人生珍品

 

I didn't understand, since I'd never owned anything I cared all that much about. Still, planning for disaster held considerable fascination for me.

The plan was to move upstairs if the river reached the seventh of the steps that led to the front porch. We would keep a rowboat downstairs so we could get from room to room. The one thing we would not do was leave the house. My father, the town's only doctor, had to be where sick people could find him.

I checked on the river's rise several times a day and lived in a state of hopeful alarm that the water would climb all the way up to the house. It did not disappoint. The muddy water rose higher until, at last, the critical seventh step was reached.

We worked for days carrying things upstairs, until, late one afternoon, the water edged over the threshold and rushed into the house. I watched, amazed at how rapidly it rose.

After the water got about a foot deep inside the house, it was hard to sleep at night. The sound of the river moving about downstairs was frightening. Debris had broken windows, so every once in a while some floating battering ram--a log or perhaps a table--would bang into the walls and make a sound like a distant drum.

 

我当时并不懂得她的意思，因为我从未拥有过什么能令我如此珍爱的器皿。不过，为了防备遭受灾难而出谋划策使我兴趣盎然。

家里的计划是，如果河水上涨到通向前廊的第七级台阶，我们就搬到楼上去。我们将在楼下系一条划艇，以便能够从一个房间划到另一个房间。我们就是不愿意离开自己的家园。我爸爸是镇上唯一的一名大夫，他得守在病人能找到他的地方。

我每天查看几次河水上涨的情况，并惊恐地预料河水会一直漫进屋里。果然不出所料，浑浊的河水竟不断地高涨，终于淹到了至关重要的第七级台阶。

连着几天，我们忙于把东西搬到楼上，有一天一直忙到下午五六点钟，河水徐徐地漫过门槛，冲进屋里。我监视着，发现河水上涨的速度快得令人惊讶。

当屋里的积水深达一英尺时，晚上就很难睡个安稳觉了。河水在楼下撞击的声音叫人惊恐万分。随水冲进来的碎石片击碎了窗户玻璃，偶尔，飘浮在水上的撞击物——一根圆木，也有可能是一张桌子----会猛烈地撞到墙上，发出的声音像是远方传来的鼓声。