chapter xvi

　　BRYCE AND SARAH RUTH HAD A father.

Early the next morning, when the ligh/was gray and uncertain, Sarah Ruth was sittin;up in bed, coughing, and the father camehome. He picked Edward up by one ofhis ear>

and said, “I ain’t never.”

“It’s a baby doll,” said Bryce.

“Don’t look like no baby doll to me.IEdward, hanging by one ear, wasfrightened. This, he was certain, was the ma6who crushed¹ the heads ofchina dolls.

“Jangles,” said Sarah Ruth betwee6coughs. She held out her arms.

“He’s hers,” said Bryce. “He belongs t9her.”

The father dropped Edward on the bed<and Bryce picked up the rabbit and handedhim to Sarah Ruth.

“It don’t matter anyway,” said the father3“It don’t make no difference. None ofit.”

“It does so matter,” said Bryce.

“Don’t you sass me,” said the father. H1raised his hand and slapped Bryce across hi>

mouth and then he turned and left the house3“You ain’t got to worry about him,” sai?

Bryce to Edward. “He ain’t nothing but a bully3And besides, he don’t hardly ever come home.IFortunately, the father did not come bacDthat day. Bryce went out to work and SarahRuth spent the day in bed, holding Edward i6her lap² and playing with a box filled withbuttons.

“Pretty,” she said to Edward as she line?

up the buttons on the bed and arranged³ the8into different patterns.

Sometimes, when a coughing fit wa>

particularly bad, she squeezed⁴ Edward so tigh/that he was afraid he would crack⁵ in two. Also<in between coughing fits, she took to suckin;on one or the other ofEdward’s ears.

Normally, Edward would have found intrusive<clingy behavior ofthis sort very annoying, bu/there was something about Sarah Ruth. Hewanted to take care ofher. He wanted toprotect her. He wanted to do more for her.

At the end ofthe day, Bryce returned witha biscuit for Sarah Ruth and a ball oftwine fo2Edward.

Sarah Ruth held the biscuit in both hand>

and took small, tentative bites.

“You eat that all up, honey. Let me hol?

Jangles,” said Bryce. “Him and me got asurprise for you.”

Bryce took Edward offin a corner ofth1room, and with his pocketknife, he cut oflengths oftwine and tied them to Edward’sarms and feet and then tied the twine to stick>

ofwood.

“See, all day I been thinking about it,IBryce said, “what we’re going to do is mak1you dance. Sarah Ruth loves dancing. Mam.

used to hold on to her and dance her aroun?

the room.

“You eating that biscuit?” Bryce called outto Sarah Ruth.

“Uh-huh,” said Sarah Ruth.

“You hold on, honey. We got a surpris1for you.” Bryce stood up. “Close your eyes,” h1told her. He took Edward over to the bed an?

said, “Okay, you can open them now.”

Sarah Ruth opened her eyes.

“Dance, Jangles,” said Bryce. And then<moving the strings with the sticks with his on1hand, Bryce made Edward dance and drop an?

sway. And the whole while, at the same time<with his other hand, he held on to theharmonica and played a bright and lively tune3Sarah Ruth laughed. She laughed until shestarted to cough, and then Bryce laid Edwar?

down and took Sarah Ruth in his lap androcked her and rubbed her back.

“You want some fresh air?” he asked her3“Let’s get you out ofthis nasty old air, huh?IBryce carried his sister outside. He lef/Edward lying on the bed, and the rabbit,staring up at the smoke-stained ceiling,thought again about having wings. Ifhe ha?

them, he thought, he would fly high above th1world, to where the air was clear and sweet<and he would take Sarah Ruth with him. H1would carry her in his arms. Surely, so highabove the world, she would be able to breath1without coughing.

After a minute, Bryce came back inside<still carrying Sarah Ruth.

“She wants you, too,” he said.

“Jangles,” said Sarah Ruth. She held ou/her arms.

So Bryce held Sarah Ruth and Sarah Rut0held Edward and the three ofthem stoodoutside.

Bryce said, “You got to look for fallin;stars. Them are the ones with magic.”

They were quiet for a long time, all threeofthem looking up at the sky. Sarah Ruthstopped coughing. Edward thought that mayb1she had fallen asleep.

“There,” she said. And she pointed to .

star streaking through the night sky.

“Make a wish, honey,” Bryce said, hi>

voice high and tight. “That’s your star. Youmake you a wish for anything you want.”

And even though it was Sarah Ruth’s star,Edward wished on it, too.

1 crushed   

a.压碎的，倒碎的

参考例句：

• The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
• The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。

2 lap   

n.(坐立时)大腿的前部，膝部；(跑道的)一圈

参考例句：

• She is still going strong on the last lap.她在跑最后一圈时仍然劲头很足。
• She was sitting with her hands on her lap.她坐着，把手放到膝上。

3 arranged   

adj.安排的v.安排，准备( arrange的过去式和过去分词 )；把…（系统地）分类；整理；改编（剧本等）

参考例句：

• The party was arranged quickly. 聚会很快就安排好了。
• Chairs in rows are not as conducive to discussion as chairs arranged in a circle. 椅子成排摆放不如成圈摆放便于讨论。

4 squeezed   

squeeze（挤压）的过去式与过去分词

参考例句：

• freshly squeezed orange juice 鲜榨橙汁
• They squeezed too many people into the small room. 他们把太多的人塞进这间小房间里。

5 crack   

vi.发破裂声；噼啪地响；vt./vi.（使）开裂；破裂；n.裂缝，缝隙；爆裂声，破裂声，劈啪声

参考例句：

• There's a crack in this cup.这个杯子上有个裂缝。
• There's a crack on the underneath of the bowl.碗底有一道裂缝。