Mystery1 Train 神秘火車
2021-07-29 11:02:10游余
中學生英語·閱讀與寫作 2021年3期
游余
Claire is not afraid of the ghost2 train at first.
克萊爾一開始并不害怕幽靈火車。
“The ghost train is for children！” said Claire.
“幽靈火車是給孩子們坐的！”克萊爾說。
“People look afraid when they leave，” said Peter. He tried to take Claire to the worlds best ghost train. “Its fun！”
彼得說：“人們離開那趟列車時看起來很害怕。”他想帶克萊爾去世界上最好玩的幽靈列車，“很好玩！”
“They know its not real， so why are they afraid？ Im going home.”
“他們知道這不是真的，所以為什么要害怕呢？我要回家了。”
“OK，” Peter said. He bought a ticket for himself.
“那好吧。”彼得說，他給自己買了一張票。
But there was one thing left to do at the fair3—buy a candyfloss4. It was very difficult to finish a candyfloss. They were too big and too sweet. Its possible5， Claire thought， as she paid for the big pink one. “And tonight Im going to eat a whole one.” For that， she needed time. “Ill walk home by the train tracks，” she said to herself.
但是在市集上還有一件事要做，那就是買一個棉花糖。很難吃完一塊棉花糖，它們太大太甜了。這是可能的，克萊爾想，因為她買了一個大大的粉紅色棉花糖。“今晚我要吃完一整份。”為此，她需要時間。“我要沿著鐵軌走回家。”她自言自語說。
It wasnt very dark yet. Of course， Claire knew not to walk on train tracks6—it was dangerous7. Last year some boys in the city died8 playing on the tracks. But there was nothing dangerous here because there were no trains in Fellside. There wasnt even a train station. The tracks just finished.
天還不是很黑，當然，克萊爾知道不能走在火車軌道上，那很危險。去年城里有幾個男孩在鐵軌上玩耍時死了。但是這里沒有什么危險，因為菲爾思德那兒沒有火車，連個火車站都沒有，軌道才剛剛修好。
It was a mystery， but an old one and nobody thought about it now. They were just there， and that was it. Claire thought about another mystery. Where does candyfloss go when you eat it？ It disappeared9 in her mouth so fast. There was a lot left. She needed to walk slower.
這是一個謎，但卻是一個古老的謎，現在沒有人會想起它。它們就在那里，就是這樣而已。克萊爾想到了另一個謎。當你吃棉花糖的時候，它會去哪里？它在她嘴里消失得太快了，棉花糖還有很多，她要走慢一點。
The tracks vibrated10 as she walked. She could feel it and then she could hear it too. It was getting louder11. She looked back. A round light， small but getting bigger， was coming. It wasnt possible！
她走著走著，鐵軌震動起來了。她能感覺到，之后還聽到了，震動越來越大。她回過頭，看到一盞又圓又小的燈，燈變得越來越大，正朝她駛了過來。這不可能！
A train.
是一列火車。
Claire fell to the right， off the track. The train passed her， empty12， and then slowed and stopped.
克萊爾倒向右邊，摔出了鐵軌之外。火車從她身邊駛過，空蕩蕩的，接著減速停了下來。
“Where is it going？ ” she thought. “The tracks end soon.”
“它要去哪里？”她想，“很快就到鐵軌盡頭了。”
A man put his head out of the window and shouted， “What are you doing？ Its dangerous on the tracks！”
一個男人把頭伸出窗外大聲喊道：“你在干什么？在鐵軌上很危險！”
“But...there arent any trains！” Claire said. Maybe there were no trains before， but there was a train now. “Its not real，” she told herself.
“但是……這兒沒有火車！”克萊爾說。也許以前沒有火車，但現在就有一列火車。她告訴自己，這不是真的。
“This isnt real，” she said. But the heat13 coming from the train felt real.
“這不是真的。”她說，但是從火車上傳來的熱氣讓人感覺很真實。
“You cant walk on the tracks，” the driver said. “You have to get on the train.”
“你不能在鐵軌上走。”司機說，“你得登上火車。”
“No！”
“不！”
“Are you afraid？” he asked. “It isnt real， remember？ So what are you afraid of？” They were her own words to Peter.
“你害怕嗎？”他問道。“這不是真的，記得嗎？你在害怕什么呢？”這是她自己對彼得說的話。
She didnt want to， but she got on the train， candyfloss in hand.
她不想上去，但最終還是上了火車，手里拿著棉花糖。
“Sit，” he said， and the train slowly started moving again.
“坐好。”他說，然后火車慢慢又開動了。
“Where are we going？” Claire asked.
“我們要去哪里？”克萊爾問。
“End of the line，” he said.
“軌道盡頭。”他說。
“Oh！” That wasnt far because the tracks ended near here.
“哦！”那不遠，因為鐵軌在這附近就到頭了。
She didnt want the candyfloss. It takes forever14 to eat it all， she thought. Its not possible.
她不想要棉花糖了。她想，要花很長時間才能把它吃光。這是不可能的。
“How long until we get there？” Claire shouted， because it was noisy inside the train too.
“我們還要多久才能到？”克萊爾喊道，因為火車里也很吵。
“The time it takes to eat all the candyfloss，” the driver of the real ghost train said. Then he disappeared.
“吃光棉花糖所要的時間。”真正的幽靈火車司機說道，然后就消失了。
（英語原文選自：learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org）
【Notes】
1. mystery [? ? ? ? ] adj. 神秘的n. 謎 2. ghost [? ? ? ?] n. 鬼，幽靈
3. fair [? ? ?] n. 展覽會;市集 4. candyfloss [? ? ? ? ? ? ?] n. 棉花糖
5. possible [
7. dangerous [
9. disappear [? ? ? ? ? ? ] v. 消失;失蹤;不復存在
10. vibrate [? ? ? ? ? ] v. 振動;顫動 11. loud [? ? ? ] adj. 大聲的，高聲的
12. empty [? ? ? ? ] adj. 空的 13. heat [? ? ] n. 高溫;壓力;熱度
14. forever [
