Spinning Leaf, Slower Wheel- 適合中高級的英語短篇故事

"More water on this side," Ira called.

He braced his rubber boots against the stone lip and shoved the swollen board; the plank slid a finger-width, sending blue-grey water toward the paddles. Upstream, Wyatt dropped tiny leaf boats but did not look up. The wheel had been turning smoothly earlier, yet now the speed-stick barely wobbled and spray reached only halfway. Its axle had been greased by a neighbour last week, so squeaks were unlikely. Ira blamed leaves, waded three paces downstream, and plucked soggy fragments away. Cold water soaked the top layer of his glove, yet rotation hardly changed.

When a fresh leaf drifted above the wheel and suddenly spun in place over a silent hollow, Ira noticed a faint whirlpool. A narrow outcrop of stone beside it had worn away, leaving a depression through one loose stratum of gravel that pulled the flow downward. This stretch of channel lay inside a hillside watershed fed by a buried aquifer, yet even that steady supply could be wasted in the swirl. He crouched at the sluice again, shifted his stance wider, and pressed the board from a lower angle so the sheet of water smoothed across the hollow, while a narrower ribbon rushed along the wheel side. The board groaned, so he paused, waited, then applied short pulses instead of one heavy shove. Depth above the hollow rose; the vortex weakened; the speed-stick wagged faster; droplets flashed in quick arcs. Dark soil beside the carrot rows drank the overflow, and grass blades trembled in the spray. Ira wiped spray from his cheek and stepped onto the dry bank. The paddles kept their measured clap, and fine mist drifted beyond the channel’s shadow.

「讓這邊的水多一點。」伊拉喊道。

他穿著膠靴抵住石造閘口的邊緣，用力推動膨脹的木板；木板只滑開一指寬，一道泛著灰藍色的水流便衝向槳板。上游的懷亞特低頭放小樹葉船，家長在菜園旁閱讀。早上還順暢轉動的水輪此刻速度指針幾乎不抖，水花也只濺到原來的一半高度。軸承上週已被鄰居抹過油，所以不會有吱吱聲的問題。伊拉判斷是葉片堵塞，走到下游三步處，摘下浸水的殘葉。冰冷的水透進手套最外層，轉速卻幾乎沒有改變。

一片新落葉漂到水輪前，忽然停在水面打起旋；伊拉才注意到一道細小漩渦。緊挨著它的石質突堆多年磨蝕，鬆散礫石形成的單層地層下陷，把水流吸向下方。這條支渠位於地下含水層餵養的小流域，即使水量穩定，也會被這漩渦白白浪費。他再次蹲到閘板，雙腳分得更開，改變角度分段用力推，讓平整水幕貼著凹處滑過，較窄水束則衝向水輪。木板發出低沉呻吟，他停一下再推一下。凹處水深增加，旋渦減弱，速度指針抖得更快；水珠畫出更密的弧線。胡蘿蔔畦旁的黑土喝進溢水，草葉在細霧中微顫。伊拉抹去臉上的水滴，走到乾岸。水槳仍規律拍擊，細霧在渠旁陰影外輕輕飄散。