Stone Against the Swirl- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

Xena braced one boot on the stone lip and heaved the sluice board upward. Cold water surged toward the wheel, and the stick beside the axle fluttered but stopped below a scratch. The axle had been greased earlier by the caretaker, yet it still squeaked. She wanted the wobble to reach that line before the irrigation channel lost depth. With the rake lifted from the tool area, she began to delve into the pool behind the weir, teasing clumps of leaves away from the current. Each bundle slapped into her bucket, freeing more flow. After three bundles, the paddles turned faster, yet the scratch still lay one finger above the stick’s tip. Mist drifted through the air in a faint diffusion that caught pale light, and droplets cooled her sleeves while Jude, knee-deep at the garden end, called out the falling water level with each rise of his marked rod.

Jude trudged back, channel shadows sliding over his boots. “The beds are still damp,” he said, setting the rod aside. He pressed palms to the board; Xena held the first, and together they lowered it half a hand. The wheel’s splash rose, yet the stick stalled again. Xena noticed a coil of water near the paddles. The swirl marked something sunken. They knelt, palms sweeping the floor until they touched a smooth hollow; a thin silt layer had masked it. They paused to unearth a flat border stone at the garden edge, lifted it free of crumbly soil, and carried it two steps. On three, they slid the stone into the hollow. Water skimmed over the new surface, the swirl faded, and the paddles met the flow squarely. The stick climbed past the scratch and wagged in an arc. A hush of water over the stone lingered across the channel.

Xena把一隻靴子抵在石頭護岸上，用力把插板推起。冷水衝向水輪，軸旁的細木棒抖動了一下，最後停在刻痕下方。這根軸先前已由管理員上過油，仍然在低速時吱吱作響。她希望木棒能碰到那條刻線，同時不讓灌溉渠的水位掉得太低。她拿起工具區的耙子，把柄探進壩後的水池，撥開葉團。每團葉子落進桶裡，水流就更順暢一些。三團葉子清掉後，葉輪轉得快了，但刻痕仍比木棒高一指。薄霧飄在空中，散射的白光微亮，水珠打濕了袖子；此時站在菜圃邊的Jude膝蓋沒入水中，一邊把量尺舉出水面報出逐漸下降的水位。

Jude踩著水回來，水道的陰影在靴面滑動。「畦面還是濕的。」他把量尺放在一旁說。他按住後方插板，Xena抓著前板，兩人合力把板再降半手寬。水輪濺起更高的水花，可木棒又停住。Xena看到槳葉附近有股像繩子般緊捲的水流，那渦旋表示下面有凹陷。兩人跪下，用手掃著渠底，摸到一處平滑的坑洞；薄薄的淤泥層把它藏住。他們停下來，去菜圃邊挖出一塊扁平邊石，抖落鬆碎的土，再抬回兩步遠的渠邊。數到三，他們把石塊推進坑裡。水面在新石上滑過，渦旋消失，槳葉正面迎水。木棒越過刻痕，在弧線中擺動。水流掠過石面的低喃聲持續迴盪在水道上。