Day11 回顾：Bryce被一群高年级的调皮捣蛋的家伙们戏弄，在车库里亲眼目睹蟒蛇吞食生鸡蛋，从此对鸡蛋心生恐惧，经常做关于蛇吞老鼠，吞鸡，甚至吞吃自己的噩梦。
Day 12 Bryce 男生视角
Then the real-life nightmare began.
然后，现实生活中的噩梦开始了。
One morning about two weeks after the boa show in Skyler's garage, Juli appears on our doorstep, and what's she got in her hands? A half-carton of eggs. She bounces around like it's Christmas, saying, “Hiya, Bryce! Remember Abby and Bonnie and Clyde and Dexter? Eunice and Florence?”
在斯凯勒车库的蟒蛇吞鸡蛋秀两周后的一个早上，朱莉出现在我们家门口，她手里拿着什么？半箱鸡蛋。她蹦蹦跳跳，像过圣诞节一样，说：“嗨，布莱斯！还记得艾比、邦妮、克莱德和德克斯特吗？尤尼斯和佛罗伦萨？”
I just stared at her. Somehow I remembered Santa's reindeer (驯鹿) a little different than that.
“You know... my chickens? The ones I hatched for the science fair last year?”
“Oh, right. How could I forget.”
我一头雾水地盯着她看。如论如何，我记得圣诞老人的驯鹿名字和这不同啊。
“你记得……我养的的鸡吗？我去年科学展上孵化的那些鸡吗？”
“哦。我怎么可能忘记！”
“They're laying eggs!" She pushed the carton into my hands. “Here, take these! They're for you and your family.”
“Oh. Uh, thanks," I said, and closed the door.
“它们下蛋啦！” 她把纸箱塞到我手里。“来，拿着这些鸡蛋！它们是给你和你的家人的。”
“哦哦，谢谢，” 我说着，然后关上了门。
I used to really like eggs. Especially scrambled, with bacon or sausage. But even without the little snake incident, I knew that no matter what you did to these eggs, they would taste nothing but foul（很令人不快的） to me. These eggs came from the chickens that had been the chicks that had hatched from the eggs that had been incubated（孵化） by Juli Baker for our fifth-grade science fair.
我以前真的很喜欢鸡蛋。特别是炒蛋，搭配上培根或香肠。但即使没有蟒蛇这件恶心事，我知道无论怎么烹饪鸡蛋，在我看来都是难以下咽。因为这些蛋是朱莉·贝克在我们五年级的科学展上孵化出来的鸡生的。
It was classic Juli. She totally dominated the fair, and get this - her project was all about watching eggs. My friend, there is not a lot of action to report on when you're incubating eggs. You've got your light, you've got your container, you've got some shredded newspaper, and that's it. You're done.
这是典型的朱莉的作派。她完全控制了科技展——她的项目从头到尾就是观察鸡蛋。我的朋友，当你在孵蛋的时候，没有什么值得写的。你调好光线，放好容器，铺上一些碎报纸，仅此而已，报告就结束了。
Juli, though, managed to write an inch-thick report, plus she made diagrams and charts - I'm talking line charts and bar charts and pie charts - about the activity of eggs. Eggs!
不过，朱莉设法写出了一个一英寸厚的报告，而且她还做了一些关于鸡蛋活动的图表——线状图、柱状图和饼状图，全是关于鸡蛋的活动。就鸡蛋而已啊！
She also managed to time the eggs so that they'd hatch the night of the fair. How does a person do that? Here I've got a live-action erupting volcano that I've worked pretty stinking hard on, and all anybody cares about is Juli's chicks pecking out of their shells. I even went over to take a look for myself, and - I'm being completely objective here - it was boring. They pecked for about five seconds, then just lay there for five minutes.
她还设法给鸡蛋孵化进行计时，以便它们能在展览那天晚上孵化出来。她怎么做到的？我辛辛苦苦，搞了个一个实景火山喷发模型，现在大家关心的只是朱莉的小鸡啄壳而出。我也亲自去看了看，客观地说，太无聊了。他们破壳而出只花了大约5秒钟，然后就躺那里一动不动5分钟。
I got to hear Juli jabber away to the judges, too. She had a pointer - can you believe that? Not a pencil, an actual retractable pointer, so she could reach across her incubator and tap on this chart or that diagram as she explained the excitement of watching eggs grow for twenty-one days. The only thing she could've done to be more overboard was put on a chicken costume, and buddy, I'm convinced - if she'd thought of it, she would have done it.
我也听到了朱莉叽里咕噜地给评委展示汇报。她拿着一只教棒，你能相信吗？不是一支铅笔，一个真正的可伸缩的教棒，这样她可以越过孵化器，点击这个或那个图表，解释观察鸡蛋21天孵出的兴奋之情。她就差没穿上一声小鸡戏服了，伙计，我相信——如果她想到的话，她会穿上的。
But hey - I was over it. It was just Juli being Juli, right? But all of a sudden there I am a year later, holding a carton of home-grown eggs. And I'm having a hard time not getting annoyed all over again about her stupid blue-ribbon project when my mother leans out from the hallway and says,“Who was that, honey? What have you got there? Eggs?”
但是，一切都过去了。朱莉就是朱莉，对吧？但一年后今天，她突然拿着一箱自家孵化的鸡蛋。这下再一次想到她那个愚蠢的一等奖项目，我很难压住火气。这时我妈妈从走廊上探出头，说：“谁啊，亲爱的？你拿着什么东西？是鸡蛋吗？”
I could tell by the look on her face that she was hot to scramble（炒蛋）. “Yeah," I said, and handed them to her. “But I'm having cereal.”
从她脸上的表情来看，我能看出她正忙着炒蛋。“是啊，” 我说着，然后把鸡蛋递给了她。“我想吃麦片。”
She opened the carton, then closed it with a smile. “How nice!" she said. “Who brought them over?”
“Juli. She grew them."
“Grew them?”
“Well, her chickens did."
她打开纸箱，然后微笑着合上了。“不错！”，她说。“是谁送来的？
”朱莉生的。”
“她生的？”
“嗯，她家的鸡下的。”
“Oh?” Her smile started falling as she opened the carton again. “Is that so. I didn't know she had... chickens.”
“Remember? You and Dad spent an hour watching them hatch at last year’s science fair?”
“Well, how do we know there're not... chicks inside these eggs?"
I shrugged. “Like I said, I'm having cereal.”
“哦，是吗？” 当她再次打开纸箱时，她的微笑消失了。“真是这样的？我还不知道她家有---鸡 。”
“还记得吧！去年的科技展上，你和爸爸花了一个小时看着它们孵化出来吗？”
“那么，我们怎么知道……这些蛋里有没小鸡？”
我耸了耸肩，“我刚才说了，我现在只想吃麦片。”
We all had cereal, but what we talked about were eggs. My dad thought they'd be just fine - he'd had farm-fresh eggs when he was a kid and said they were delicious. My mother, though, couldn't get past the idea that she might be cracking open a dead chick, and pretty soon discussion turned to the role of the rooster - something me and my Cheerios could’ve done without.
我们那天都吃的麦片，但我们聊的是鸡蛋。我爸爸觉得这很好——他小时候吃过农场养殖的新鲜鸡蛋，它们味道好极了。然而，我的母亲无法摆脱敲开一只鸡蛋发现里面有只死鸡的念头，很快讨论话题转向了公鸡的问题——本来以为吃麦片可以避开这个的。
Finally Lynetta said, “If they had a rooster, don't you think we'd know? Don't you think the whole neighborhood would know?”
Hmmm, we all said, good point. But then my mom pipes up with, “Maybe they got it de-yodeled. You know - like they de-bark dogs?”
最后，莱内塔说：“如果他们有公鸡，我们难道会不知道？整个街坊邻居会不知道吗？”
我们觉得说到点子上了。但后来我妈妈忍不住大声说：“也许他们不打鸣。你们知道的，就像不吠叫的狗吧？”
“A de-yodeled rooster,” my dad says, like it's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard. Then he looks at my mom and realizes that he'd be way better off going along with her de-yodeled idea than making fun of her. “Hmmm," he says, “I've never heard of such a thing, but maybe so.”
“一只不会打鸣的公鸡，”我爸爸说，好像这是他听过的最可笑的事情。然后他看着我妈妈，意识到他最好附和她的想法，而不是取笑她。“嗯，” 他说，“我从来没听说过这样的事，但也许有这种事。”
Lynetta shrugs and says to my mom, “So just ask them, why don't you. Call up Mrs. Baker and ask her."
“Oh,” my mom says. “Well, I'd hate to call her eggs into question. It doesn't seem very polite, now, does it?”
莱妮塔耸耸肩，对妈妈说：“问问他们，为什么不问问他们？打电话给贝克太太。”
“哦，” 我妈妈说。“嗯，我真不想怀疑她的鸡蛋。看来不太礼貌，对吧？”
“Just ask Matt or Mike,” I say to Lynetta. She scowls at me and hisses, “Shut up.” “What? What'd I do now?”
“Haven't you noticed I haven't been going down there, you idiot?”
“那问问马特或迈克吧。” 我对莱内塔说。她皱了皱眉，嘘了一声：“闭嘴。什么我现在该怎么办？”
“你没注意到我最近没去他们家吗，你个白痴！”
“Lynetta!” my mom says. Like this is the first time she's heard my sister talk to me or something. “Well, it's true! How can he not have noticed?”
"I was going to ask you about that, honey. Did something happen?”
“莉妮塔！” 我妈妈说。好像她是第一次听到我妹妹这样跟我说话。“嗯，这是真的！ 他怎么能不晓得？！”
“我本来是要问你的，亲爱的。发生了什么事吗？”
Lynetta stands up and shoves her chair in. “Like you care,” she snaps, and charges down to her room. “Oh, boy,” my dad says.
Mom says, “Excuse me,” and follows Lynetta down the hall.
丽妮塔站了起来，把椅子推进去。“就像你在乎似的，” 她气冲冲地说，然后冲进了自己的房间。“哦，天哪” 我爸爸说。
妈妈说着“不好意思”，然后跟着莱内塔向大厅走去。
When my mother's gone, my dad says, “So, son, why don't you just ask Juli?"
"Dad!"
“It's just a little question, Bryce. No harm, no foul（犯规）.”
“But it'll get me a half-hour answer!”
我妈妈走后，我爸爸说：“那么，孩子，你为什么不问问朱莉呢？”
“爸爸！”
“这只是个小问题，布莱斯。无伤大雅。”
“但她要拉住我解释半个小时！”
He studies me for a minute, then says, “No boy should be this afraid of a girl."
“I'm not afraid of her.. .!”
"I think you are."
“Dad!”
他打量了我一会儿，然后说：“男孩不应该这么害怕女孩。”
“我不怕她的...！"
“我想你就是怕她。”
“爸爸！”
“Seriously, son. I want you to get us an answer. Conquer your fear and get us an answer.”
“To whether or not they have a rooster?”
“说真的，儿子。我想你给我们一个答案。克服你的恐惧，给我们一个答案。”
“问问他们是否有一只公鸡？”
“That's right.” He gets up and clears his cereal bowl, saying, "I've got to get to work and you've got to get to school. I'll expect a report tonight."
“是的。” 他站起来清理他盛有麦片的碗，说：“我要去上班，你也得去上学。我希望今晚你跟我汇报一下。”
读后小记
鸡生蛋，蛋生鸡，蛋里有没有小鸡？真是个复杂的生物学问题！小时候养鸡为了卖钱换点油盐酱醋，现在老妹儿和朋友家再养鸡，是为了能吃到新鲜的土鸡蛋，满足自家土鸡蛋自由。实话说，土鸡蛋口味确实更胜一筹！等我退休，也养三五只玩玩！
图片：俺妹和故事女主角性格很像呢！
她竟然也用蛋孵化出鹌鹑，然后鹌鹑也下蛋啦！
