捕風(fēng)的女孩

By+Joanne+Anderson+安落實

有時候，我們會做一些看似根本不可能的事情，也會因此而遭到別人的嘲笑、否定。但不嘗試怎知就一定不可能？即便最終無果，誰又能保證不會收獲意外的驚喜？

After school， Emily hung her yellow canvas1） bag over her shoulder， and pedaled2） off to catch the wind.

Emily's neighbor， Mrs. Hill， shook out a wet pillowcase3） and fastened it on the clothes line4）.

"Hello， Mrs. Hill，" called Emily. "I need to catch the wind in my yellow bag. Will you help me？"

"Catch the wind？ Whatever for？" asked Mrs. Hill.

"For the big race at school，" said Emily. "I will need the wind at my back or I will finish last."

"You cannot catch the wind，" said Mrs. Hill.

"But your sheets have caught the wind，" Emily said. "See them flapping back and forth？"

"I guess that is true， Emily，" agreed Mrs. Hill. "But today I need all this wind to dry my clothes."

"Oh，" said Emily. "Maybe I can catch the wind tomorrow." She turned and pedaled for home.

The next afternoon， Emily hung her yellow bag over her shoulder and pedaled off to catch the wind. In the distance， she saw a box kite soaring high in the sky. As she pedaled toward it， she saw a boy in a plaid5） jacket tugging6） on the kite string.

"Can you help me？" Emily asked. "I need to catch the wind."

The boy turned and laughed. "What a silly idea！" he said. "No one can catch the wind."

"But your kite has caught the wind，" said Emily. "Otherwise it would fall to the ground."

"Well then， I need all the wind to fly my kite，" the boy told her.

Emily frowned.

The next day， Emily once again pedaled off to catch the wind. She pedaled by a silvery-blue lake and watched quietly as a sailboat neared the shore.

"Please， Sir，" she called to the skipper7）， "could you help me catch the wind in my bag？"

"You cannot catch the wind！" the skipper answered.

"But your sails have caught the wind，" Emily told him.

"So they have！" the skipper laughed. "And I need all this wind to sail my boat." He waved goodbye and sailed across the lake.

"I will catch the wind all by myself，" Emily said. She pedaled to the nearest hill. She parked her bike at the bottom and began the long climb to the top. Emily's legs ached， but she kept going. The higher she climbed， the stronger the wind got. When Emily reached the top， she unzipped8） the yellow bag and held it above her head.

Suddenly a powerful blast of cool air swept across the hilltop and filled her bag like a yellow balloon.

Emily quickly zipped the bag shut. "Thank you， wind！" she yelled happily.

On the day of the race， Emily stood at the starting line. She thought about the yellow bag hanging over her shoulder and the blustery9） wind inside. She thought about how the wind had helped all the people she had met. Surely it would help her， too.

The whistle blew. The runners started together， but soon Emily fell behind. I will not finish last this time， she thought. Emily pulled on the zipper. The yellow bag opened， but nothing happened. "Where are you， wind？" she called.

Suddenly Emily's legs began to move faster. "Thank you， wind，" she cried. "Trying to catch you on my bicycle every day has made my legs much stronger！"

The finish line was up ahead. Emily stretched out her powerful legs and crossed the finish line ahead of the other runners. At that moment， a cool wind from the hilltop swept down. Maybe—just maybe—Emily did catch the wind after all.

放學(xué)后，埃米莉把她的黃色帆布包往肩上一挎，就騎著自行車去捕風(fēng)了。

埃米莉的鄰居希爾太太抖開一個濕的枕套，把它固定在晾衣繩上。

“你好，希爾太太，”埃米莉喊道，“我需要把我的黃色帆布包鼓滿風(fēng)。你能幫助我嗎？”

“鼓滿風(fēng)？那有什么用呢？”希爾太太問。

“為了參加學(xué)校組織的大賽，”埃米莉說， “我需要背后有風(fēng)，不然我會跑最后一名的?！?/p>

“你是無法捕捉到風(fēng)的?！毕柼f。

“可是你的床單就捕捉到風(fēng)了，”埃米莉說，“你看它們不是在來回擺動嗎？”

“我想真是這么回事，埃米莉，”希爾太太贊同道，“可是今天我需要所有這些風(fēng)來吹干我的衣服?！?/p>

“噢，”埃米莉說，“也許我可以明天去捕風(fēng)?！彼纛^騎著車回家了。

第二天下午，埃米莉把她的黃色帆布包挎在肩上，騎著自行車去捕風(fēng)。她看到遠(yuǎn)處有一只箱形風(fēng)箏在天空中展翅高飛。她朝風(fēng)箏騎過去，看到一個穿著格子上衣的男孩在拽風(fēng)箏線。

“你能幫助我嗎？”埃米莉問道，“我需要捕捉風(fēng)?！?/p>

男孩轉(zhuǎn)過身來，哈哈大笑?！岸嘤薮赖南敕ò?！”他說，“沒有人能捕捉到風(fēng)。”

“可你的風(fēng)箏就捕捉到了啊，”埃米莉說，“不然它就會掉到地上。”

“那么，我需要所有的風(fēng)來讓我的風(fēng)箏飛起來。”男孩對她說。

埃米莉皺了皺眉頭。

第二天，埃米莉又騎著車去捕風(fēng)。她騎到一個銀藍(lán)色的湖旁邊，靜靜地看著一艘帆船靠近岸邊。

“先生，請問，”她沖著船長喊道，“您能幫我把我的包鼓滿風(fēng)嗎？”

“你不可能捕捉到風(fēng)！”船長回答道。

“可您的帆已經(jīng)捕捉到了啊?！卑Ｃ桌?qū)λf。

“的確是這樣！”船長笑著說，“但我需要所有這些風(fēng)來揚帆起航?！彼麚]手告別，駕船駛過了湖面。

“我要靠自己的力量來捕捉風(fēng)?！卑Ｃ桌蛘f。她騎到最近的山岡，把自行車停在山腳下，開始長途跋涉，向山頂攀登。埃米莉走得腿都疼了，但她還堅持往上爬。她爬得越高，風(fēng)刮得越猛。當(dāng)埃米莉爬到山頂時，她拉開黃色帆布包的拉鏈，把它舉過頭頂。

突然，一陣強(qiáng)勁的涼風(fēng)掃過山頂，把她的帆布包吹得鼓鼓的，就像吹一只黃色的氣球一樣。

埃米莉迅速拉上帆布包的拉鏈?！爸x謝你，風(fēng)！”她高興地喊道。

比賽那天，埃米莉站在起跑線上。她想到肩上挎著的黃色帆布包和包里裝著的狂風(fēng)，想到風(fēng)曾如何幫助過她遇到的所有人。風(fēng)肯定也會助她一臂之力的。

哨聲響了，賽跑者們一起出發(fā)，但很快埃米莉就落到了后面。我這次決不會跑成最后一名，她心想。埃米莉拉開拉鏈，黃色帆布包打開了，但什么也沒有發(fā)生?！帮L(fēng)，你在哪里?。俊彼魡镜?。

突然間，埃米莉雙腿奔跑的速度開始加快?！爸x謝你，風(fēng)！”她喊道，“每天騎自行車試圖捕捉你使我的腿強(qiáng)壯了許多！”

終點線就在前方。埃米莉邁出有力的雙腿，搶在其他參賽者之前跨過了終點線。就在那一刻，一陣涼爽的風(fēng)從山頂刮了下來。也許，僅僅是也許，埃米莉最終真的捕捉到了風(fēng)。

1.canvas [?k?nv?s] n. 帆布

2.pedal [?pedl] vi. 蹬自行車；騎自行車

3.pillowcase [?p?l??ke?s] n. 枕套

4.clothes line [?kl???z la?n] n. 晾衣繩

5.plaid [pl?d] n. 方格布；方格花紋

6.tug [t?ɡ] vi. 使勁拉；拽

7.skipper [?sk?p?（r）] n. （小商船等的）船長

8.unzip [??n?z?p] vt. 拉開（拉鏈）

9.blustery [?bl?st?ri] adj. （天氣）狂暴的；狂風(fēng)大作的