Rainbow Stripe From the Soapy Basin on the Roof - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Clara pushed the stairwell door and stepped onto the flat roof. Ulysses lifted a basket of wet clothes and set it near the low tank. A short cement ramp rose beside the tank. A shallow glass basin sat on it. Soap foam covered the water and caught the hard noon light. A narrow aisle lay between two rows of clay pots. A thick cord for drying stretched from a post to the stairwell wall. Pale rub marks on the low wall showed years of pull from other lines. Clara stood well back from the low wall. Faded squares on the tar drew a map. Old mats had rested there through last summer.

Clara lifted a shirt and reached for a clip. Heat rose through her shoes from the gritty tar. A slow drip from the basket tapped the floor. She stood in the aisle and worked at the line. The white cloth met the cord, and her fingers shaped the fold around it. Glare from the basin washed over the white cloth, and her eyes narrowed. On the ramp, the basin sent light across the roof. Colors shifted in the thin film, and a bright stripe slid over stones near her toes. The foam’s surface flashed and then cleared, so the stripe moved and bent along the pebbles. A broad towel rose in her hands and crossed the sun. Shade began to thicken around the basin. The stripe broke into small bands that climbed the low wall. “Is that a rainbow?” Ulysses said. “It reached your shoe,” Clara said.

She shifted her feet, and the glare on the foam softened. The towel still waited, half-unpinned, while the colors traveled in quiet steps along the wall. Clara let the towel corner drop and turned toward the far roofs. She lifted her arm and followed a kite’s dark shape across the sky, tracing.

克拉拉推開樓梯間的門，踏上平坦的屋頂。尤利西斯提著一籃溼衣服，放在低水塔旁。水塔邊有一段矮水泥斜坡。一只淺玻璃盆放在上面。肥皂泡覆在水面上，接住正午強烈的光。兩排陶盆之間留出一條窄走道。一條粗的晾衣繩從柱子拉到樓梯間的牆上。低牆上淡淡的磨痕，顯出多年拉扯的痕跡。克拉拉站在離低牆很遠的地方。柏油上的褪色方格像一張地圖。去年的夏天，舊墊子就放在那些位置。

克拉拉提起一件襯衫，伸手拿夾子。粗糙柏油的熱度透過她的鞋底往上冒。籃子裡的水滴緩慢地點著地面。她站在走道上，在繩子邊做手上的事。白布貼到繩子上，她的手指把摺痕捏緊。玻璃盆的反光沖在白布上，她的眼睛微微瞇起。斜坡上的玻璃盆把光送過屋頂。薄薄水膜裡的色彩在變，一道亮線滑過她腳邊的石子。泡沫的表面一閃又清，所以那道線在小石間移動又彎折。她手裡的一條大毛巾抬起來，擋住了太陽。玻璃盆周圍的陰影開始變濃。那道線裂成幾條窄帶，爬上低牆。「那是彩虹嗎？」尤利西斯說。「它碰到你的鞋了，」克拉拉說。

她挪了挪腳，泡沫上的刺眼亮光變柔和了。毛巾還半掛著，顏色的細帶像小步子一樣沿著牆前進。克拉拉放下毛巾的一角，身子轉向遠處的屋頂。她抬起手臂，跟著天空中風箏的黑影走了一道線，描著。