Blue Cloth on the Line and a Pale Oval Print - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Earlier, Vera set the heavy dye tub on two low blocks gently.

Hattie took a cotton square and dipped it with a short wooden stick.

The cloth grew heavy with liquid, then pressed smooth against her fingers there.

A plant scent rose from the vat and mixed with the cool damp.

Tiny sounds came where cloth met liquid, and they stopped at the rim.

A thin fresnel lens card lay on Vera's open book by the line.

Its ridges bent a pale stripe of sun across the tub rim.

Blue stains marked Hattie's knuckles; the plant dye stayed harmless on her skin.

She worked by habit and lifted another square slow and steady from the tub.

It came up greenish, then deepened toward blue as air touched its folds.

A stripe of shade ran over her wrist while the sun slid on.

She kept a resolute grip and shifted her hands a finger-width lower.

Vera hung her own cloth nearby and passed two wooden pegs across the line.

A bead of tree sap on the post had brushed Hattie's thumb earlier that morning.

A tacky dot still pressed there when she folded the wet square under her palm.

She clipped the square to the line, and the color finished changing in open air.

A distant bell rang beyond the yard, thin and light across the street.

As the square dried, a pale oval rose near the corner where her thumb had pressed.

It stayed lighter, a clear print of the sap that blocked the bath for a moment.

The striped light from the fresnel card slid off the rim and faded on the ground.

Blue deepened across the fabric, and harmless stains dried in thin rings on her fingers.

One dark drop fell from the last corner and spotted the dust.

早些時候，Vera 把沉重的染色桶溫柔地放在兩塊低矮的木塊上。

Hattie 拿起一塊棉方布，用一根短木棒把它浸下去。

布料吸滿液體變得沉重，接著在她指間貼平。

一股植物的氣味從桶裡升起，和涼涼的濕氣混在一起。

細小的聲音在布與液體相接之處冒出，到了桶緣就消失了。

曬衣繩旁，Vera 的書上放著一張菲涅耳片卡。

它的細紋把一道淡淡的日光條紋折到桶緣上。

藍色的痕跡留在 Hattie 的指節上；這種植物染料在她皮膚上是無害的。

她照著習慣在做，又慢慢而平穩地把另一塊方布提離桶面。

提起來時顏色偏綠，在空氣中漸漸變深成藍。

一道陰影掠過她的手腕，太陽繼續移動。

她握得很堅定，把手又往下移了一個指寬。

Vera 把自己的布掛在一旁，並把兩個木夾從繩上遞過來。

曬衣柱上的一顆樹汁小珠，早上較早時擦到 Hattie 的拇指。

她把濕方布摺在掌下時，那個黏黏的小點還貼在那裡。

她把方布夾到繩上，顏色在開放的空氣中變完。

院子外傳來遠處的鈴聲，細而輕，穿過街道。

方布漸乾時，角落附近浮出一個淡淡的橢圓，正是她拇指按過的位置。

它一直較淺，是樹汁留下的清楚印記，曾讓那一小塊和染液隔開一會兒。

菲涅耳片卡投出的條紋光從桶緣滑落，消在地上。

藍色在布面逐步加深，無害的痕跡在她手指上乾成細圈。

最後一角滴下一滴深色，點在塵土上。