Mist Rises from the Basket of Apples - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

A glare bounced from a dented tin sprinkler, flickering over the grass between low apple trees. Sam paused beside the metal, then walked on; beyond the stone wall, a hazy cityscape shimmered in the noon heat.

He lifted a red apple. Warm skin pressed against his palm, almost the same temperature as his sun-touched wrist. At the next branch he found another apple hidden under thick leaves; its surface felt cool and damp, and tiny beads of condensation dotted his knuckles when he turned it. Ingrid stood a row away with a basket. "That color is deep," she said, holding one apple against the light before placing it on a strip of folded cloth. Squirrels continued to frolic along the higher limbs, shaking loose a dry rain of petals that landed on Sam’s shoulders.

Sam added his warm apple to the basket. The cooler fruit underneath drew a thin mist from the warmer skin, and a light cloud rose, then vanished. He shifted the pile, spreading each piece so air could move. The orchard worked like its own small ecosystem: insects ticked inside bark crevices while heat rose in slow waves over the grass. An old watering can, an early invention of welded cans, lay near a stump; water inside rattled softly, already lukewarm. Sam touched the metal rim and tried to imagine steam lifting from it at sunset. He stacked another layer of apples, but one rolled down the cloth and bumped his foot, leaving a wet patch on the toe of his shoe. A faint curl of steam hung over the pile. Sam’s fingers still pressed against the damp cloth.

一個凹陷的錫製灑水器反射出刺眼亮光，在低矮的蘋果樹間的草地上閃爍。山姆停在金屬旁，然後繼續前行；石牆外，遠方城市天際線在正午熱氣中微微顫動。

他抬起一顆紅蘋果，溫熱的果皮貼著掌心，幾乎跟曬過太陽的手腕同樣的溫度。下一根枝條下，他找到另一顆被繁葉遮住的蘋果；表面涼而濕潤，當他旋轉果實時，細小水珠點在指節上。英格麗在另一排樹旁提著籃子。「這顏色真濃，」她將一顆蘋果舉向光線，然後放在摺好的布條上。松鼠在高枝間繼續嬉鬧，搖落乾花瓣，落在山姆肩頭。

山姆把那顆溫熱的蘋果放進籃子。下層較涼的水果把暖果表面的水氣抽出，輕霧升起又消散。他移動果實，攤開讓空氣流通。果園像一個小小生態系：昆蟲在樹皮縫裡發出細響，熱浪在草上緩緩升騰。一個早期焊接而成的舊澆水壺躺在樹樁旁；裡面的水已微溫，輕輕搖晃。山姆摸著金屬邊，想像夕陽時會有蒸汽從壺口升起。他再堆一層蘋果，但其中一顆沿著布面滾下，碰到他的腳，鞋尖留下濕痕。一縷薄霧停在果堆上方。山姆的手指仍壓在潮布上。