Night of the Whippoorwill

Beverly J. Letchworth 艾嘉

Alex stared through the cabin window at the darkness. Soon his dad would call him. And he didn't want to go. He wished he hadn't come to the lake for the weekend.

“We're ready，” Dad said as he came in from the porch. “Grab your rod.”

Alex turned away from the window and slowly picked up his fishing rod.

“Have fun！” Mom said.

“Sure，” said Alex， trying to make his voice bright.

“We should have done this before，” Dad said. “Let's go catch a big one！” Dad picked up his tackle① box， rod， and bait can from the porch. He clicked on the flashlight.

They walked down the hill toward the lake in the narrow beam② of light. The only thing Alex could see was the circle of weeds and rocks at their feet， lit by the flashlight. Insect voices filled his ears—clicks， hums， buzzes， whines. Hundreds of bugs waited in the darkness to attack. “Ow！” he blurted③ as he felt a sting on his arm.

“Mosquitoes，” Dad said. “I brought some spray④ to keep them off.”

When they reached the boat， Alex stumbled as he climbed over the side. “I don't like this much，” he said. “It's so dark.”

Dad squeezed his shoulder. “Don't worry. It's not as dark as you think. After a while your eyes will get used to the night.”

Suddenly something rushed past Alex's head. He gasped. “What was that？”

“Probably a bat，” Dad said.

How could Dad act as if it were nothing！ “Will bats be flying around our heads the whole time？”

“This is their time to be out catching insects，” Dad explained. “They won't hurt you. They're too busy grabbing dinner.” He pushed the boat off the gravel and jumped in. Alex gazed back at the cabin. A square of light from the window glowed in the blackness.

Dad rowed to the middle of the lake and stopped. “We'll just let the boat drift. Keep the flashlight in the bottom of the boat. The fish won't bite if they see light flashing around. When we're done baiting our hooks， we'll turn the light off.”

Leaning down to get closer to the light， Alex tried to thread a worm on his hook， but he couldn't seem to work his fingers right. So what if the worm was only partly on the hook？ He didn't want to fish anyway. He didn't even want to be here.

Dad switched off the flashlight， and thenight fell over them like a heavy cape. “I can't see anything，” Alex said weakly.

“No matter，” Dad said. “You don't have to see. You'll feel it if a fish bites.”

Suddenly a low booming noise startled Alex. “What is it？” he whispered.

“Sounds like a great horned owl⑤. They make several hoots at a time.”

Alex shivered at the eerie⑥ calls. After a while Dad asked， “Been getting any nibbles⑦？”

“No.” Alex didn't know if he had or not. Who was thinking about fishing？

“Moon's half full. It gives us some light，” Dad said.

Alex looked up. Sure enough， there was the moon. Gazing around， he noticed that he could see the shoreline now and the dark forms of trees.

Looking into the trees on shore， he spied tiny points of light glinting in the darkness. The longer he looked， the more flashes he saw. Hundreds of them！ They looked like stars that had come down from the sky. “Look， Dad， fireflies！”

“A sight to see，” agreed Dad.

A loud whistling sound erupted from the woods. A clear mellow voice repeated the three-note call over and over. “Listen，” said Dad. “It's a whippoorwill. It may call out its name like that for hours. Aren't we lucky to hear a whippoorwill！”

Alex didn't answer. He had never heard such an odd， exciting birdcall—sad but zippy⑧. It blocked out everything else. Indeed， the other night creatures seemed to stay quiet for a while to listen to the whippoorwill.

Then the great horned owl hooted again. Alex counted five hoots. Against the sky， the quick dark shape of a bat darted back and forth. Alex reeled in his line， put on another worm， and cast out again.

Dad took a sandwich from his jacket pocket and handed it to Alex. “Thought we might get hungry.” Alex unwrapped it and took a big bite. “My favorite！ Peanut butter and pickles！”

“I know，” said Dad.

After a while Dad rowed into shore. They had not caught a big one—only three fish so small they had put them back into the lake. They tied up the boat and walked back to the cabin through the blinking lights of the fireflies.

At the door of the cabin， Alex leaned in and called， “Mom， come outside！ I want you to hear something.”

Mom joined them on the porch.

“Listen，” whispered Alex， “A whippoorwill！ We're really lucky to hear a whippoorwill.”

Notes：

① tackle /tkl/ n. 釣具

② beam /bim/ n. 光線，光柱

③ blurt /blt/ v. 不假思索地脫口說出

④ spray /spreI/ n. 噴霧

⑤ horned owl 梟

⑥ eerie /IrI/ adj. 可怕的

⑦ nibble /nIbl/ n. 輕咬

⑧ zippy /zIpI/ adj. 活潑的，精神飽滿的

Answer the following questions according to the passage.

1. Did Alex feel excited when his father asked him to go fishing at night？

2. Why did Dad tell Alex to keep the flashlight in the bottom of the boat when they let the boat drift？

3. Did Alex like the sound of the horned owl？ How do you know？

4. Alex changed his mind about the night fishing， didn't he？

5. Did the father just want to take his son to catch some big fish at night？ What's your opinion？

（Key p. 38）