书虫二级《阿利格拉之谜》：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月的一个晚上，那时我16岁，她只有5岁。

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.

记得那天晚上下着大雨，我们很晚才到达住宿的地方。我们的车沿着漆黑的路行驶，妈妈看见一块标牌，上面写着大大的字：亨德森庄园——住宿加早餐。

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

“是英语！”妈妈惊喜地说。要知道那时我们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.

爸爸开车右转，将车开到了一条旧路上。到了门前，我们看到一座很大的乡村别墅，四周环绕着高大阴森的树木。有一个窗口还亮着灯，正门上方的墙上刻着“亨德森庄园”。

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

爸爸敲了敲门，开门的是一位瘦小的妇人，60岁上下，穿着怪异。

Are you English?' my father asked.

“您是英国人吗？”爸爸问道。

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

“是的。”她平静地回答道。

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

“我们正在找住宿的地方。今晚我们能在这儿过夜吗？”

Please come in.'

“请进吧。”

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

我们走进一间长长的、舒适的房间。古旧的壁炉里火烧得很旺，发出美丽、温暖的光。

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

“天气太糟了，”老妇人说，“4月份可不该这么冷。我这就去给你们沏些茶。”

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.

她离开后，我们开始打量这房间。房间里摆放了许多深色的英式木制桌椅，墙壁和地面都是石头的。壁炉前有两张大扶手椅，其中一张椅子上睡着一条黑色的大狗。

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

“我喜欢这房间，”妈妈说，“看上去既舒适又漂亮。”

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

这时老妇人端着茶回来了，后面还跟着一位身着黑色长裙的女士。

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.'

“我叫玛格丽特·亨德森，”老妇人说，“这是我的女儿基娅拉，她也有个女儿，所以我已经做外婆了。”

My daughter is in bed,' smiled Chiara.

“我女儿已经睡了。”基娅拉微笑着说。

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

基娅拉身材高挑，有一头金色的长发和一双蓝色的眼睛，大概35岁上下。

Have you come far today?' she asked.

“你们今天走了很远的路吧？”她问道。

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

“是啊，”爸爸回答说，“我们现在都精疲力尽了。”

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

“你们的房间已经准备好了。喝过茶后我就带你们上去。”

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.

我们喝完了茶，便跟随基娅拉上楼，来到走廊里。她在一扇门前停下来，告诉我的父母那是他们的房间。然后，她看着我说道：

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

“你的房间在拐角处，请这边走。”

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

我们向右拐进另一条走廊。我的房间在走廊的尽头。

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

基娅拉微笑着说：“晚安，睡个好觉。”

But I didn't sleep well.

可是那一夜我却无法安睡……

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.

我锁好了房门，5分钟后便上床休息了。房子里很安静，但是我能听到打在窗上的雨声和窗外树木在风中摇曳的声音。我睡了一小会儿，醒了，然后又睡着了。突然，我被惊醒了。百叶窗正撞击着墙面，发出很大的声响。我看见窗户开了，长长的白色窗帘被风吹得舞动起来。我起身关上了窗户和百叶窗。此时，屋子里一片漆黑，我只能伸出双手试探着移动，想要找到床边桌上的台灯。我的左手摸到了桌子——可就在这一刻我的右臂被什么东西抓住了。

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。我吓得毛骨悚然，双腿战栗。

Who is it?' I cried.

“是谁？”我叫出声来。

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.

这时我摸到了桌上的台灯，立刻打开了灯。在床边，一个穿着长长的白色睡裙的小女孩正站在我面前。她看着我，大大的眼睛像意大利夏日的天空一样湛蓝，金色的头发披散在苍白的面孔旁，如阳光般灿烂。

What a beautiful child!' I thought.

“多漂亮的孩子啊！”我暗自感叹。

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

“你好，我叫阿利格拉。”她说。

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

她的声音甜美、轻柔，英语说得很好听。但是她不会发字母“r”的音。

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

“你是从窗户进来的吗？”我问道。

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

她没有回答，而是反问我：“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岁零3个月，”她说，“你多大？”

Sixteen. How did you get in here?'

“16岁。你是怎么进来的？”

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

“不要生我的气，阿德里安。”她说。

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

“我没有生你的气，别哭。再告诉我一遍你的名字好吗？”

Allegra. It means happy in Italian.'

“阿利格拉，在意大利语中是‘快乐’的意思。”

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

“阿利格拉，你为什么到这儿来？你想要干什么呢？”

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

“你能带我去找妈妈吗？”她突然问道。

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

我惊讶地看着她说：“可是你知道你妈妈在哪儿呀。”

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

“是的，但是她在很远的地方。”

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

“不对，阿利格拉，她就在这座房子里。”

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

“我想见妈妈。求求你，带我去行吗。”

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觉，她会生气的。”

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，不会的，妈妈以前从不生我的气，”她说，脸上露出了一丝笑容，“可爸爸有时会生气，那时我很怕他。”

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.

那一刻我没有说话，只是不解地看着她。为什么她讲到父母的时候要说“以前”，而不是“现在”？真是个奇怪的小女孩。

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

“阿利格拉，现在你该回去睡觉了，”我说，“我不能带你去找妈妈。”

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

她望着我，蓝色的眼睛里流露出忧伤的神色。

Will you take me to Mamà tomorrow then?'

“那你明天带我去好吗？”

Yes.'

“好的。”

Oh, thank you!' she cried happily.

“啊，谢谢你！”她高兴地叫起来。

Now, where is your room?'

“现在告诉我，你的房间在哪儿？”

It's next to this one.'

“就在隔壁。”

Okay, let's go.'

“好，我们走吧。”

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.

我牵起她冰冷的小手。就在这时，窗户又被吹开了，瞬时间大风夹着雨点刮了进来。我走过去关窗，可是窗帘被风吹起来罩在我的脸上，遮住了视线。当我把窗子关好后，转过身来，发现阿利格拉已经不见了。

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.

我呆呆地站了一会，然后打开房门，来到走廊里。左侧有一扇门，我慢慢地将它打开。房间里很黑，但看得出那是一间儿童房。在窗子旁边的床上睡着一个人。

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

“太好了！”我心想，“她已经睡了。”我关上了门。

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，吃过早餐，我们来到花园里。花园被青山碧树环绕着，景色优美我绕到房子的后面，想去察看我的房间和阿利格拉房间的窗户。我发现，在两扇窗之间靠墙的地方有一棵大树。

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.

“也许她从自己房间的窗口爬到树上，又从窗户进了我的房间。”我暗自猜测。不过这么做既困难又危险，成人也许做得到，而对一个5岁的小女孩来说则有些不可思议。

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

我回到前面的花园时，阿利格拉的妈妈也在那儿，正和我父母聊天。

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

“昨晚你们房间的百叶窗开了吗？”她问，“我听到了声响。”

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

“没有，”我妈妈答道，“不过我们也听到了声音。”

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

“是我房间的百叶窗开了。”我说。

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，”基娅拉说，“那些百叶窗太旧了。但愿你在关上窗子以后睡了个安稳觉。”

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.'

“该告诉她吗？”我寻思着。然后我笑着说：“是啊，谢谢您，我睡得很好——不过是在您的女儿去过之后。”

Allegra?' Chiara was very surprised.

“阿利格拉？”基娅拉非常诧异。

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

“是的，她昨天半夜来过我的房间。”

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

“是吗？嗯，我知道她有时会梦游。”

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

“只是……”我欲言又止，再次思量起来：“该告诉她吗？”

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.

最终我决定隐瞒我的疑虑——昨夜门是锁着的。我知道他们不会相信我，恐怕还会嘲笑我。所以我只称赞阿利格拉是个美丽的女孩。

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

“是啊，”基娅拉应道，“但她却不是个快乐的孩子。”

Doesn't her name mean happy in Italian?'

“她的名字在意大利语中不正是‘快乐’的意思吗？”

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

“不错，可我从没见过其他名叫阿利格拉的意大利孩子。”

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

“那你为什么给她起了阿利格拉这个名字？”我妈妈问。

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，也许是想有个快乐的孩子吧。”说到这儿，基娅拉露出了苦涩的笑容。

Then she turned to the house and called her daughter.

然后她转身朝房子的方向呼喊女儿：

Allegra! Come downstairs, please!'

“阿利格拉，下楼来，好吗？”

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

“来了！”从房子里传来喊声。

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.

我们听见了阿利格拉下楼的声音，然后她出现了。我目不转睛地盯着她，不敢相信自己的眼睛。