2014-11-30

【Aiden in English】

        Qualities make characters, and characters make a story. Each unique character has his or her unique quality that makes them special. In the book Urban Outlaws, the main character Jack Fenton works with a group of orphans to help the city of London. They are the Urban Outlaws, and have their secret base located under an abandoned train station. It has computers, a kitchen, a bathroom, and anything that Jack and his friends need. Jack is their leader, and since he is their commander, Jack has some amazing qualities that really define him from the others. He is shrewd like a general, and brave like a true leader.

        The one word that really defines Jack is shrewd. He is very smart, and a hacker always has a plan. But there is no plan that is perfect, so this is where Jack’s shrewdness comes in. In times that his great plans fail, he can come up with something in seconds. In the beginning of the story, Jack and Charlie (another Urban Outlaw) are escaping from a robbery. They just stole a million dollars from a crime lord, but they were caught doing so. As they made their escape, Jack and Charlie got surrounded in a park by police. Jack knew they had to get to the entrance of the sewers and escape that way. However, the door to the sewers was blocked by cops. The cops didn’t see the sewers, but they were getting close to Jack and Charlie. Seeing that he couldn’t escape, Jack took the laser from Charlie’s high-tech camera they used to steal the money. He shined the laser on some bushes and distracted the cops who allowed them to escape. That was a close call, and because of Jacks shrewdness, they made it out of there in one piece. Another reason Jack is shrewd is when they had to steal a guard’s security key to get into a building. Jack then went up to the guard and asked him where the nearest hotel was, and so he provided the distraction for his friend, Wren, to steal the keys. Also, Jack and the others had to access a building from the roof. Since they didn’t have a helicopter, Slink, the fastest kid in the Urban Outlaws, had to jump from another building over a twenty-four-foot (7.3 meters) gap. Then, there were security cameras that swept the area, but had a two second gap. Slink had to run through in those two seconds to the air vent without being caught. Slink just couldn’t get the rhythm at all, so Jack got him music with the beat of the time he had.

        As much as being shrewd is good, being a leader means being valiant. Jack is extremely valiant because in the story, Jack is very, very afraid of heights. In the beginning when Jack was robbing the crime boss, the plan went wrong and he had to jump down a skyscraper with a parachute. Even though Jack went insane when he was high up, he still jumped. That led to land in the park, getting surrounded and so on. Also in the story, Charlie was captured by agents who worked against the government. They carried guns and didn’t care if they had to kill children. Even though it was dangerous, and Jack’s life was at stake, he went to find him. Jack was also extremely brave at the end, too. There was a super computer called Proteus in the possession of Del Sarto, the crime boss that the Urban Outlaws robbed earlier. Jack knew that if Proteus wasn’t destroyed, Del Sarto could do anything, so the Urban Outlaws infiltrated and blew up the building that Proteus was in. During the escape, Jack was bold but cautious and helped Wren who was captured to run through the collapsing building. He was very valiant because Wren was injured and slow.

        Jack and I have our differences, but we in common in some ways as well. As much as Jack lives his life in secrecy and doubt, he is shrewd just like me. I am an artist, so I am very creative. As you can see, Jack is shrewd and creative in many ways, too. He can make crazy plans, while I can draw crazy pictures. Jack is also a hacker, which means he’s a good mathematician, and so am I. In the book, Jack can hack into even the hardest security and leave no sign that he was ever there. I am a very good mathematician because I take algebra-one in sixth grade. So once I look at Jack this way, the differences seem smaller a little.

        Jack, the leader of the Urban Outlaws, certainly has some spectacular character qualities. He is shrewd, which helps him make plans. He also is very valiant, which allows him to be a leader. Someday, I want to be just like him.

【紅霞譯文】

        品質完善性格，性格塑造人物，個性決定人的特質，使得彼此各有不同。《城市水滸傳》一書主人翁傑克·芬頓糾集一幫孤兒們願為倫敦城做點貢獻，他們都屬於社會上愛打抱不平的好漢，火車站底下被遺忘的角落成為他們出入的秘密據點，裡面設有計算機、廚房、盥洗室等基本所需，傑克是頂頭上司。身為指揮官，傑克具備某些非同尋常的優良品質，既像統帥那樣胸懷韜略，又似領袖一般果敢無畏。

        暫且用一個詞來形容傑克── “明智”。傑克十分機靈，充當黑客肯定少不了行動計劃，但智者千慮必有一失，關鍵時刻方顯傑克的英雄本色，因為每每宏偉計劃實施不暢，他總能扭轉乾坤。故事開頭描述傑克和另一位哥們查理正逃離作案現場，他倆剛從邪惡勢力頭子那裡搶劫了一百萬現金，結果被人發現，兩人設法逃命脫身，結果在公園內遇警察包圍，傑克急中生智，試圖從下水道入口鑽進去溜之大吉，然而通往下水道的大門被警察封鎖，警察倒不是來看下水道的，而是想要緝拿罪犯歸案。眼見大難臨頭，傑克拿出查理高科技相機上用於偷錢的激光裝置，趕緊朝樹叢方向晃動，這才蒙蔽過警察，好險呀。正是因為傑克機敏過人，才使他們化險為夷。還有一個實例同樣表現傑克才智非凡，這幫城市好漢打算竊取保安防盜鑰匙以便私入大樓，於是傑克主動上前向保衛打聽周圍最近的酒店在什麼地方，之所以這麼做完全是為了分散保安的注意力，同夥雷恩藉機拿到了鑰匙，轉而傑克與其狐朋狗友從房頂進入樓內，由於缺少直升飛機，跑得最快的斯林克只好縱身飛躍兩樓之間長達廿四英尺／七米多的空檔，大樓裝有監視探頭，中間只有兩秒鐘鏡頭轉換間隙，為了避免被拍，斯林克必須抓住如此短暫的瞬間鑽入通風管內，此時他拿捏不准起跳節奏，傑克靈機一動，立刻哼起小調，讓他藉助音樂節拍調整好步伐。

        有一個明智的大腦當然是件好事，對領軍人物來說有助於提升膽識。傑克嚴重恐高，即使在這種情況下，仍然勇往直前。故事開篇曾提到傑克搶劫時因計劃出現漏洞而不得不打開降落傘從高樓上往下跳，高空令他抓狂，但跳樓是唯一一條出路，就這樣他在公園着陸，回到上面被警察包圍的一幕，後續插曲一個接着一個相繼出現。書中還談起查理落到反政府分子手裡，對方持槍荷彈，甚至不惜殺害無辜兒童，形勢迫在眉睫，為了營救同伴，傑克不顧個人生命安危，最後以大無畏氣魄救出查理。邪惡勢力頭目德爾·薩托有一台名叫“普羅透斯”的計算機，先前這幫城市好漢就是從他那裡偷的錢。傑克心裡明白，如果“普羅透斯”尚未毀掉，德爾·薩托定會胡作非為，所以他們決定混進“普羅透斯”所在的大樓乾脆把它砸壞。在逃跑過程中，傑克不僅膽大心細，從倒塌的大樓中成功營救出被抓的雷恩；並且從容鎮定，因為雷恩受傷動作遲緩。

        傑克與我不同，但彼此確有相似之處。儘管傑克一直生活在隱蔽猜疑之中，但他像我一樣思維活絡；我權且算作一位藝術家，喜歡標新立異。當然正如你所看到的那樣，傑克在很多方面既明智又富有想象力，經他設計的方案奇異新穎，而我則擅長畫些怪誕滑稽的塗鴉。傑克是一位黑客，言外之意他擅長數學，在這方面我也表現出色。書中提到他能破解最為神秘的安全密碼而不留下任何蛛絲馬跡；我的數學本事決非馬馬虎虎，初中一年級敢跟初級代數較勁，經這麼比較，我倆之間的差距還真有點縮小。

        傑克──一位城市裡伸張正義的英雄好漢，具有一些極為優秀的性格人品，因為明智而使他做事有條不紊，因為勇敢而使他成為領軍人物。有朝一日，我要向他那樣。