蛋花湯

劉　克

"OK, everybody. It's that time of year," said my science teacher, Mr. Beal. "This Friday we'll have the annual Egg Drop Challenge."

A couple of my classmates groaned, but no one was at all surprised. Mr. Beal's fifth-grade Egg Drop Challenge was an institution1) at my school. The goal of the Challenge was simple—you had to build a protective container to keep an egg from breaking when dropped over the stadium wall.

"Bring your containers to class on Friday," Mr. Beal said. "By the way, this year we're going to try something different. You can work alone or with a partner."

My best friend, Cassie, and I grinned at each other. We always worked on projects together. She's brainy2); I'm creative. We're the perfect combination, like peanut butter and marshmallow cream3).(Which happens to be my favorite kind of sandwich.)

I made my favorite sandwich that afternoon while waiting for Cassie to come over and work on the container. Spreading the fluffy4) marshmallow cream gave me an idea.

"I have a brilliant design for our egg container!" I said when Cassie arrived.

"What?" Cassie asked eagerly.

"We can cushion5) it with some marshmallow cream."

"Huh?"

"You know, to absorb the shock of the impact," I explained.

"You've got to be kidding, Laura."

"You have a better idea?"

Cassie pointed to a sketch6) in her notebook. "Actually, I do. We put the egg in a basket with parachute attached7). It will simply float to safety."

"It's too easy for something to go wrong. It will never work!" I said.

"And marshmallow cream will?" Cassie rolled her eyes. "The parachute is better than that stupid idea."

I couldn't believe it. Of course we'd had our little fights in the past, but this was different. She'd never called any of my ideas "stupid" before.

"Oh, yeah?" I said.

"Yeah!"

"Then I'll build mine and you build yours, and we'll just see whose is better."

"Fine!" Cassie shoved8) her notebook into her backpack and stormed out9).

And just like that, our friendship was smashed. Like an egg dropped from the top of a stadium without marshmallow cream to protect it.

When Friday finally rolled around10), I had to admit that Cassie's Egg Force One11) looked pretty good. She had used a handkerchief to create a small parachute. It was tied to a basket that held Styrofoam packing peanuts12) and, in the center of it all, her egg.

My Egg-cellent13) Egg Cream didn't look quite so scientific. I had lined the sides and bottom of a small box with rice cakes. Then I'd added a layer of marshmallow cream, the egg, and a layer of Jell-O14).

This is how the competition worked: All the students in my class carried their egg containers up three stadium steps and dropped them over the side wall. If your egg broke, you were out. If the egg survived, you had to walk up three more steps and drop it again. This went on until the last egg broke.

By the fourth launch, only Cassie and I were left.

"OK," Mr. Beal yelled, "Let 'em go on the count of15) three."

"Good luck, Laura," Cassie said, turning to me. "You're going to need it."

I didn't respond. I figured winning would be sweeter revenge.

The class called, "One, two, three!" I let go of my box.

"Ew," I heard someone say after a minute. Had my egg broken? I raced down the steps, trying to get to the bottom before Cassie did.

The side walk was already dotted with egg shells from previous failed drops. I finally found my brave little Egg-cellent Egg Cream. I didn't even have to open the box to see the results. Yolk and egg white mixed with yellow Jell-O seeped16) from the corner.

"That looks like egg drop soup, Laura," Cassie said. She was holding her Egg Force One. My heart raced. Had she won? I looked at her basket. Empty.

"My egg bounced out," she explained, pointing to a broken shell in the grass.

"I guess the pilot had an egg-jector17) seat," I offered.

Cassie looked at me, and her glare18) softened. I could see it in the corners of her eyes. She was trying not to smile. I grinned. She giggled.

"Egg-jector seat," she said.

"Egg drop soup," I said, laughing until I had tears in my eyes.

"A tie," Mr. Beal said, shaking his head.

But Cassie and I knew we'd won something more important than the Egg Drop Challenge. Some friendships aren't like eggs after all. They can survive a little bouncing.

“好了，同學們。又到了每年的這個時候，”我的理科老師比爾說道，“本周五我們將舉行一年一度的摔蛋挑戰賽?！?/p>

聽完這話，幾個同學發出了抱怨聲，不過大家一點兒也不感到驚訝。在我們學校，比爾老師組織的五年級摔蛋挑戰賽已經成為一項由來已久的賽事。這項挑戰賽的目標很簡單——你得為一枚雞蛋制作一個容器，以保護雞蛋從體育場的墻上落下來時不會被摔碎。

“周五把你們做好的容器帶到班上來?！北葼柪蠋熣f，“哦，對了，今年我們將嘗試改變一下規則。你們可以自己獨立完成，也可以找個搭檔合作?！?/p>

我和我最要好的朋友卡西相視而笑。我們倆總是一起做各種課題。她博學多才，我創意非凡。我們倆珠聯璧合，就像是花生醬與棉花糖霜。(這碰巧是我最愛吃的那種味道的三明治。)

于是那天下午，我一邊等著卡西來和我一起制作容器，一邊做好我最愛吃的那種口味的三明治。在往三明治上涂抹松軟的棉花糖霜時，我腦袋里蹦出了一個主意。

“我想到了一個絕妙的雞蛋容器設計！”卡西一到我家，我便對她說道。

“是什么？”卡西急切地問道。

“我們可以用棉花糖霜為它做個襯墊。”

“哈？”

“你知道的，這可以緩沖撞擊所產生的震動?！蔽医忉屩?。

“勞拉，你一定是在開玩笑?！?/p>

“你有更好的主意嗎？”

卡西指著她筆記本上的一張草圖說：“不錯，我確實有。我們可以把雞蛋放進一個系有降落傘的籃子里。這樣它便能安全地降落了?！?/p>

“這樣太容易出錯了。絕對行不通！”我說。

“用棉花糖霜就行得通？”卡西沖我翻了翻白眼?！敖德鋫惚饶莻€蠢主意好多了。”

我簡直不敢相信自己的耳朵。誠然，過去我們也曾有過一些爭吵和摩擦，但是這次卻有所不同。以前她從未把我的任何主意稱作“蠢主意”。

“哦，是嗎？”我說。

“沒錯！”

“那好，我做我的，你做你的，等著瞧到底誰的容器更好?！?/p>

“行！”卡西把她的筆記本胡亂塞進書包，怒氣沖沖地走了。

就這樣，我們的友誼破碎了。仿佛一枚沒有棉花糖霜保護的雞蛋，從體育場頂部墜落下來。

終于又到了周五，我不得不承認卡西的“蛋軍一號”看起來相當不錯。她用一塊手帕做了一個小降落傘。降落傘系在籃子上，籃子里裝有淀粉泡沫顆粒，正中心放著她的雞蛋。

而我的“蛋霜之王”看上去就沒那么有科學性。我先用米糕將一個小盒子里的四邊和底部墊好。然后鋪上一層棉花糖霜，再放入雞蛋，最后加上一層吉露果凍。

比賽是這樣進行的：班里的所有同學拿著自己的雞蛋容器在體育場里向上走三層臺階，然后讓它們從邊墻下落下來。如果你的雞蛋碎了，你就出局了。如果雞蛋完好無損，你就必須再向上走三層臺階，再次讓雞蛋落下。直到最后一個雞蛋破碎，比賽才會結束。

比賽進行到第四輪時，只剩下我和卡西了。

“好，”比爾老師高聲喊道，“數到三，然后放手。”

“勞拉，祝你好運。”卡西轉身向我說道?！斑@回你可得碰運氣了。”

我沒有回答。我認為贏得勝利將會是更痛快的復仇。

全班同學喊著：“一，二，三！”我松開了手中的盒子。

“哎唷。”隨即我聽到有人發出這種聲音。我的雞蛋碎了嗎？我沖下臺階，想趕在卡西之前到達地面。

邊墻下的走道已經星星點點地布滿了前幾輪比賽中摔碎的雞蛋殼。我終于找到了我那枚小小的勇敢的“蛋霜之王”。我甚至沒有必要打開盒子來檢查結果。蛋黃和蛋清混合著黃色的果凍從盒角滲了出來。

“勞拉，那看上去像蛋花湯。”卡西說。她正舉著她的“蛋軍一號”。我的心在狂跳。她贏了嗎？我看了看她的籃子。里面沒有雞蛋。

“我的雞蛋彈出去了?！彼钢輩怖锲扑榈牡皻そ忉屩?/p>

“我猜這位飛行員有把‘蛋射座椅。”我接著她的話說道。

卡西看著我，我可以從她的眼角看出，她的目光漸漸柔和下來。她想忍住不笑。我咧著嘴笑了。她也咯咯地笑了起來。

“蛋射坐椅。”她說。

“蛋花湯。”我邊說邊笑著，直到淚水充滿了雙眼。

“平局?！北葼柪蠋煋u了搖頭說。

但我和卡西深知我們贏得了比摔蛋挑戰賽更重要的東西。某些友誼絕對不像雞蛋一樣。它們不會因為小矛盾而破碎。

Vocabulary

1. institution

[7InstI5tju:FEn] n. 習俗

2. brainy [5breInI] adj. 博學的，有學問的；聰明的

3. marshmallow cream: 棉花糖霜，人們把蜜餞和奶油混合在一起打碎成膏狀，外觀質地看似棉花糖，故此得名。棉花糖霜在美國很受歡迎，尤其是用它與花生醬一起做成的三明治。

4. fluffy [5flQfI] adj. 松軟的

5. cushion [5kuFEn] vt. 將……置于墊上

6. sketch [sketF] n. 草圖

7. attach [E5tAtF] vt. 系；連接

8. shove [FQv] vt. 亂塞

9. storm out: (因發怒等)猛沖而出

10. roll around: (季節等)周而復始

11. Egg Force One: 取自Air Force One(“空軍一號”，美國總統專機)

12. Styrofoam packing peanuts: 一種用淀粉制成的可分解泡沫顆粒，外形酷似花生，常用作填充物；styrofoam[5staIrEfEJm] n. 聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料(商標名)

13. Egg-cellent: 取自excellent(優秀的，極佳的)

14. Jell-O [5dVelEJ] n. <美> 果子凍 (一種果凍，源于商標名Jell-O)

15. on the count of: 數到……

16. seep [si:p] vi. 滲出

17. egg-jector: 取自ejector [I5dVektE(r)] n. 指軍機座艙內可使飛行員逃生的彈射器

18. glare [^lZE] n. 怒視，瞪眼