Blue Dye Spreads Across the Dock Boards - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

A green bulb above the repair shed cast narrow stripes across the dock boards.

Jarvis placed a shallow tin basin on the planks and uncorked thick blue dye. He had tied bright yarn around a light bamboo frame shaped like a small sail. The frame would carry a cloth giraffe banner when the local regatta returned tomorrow. Jarvis paused to imagine the banner catching breeze between masts beyond the pier. Salt air pressed against his cheeks while distant hulls knocked rhythmically under low tide. Diesel smoke merged with seaweed smell, leaving a bitter taste over the wet wood.

He lowered the frame, hoping to accomplish the first coat before water reached his boots. The dye moved slowly, its viscosity thick like syrup, resisting every gentle tilt of the basin. "Morning, Jarvis; blue suits that wood," Eve called from a moored launch nearby. Jarvis grinned and tipped the basin a little harder to speed the pour. A sudden swell shoved the dock, bumping his elbow and knocking the basin sideways. Blue liquid splashed, then swirled across the uneven boards and dripped through narrow gaps. It seeped downward, coloring the grey timbers and drawing a long curve like a neck.

That accidental stripe reminded him of the tall animal he planned to sew on cloth. He guided the yarn end through the wet curve, tracing rough spots where dye pooled. The fluid pressure eased as the basin emptied, so the flow finally slowed and stilled. Jarvis knelt, twisted fresh yarn around two bamboo joints, and fixed them with quick knots. He lifted the completed frame onto two upside-down buckets beside a metal ring. The last blue drop fell, landed inside the basin, and settled.

修理棚上方的一顆綠色燈泡把狹長的光條投在碼頭木板上。

Jarvis 把一個淺錫盆放到甲板，再打開濃稠的藍色染料。他已將亮色毛線綁在輕盈的竹框上，形狀像小帆。等到明天地方帆船賽回來時，竹框會掛上一面長頸鹿圖案的布旗。Jarvis 停下來想像那面布旗在桅杆間迎風飄動。鹹鹹的海風貼在臉頰，遠處船身在低潮下規律撞擊。柴油味混著海藻味，在濕木板上留下微苦的味道。

他把竹框放低，希望在海水淹到鞋前完成第一層上色。染料像糖漿般黏稠，傾盆時每次輕推都被阻慢。「早，Jarvis，這藍色很配那木頭。」停泊艇上的 Eve 隨口說。Jarvis 笑了，稍用力地把盆再斜一些。忽然一個浪晃動碼頭，撞到他的手肘，盆子整個側翻。藍色液體濺出，旋轉過不平的木板，滴入細縫。它向下滲染灰色木條，拉出一條像頸部的長弧。

這意外的藍線讓他想到要縫在布上的那種高大動物。他把毛線末端沿著濕弧拉過，摸到染料聚集的粗糙處。隨著錫盆見底，液體壓力變小，流動終於慢下來並停住。Jarvis 跪下，把新毛線繞過兩節竹頭，快速打結固定。他把完成的竹框抬到兩個倒放的水桶上，靠在一只金屬環旁。最後一滴藍色落回盆中，安靜地停住。