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.

電影里有位先生把他那57型車威牌小轎車停在一座小橋上，小橋下面是條美麗、干涸的狹谷。這位先生拿出相機準備拍照，卻下起雨來。可是他實在想把這里的景色拍下來再走。

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.

突然渾濁的雨水像一面墻一樣壓了下來，一下子就連人帶車都沖走了。這情景直到現(xiàn)在還印在我的腦海里。

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

我小的時候，他們用過這種嚇唬的辦法?，F(xiàn)在用什么辦法就不得而知了。

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

一年前，我敢說，從來沒有人對這里的孩子講講大自然的力量有多么危險。

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

那時我和未婚夫艾勒?希金斯剛從科羅拉多搬到洛杉磯來。

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

我們是為了事業(yè)，自愿搬來的。

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.

搬來以后就在阿特瓦德區(qū)離洛杉磯河一個街區(qū)的地方找了一套房子住下。住了大約一個多星期，下起雨來了，而且下個不停。

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.

記得在圣瓦倫廷節(jié)那一天，我覺得這樣的天氣對正在相愛的人來說可太糟糕了?？墒亲屑氁豢窗盏哪樕?，就知道天氣不好并沒有多大關(guān)系。

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

至少當時我是這么想的。因為我們倆在一起，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.

我們打算一旦在洛杉磯站住腳，就結(jié)婚，組織家庭。我們一面議論，一面聽著外頭的雨聲。

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

桑尼努克橋是一座只供人行的小橋，它橫跨洛杉磯河和金州高速公路，聯(lián)結(jié)著阿特瓦德區(qū)和格力非公園。

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

洛杉磯河和公路一樣，為了行人的安全，兩旁修了欄桿。

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.

我和艾勒好幾次散步到公園去，都看見許多孩子不管欄桿不欄桿，見了缺口就鉆過去，在河床上的爛泥里玩，在兩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.

在大多數(shù)情況下，家長大概可以放心地讓孩子們在兩岸砌著水泥的河道里玩耍，因為大部分時間河里沒有水。

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.

然而孩子們習以為常，在他們心目中，“大部分時間”變成了“全部時間”，而誰也沒有仔細去想這件事。后來就下起雨來了。

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