書蟲二級《阿利格拉之謎》：阿利格拉一

Allegra One
1．　阿利格拉一

I met Allegra one night in April twelve years ago. I was sixteen years old and she was only five.

初遇阿利格拉是12年前4月的一個晚上，那時我16歲，她只有5歲。

I remember that it rained a lot that night and we arrived late at the house. We were driving along a dark road when my mother saw a sign, which said in big letters: Villa Henderson—Bed and Breakfast.

記得那天晚上下著大雨，我們很晚才到達(dá)住宿的地方。我們的車沿著漆黑的路行駛，媽媽看見一塊標(biāo)牌，上面寫著大大的字：亨德森莊園——住宿加早餐。

It's in English!' my mother said. She was surprised because we were on holiday in Italy.

“是英語！”媽媽驚喜地說。要知道那時我們可是在意大利度假啊。

My father turned right and drove along an old road. When we arrived, we saw a big villa with tall black trees around it. There was a light in one of the windows, and on the wall above the door were the words Villa Henderson.

爸爸開車右轉(zhuǎn)，將車開到了一條舊路上。到了門前，我們看到一座很大的鄉(xiāng)村別墅，四周環(huán)繞著高大陰森的樹木。有一個窗口還亮著燈，正門上方的墻上刻著“亨德森莊園”。

My father knocked at the door and a small woman opened it. She was about sixty and wore strange clothes.

爸爸敲了敲門，開門的是一位瘦小的婦人，60歲上下，穿著怪異。

Are you English?' my father asked.

“您是英國人嗎？”爸爸問道。

Yes, I am,' she answered in a quiet voice.

“是的。”她平靜地回答道。

We're looking for rooms for the night. Can we stay here?'

“我們正在找住宿的地方。今晚我們能在這兒過夜嗎？”

Please come in.'

“請進(jìn)吧。”

We went into a long, comfortable room. There was a bright fire in the old fireplace, which gave a beautiful, warm light.

我們走進(jìn)一間長長的、舒適的房間。古舊的壁爐里火燒得很旺，發(fā)出美麗、溫暖的光。

The weather is very bad,' said the woman. 'It's cold for April. I'll make some tea for you.'

“天氣太糟了，”老婦人說，“4月份可不該這么冷。我這就去給你們沏些茶。”

When she went out, we looked around the room. There were lots of English tables and chairs in dark wood, and the walls and floor were of stone. There were two big armchairs in front of the fire and a large black dog was sleeping in one of them.

她離開后，我們開始打量這房間。房間里擺放了許多深色的英式木制桌椅，墻壁和地面都是石頭的。壁爐前有兩張大扶手椅，其中一張椅子上睡著一條黑色的大狗。

I like this room,' said my mother. 'It looks comfortable, but it's beautiful too.'

“我喜歡這房間，”媽媽說，“看上去既舒適又漂亮。”

Just then the woman returned with the tea. Behind her came a woman in a long black dress.

這時老婦人端著茶回來了，后面還跟著一位身著黑色長裙的女士。

My name is Margaret Henderson,' said the old woman, 'and this is my daughter Chiara. She has a daughter too, so I'm a grandmother.'

“我叫瑪格麗特·亨德森，”老婦人說，“這是我的女兒基婭拉，她也有個女兒，所以我已經(jīng)做外婆了。”

My daughter is in bed,' smiled Chiara.

“我女兒已經(jīng)睡了。”基婭拉微笑著說。

She was a tall woman, with long, fair hair and blue eyes. She was perhaps about thirty-five.

基婭拉身材高挑，有一頭金色的長發(fā)和一雙藍(lán)色的眼睛，大概35歲上下。

Have you come far today?' she asked.

“你們今天走了很遠(yuǎn)的路吧？”她問道。

Yes,' my father replied. 'We're very tired.'

“是啊，”爸爸回答說，“我們現(xiàn)在都精疲力盡了。”

Your rooms are ready for you. I'll take you up when you've had your tea.'

“你們的房間已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好了。喝過茶后我就帶你們上去。”

So, after tea, we went up some stairs and followed Chiara along a corridor. She stopped at a door and told my parents that it was their room. Then she looked at me.

我們喝完了茶，便跟隨基婭拉上樓，來到走廊里。她在一扇門前停下來，告訴我的父母那是他們的房間。然后，她看著我說道：

Your room is round the corner. Come this way, please.'

“你的房間在拐角處，請這邊走。”

We turned right and walked along another corridor. My room was at the end.

我們向右拐進(jìn)另一條走廊。我的房間在走廊的盡頭。

Good night and sleep well,' said Chiara with a smile.

基婭拉微笑著說：“晚安，睡個好覺。”

But I didn't sleep well.

可是那一夜我卻無法安睡……

I locked the door and after five minutes I was in bed. The house was silent, but I could hear the rain on the window and the strong wind in the trees outside. I slept a little, woke up, then slept again. And then I woke up suddenly. The window shutters were making a loud noise against the wall. I could see that the window was open because the long white curtains were moving in the wind. I got up and closed both the shutters and the window. Now the room was very dark, so I walked with my hands out in front of me, to try and find the light on the table by the bed. My left hand touched the table — and then something took hold of my right arm.

我鎖好了房門，5分鐘后便上床休息了。房子里很安靜，但是我能聽到打在窗上的雨聲和窗外樹木在風(fēng)中搖曳的聲音。我睡了一小會兒，醒了，然后又睡著了。突然，我被驚醒了。百葉窗正撞擊著墻面，發(fā)出很大的聲響。我看見窗戶開了，長長的白色窗簾被風(fēng)吹得舞動起來。我起身關(guān)上了窗戶和百葉窗。此時，屋子里一片漆黑，我只能伸出雙手試探著移動，想要找到床邊桌上的臺燈。我的左手摸到了桌子——可就在這一刻我的右臂被什么東西抓住了。

It was a cold little hand. The hair on my neck stood up and my legs began to shake.

那是一只冰冷的小手。我嚇得毛骨悚然，雙腿戰(zhàn)栗。

Who is it?' I cried.

“是誰？”我叫出聲來。

At the same time I found the light on the table and turned it on. A little girl in a long white nightdress stood in front of me near the bed. She was looking at me with big eyes, as blue as an Italian sky in summer. Her blond hair was as bright as sunlight round her pale face.

這時我摸到了桌上的臺燈，立刻打開了燈。在床邊，一個穿著長長的白色睡裙的小女孩正站在我面前。她看著我，大大的眼睛像意大利夏日的天空一樣湛藍(lán)，金色的頭發(fā)披散在蒼白的面孔旁，如陽光般燦爛。

What a beautiful child!' I thought.

“多漂亮的孩子??！”我暗自感嘆。

Hallo. My name's Allegra,' she said.

“你好，我叫阿利格拉。”她說。

Her voice was soft and sweet and she spoke English beautifully. But she couldn't say the letter 'r'.

她的聲音甜美、輕柔，英語說得很好聽。但是她不會發(fā)字母“r”的音。

Did you come in through the window?' I asked.

“你是從窗戶進(jìn)來的嗎？”我問道。

But she answered me with a question. 'What's your name?'

她沒有回答，而是反問我：“你叫什么名字？”

Adrian.'

“阿德里安。”

I'm five years and three months old,' she said. 'How old are you?'

“我5歲零3個月，”她說，“你多大？”

Sixteen. How did you get in here?'

“16歲。你是怎么進(jìn)來的？”

Don't be angry with me, Adrian,' she said.

“不要生我的氣，阿德里安。”她說。

I'm not angry with you. Don't cry. Tell me your name again.'

“我沒有生你的氣，別哭。再告訴我一遍你的名字好嗎？”

Allegra. It means happy in Italian.'

“阿利格拉，在意大利語中是‘快樂’的意思。”

What are you doing here, Allegra? What do you want?'

“阿利格拉，你為什么到這兒來？你想要干什么呢？”

Will you take me to my Mamà?' she asked suddenly.

“你能帶我去找媽媽嗎？”她突然問道。

I looked at her in surprise. 'But you know where your mother is,' I said.

我驚訝地看著她說：“可是你知道你媽媽在哪兒呀。”

Yes, but she's a long way from here.'

“是的，但是她在很遠(yuǎn)的地方。”

No, she isn't, Allegra. She's in this house.'

“不對，阿利格拉，她就在這座房子里。”

I want to see Mamà. Will you take me, please?'

“我想見媽媽。求求你，帶我去行嗎。”

No, Allegra. She'll be angry with you because you aren't in bed.'

“不行，阿利格拉。如果你不回到床上睡覺，她會生氣的。”

Oh no, Mamà was never angry with me,' she said with a little smile. 'But sometimes Papà was angry and I was afraid of him.'

“噢，不會的，媽媽以前從不生我的氣，”她說，臉上露出了一絲笑容，“可爸爸有時會生氣，那時我很怕他。”

For a while I didn't speak, and I just looked at her. Why did she say 'was' and not 'is' when she spoke about her parents? She was a very strange little girl.

那一刻我沒有說話，只是不解地看著她。為什么她講到父母的時候要說“以前”，而不是“現(xiàn)在”？真是個奇怪的小女孩。

You must go back to bed now, Allegra,' I said. 'I'm not going to take you to your mother.'

“阿利格拉，現(xiàn)在你該回去睡覺了，”我說，“我不能帶你去找媽媽。”

She looked at me, and now her blue eyes were sad.

她望著我，藍(lán)色的眼睛里流露出憂傷的神色。

Will you take me to Mamà tomorrow then?'

“那你明天帶我去好嗎？”

Yes.'

“好的。”

Oh, thank you!' she cried happily.

“啊，謝謝你！”她高興地叫起來。

Now, where is your room?'

“現(xiàn)在告訴我，你的房間在哪兒？”

It's next to this one.'

“就在隔壁。”

Okay, let's go.'

“好，我們走吧。”

And I took her hand, her cold little hand. Just then the window opened again and the wind and rain came in. I went to the window to close it but the curtains flew up in my face and I couldn't see anything. I closed the window. And when I turned round, Allegra wasn't there.

我牽起她冰冷的小手。就在這時，窗戶又被吹開了，瞬時間大風(fēng)夾著雨點刮了進(jìn)來。我走過去關(guān)窗，可是窗簾被風(fēng)吹起來罩在我的臉上，遮住了視線。當(dāng)我把窗子關(guān)好后，轉(zhuǎn)過身來，發(fā)現(xiàn)阿利格拉已經(jīng)不見了。

For a minute I just stood still. Then I unlocked my door and went along the corridor. There was a door on the left. I opened it slowly. The room was dark but I could see that it was a child's room. Somebody was sleeping in a bed near the window.

我呆呆地站了一會，然后打開房門，來到走廊里。左側(cè)有一扇門，我慢慢地將它打開。房間里很黑，但看得出那是一間兒童房。在窗子旁邊的床上睡著一個人。

Good!' I thought. 'She's in bed now.' And I closed the door.

“太好了！”我心想，“她已經(jīng)睡了。”我關(guān)上了門。

Next morning, after breakfast, we went into the garden. There were beautiful hills and woods around it. I walked round to the back of the house because I wanted to look at the windows of my room and Allegra's room. There was a big tree between them near the wall of the house.

第二天早晨，吃過早餐，我們來到花園里?；▓@被青山碧樹環(huán)繞著，景色優(yōu)美我繞到房子的后面，想去察看我的房間和阿利格拉房間的窗戶。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，在兩扇窗之間靠墻的地方有一棵大樹。

Perhaps she got out of her window on to the tree, and then got in through my window,' I thought. But it looked a difficult and dangerous thing to do. Possible for an adult perhaps, but not for a girl of five.

“也許她從自己房間的窗口爬到樹上，又從窗戶進(jìn)了我的房間。”我暗自猜測。不過這么做既困難又危險，成人也許做得到，而對一個5歲的小女孩來說則有些不可思議。

When I went back to the front garden, Allegra's mother was there. She was talking to my parents.

我回到前面的花園時，阿利格拉的媽媽也在那兒，正和我父母聊天。

Did your shutters open last night?' she asked. 'I heard a noise.'

“昨晚你們房間的百葉窗開了嗎？”她問，“我聽到了聲響。”

No,' replied my mother. 'But we heard a noise too.'

“沒有，”我媽媽答道，“不過我們也聽到了聲音。”

It was the shutters in my room,' I said.

“是我房間的百葉窗開了。”我說。

Oh, I'm sorry,' said Chiara. 'Those shutters are very old. But I hope you slept well after you closed them.'

“哦，真抱歉，”基婭拉說，“那些百葉窗太舊了。但愿你在關(guān)上窗子以后睡了個安穩(wěn)覺。”

Shall I tell her?' I thought. Then I said with a smile, 'Yes, I slept well, thank you — but only after your daughter's visit.'

“該告訴她嗎？”我尋思著。然后我笑著說：“是啊，謝謝您，我睡得很好——不過是在您的女兒去過之后。”

Allegra?' Chiara was very surprised.

“阿利格拉？”基婭拉非常詫異。

Yes, she came to my room in the middle of the night.'

“是的，她昨天半夜來過我的房間。”

Did she? Well, I know she sometimes walks in her sleep.'

“是嗎？嗯，我知道她有時會夢游。”

But...' I began. And I stopped. Again I thought: 'Shall I tell her?'

“只是……”我欲言又止，再次思量起來：“該告訴她嗎？”

But I decided not to say that the door was locked. I knew they wouldn't believe me, and I thought that they would laugh at me. So I just said that Allegra was a beautiful child.

最終我決定隱瞞我的疑慮——昨夜門是鎖著的。我知道他們不會相信我，恐怕還會嘲笑我。所以我只稱贊阿利格拉是個美麗的女孩。

Yes, she is,' Chiara answered. 'But she isn't a very happy girl.'

“是啊，”基婭拉應(yīng)道，“但她卻不是個快樂的孩子。”

Doesn't her name mean happy in Italian?'

“她的名字在意大利語中不正是‘快樂’的意思嗎？”

Yes, but I've never met an Italian child called Allegra.'

“不錯，可我從沒見過其他名叫阿利格拉的意大利孩子。”

Why did you call her Allegra?' my mother asked.

“那你為什么給她起了阿利格拉這個名字？”我媽媽問。

I don't know. The name came to me suddenly. Perhaps I wanted a happy child.' And Chiara smiled sadly.

“不知道，只是突然就想到了，也許是想有個快樂的孩子吧。”說到這兒，基婭拉露出了苦澀的笑容。

Then she turned to the house and called her daughter.

然后她轉(zhuǎn)身朝房子的方向呼喊女兒：

Allegra! Come downstairs, please!'

“阿利格拉，下樓來，好嗎？”

I'm coming!' came a shout from the house.

“來了！”從房子里傳來喊聲。

We heard Allegra on the stairs; then she came out. I looked at her. I looked and looked. But I couldn't believe my eyes.

我們聽見了阿利格拉下樓的聲音，然后她出現(xiàn)了。我目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著她，不敢相信自己的眼睛。