双语读电影 《赛车总动员》第13章 :这场比赛对你真的很重要吗？一定要参加吗？

Later that night, Lightning found himself looking out at a herd of sleeping tractors. “Mater,” he said, “I’m not doing this.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Mater urged, “you’ll love it! Tractor tipping’s fun! When I say go, we go. But don’t let Frank catch you. Go!” Mater took off.

“Whoa!” Lightning cried. “Wha-who-whowho’s Frank?” He peeled off after the tow truck. “Mater. Wait, Mater!”

“ ’Kay, here’s what you do,” Mater explained as he arrived at the bottom of the hill where the tractors stood sleeping. “You just sneak up in front of ’em and then honk, and they do the rest. Watch this.” Slowly and quietly, Mater drove up to a tractor.

Honk!

The tractor startled awake. It let out a low moan as it very slowly started tipping over. A puff of smoke burst from its exhaust pipe.

Mater cracked up. “I swear, tractors are so dumb!” he cried gleefully. He snuck up on another one and honked, then laughed as it tipped over. “I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. Oh, your turn, bud!”

“Mater, I can’t,” Lightning said. “I don’t even have a horn.”

“Baby!” Mater teased. Then he started imitating a chicken. “Bwak, bock, bock, bock!”

“Fine, stop, stop, okay?” Lightning sighed. “All right. I’ll do something.” He drove up to a sleeping tractor and revved his engine.

The roar was so loud that the whole field of tractors startled awake. With a group moan, they all tipped over.

Lightning and Mater laughed.

Suddenly, there was a strange whine, and in a moment, a giant tractor combine appeared. Blades whirling, he lunged at them like an angry bull.

“That’s Frank!” Mater shouted, whipping around.

Lightning took off after the tow truck.

“Run! Run!” Mater hollered, laughing his bumper off. “Old Frank’s gonna catch you! Run! He’s gonna get you!”

Lightning didn’t know why Mater was laughing; that combine was big and angry! Frank closed in behind as they tore toward an opening in the fence. They made it through the hole just in time and raced onto the open road as fast as their wheels could carry them.

“I haven’t seen Frank that excited about somethin’ since the last time he was excited about somethin’,” Mater said as he and Lightning made their way back to town. “Must’ve been your red bumper. Tomorrow night we can go and look for the ghost light.”

“I can’t wait, Mater,” Lightning said sarcastically.

“Oh, boy, you gotta admit that was fu-un,” Mater said happily. “Well, we better get you back to the impound lot.”

“Um, you know,” Lightning said awkwardly, “actually, Sally’s gonna let me stay at the motel.”

“Oh … getting cozy at the Cone, is we?” Mater teased, arriving at the motel’s parking lot.

“You’re in love with Miss Sally.”

“No, I’m not,” Lightning said. “No way.”

“Way. You’re in love with Miss Sally.” Mater turned his teasing into a singsong. “You’re in love with Miss Sally.” The tow truck turned around and started driving backward, taunting the race car. “You love ’er, you love ’er, you love ’er, you love ’er—”

“Will you stop that?” Lightning said.

“Stop what?” Mater asked.

“That driving backwards stuff,” Lightning said with a shudder. “It’s creepin’ me out. You’re going to wreck or something.”

“Wreck? Shoot, I’m the world’s best backwards driver. You just watch this right here, lover boy.” With a whoop, Mater peeled out backward and wove between the Cozy Cone’s traffic cone guest rooms. He cut close to them but didn’t knock over a single one.

“What are you doing?” Lightning shouted as Mater swerved back and forth. “Watch out! Look out! Mater, stop showing off now, okay? Hey, take it easy, Mater! Look out!”

Mater hooted as he drove off between a few trees and shrubs. “Ain’t no need to watch where I’m going,” he bragged as he headed toward Lightning at top speed. Just as he and Lightning were about to collide, Mater spun around and came to a full stop, facing the shocked race car. “Just need to know where I been!”

“Whoa!” Lightning said, truly impressed. “That was incredible.” He laughed out loud. “How’d you do that?”

“Rearview mirrors,” Mater said simply. “We’ll get you some, and I’ll teach you if you want.”

“Yeah,” Lightning said thoughtfully, “maybe I’ll use it in my big race.”

“What’s so important about this race of yours, anyway?” Mater asked.

“It’s not just a race.” Lightning suddenly became serious as he explained. “We’re talking about the Piston Cup. I’ve been dreaming about it my whole life. I’ll be the first rookie in history ever to win it, and when I do, we’re talking big new sponsor with private helicopters; no more medicated bumper ointment, no more rusty old cars—”

“What’s wrong with rusty old cars?” Mater asked, sounding hurt. After all, he himself was rusty and old.

“Well, I don’t mean you, Mater,” Lightning said, realizing his mistake. He hadn’t meant to hurt Mater’s feelings. “I mean other old cars. You know, not like you. I like you.”

“It’s okay, buddy,” Mater said. “Hey, you think maybe one day I could get a ride in one of them helicopters? I mean, I’ve always wanted to ride in one of them fancy helicopters.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lightning said casually. “Yeah, sure, sure.”

“You mean it?” Mater’s engine hummed in excitement.

“Oh, yeah,” Lightning promised. “Anything you say.”

Mater’s smile disappeared, and his expression turned serious. “I knew it! I knowed I made a good choice.”

“In what?” Lightning asked.

“My best friend,” Mater said simply. Lightning smiled. Then Mater spun his tow cable like a helicopter propeller and sped away backward, flashing his one good headlight. “See you tomorrow, buddy!” he called. “Lightning and Sally, parked beneath a tree, k-i-s-sumpin’, sumpin’, sumpin’ … t,” he sang as he drove away.

Lightning couldn’t help laughing as Mater’s voice faded into the distance. Finally, he turned and started looking for his cone.

“Number one … ,” he muttered as he searched.

“Number one … ” He found it. The race car drove inside and looked around. “Ah, this is nice—”

“Hey, Stickers!” Sally said, appearing outside the cone. “I overheard you talking to Mater.”

Lightning was horrified. Had she overheard Mater teasing him about having a crush on her? He hoped not.

“When? You just—just now? What did—what did you hear?” he asked nervously.

“Oh, just something about a helicopter ride,” Sally said.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Lightning said, half to himself. “He got a kick out of that, didn’t he?”

“Did you mean it?” Sally asked. “You’ll get him a ride?”

“Oh,” Lightning said absently. “Who knows? I mean, first things first. I gotta get outta here and make the race.”

“You know,” Sally said, “Mater trusts you.”

Lightning thought about that for a moment. He hadn’t really taken his promise to Mater seriously, but Mater would take it seriously. “Yeah, okay.”

“Did you mean that?” Sally pressed.

“Look, I’m exhausted,” Lightning said, not knowing what else to say. Then he added, “It’s kinda been a long day.”

“Yeah, okay,” Sally said. “Night.”

“Hey,” Lightning called as she started to drive away. “You know, thanks for letting me stay here. It’s nice to be out of the impound. And this is … it’s great. Newly refurbished, right?”

Sally smiled. “Yeah.” She was proud of her motel—and Lightning had just given her a real compliment. Maybe there’s some good in him after all, she thought. “Good night.”