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[11] Every day I sat on the landing and watched the river rise. Mother cooked simple meals in a spare bedroom she had turned into a makeshift kitchen. She was worried, I could tell, about what would happen to us. Father came and went in a small fishing boat. He was concerned about his patients and possible outbreaks of dysentery, pneumonia or typhoid.
[12] Before long, the Red Cross began to pitch tents on high ground north of town. "We are staying right here," my father said.
[13] As the water continued to rise, I kept busy rowing through the house and looking at the furniture that had been too big to move upstairs. I liked to row around the great cozy couch, now almost submerged, and pretend it was an island in a lake.
[14] One night very late I was awakened by a tearing noise, like timbers creaking. Then there was the rumbling sound of heavy things falling. I jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway. My parents were standing in the doorway to the den, where we had stored the books and my mother's beloved china.
[15] The floor of the den had fallen through, and all the treasures we had tried to save were now on the first floor, under the stealthily rising river. My father lit our camp light, and we went to the landing to look. We could see nothing except the books bobbing like little rafts on the water.
[16] Mother had been courageous, it seemed to me, through the ordeal of the flood. She was steady and calm, and kept things going in good order. But that night she sat on the top of the stairs with her head on her crossed arms and cried. I had never seen her like that, and there was a sound in her weeping that made me afraid. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't think of what I could possibly do. I just knew I had to figure out something.
每天我都坐在樓梯平臺上，看著河水上漲。媽媽把樓上一間空余的臥室臨時當(dāng)作廚房，做一些簡單的飯菜。我看得出來，她對我們將要面臨的困境深感憂慮。爸爸坐在一條小漁船上來來去去。他擔(dān)心的是他的病人以及可能突然蔓延開來的痢疾、肺炎和傷寒等諸多疾病。
不久，紅十字會開始在小鎮(zhèn)北面的高地上架設(shè)帳篷。“我們就呆在家里，”爸爸說。
河水繼續(xù)上漲，我不停地劃著船，在屋里來回穿梭，看一看那些沒法搬上樓去的大件家具。我喜歡劃到那張舒適的長沙發(fā)椅的四周轉(zhuǎn)悠，如今它差不多浸在了水下，我把它設(shè)想成一座湖心島。
一天深夜，我被一陣猛烈撕扯的聲音驚醒，好像是木頭在吱吱嘎嘎地斷裂。然后傳來重物坍塌時的隆隆聲。我跳下床，沖進過道。爸媽正站在小書齋的門口，小書齋里存放著全家人的書籍和媽媽珍愛的那套瓷器。
小書齋的地板已經(jīng)塌陷下去，我們一直沒法保全的珍貴瓷器如今都落到樓下的地板上了，淹沒在不停暗漲的河水里。爸爸點亮露營用的燈，我們借著燈光到樓梯平臺上察看。除了書籍像小木筏一樣飄浮在水面上，什么也看不見。
在我看來，媽媽一直勇敢地經(jīng)受著這場洪水的嚴峻考驗。她從容、鎮(zhèn)靜，把每一件事情都安排得有條不紊。可是那個晚上，她坐在樓梯口上抱頭痛哭。我以前從未見過她這般傷心，她的哭聲讓我感到有些害怕。我想幫她，卻又不知所措。我只知道我必須把什么事情弄清楚。
