree. He would bite off a piece of leaf， chew it up， and swallow it， but for some reason it didnt taste as good as usual. There was something dry and papery about it， and it had bitter flavor. Still， Chester kept eating， hoping that it would begin to taste better.

A storm came up in his dream. The wind blew clouds of dust across the meadow. They swirled around his stump， and Chester began to sneeze because the dust got in his nose. But he still held on to the leaf. And then he sneezed such a big sneeze that it woke him up.

Chesterlookedaroundhim .Hehadbeen walking in his sleep and he was sitting on the edge of the cash register. The storm had been a gust of air that blew into the newsstand when the shuttle pulled up to the station. He was still choking from the dirt that flew around him. Chester looked down at his two front legs， half expecting to find the willow leaf. But it was no leaf he was holding. It was a two-dollar bill and he had already eaten half of it.

He dropped the bill and leaped over to the cricketcage，whereTuckerMousewassleeping peacefully. Chester shook the silver bell furiously； it rang like a fire alarm. Tucker jumped out from under his blanket of dollar bills and ran around the cage shouting，“Help！ Fire！ Murder！ Police！”

Then he realized where he was and sat down panting.“What is the matter with you， Chester？”he said.“I could have died from fright.”

“I just ate half of a two-dollar bill，”said Chester.

Tucker stared at him with disbelief.“You did what？”he asked.

“Yes，”said Chester，“l(fā)ook.”He fetched the ruined two-dollar bill from the cash register.“I dreamed it was a leaf and I ate it.”

“Oh oh oh oh，”moaned Tucker Mouse.“Not a one-dollar bill—not even a one-dollar bill and a fifty-cent piece—two dollars you had to eat！ And from the Bellin is too—people who hardly make two dollars in two days.”

“What am I going to do？”asked Chester.

“Pack your bags and go to California，”said Tucker.

Chester shook his head.“I cant，”he said.“Theyve been so good to me—I cant run away.”

Tucker Mouse shrugged his shoulders.“then stay and take the rap，”he said. He crept out of the cage and examined the remains of the money.“Theres still half of it left. Maybe we could put Scotch Tape along the edge and pass it off as a one-dollar bill.”

“No one would believe it，”said Chester. He sat down， still forlornly holding the bill.“Oh， dear—and things were going along so nicely.”

Tucker Mouse put his bedclothes back in the cash register drawer and came to sit beside Chester.“Buckup，”hesaid.“Wecouldstillfigure something out， maybe.”

Theybothconcentratedforaminute.Then Tucker clasped his paws and squeaked，“I got it！ Eat the rest of it and theyll never know what happened.”

“Theyd accuse each other of losing it，”said Chester.“I dont want to make any bad feeling between them.”

“Oh， youre so honorable！”said Tucker.“Its disgusting.”

“Besides， it tastes bad，”added Chester.

“Then how about this.”Tucker had a new idea.“We frame the janitor who cleans the station. Ill take the evidence over and plant it in his water closet. He whopped me with a mop last week. I would be glad to see him go to jail for a few days.”

“No，no，”saidChester.“Wecantget somebody else in trouble.”

“Then a stranger，”said Tucker.“We tip over the Kleenex， break the glass in the alarm clock， and throw all the small change on the floor. Theyll think a thief came in the night. You could even put a bandage on and make out like a hero. I could see it all—”

“No！”Chester interrupted him.“The damage weddowouldcostevenmorethanthetwo dollars.”

第八章塔克一生的積蓄

蟋蟀切斯特正在做夢。在夢里，他坐在康涅狄格州老家的一個(gè)樹墩上，正在吃柳樹上掉下來的一片葉子。他咬一口葉子，細(xì)細(xì)嚼碎，再吞下去，可是那味道不知道為什么不像平常那么好，干巴巴的，像紙一樣，還有苦味。不過，切斯特還是繼續(xù)吃下去，希望味道會(huì)開始好起來。

夢中出現(xiàn)了風(fēng)暴。大風(fēng)卷起灰塵，掠過草地，圍著樹墩盤旋?；覊m吹進(jìn)切斯特的鼻孔，他開始打噴嚏，但他仍然抱住那片葉子。接著，他打了一個(gè)巨大的噴嚏，把自己驚醒了。

切斯特環(huán)顧四周，原來自己做夢的時(shí)候一直在走動(dòng)，現(xiàn)在正坐在現(xiàn)金出納機(jī)邊上。夢中的風(fēng)暴實(shí)際上是區(qū)間火車到站掀起的一股氣浪吹進(jìn)了報(bào)攤。四周掀起的灰塵仍然嗆得他透不過氣來。切斯特低頭看看自己的兩條前腿，滿懷幾分希望地去找到夢中的那片柳葉?？墒撬ё〉牟⒉皇橇~。那是一張兩元美金的鈔票，這張鈔票已經(jīng)被他吃掉了一半。

切斯特放下鈔票，向蟋蟀籠跳過去。老鼠塔克在籠子里睡得正香。切斯特猛烈地?fù)u動(dòng)著銀鈴。鈴子叮當(dāng)叮當(dāng)響起來，就像發(fā)生了火警。塔克在鈔票毯子下翻身跳起，在籠子里跑來跑去，一邊大聲喊叫：“救命?。∈Щ鹆?！出了人命案！警察快來?。　?/p>

后來，老鼠塔克才弄清楚自己是在什么地方，喘著氣坐下來?！扒兴固?，你搞什么名堂？”他說，“我差一點(diǎn)嚇?biāo)懒??！?/p>

“我剛才把一張兩美元的鈔票吃掉了半邊?！鼻兴固卣f。

塔克露出不相信的神情，目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地望著切斯特，問他：“你吃了鈔票？”

“是的，”切斯特說，“看吧！”他從現(xiàn)金出納機(jī)里拿出那張吃壞了的鈔票。“我夢見這是一片樹葉，我以為自己吃的是樹葉哩?！?/p>

“唉，唉，唉，”老鼠塔克悲嘆著說，“這可不是一元美金的鈔票，甚至也不是一美元鈔票再加上五角硬幣，你吃的是兩美元啊！何況又是貝利尼一家人的兩美元?。∷麄冞@一家，唉，兩天還賺不到兩美元啦?！?/p>

“我該怎么辦呢？”切斯特問道。

“收拾好行李，回康涅狄格州去。”塔克說。

切斯特?fù)u搖頭?！安恍?，”他說，“他們對我這樣好，我不能跑掉。”

老鼠塔克聳聳肩膀。“那么，你就留下來承擔(dān)責(zé)任吧?！彼f。他從蟋蟀籠里爬出來，仔細(xì)檢查了那張吃掉半邊的鈔票：“這張鈔票還留下了半邊，我們也許可以沿著這邊補(bǔ)上紙條，把它當(dāng)一美元用出去?！?/p>

“誰也不會(huì)相信的，”切斯特仍然悲傷失望地捏著那張殘破的鈔票，坐下來說，“哎呀，情況本來一直都很順利啊。”

老鼠塔克把他用來做被單、毯子的鈔票放回現(xiàn)金出納機(jī)的抽屜里，走過來坐在切斯特旁邊?！皠e泄氣，”他說，“我們還可以想辦法，可能有辦法的?！?/p>

他們?nèi)褙炞⒌叵肓艘环昼?，塔克忽然拍著他的爪子，尖聲叫喊著：“我想到了一個(gè)好辦法！干脆吃掉剩下的半邊鈔票，他們就再也不會(huì)知道這件事啦。”

“失掉了這張鈔票，他們會(huì)互相爭吵不休的，”切斯特說，“我不愿意使他們之間產(chǎn)生任何厭惡感?！?/p>

“哦，你多么誠實(shí)??！”塔克說，“這鈔票真討厭?！?/p>

“再說，它的味道也不好呢。”切斯特補(bǔ)上這么一句。

“那么，這個(gè)辦法好不好，”塔克又有個(gè)新主意，“讓我們?nèi)フ_陷那個(gè)在車站打掃的看門人吧。我把這張鈔票作物證，拿去放在他的盥洗室里。上個(gè)星期，他用拖把打我?？吹剿ザ讕滋毂O(jiān)獄，我才開心呢?！?/p>

“不行，不行，”切斯特說，“我們不能使別人受連累?！?/p>

“那么，就把過錯(cuò)推到誰也不認(rèn)識的陌生人身上去吧，”塔克說，“我們把裝紙手絹的盒子打翻，把鬧鐘上的玻璃打破，把零錢丟到地板上。他們會(huì)以為夜里來過小偷。你甚至還可以用繃帶把自己包扎起來，裝成一個(gè)英雄的樣子。那情景，我簡直就像已經(jīng)看到了———”

“不行！”切斯特打斷了他的話，“我們造成的損失甚至還會(huì)超過兩元美金?！?/p>

◆賞析◆

如果你遠(yuǎn)離寧靜的家鄉(xiāng)，去到最繁華的城市生活，在午夜夢回想家的時(shí)候，你會(huì)以怎樣的方式來緬懷故土？作者喬治·塞爾登先生（George Selden， 1929—1989）則用別具匠心的方式，為他的家鄉(xiāng)康涅狄克州撰寫了一部流傳至今的小說———《時(shí)代廣場的蟋蟀》（Crickets In Times Square）。它勾起了讀者們對這片土地的好奇心。

小說的主人公小蟋蟀切斯特因?yàn)樨澇?，誤打誤撞踏上了從康涅狄克州去紐約的火車。這只可憐的小蟋蟀見慣了家鄉(xiāng)的草地、微風(fēng)、還有漫天的柳樹，剛到這處處被霓虹燈照耀的城市時(shí)，茫然不知所措。站在時(shí)代廣場的中間，切斯特只能抬頭看著頭頂上似曾相識的那顆星星，才勉強(qiáng)能夠入眠。不過，切斯特也算得上所有蟋蟀里最幸運(yùn)的一只了。因?yàn)樵谀_步匆忙的城市里，他居然結(jié)識了一群讓他受益終身的伙伴們。小主人馬里奧就不用說了，作為切斯特的救命恩人，盡管自己也生活窘迫，但許多次都仗義地為切斯特挺身而出。從無到有，從陌生到熟悉，從角落里最不起眼的小蟋蟀到時(shí)代廣場備受矚目的演奏家，馬里奧可謂切斯特生命里不可或缺的一名“貴人”。小老鼠塔克和貓咪亨利的功勞也不小，它們捐出一生的積蓄，換來了切斯特的自由，還在每一次困境出現(xiàn)時(shí)，為小伙伴掃除障礙，一步步幫助他成為紐約最負(fù)盛名的演奏家。

本期節(jié)選的就是“糊涂蛋”切斯特因?yàn)樘^思念家鄉(xiāng)，在夢里把馬里奧家的兩美元當(dāng)做家鄉(xiāng)的樹葉給吃掉了的故事。這件事情非同尋常，兩美元對馬里奧一家來說，可是好多天的生活費(fèi)呢。作者喬治用極其夸張的語氣將切斯特的痛苦與懊悔，小老鼠的圓滑與小聰明，描寫得淋漓盡致，讓讀者恨不得趕緊掏出兩美元，跳進(jìn)故事情節(jié)里，幫助大家度過這個(gè)悲傷的夜晚。短短的數(shù)十句對話，已經(jīng)讓讀者的心情緊緊地和主人公綁在了一起。

在好朋友的幫助下，小蟋蟀切斯特度過了難關(guān)，并逐步走上了成功的演奏之路。原來，時(shí)代廣場的腳步，并不永遠(yuǎn)都是匆匆忙忙的。城市上空的霓虹也會(huì)有凝固的一刻，馬路上飛馳的車輛也會(huì)駐足欣賞，大家都被切斯特悅耳的歌聲打動(dòng)了。小蟋蟀終于成功了，再也不用擔(dān)心在這個(gè)城市里無法適應(yīng)。不過，紐約上空的燈光再絢爛，伙伴們的陪伴再溫情，依舊抵不過夜夜在夢境里困擾自己的那片故土。雖然只是田野、輕煙、綠草遍地，卻是自己內(nèi)心無法替代的最美風(fēng)景。最后，切斯特毅然決定舍棄名利，回到故鄉(xiāng)康涅狄克州，做回草地上那只默默無聞卻無憂無慮的小蟋蟀。而他那幫鐵兄弟們，自然也是毫無條件地支持他了。正可謂真摯的友情，定是因?yàn)槔斫膺€有包容，才能走得更長遠(yuǎn)的。

或許是因?yàn)樽髡邌讨螌枢l(xiāng)的所有柔情以及內(nèi)心深處仰慕小蟋蟀的勇氣，都匯聚在文字里，所以這本書使他一舉成名，并于1961年獲得紐伯瑞兒童文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)銀獎(jiǎng)。