Wind Gusts Make the Weighing Scale Swing at the Mill - 適合中高級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Four paper bags stood tied on the bench; four lay open with their mouths folded and waiting.

Ada steadied the swing of the hanging scale with one palm and poured flour from the cloth chute. Beside the door, Nadine pushed a broom in slow arcs, her shoulders rolling with the hum under the floor. Warm air lifted near the vat, and a silvery band of window light cut the wheat-scented dust. A cat awakened on the grain sacks, stretched long, and blinked as the hopper rattled with each turn. On the bench corner, a book in a glossy dust jacket pinned a folded paper against a flour ring.

At first the sails kept a calm rhythm; the scale's arm hovered, and the chute fed like a slow drum. "It holds for a bit," Nadine said, pausing mid-sweep, the broom bristles whispering along the boards. A gust pressed the tower; the shaft quickened; the platform under Ada's shoes trembled and the pointer wagged past every notch. Flour thickened and rolled; a soft mound tipped against the pan edge and slid toward her wrist. She lifted the bag, tapped the bottom twice, and the moving needle refused to settle. Then the wind faded; the hopper's shake calmed, and the chute thinned to a narrow ribbon. The stack of open bags still counted four, and her plan tightened to just two. Nadine watched the window stripe crawl along the wall and said, "I can mark the full ones."

Ada weighed and tied two careful bags, palms working the thin string in firm pulls that pressed into her fingers. The cat stepped down from the sacks, padded through the flour film, and sneezed once, leaving speckled paw prints across the board. Nadine stacked the finished row beside the door; their small stewardship showed in level tops and square corners. Two open bags remained, soft and slack, and the wind outside rose, paused, and rose again. Ada slid the folded paper under the dust jacket to stop its creep, then brushed flour off her wrists. She lifted the last tied bag to the scale; the dial wobbled, and the room kept humming and swinging.

四個紙袋已綁好站在工作台上；另外四個張開著袋口，折好邊緣，等著裝填。

艾達用手掌穩住懸掛秤的擺動，從布製滑槽倒入麵粉。門邊，娜汀用掃帚畫著慢弧，肩膀隨著地板下的低鳴起伏。磨盤附近的空氣較暖，小窗投下的銀亮光帶切過帶著小麥香的粉霧。一隻貓在穀袋上醒來，長長伸展，隨著料斗每一次顫動眨了一下眼。工作台角落，一本包著亮面書衣的書壓住一張摺好的紙，在粉圈上固定住。

一開始風帆轉得很穩；秤桿幾乎不動，滑槽出粉像慢鼓一樣均勻。娜汀停下掃把說：「現在還算穩。」一陣風壓住塔身；主軸轉快了；艾達腳下的平台微震，指針甩過每一道刻度。麵粉變厚又堆起，一小丘靠著秤盤邊緣，滑向她的手腕。她提起袋子，底部輕拍兩下，晃動的指針怎樣也不肯停。接著風弱了；料斗的抖動緩下來，滑槽只剩一道細帶。還有四個未裝的袋子，她把計畫收緊成只做兩個。娜汀看著牆上的亮帶慢慢移動，說：「我可以把裝好的做記號。」

艾達秤好並綁緊兩個袋子，手心拉扯細繩，紮實的力量壓進手指。那隻貓從穀袋上跳下來，踩過一層薄粉，打了個噴嚏，在木板上留下點點腳印。娜汀把完成的一排搬到門邊；平整的袋口與方正的角落，顯出她們細緻的照看。還剩兩個空袋，軟軟垂著，外頭的風一陣起、一陣停、又再起。艾達把那張摺紙塞到書衣底下，免得滑動，然後拂掉手腕上的麵粉。她把最後一個綁好的袋子放上秤；指盤微微晃動，房間繼續低鳴與擺盪。