学校科学展即将开始，Juli得到老师给她的6只鸡蛋进行孵化实验。一开始她忐忑不安，因为她对此一窍不通，在父亲的耐心细致的协助下，他们制作了人工孵化器，温度计和湿度计，Juli全身心投入该项目，给每只鸡蛋取名，陪它们聊天，制作图表，观察记录各项数据变化。突然有一天，一只叫Clyde的蛋有了动静，小鸡开始破壳，Juli惊喜不已，不想错过每一只小鸡的降临， ... ...
Day 18 The eggs 女生视角
“So take it to school with you,” my mother said. “Mrs. Brubeck shouldn’t mind. After all, this was her idea.”
“要不你就把它带去学校吧，”我妈妈说。“布鲁贝克夫人应该不会介意。毕竟，这是她的主意。”
Sometimes it pays to have a sensible mother. I’d just set up for the science fair early, that’s what I’d do! I packed up my entire operation, posters, charts, and all, and got a ride to school from my mom.
有时候，有一个明事理的母亲是值得的。我就当作早早为科学展做准备，就这样！我收拾好了所有的设备、海报、图表，乘坐妈妈的车直奔学校。
Mrs. Brubeck didn’t mind a bit. She was so busy helping kids with their projects that I got to spend nearly the entire day watching the hatch.
布鲁贝克夫人一点也不介意。她正忙着帮助孩子们准备他们的项目，所以我几乎花了一整天的时间观察小鸡孵化过程。
Clyde and Bonnie were the first ones out. It was disappointing at first because they just lay there all wet and matted, looking exhausted and ugly. But by the time Abby and Dexter broke out, Bonnie and Clyde were fluffing up, looking for action.
克莱德和邦妮是第一批出壳的。一开始还是令人失望的，因为它们就是浑身湿漉漉的，羽毛蓬乱地躺在那里，样子又累又丑。但当艾比和德克斯特破壳而出时，邦妮和克莱德羽毛变得蓬松，开始蠢蠢欲动了。
The last two took forever, but Mrs. Brubeck insisted that I leave them alone, and that worked out pretty great because they hatched out during the fair that night. My whole family came, and even though Matt and Mike only watched for about two minutes before they took off to look at some other demonstration, my mom and dad stuck around for the whole thing. Mom even picked Bonnie up and nuzzled her.
最后两只很长时间没动静。布鲁贝克夫人坚持要我不要理会它们，结果很称心如意，因为它们是在那天晚上的科技展现场孵化出来的。我的全家人都出动了，尽管马特和迈克只看了大约两分钟就离开去看其他的展示，我的父母一直留在那里。妈妈甚至把邦妮抱起来用鼻子蹭了蹭她。
That night after it was all over and I was packing up to go home, Mom asked, “So do these go back to Mrs. Brubeck now?”
“Do what go back to Mrs. Brubeck?” I asked her.
“The chicks, Juli. You’re not planning to raise chickens, are you?”
那天晚上，当一切结束了，我正在收拾准备回家，妈妈问：“现在把这些都还给布鲁贝克夫人吗？”
“什么还给布鲁贝克太太？“ 我问。
“小鸡们，朱莉。你不会打算养鸡吧？”
To be honest, I hadn’t thought beyond the hatch. My focus had been strictly on bringing them into the world. But she was right—here they were. Six fluffy little adorable chicks, each of which had a name and, I could already tell, its own unique personality.
“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. “I’ll ask Mrs. Brubeck.”
说实话，我还没有考虑过孵化之外的事情。我一直专注于把他们带到这个世界上。但妈妈说得没错，它们活生生的就在眼前。六只毛茸茸的可爱的鸡宝宝，每只都有自己的名字，我已经能分辨它们各自独特的个性。
"我...我不知道，”我结结巴巴地说。“我得问问布鲁贝克夫人。”
I tracked down Mrs. Brubeck, but I was praying that she didn’t want me to give them back to her friend. After all, I’d hatched them. I’d named them. I’d saved them from mushy chick disease! These little peepers were mine!
我找到了布鲁贝克夫人，暗自祈祷她不让我把鸡宝宝还给她的朋友。毕竟，它们是我孵出来的。我给它们起了名字。我让它们摆脱了软弱雏鸡病！这些小东西是我的！
To my relief and my mother’s horror, Mrs. Brubeck said they were indeed mine. All mine. “Have fun,” she said, then zipped off to help Heidi dismantle her exhibit on Bernoulli’s law.
结果让我松了一口气，却让母亲很惊恐。布鲁贝克夫人说它们的确属于我了。所有的鸡宝宝。“愿你养得开心，”她说完匆忙离开去帮海蒂拆除她关于伯努利定律的展览设备。
Mom was quiet the whole way home, and I could tell—she wanted chickens like she wanted a tractor and a goat. “Please, Mom?” I whispered as we parked at the curb. “Please?”
妈妈在回家的路上一声不吭，我可以看出来——她想要鸡，就像她想要一辆拖拉机和一只山羊一样。“求求你，妈妈？”当我们把车停在路边时，我低声说。“好不好？”
She covered her face. “Where are we going to raise chickens, Juli? Where?”
“In the backyard?” I didn’t know what else to suggest.
“What about Champ?”
“They’ll get along, Mom. I’ll teach him. I promise.”
My dad said softly, “They’re pretty self-sufficient（自给自足）, Trina.”
她捂着脸。“我们要在哪里养鸡，朱莉？在哪里？”
“在后院行吗？”我不知道还能提出什么更好建议。
“那“冠军”怎么办？”
“他们会和平相处的，妈妈。我会教他的，我保证。”
爸爸轻声说：“他们井水不犯河水，崔娜。”
But then the boys piped up with, “Champ’ll piss ’em to death, Mom,” and Suddenly they were on a roll. “ Yeah! But you won’t even notice ’cause they’re yellow already!” “Whoa! Yellow Already—cool name.” “That could work! But wait– people might think we mean our bellies!” “Oh, yeah—forget that!” “Yeah, just let him kill the chicks.”
可是哥哥们跳出来捣乱：“冠军会在它们身上撒尿，妈妈，”突然他们活跃起来了。“是的！但你根本不会注意到，因为它们本身就是黄色的！”“哇哇！黄毛--这个名字太酷了。”“那就它了！”“但是等等，人们可能会认为我们指的是肚子上的黄毛！”“哦，好吧，还是算了吧！”“是啊，让他杀了这些小鸡仔。”
My brothers looked at each other with enormous eyes and started up all over again. “Kill the Chicks! That’s it! Get it?” “You mean like we’re chick killers? Or like we kill the chicks?”
我的兄弟们瞪大眼睛互相对视，忽然又喊了起来。“杀死小鸡仔！”“就这个名字！行不行？”“你是说我们是小鸡杀手？或者就是我们杀了小鸡仔？”
Dad turned around and said, “Out. Both of you, get out. Go find a name elsewhere.”
爸爸回过头：“出去。你们俩，滚出去。去别处想名字吧。”
So they scrambled out, and the three of us sat in the car with only the gentle peep-peep-peep from my little flock breaking the silence. Finally my mother heaved a heavy sigh and said, “They don’t cost much to keep, do they?”
于是，他们出去了，留下我们三个人坐在车里，小鸡发出的轻柔的叽叽叽声打破了寂静。最后，母亲重重地叹了口气说：“养它们不需要增加多少开支，是吧？”
Mydad shook his head. “They eat bugs, Trina. And a little feed. They’re very low-maintenance.”
“Bugs? Really? What sort ofbugs?”
我爸爸摇了摇头。“它们吃虫子，崔娜。喂一点饲料。成本很低。”
“虫子？真的吗？什么样的虫子？”
“Earwigs, worms, roly-polys… probably spiders, if they can catch them. I think they eat snails, too.”
“Seriously?” My mother smiled. “Well, in that case… ”
“Oh, thank you, Mom. Thank you!”
“蜈蚣，毛毛虫，牛屎虫，… 可能还有蜘蛛，如果它们能抓住的话。我想它们也会吃蜗牛吧。”
“当真吗？”妈妈笑了。“好吧，如果这样的话……”
“哦，谢谢你，妈妈。谢谢你！”
And that’s how we wound up with chickens. What none of us thought of was that six chickens scratching for bugs not only gets rid of bugs, it also tears up grass. Within six months there was nothing whatsoever left of our yard.
就这样，我们家开始养小鸡了。我们都没有想到的是，六只会抓虫的鸡不仅清除了害虫，也毁掉了草坪。半年之内，我们的院子里什么也不剩了。
What we also didn’t think of was that chicken feed attracts mice, and mice attract cats. Feral cats. Champ was pretty good at keeping the cats out of the yard, but they’d hang around the front yard or the side yard, just waiting for him to snooze so they could sneak in and pounce on some tender little mousy vittles.
我们也没有想到的是，鸡饲料招来了老鼠，老鼠又招来了猫，野猫。“冠军”擅长把猫赶出院子，但猫会在前院或侧院徘徊，趁狗打盹时，又偷偷溜进来，扑向一些软软的灰褐色的小食物。
Then my brothers started trapping the mice, which I thought was just to help out. I didn’t suspect a thing until the day I heard my mother screaming from the depths of their room. They were, it turns out, raising a boa constrictor.
后来，我的兄弟们开始诱捕老鼠，我以为他们这么做是为了帮忙。我一直深信不疑，直到有一天我听到母亲在他们房间里声嘶力竭尖叫。原来，他们养了一条蟒蛇。
Mom’s foot came down in a big way, and I thought she was going to throw us out, lock, stock, and boa, but then I made the most amazing discovery—chickens lay eggs! Beautiful, shiny, creamy white eggs! I first found one under Bonnie, then Clyde—whom I immediately renamed Clydette—and one more in Florence’s bed. Eggs!
妈妈疯了似的直跺脚，我猜她想把我们连同蟒蛇一股脑全扔出去。但不久我有了最惊人的发现——鸡开始下蛋了！美丽的，晶莹的，乳白色的鸡蛋！我第一次在邦妮身子下发现了一只，然后是克莱德——我立刻把她重新命名为克莱德特——然后在弗洛伦斯的窝里又找到了一个。他们下蛋了！
I raced inside to show my mom, and after a brief moment of blinking at them, she withered into a chair.
“No,” she whimpered. “No more chicks!”
“They’re not chicks, Mom… they’re eggs!”
She was still looking quite pale, so I sat in the chair next to her and said, “We don’t have a rooster…?”
“Oh.” The color was coming back to her cheeks. “Is that so?”
“I’ve never heard a cock-a-doodle-do, have you?”
我飞跑回屋拿给妈妈看，她不可置信地眨着眼睛，随后瘫坐在椅子上。
“不，”她带着哭腔说。“不要更多的鸡了！”
“他们不是小鸡，妈妈……他们是鸡蛋！”
她的脸色仍然很苍白，于是，我坐在她旁边的椅子上，说：“我们没有公鸡，对不对？"
“哦。”她的脸上又有了血色。“是这样的吗？”
“我们从来没听过公鸡打鸣声，对吧？”
She laughed. “A blessing I guess I’ve forgottento count.” She sat up a little and took an egg from my palm. “Eggs, huh. How many do you suppose they’ll lay?”
“I have no idea.”
她笑了。“上帝保佑，我想我忘了数数了。”她稍微坐起身，从我的掌心拿起一只鸡蛋。“鸡蛋，哈。你猜他们能下多少鸡蛋？”
“我不知道。”
As it turns out, my hens laid more eggs than we could eat. At first we tried to keep up, but soon we were tired of boiling and pickling and deviling, and my mother started complaining that all these free eggs were costing her way too much.
结果，我的母鸡们下的蛋，我们根本吃不完。一开始我们试图跟上鸡下蛋的节奏，但很快我们就吃腻了煮蛋、腌蛋和炒蛋，我妈妈开始抱怨这些免费的鸡蛋成本太高。
Then one afternoon as I was collecting eggs, our neighbor Mrs. Stueby leaned over the side fence and said, “If you ever have any extra, I’d be happy to buy them from you.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Most certainly. Nothing quite like free-range eggs. Two dollars a dozen sound fair to you?”
Two dollars a dozen! I laughed and said, “Sure!”
一天下午，当我捡鸡蛋时，我们的邻居斯图比太太靠在围栏上对我说：“如果你有多余的蛋，我很乐意从你那里买一点。”
“真的吗？”我问。
“当然。没有什么比散养鸡蛋更好的了。两美元一打，你觉得行吗？
两美元一打！我笑着说：“当然行！”
“Okay, then. Whenever you have some extras, just bring ’em over. Mrs. Helms and I got to discussing it last night on the phone, but I asked you first, so make sure you offer ’em up to me before her, okay, Juli?”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Stueby!”
“好的，你一旦有多余的鸡蛋，就带来给我。赫尔姆斯太太和我昨晚在电话里讨论过这事，但是我先问你的，所以你一定优先把鸡蛋给我，行吗，朱莉？”
“当然，斯图比太太！”
Between Mrs. Stueby and Mrs. Helms three doors down, my egg overflow problem was solved. And maybe I should’ve turned the money over to my mother as payment for having destroyed the backyard, but one “Nonsense, Julianna. It’s yours,” was all it took for me to start squirreling it away.
斯图比太太和隔三扇门的赫尔姆斯太太解决了我家鸡蛋过剩问题。也许我应该把钱交给我母亲，作为毁坏后院的补偿，但妈妈说了一句，“瞎扯，朱莉安娜。钱你留下。”就这样我开始心安理得地把钱存起来。
Then one day as I was walking down to Mrs. Helms’ house, Mrs. Loski drove by. She waved and smiled, and I realized with a pang of guilt that I wasn’t being very neighborly about my eggs. She didn’t know that Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Stueby were paying me for these eggs. She probably thought I was delivering them out of the kindness of my heart.
有一天，我去赫尔姆斯太太家路上，遇到洛斯基太太开车经过。她朝我微笑挥手，我心里一阵内疚，在鸡蛋这件事上，我意识到我对邻里不够友好。她不知道赫尔姆斯太太和斯图比太太付钱买这些鸡蛋。她可能认为我是出于好心送给她们的。
And maybe I should’ve been giving the eggs away, but I’d never had a steady income before. Allowance at our house is a hit-or-miss sort of thing. Usually a miss. And earning money from my eggs gave me this secret happy feeling, which I was reluctant to have the kindness of my heart encroach upon. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Mrs. Loski deserved some free eggs. She had been a good neighbor to us, lending us supplies when we ran out unexpectedly and being late to work herself when my mother needed a ride because our car wouldn’t start. A few eggs now and again… it was the least I could do.
也许我应该把鸡蛋送给邻居们，但我以前从来没有稳定的收入。零花钱在我家都是随意发放的，通常爸妈忘记给我们。卖鸡蛋赚钱给了我一种隐秘的快感，我不愿由于我的好心破坏这种感觉。但是我想得越多，我就越意识到。洛斯基太太应该得到一些免费的鸡蛋。她是我们的好邻居，当我们捉襟见肘时，她借给我们一些生活费，而当我妈妈车启动不了时，她宁愿自己迟到也会捎妈妈一程。送她一些鸡蛋……这是我力所能及的报答。
There was also the decidedly blissful possibility of running into Bryce. And in the chilly sparkle of a new day, Bryce's eyes seemed bluer than ever. The way he looked at me---the smile, the blush---it was a bryce I didn't get to see at school. The Bryce at school was way more protected.
By the third time I brought eggs over to the Loskis, I realized that Bryce was waiting for me. Waiting to pull the door open and say, “Thanks, Juli,” and then, “See you at school.”
毫无疑问，我可能有幸能遇到布莱斯。在清晨寒冷的阳光中，布莱斯的眼睛似乎比以往任何时候更蓝。他看着我的样子，微笑，脸红，都是我在学校看不到的布莱斯的模样。学校里的布莱斯隐藏更深。
当我第三次把鸡蛋送到洛斯基家门口时，我意识到布莱斯在等我。他等着为我开门，然后说：“谢谢，朱莉，”接着补充一句，“学校见。”
It was worth it. Even after Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Stueby offered me more money per dozen, it was still worth it. So, through the rest of sixth grade, through all of seventh grade and most of eighth, I delivered eggs to the Loskis. The very best, shiniest eggs went straight to the Loskis, and in return I got a few moments alone with the world’s most dazzling eyes.
It was a bargain.
一切都值得。即使赫尔姆斯太太和斯图比太太愿意付给我更高的价格，我也觉得一切都值得。所以，在六年级，整个七年级和八年级的大多时间，我都给洛斯基太太家送鸡蛋，挑选最好的，最晶莹的鸡蛋直接送到洛斯基太太家门口。作为回报，我可以与世界上最闪闪发光的眼睛独处片刻。
这很划得来。
Then they cut down the sycamore tree. And two weeks later Champ died. He’d been spending a lot of time sleeping, and even though we didn’t really know how old he was, no one was really surprised whenone night Dad went out to feed him and discovered he was dead. We buried him in the backyard, and my brothers put up a cross that reads: HERE LIES THE MYSTERY PISSER P.I.P.
接着，他们砍掉了梧桐树。两周后，“冠军”就离世了。他差不多整天睡觉，即使我们也不知道他具体的年龄，但一天晚上爸爸出去喂他，发现他已经死了，没有人感到惊讶。我们把他埋在后院，我的兄弟们在坟前竖起了一个十字架，上面写着：这里安葬着 神秘尿尿者 愿安息
I was upset and pretty dazed for a while. It was raining a lot and I was riding my bike to school to avoid having to take the bus, and each day when I’d get home, I’d retreat to my room, lose myself in a novel, and simply forget about collecting eggs.
有一段时间，我心情低落，失魂落魄的。那些日子经常下雨，为了避免坐校车，我每天骑着自行车去学校。每天放学回家后，我都会躲到自己的房间里，迷失在小说中，完全忘了捡鸡蛋。
Mrs. Stueby was the one who got me back on schedule. She called to say she’d read about the tree in the paper and was sorry about everything that had happened, but it had been some time now and she missed her eggs and was worried that my hens might quit laying. “Distress can push a bird straight into a molting, and we wouldn’t want that! Feathers everywhere and not an egg in sight. I’m quite allergic to the feathers myself or I’d probably have a flock of my own, but never you mind. You just bring ’em over when you’re up to it. All’s I wanted was to check in and let you know how sorry I was about the tree. And your dog, too. Your mother mentioned he passed away.”
是斯图比太太让我回归正常生活的。她打电话来说，她看到了报纸上关于那棵树的事，对发生的一切感到抱歉，但事情发生已经告一段落，她怀念那些鸡蛋，担心我的母鸡不再下蛋。“痛苦会使鸡蜕毛，我们不想看到这个结果！到处都是羽毛，却看不到一个鸡蛋。要不是我对羽毛过敏，或许我也会养一群鸡了。但没关系，你准备好了再将它们送过来。我打电话就是来确认一下，并且告诉你，那棵树被砍，我也很难过。还有你的狗。听你妈妈提过，他去世了。”
So I got back to work. I cleared away the eggs I’d neglected and got back into my routine of collecting and cleaning. And one morning when I had enough, I made the rounds. First Mrs. Stueby, then Mrs. Helms, and finally the Loskis. And as I stood at the Loskis’ threshold, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Bryce in the longest time. Sure, we’d both been at school, but I’d been so preoccupied with other things that I hadn’t really seen him.
于是，我回归正常工作。我清理了这段时间被我忽略的鸡蛋，回归每天捡鸡蛋和清理鸡窝的日常工作。一天早上，当我收集了足够数量的鸡蛋，我开始挨家挨户送鸡蛋。首先是斯图比太太，然后到赫尔姆斯太太家，最后到了洛斯基家。当我站在洛斯基家的门口时，我突然意识到已经很久没有见到布莱斯了。当然，我们在一个学校上学，但我一直专注于其他事情，几乎没有真正注意到他的存在。
My heart started beating faster, and when the door whooshed open and his blue eyes looked right at me, it took everything I had just to say, “Here.”
He took the half-carton and said, " You know, you don't have to give us these."
“I know,” I said, and looked down.
We stood there for a record-breaking amount of time saying nothing. Finally he said, “So are you going to start riding the bus again?”
I looked up at him and shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t been up there since… you know.”
我心跳开始加快，当门吱呀一声打开，他的蓝色眼眸看向我时，我费了好大劲才冒出一句：“给你的。”
他接过半盒鸡蛋说：“你知道的，你不必给我们这些。”
“我知道，”我说着，低下头。
很长很长时间，我们站立着，没有说话。最后他说：“你还会来坐校车上学吗？”
我抬头望着他，耸了耸肩。“我也不知道，从那以后我就没去过那里……你知道的。”
“It doesn’t look so bad anymore. It’s all cleared. They’ll probably start on the foundation soon.”
It sounded perfectly awful to me.
“Well,” he said, “I’ve got to get ready for school. See you there.” Then he smiled and closed the door.
“一切看上去并没有那么糟。都清理干净了。他们可能很快就会开始打地基。”
这在我听来非常糟糕。
“好吧，”他说，“我得准备去学校了。待会儿见。”然后他笑着关上了门。
For some reason I just stood there. I felt odd. Out of sorts. Disconnected from everything around me. Was I ever going to go back up to Collier Street? I had to eventually, or so my mother said. Was I just making it harder?
不知何故，我就定定地站在那里。有一种奇怪的感觉。莫名感到不舒服。和周围的一切断了联系。我是不是应该回到科利尔街？我最终还是得去，至少我妈妈是这么说的。是我自己让一切变得更难吗？
Suddenly the door flew open and Bryce came hurrying out with an overfull kitchen trash can in his hands. “Juli!” he said. “What are you still doing here?”
突然门开了，布莱斯匆匆走了出来，手里拿着一只塞得满满的厨房垃圾桶。“朱莉！” 他问。“你还在这儿做什么？”
He startled me, too. I didn’t know what I was still doing there. And I was so flustered that I would probably just have run home if he hadn’t started struggling with the trash, trying to shove the contents down.
他也吓了我一跳。我不知道我还在这里做什么。我太慌乱了，要不是他开始手忙脚乱，拼命把什么东西朝垃圾里乱塞，我可能已经飞快跑回家了。
I reached over and said, “Do you need some help?” because it looked like he was about to spill the trash. Then I saw the corner of an egg carton.
我伸出手，说：“你需要一些帮助吗？”因为看起来垃圾快要溢出来了。然后我看到了一个鸡蛋纸盒的一角。
This wasn’t just any egg carton either. It was my egg carton. The one I’d just brought him. And through the little blue cardboard arcs I could see eggs.
这不是其他任何一个鸡蛋盒。是我的鸡蛋纸盒。就是我刚给他送来的那个。通过蓝色的小纸板弧线，我能看到鸡蛋。
I looked from him to the eggs and said, “What happened? Did you drop them?”
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Yeah, and I’m really sorry about that.”
我目光从他身上转移到鸡蛋，问：“发生了什么事？把它们扔掉吗？”
“是的，”他很快回答道。“是的，我真的很抱歉。”
He tried to stop me, but I took the carton from the trash, saying, “All of them?” I opened the carton and gasped. Six whole, perfect eggs. “Why’d you throw them away?”
他试图拦住我，但我从垃圾里拿出了纸箱，说;“所有的鸡蛋都在？”我打开纸盒，倒吸了一口气。六个完整的，完美的鸡蛋。“你为什么要把它们扔掉？”
He pushed past me and went around the house to the trash bin, and I followed him, waiting for an answer.
He shook the garbage out, then turned to face me. “Does the word salmonella mean anything to you?”
他推开我，绕过房子朝垃圾桶跑去，我一路跟着他，等待他给我一个回答。
他抖动几下倒掉了垃圾，然后转身面对我。“对沙门氏菌这个概念你怎么看？”
“Salmonella? But… ”
“My mom doesn’t think it’s worth the risk.”
I followed him back to the porch. “Are you saying she won’t eat them because—”
“Because she’s afraid of being poisoned.”
“Poisoned! Why?”
“Because your backyard is, like, covered in turds! I mean, look at your place, Juli!” He pointed at our house and said, “Just look at it. It’s a complete dive!”
“沙门氏菌? 但是......”
“我妈妈认为不值得冒这个险。”
我跟着他回到了门廊上。“你是说她不吃我家鸡蛋是因为---”
“她害怕中毒。”
“中毒！为什么？”
“因为你家后院，嗯，到处都是鸡屎！我的意思是，看看你家住的地方，朱莉！”他指着我家屋子说：“看看吧，完全像个垃圾场！”
“It is not!” I cried, but the truth was sitting right across the street, impossible to deny. My throat suddenly choked closed and I found it painful to speak. “Have you… always thrown them away?”
He shrugged and looked down. "Juli, look. we didn't want to hurt your feelings."
“My feelings? Do you realize Mrs. Stueby and Mrs. Helms pay me for my eggs?"
“You’re kidding.”
“No! They pay me two dollars a dozen!”
“No way.”
“It’s true! All those eggs I gave to you I could’ve sold to Mrs. Stueby or Mrs. Helms!”
“才不是！”我大喊，但事实就在街对面，无法否认。我的喉咙突然哽咽，我觉得说话困难。“你……一直把它们扔掉吗？”
他耸了耸肩，低下头。“朱莉，我们不想伤害你的感情。”
“伤害我的感情？你知道吗？斯图比太太和赫尔姆斯太太一直从我这儿买鸡蛋。”
“你开玩笑吧。”
“不，她们一打付给我两美元！”
“不可能！”
“这是真的！我给你的那些鸡蛋本可以卖给斯图比太太或者赫尔姆斯太太的！”
“Oh,” he said, and looked away. Then he eyed me and said, "Well, why didi you just give them to us?"
I was fighting back tears, but it was hard. I choked out, “I was trying to be neigh-borly…!”
“哦，”他说着，移开目光。然后他望着我说：“那么，你为什么要把鸡蛋送给我们呢？”
我艰难地强忍住泪水。我哽咽着说，“我想对你们好！"
He put down the trash can, then did something that made my brain freeze. He held me by the shoulders and looked me right in the eyes. “Mrs. Stueby’s your neighbor, isn’t she? So’s Mrs. Helms, right? Why be neighborly to us and not them?”
他放下垃圾桶，然后做了一件事，让我大脑停止思考。他抓住我的肩膀，直盯着我的眼睛。斯图比太太是你的邻居，不是吗？还有赫尔姆斯太太，对吧？为什么只对我们这么好，而不同样对他们呢？”
What was he trying to say? Was it still so obvious how I felt about him? And if he knew, how could he have been so heartless, just throwing my eggs away like that, week after week, year after year?
他想表达什么？我对他的感觉还不明显吗？如果心知肚明，他怎么会这么无情，像这样，周而复始，年复一年扔掉我送的鸡蛋呢？
I couldn’t find any words. None at all. I just stared at him, at the clear, brill-iant blue of his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Juli,” he whispered.
I stumbled home, embarrassed and confused, my heart completely cracked open.
我一时语塞。一句话也说不出。我只是望着他，望着他那双清澈明亮的蓝眼睛。
“对不起，朱莉，”他低声说。
我跌跌撞撞地回到家，尴尬又困惑，我的心完全破碎了。
读后小记：
读完这个章节，越来越喜欢Juli，她的独特的人格魅力打动人心。她是一个有生命意识的孩子，有着彩虹般的灵魂。她善良真实，亲近自然，珍爱生命，在老师建议她做孵化小鸡实验时，她担心的是孵化一旦失败会有无辜的小鸡因此死去，而不是成绩单上的A或者B。
此外，她两个哥哥一对活宝的形象跃然纸上，令人忍俊不禁。他们调皮捣蛋，爬树上墙，抓鼠喂蛇，“无恶不作”，所到之处“鸡飞狗跳”，片甲不留，设身处地想一想，他们的父母亲不容易啊！
