The Turkey That Got Away逃走的火雞

Kayann Short

The day before Thanksgiving， I finished setting the table in our farmscommunity room for the next days feast1. On the way back to the house， I stoppedin the barn2 to check on the thirty-pound turkey in the barn fridge， the only coldplace large enough to hold it. In fact， we didnt need a thirty-pound turkey， butsomehow my order had ended up in the “extra-large”category3. I wasnt evensure it would fit in our oven， not to mention having to get up earlier to give thoseextra pounds time to roast4.

感恩節(jié)前一天，我在我們農(nóng)場的公共活動(dòng)室里為第二天的盛宴擺好了桌子。在回屋的路上，我在谷倉逗留了一會(huì)兒，查看谷倉冰箱里那只30 磅重的火雞，谷倉冰箱是唯一一個(gè)大到足以裝下它的地方。事實(shí)上，我們不需要一只30磅重的火雞，但不知怎的，我的訂單最后變成了“超大”。我甚至不確定它是否能放進(jìn)我們的烤箱里，更別提還得早點(diǎn)起床，騰出時(shí)間烤制多余重量的肉了。

As I opened the barn fridge door， I expected the top shelf to be full of turkey，but I found an empty space instead. I stared at the shelf long enough to confirm5 itreally was gone. I checked the second and third shelves， which were much toosmall for the turkey， but they were empty， too. I even looked in all the fridgedrawers6 and door shelves where a thirty-pound turkey obviously7 could not hide.

當(dāng)我打開谷倉冰箱的門時(shí)，我以為最上面的架子上會(huì)被火雞塞滿，但我卻發(fā)現(xiàn)取而代之的是一個(gè)空位。我盯著架子看了好久，才確認(rèn)它真的不見了。我檢查了第二和第三層架子，對火雞來說它們太小了，但它們也空空如也。我甚至翻遍了所有顯然藏不住一只30 磅重火雞的冰箱抽屜和門擱架。

Next， I looked all over the barn， thinking John had left the turkey outaccidentally， but there wasnt a turkey in sight. I even looked in the fridgeagain to be sure I wasnt overlooking it. Nothing， not even a drumstick8，did I find. By then， I was pretty sure I wasnt going to find the thing inthe barn. I might have laughed at my antics9 if fifteen people werentcoming for Thanksgiving the very next day.

然后，我找遍了整個(gè)谷倉，以為約翰不小心把火雞放在外面了，但我并沒有看到火雞。我甚至在冰箱里又找了一遍，以確保我沒有看漏。我什么也沒找到，甚至連個(gè)雞腿也沒有找到。那時(shí)，我很確定我不可能在谷倉里找到那東西。如果不是第二天有15 個(gè)人來過感恩節(jié)，我可能會(huì)嘲笑自己的滑稽舉動(dòng)。

What to do but go ask John if he had brought the turkey into the housewithout my having seen it. Of course， he hadnt. So， where could that turkey be？

除了去問約翰他是不是在我沒看見的情況下把火雞拿進(jìn)屋了，還能怎么辦？

當(dāng)然，他沒有那樣做。那只火雞會(huì)在哪里呢？

Then I remembered it was Wednesday， the day the food-pantry10 people comefor the vegetables we donate to community families each week. Every Tuesday， I sendan e-mail to the friend who picks up our vegetables to tell her what we have. I lookedback at that weeks e-mail and saw that I had mentioned the turkey on the top shelfbecause I needed to let her know the vegetables would be on the second shelf thatweek. Re-reading the note， I realized that she must have sent someone else for thepick-up. Even though the turkey part of the message was vague11， I knew she wouldnever have understood it as “take the turkey”. On the other hand， someone lessfamiliar with our arrangement12 certainly could think of a turkey donation accompanied13the vegetables so close to Thanksgiving.

然后我想起星期三那天，“食品銀行”的人來拿我們每周捐贈(zèng)給社區(qū)家庭的蔬菜。每周二，我都會(huì)給來取蔬菜的朋友發(fā)一封電子郵件，告訴她我們有什么菜。我回頭看了看那周的電子郵件，發(fā)現(xiàn)我提到過最上面架子上的火雞，因?yàn)槲倚枰屗滥侵艿氖卟藭?huì)放在第二層架子上。重新看了一遍備忘錄后，我意識(shí)到她一定是派了其他人來取蔬菜。盡管信息中關(guān)于火雞的部分很模糊，但我知道她絕對不會(huì)把它理解為“拿走火雞”。另一方面，不太熟悉我們安排的人肯定會(huì)認(rèn)為，臨近感恩節(jié)，會(huì)有火雞和蔬菜一起捐贈(zèng)。

Since the pantry was closed by that time of the day， I tried to contact myfriend. She must have left town already for the holiday. She wasnt answeringe -mail or picking up her phone. Now the need for logistics14 took hold. Itwasnt that we minded the turkey having gone to the pantry， but we stillneeded a turkey—and it was 4：00 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving. Wouldwe really be able to find a turkey at this late hour？

由于當(dāng)天的那個(gè)時(shí)候“食品銀行”已經(jīng)關(guān)門，我試著聯(lián)系我的朋友。她一定已經(jīng)離開小鎮(zhèn)去過節(jié)了。她沒有回復(fù)電子郵件或接電話?，F(xiàn)在，對后勤的需求已經(jīng)占據(jù)了上風(fēng)。我們并不介意火雞去了“食品銀行”，但我們?nèi)匀恍枰恢换痣u———而且是在感恩節(jié)前一天的下午4點(diǎn)。我們真的能在這么晚的時(shí)候買到一只火雞嗎？

John jumped in the truck while I called a local store to try to reserve15 aturkey. Lucky for us， they still had a turkey—twenty-one pounds， which wasplenty—and they would hold it for him. When John got home， he saideveryone in the meat department16 had a good laugh about our“donation”.

當(dāng)我打電話給本地一家商店設(shè)法預(yù)訂一只火雞的同時(shí)，約翰就跳上了卡車。幸運(yùn)的是，他們還有一只火雞———21磅重，這個(gè)大小足夠了———他們會(huì)為他保留。當(dāng)約翰回到家時(shí)，他說肉類區(qū)的每個(gè)人都對我們的“捐贈(zèng)”大笑不已。

In fact， I was glad not to have to cook that thirty-pound turkey. We hadplenty at our Thanksgiving meal， with most of it—potatoes， pumpkins， onions，carrots， and even wine—grown on our own farm. Seated by the wood stove17 asthe snow fell slowly outside， we thought about all the Thanksgiving dinners thatwould include something from our land.

事實(shí)上，我很高興不用烹飪那只30 磅重的火雞。我們的感恩節(jié)大餐有很多東西———土豆、南瓜、洋蔥、胡蘿卜，甚至葡萄酒，大部分都是從自家農(nóng)場種出來的。當(dāng)外面的雪慢慢地落下時(shí)，我們坐在柴木火爐旁，想著所有那些包含從我們地里種出來的東西的感恩節(jié)晚餐。

Later， we would learn that our turkey fed not just onefamily but took the place of honor at a special dinner for theentire18 senior center in our little town. At our own table， welaughed at the good story with which to remember thisThanksgiving. It is a reminder19 to be thankful for all we haveand all we can share.

后來，我們才知道，我們的火雞不是只填飽了一個(gè)家庭的肚子，而且在我們小鎮(zhèn)整個(gè)老年中心的特別晚宴上占據(jù)了最重要的地位。在我們自己的餐桌上，我們因?yàn)檫@個(gè)好故事而發(fā)笑。它讓人記住了這個(gè)感恩節(jié)。它提醒我們要感激我們所擁有的一切和我們所能分享的一切。

Notes

1. feast . 宴會(huì)

2. barn . 谷倉

3. category . 種類；范疇

4. roast . 烤

5. confirm .確定；確認(rèn)

6. drawer . 抽屜

7. obviously. 顯然；顯而易見

8. drumstick .煮食的雞或其他禽類的；腿下段；琵琶腿

9. antics . 滑稽動(dòng)作

10. food pantry.食品銀行；慈善組織

11. vague? . 不明確的；模糊的

12. arrangement . 安排

13. accompany?.伴隨；與……一起發(fā)生

14. logistics? . 后勤；組織工作

15. reserve? 預(yù)訂；保留

16. department?.部；部門

17. stove . 爐子；火爐

18. entire . 全部的；整個(gè)的

19. reminder . 提醒物；引起回憶的事物