一場旋風

By L. Frank Baum ——萊曼·弗蘭克·鮑姆

Dorothy lived in the great Kansas grassland， with Uncle Henry， who was a farmer， and Aunt Em， who was the farmers wife. Their house was small. There were four walls， a floor and a roof， which made one room; and this room contained an old stove， a cupboard for the dishes， a table， three or four chairs， and two beds.

Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner， and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was a small hole dug in the ground， called a cyclone cellar. In case there was a cyclone， the family could go into it. When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around， she could see nothing but the great gray grassland on every side.

When Aunt Em came there to live， she was a young， pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her. She was thin， and never smiled now. Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He looked serious， and seldom spoke.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh. Toto was a little black dog， with long hair and small black eyes. Toto played all day long， and Dorothy played with him， and loved him dearly.

Today， however， they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky， which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms， and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

From the far north they heard the sound of the wind. Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

“Theres a cyclone coming， Em，” he called to his wife. “Ill go and look after the animals.” Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. She saw that the danger was close at hand.

“Quick， Dorothy！” she cried. “Run for the cellar！”

Toto jumped out of Dorothys arms and hid under the bed， and the girl started to get him.

Aunt Em climbed down the ladder into the small， dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great noise from the wind， and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.

Then a strange thing happened. The house turned around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

The north and south winds met where the house stood， and made it the exact center of the cyclone. The great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher， until it was at the very top of the cyclone. And there it remained and was carried miles and miles away easily.

It was very dark， and the wind made a terrible noise around her， but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. Toto did not like it. He ran about the room， now here， now there， barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.

Hour after hour passed away， and slowly Dorothy got over her fright. But she felt quite lonely， and the noise of the wind was so loud all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would fall to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened， she stopped worrying and decided to wait calmly and see what would happen. At last she climbed over the swaying floor to her bed， and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her. Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

多蘿西和亨利叔叔、艾姆嬸嬸，住在堪薩斯州大草原。叔叔是個農民，嬸嬸是個農婦。他們住的房子很小，是由四面墻、一個地板和屋頂構成的一間屋子。屋子里有一個舊爐灶、一個碗柜、一張桌子、三四把椅子和兩張床。

亨利叔叔和艾姆嬸嬸睡的大床放在一個角落，多蘿西睡的小床放在另外一個角落。屋內地面上挖了一個洞，這個洞叫作“防旋風地洞”。萬一旋風刮來，全家人可以躲到里面去。當多蘿西站在門口向四周張望時，除了四周灰色的草原，她什么也看不見。

艾姆嬸嬸到這里來住的時候，還是一個年輕漂亮的妻子。太陽和風改變了她的模樣。如今她很瘦，也不再微笑。亨利叔叔從來不笑。他從早到晚辛勤勞動，不知道什么是快樂。他表情嚴肅，很少說話。

能逗多蘿西發笑的只有托托，它是一只小黑狗，長著長毛，有一雙黑色的小眼睛。托托整天嬉戲，多蘿西和它做伴，并且十分喜歡它。

然而，今天他們沒有玩耍。亨利叔叔坐在門口的臺階上，焦慮地望著天空，天空比平時更加灰暗了。多蘿西懷里抱著托托，站在門口，也望著天空。艾姆嬸嬸正在洗盤子。

他們聽到北風從遠處呼嘯而來。亨利叔叔突然站了起來。

“艾姆，旋風來了！”他向妻子喊道，“我要去照料一下牲口。”于是他跑向關著牛和馬的牲口棚。

艾姆嬸嬸丟下活兒，來到門口，看到危險即將來臨。

“多蘿西，快點兒！”她喊道，“跑到地洞里去！”

托托從多蘿西的懷里跳出來，躲到了床底下，小姑娘便開始去捉它。

艾姆嬸嬸順著梯子往下爬，躲進了那又小又黑的地洞里。多蘿西終于捉到了托托，朝嬸嬸那兒跑過去。剛跑到一半，就聽狂風一陣呼嘯，屋子搖動得厲害，她失去平衡，突然摔倒在地板上。

接著一件奇怪的事情發生了。屋子旋轉了兩三次，慢慢地升到天空中。多蘿西覺得自己好像坐在一個氣球里往天上飄去。

南風和北風在屋子所處的地方交匯，使它成為旋風的正中心。四周大風的強大壓力使房子升得越來越高，一直升到旋風的最頂部，房子停留在旋風頂部，被輕而易舉地刮出好多英里。

這時候，天已經黑了，風在她的四周發出可怕的聲音，而多蘿西卻發現自己乘坐得十分自在。托托不喜歡這樣子。它滿屋子奔跑著，一會兒這里，一會兒那里，大聲狂吠;但是多蘿西一動不動地坐在地板上，等著看會有什么事情發生。

時間一小時又一小時地過去了。慢慢地，多蘿西克服了恐懼。但是她覺得十分孤獨，并且周圍的風聲那么響，幾乎震聾了她的耳朵。起初她在想如果那屋子再掉下去時，她會不會被摔得粉碎，但是幾小時過去了，沒有什么可怕的事情發生，她便不再擔心了，決定平靜地等待，看看之后會發生些什么。最后她從搖晃的地板爬到床上，躺在上面;托托跟著躺在她的旁邊。多蘿西很快閉上眼睛，一會兒就睡著了。

Vocabulary

contain? v. 包含;容納;含有

cyclone? n. 氣旋;旋風;龍卷風

gray? adj.（天空或天氣）昏暗的;陰沉的

bark? v.（狗）吠叫;厲聲發令

sway? v.（使）搖擺，搖動

作者簡介

萊曼·弗蘭克·鮑姆（L. Frank Baum，1856—1919），美國著名兒童文學家。弗蘭克從1882年開始進行文學創作，他喜愛孩子，具有豐富的想象力和創造力，一生中大約寫了60部作品，其中大部分是兒童讀物和神話。《綠野仙蹤》是其代表作，出版后獲得極大成功，他也因此譽滿文壇。此后，他又用“奧茲”之名陸續創作了10多部童話。所著兒童讀物，在美國兒童讀物中占據了相當重要的地位，為美國文學做出了重要貢獻。