Twenty minutes later, all that changed. Grandmother walked by the bathroom and noticed a torrent¹ of water streaming out from under the door.

She shrieked² twice—first in astonishment³, then in rage. She flung open the bathroom door and saw that the sink and tub were plugged up and that the faucets⁴ were going at full blast.

Everyone knew who the culprit was. The guests quickly formed a protective barricade⁵ around me, but Grandmother was so furious that she almost got to me anyway, flailing⁶ her arms as if trying to swim over the crowd.

Several strong men eventually moved her away and calmed her down, although she sputtered⁷ and fumed⁸ for quite a while.

My grandfather took me by the hand and sat me on his lap in a chair near the window. He was a kind and gentle man, full of wisdom and patience. Rarely did he raise his voice to anyone, and never did he argue with his wife or defy her wishes.

He looked at me with much curiosity, not at all angry or upset. "Tell me," he asked, "why did you do it?"

"Well, she yelled at me for nothing," I said earnestly. "Now she''s got something to yell about."

Grandfather didn''t speak right away. He just sat there, looking at me and smiling.

"Eric," he said at last, "you are my revenge."

可二十分钟之后，一切全都变了。当祖母从洗手间走过的时候，她发现有股水流从门缝里涌出来。

她先是惊异地叫了一声，很快又愤怒地尖叫起来。她猛力地撞开洗手间的门，发现洗手盆和浴缸都被塞子塞住了，水龙头被拧到最大，水正哗啦啦地直流。

每个人都知道是谁搞的鬼，客人们马上在我周围形成了一堵人墙保护我。愤怒的祖母使劲地挥舞着双手，样子就像在人堆里游泳一样。好几次她差点够着我。

最后几个魁梧的男人才把祖母制住，把她拉开让她冷静下来，但她还是气急败坏地嚷了好一阵子。

祖父这时走了过来，牵着我的手到靠窗的一张椅子上坐下，还把我抱到他的膝盖上坐。祖父的性格好，脾气也特别好。他很少提高嗓门和别人说话，也从来没有和祖母吵架，也从来没有违背过祖母的意愿。

他很好奇地打量着我，没有半点生气或烦恼的样子，“告诉我，”他说，“你为什么要这样做呢？”

“是这样的，她先无缘无故地骂了我一顿，”我认真地说，“这回她骂我就有理由了！”

祖父没有马上说话，他只是坐在那儿，笑眯眯地看着我。

最后他终于开口说：“艾里克，我的乖孙子，你总算替爷爷出了口气！”