A man parked his 57 Chevy on a little bridge overlooking a picturesque, arid gully and took out his camera. It was starting to rain, but he really wanted to get that picture.

电影里有位先生把他那57型车威牌小轿车停在一座小桥上，小桥下面是条美丽、干涸的狭谷。这位先生拿出相机准备拍照，却下起雨来。可是他实在想把这里的景色拍下来再走。

The image of a sudden wall of dark water carrying the man and his car away in an instant is still imprinted on my mind.

突然浑浊的雨水像一面墙一样压了下来，一下子就连人带车都冲走了。这情景直到现在还印在我的脑海里。

They used this kind of scare tactic when I was growing up. I wonder what they use today.

我小的时候，他们用过这种吓唬的办法。现在用什么办法就不得而知了。

A year ago I would have sworn that children here are taught nothing about the dangerous powers of nature.

一年前，我敢说，从来没有人对这里的孩子讲讲大自然的力量有多么危险。

My fiance, Earl Higgins, and I had recently moved to Los Angeles from Colorado.

那时我和未婚夫艾勒・希金斯刚从科罗拉多搬到洛杉矶来。

It was a move we had made by choice, for career purposes.

我们是为了事业，自愿搬来的。

About a week and a half after we moved into an apartment in Atwater, a block from the Los Angeles River, the rains started in earnest.

搬来以后就在阿特瓦德区离洛杉矶河一个街区的地方找了一套房子住下。住了大约一个多星期，下起雨来了，而且下个不停。

On Valentine's Day, I remember thinking what dismal weather it was for being in love, but after studying Earl's face I knew that the weather didn't matter much.

记得在圣瓦伦廷节那一天，我觉得这样的天气对正在相爱的人来说可太糟糕了。可是仔细一看艾勒的脸色，就知道天气不好并没有多大关系。

At least that's what I thought. Because we were together, life was safe and secure.

至少当时我是这么想的。因为我们俩在一起，生活是安定的。

We talked of our plans to wed and start a family, once we were settled in Los Angeles, and we listened to the rain.

我们打算一旦在洛杉矶站住脚，就结婚，组织家庭。我们一面议论，一面听着外头的雨声。

The Sunny nook footbridge connects Atwater with Griffith Park, spanning the Los Angeles River and the Golden State Freeway.

桑尼努克桥是一座只供人行的小桥，它横跨洛杉矶河和金州高速公路，联结着阿特瓦德区和格力非公园。

Like the freeway, the river is fenced to keep people out.

洛杉矶河和公路一样，为了行人的安全，两旁修了栏杆。

During several walks to the park, Earl and I had noticed many children who ignored the fences and found holes to allow them through in order to play in the dirt in the river bed and run up and down the sloping concrete banks.

我和艾勒好几次散步到公园去，都看见许多孩子不管栏杆不栏杆，见了缺口就钻过去，在河床上的烂泥里玩，在两岸用水泥砌的斜坡上跑上跑下。

Most of the time parents probably have no worry about their kids playing in the concrete channel, because most of the time the river is dry.

在大多数情况下，家长大概可以放心地让孩子们在两岸砌着水泥的河道里玩耍，因为大部分时间河里没有水。

Habits form, however, and, in a child's mind, most of the time becomes all of the time, and nobody gives it much thought. Then the rains come.

然而孩子们习以为常，在他们心目中，“大部分时间”变成了“全部时间”，而谁也没有仔细去想这件事。后来就下起雨来了。

责任编辑：admin