雙語讀電影 《賽車總動員》第11章 :我也好些年沒看到這樣好的路了

“Whee-hee!” Mater shouted the next morning as dawn broke over Radiator Springs. “Whee-hoo!”

Hearing the whoops and hollers, Sally drove out of her motel to investigate. She found Mater turning circles and spinning happily on a beautiful newly paved stretch of road. She gasped.

Wow, she thought. Lightning had done an amazing job!

“Morning, Sally,” Mater called. “Hey, look at this here fancy new road that Lightning McQueen done just made!”

Soon the other cars had gathered on the road. Ramone bounced on his hydraulics, getting as low as he could go.

“Oooh, Ramone,” Flo cooed to her husband, “Mama ain’t seen you that low in years.”

“I haven’t seen a road like this in years,” Ramone replied.

“Well, then,” Flo said playfully, “l(fā)et’s cruise, baby.”

Soon all the cars were out taking a spin on the sleek new blacktop.

“E bellissima!” Luigi cried as he gawked at the road from the front of his store. “It’s like it was paved by angels!”

“Doc, look at this,” Sally said as the gruff old roadster pulled up to the fresh asphalt. “Shoulda tossed him into the cactus a lot sooner, huh?”

Doc grunted. “Well, he ain’t finished yet. He’s still got a long way to go.”

“Hey, Luigi!” Lizzie called as she rolled past the tire store. “This new road makes your place look like a dump!”

“Ah, the crazy old devil woman—” Luigi said grouchily. But as he looked up at his store, he gasped. “She’s-a right!”

Doc peered down at the road, inspecting the work closely. “Huh—that punk actually did a good job,” he muttered. “Well, now, where the heck is he?” Looking around, he noticed Bessie sitting by the side of the road. Lightning was nowhere in sight.

Just then, Doc heard the sound of a race car engine in the distance. He sped off after the noise.

“Sheriff,” Doc said as he drove up to the cliff edge at Willys Butte, “is he making another run for it?”

Sheriff chuckled. “No, no,” he explained, “he ran out of asphalt in the middle of the night and asked me if he could come down here. All he’s trying to do is make that there turn.”

Sure enough, Lightning was rounding the same turn that had made him wipe out the day before. Just as he reached it, his tires skidded, and he swerved, then crashed. “No, no, no, no!” Lightning cried as he drove back to try again. “Ahh, great! I’ve done perfect turns on every track I’ve ever raced on.”

“Huh,” Doc said as he watched Lightning try to make the curve over and over. He smiled a little at the race car’s determination. “Sheriff, why don’t you go get yourself a quart of oil at Flo’s?” the judge suggested. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Well, thanks, Doc,” Sheriff said in surprise. “I’ve been feelin’ a quart low.” He drove off, leaving Doc to deal with Lightning.

Doc watched carefully as Lightning tried the turn again. Sure enough, he wiped out, and he came to a stop, spitting dirt from his grill.

Finally, the old car decided to help out Lightning. “This ain’t asphalt, son,” Doc explained simply as he rolled up to the race car. “This is dirt.”

“Oh, great,” Lightning snapped. “So you’re a judge, a doctor, and a racing expert?”

“I’ll put it simple,” Doc said patiently. “If you’re going hard enough left, you’ll find yourself turning right.”

“Oh, right,” Lightning said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “That makes perfect sense. Turn right to go left. Thank you. Or should I say ‘no, thank you,’ ” he went on, his voice rising in frustration, “because in Opposite World, maybe that really means thank you.” What does that old car know about racing, anyway? Lightning thought as he took off on the track, throwing plumes of dust all over Doc.

Once the dust cleared, Lightning saw that Doc had driven away. Suddenly, he began to wonder if Doc’s advice might work. Well, I might as well try it, he thought. Nothing else seems to be helping.

Lightning sped toward the turn. “Turn right to go left,” he said to himself. It didn’t make any sense.

At the last moment, Lightning turned sharply right—and shot straight over the cliff.

“Ooh,” he cried as he landed right back in the cacti. “Oh, that hurt.”