自译 契诃夫短篇小说 老虎发威（下）(2)

我们都起了个大早，我分配了各人的任务：我来测日月直径，大爷负责画日冕，其他的工作都交给雅婷和那帮姑娘去干。
We all meet together and wait.
我们聚到一起，静静等着。
“What is the cause of the eclipse? “ asks Mashenka.
“为什么会日食？”雅婷问道。
I reply: “A solar eclipse occurs when the moon, moving in the plane of the ecliptic, crosses the line joining the centres of the sun and the earth.”
我回答说：“当月球运动到太阳和地球中间，如果三者正好处在一条直线时，月球就会挡住太阳射向地球的光，月球身后的黑影正好落到地球上，这时发生日食现象。”
“And what does the ecliptic mean?”
“真的有天狗吗？”
I explain. Mashenka listens attentively.
我解释了一通。雅婷聚精会神地听着。
“Can one see through the smoked glass the line joining the centres of the sun and the earth?” she enquires.
“用烟熏玻璃能看见连着太阳和地球的那条线吗？”她问道。
I reply that this is only an imaginary line, drawn theoretically.
我回答说根本没这么条线，这只是设想出来的。
“If it is only an imaginary line, how can the moon cross it?” Varenka says, wondering.
“可要是没这条线月亮怎么会挡住它呢？”娅宁不解道。
I make no reply. I feel my spleen rising at this naïve question.
我没说话，觉得血压有点高。
“It’s all nonsense,” says Mashenka’s maman. “Impossible to tell what’s going to happen. You’ve never been in the sky, so what can you know of what is to happen with the sun and moon? It’s all fancy.”
“胡说八道。”雅婷妈说道，“你们又没上过天，怎么知道天上是怎么回事？都是人编出来的。”