Circles from the Swan Plate- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

"Watch the saucer spin." Gwen flicked the thin porcelain disk across the smooth kitchen island. It whirled over the tiles, tapped a wooden ladle, and the ladle's round head pivoted like a lazy wheel. Warm butter aroma drifted through pale morning light near the stove. The handle nudged a line of metal cookie cutters; each cutter twirled on edge, ringing softly before sliding into a heap of spilled flour. Tigger, the gray cat, crouched near the heap, ears forward, tail twitching in small half-circles. Flour dust landed on his whiskers, but he stayed still, eyes fixed on the final cutter wobbling to a stop.

Gwen liked the pattern the flour left, so she reached to the shelf for a wider plate. Blue paint showed a magnificent swan on a quiet lake; a wooden pier stretched to a tiny lake house under distant hills. She set the plate on its rim and gave it a quick spin. The painted water blurred, turning the swan into a bright ring of white. Halfway through its reel, the plate clipped the first flour mound; powder burst outward, coating the earlier saucer and lifting in swirling threads that drifted toward the cat. Tigger sprang aside, bumping a pepper grinder. Its inner cogs growled as the grinder rolled, sprinkling dark specks that mixed with the white flour, making tiny spirals on the cutting board. Gwen laughed, let the plate keep circling, and then the kettle began to hiss on the stove. She left the chorus of spinning dishes behind and watched the steam curl against the bright windowpane.

「看這個碟子轉圈。」格溫把薄瓷碟彈過光滑的廚房中島。它在磁磚上旋轉，碰到木勺，圓勺頭像懶散的輪子般轉向一側。溫熱奶油的香氣在爐旁淡淡晨光裡飄散。勺柄推到一列金屬餅乾模；每個模具沿邊緣旋轉，發出輕脆響聲後滑進撒落的麵粉堆。灰貓提格蹲在堆旁，耳朵前傾，尾巴畫出半圈。麵粉落到他的鬍鬚上，他仍保持不動，眼睛盯著最後一個搖晃停下的模具。

格溫喜歡麵粉留下的圖案，便伸手從架上拿下一只較大的盤子。藍色彩繪上，一隻華麗天鵝在寧靜湖面滑行；木碼頭延伸到遠處的小湖邊屋。她把盤子立在邊緣，給它迅速一推。畫中的水面模糊，天鵝變成明亮白圈。盤子旋轉到一半時撞到第一座麵粉丘；粉末四散，覆上早先的碟子，又揚起螺旋絲線飄向貓咪。提格跳開，撞到胡椒研磨罐。研磨罐內齒輪嘶鳴，滾動間灑出黑點，與白麵粉混成小小螺旋。格溫笑了，任盤子繼續打轉，這時爐上的水壺開始嘶嘶作響。她把一圈圈旋轉的器皿留在身後，轉身望向窗邊玻璃上蜿蜒上升的蒸汽。