Her mother shook her gently awake. “Coraline?” she said. “Darling, what a funny place to fall asleep. And really, this room is only for best. We looked all over the house for you.”
妈妈轻轻摇着她，把她摇醒了。“卡萝兰？”她说，“亲爱的，怎么上这儿睡来了？再说，没什么大事，平常别上这儿玩。我们到处找你，整幢宅子都找遍了。”
“I can see that,” said her mother. “And wherever did the cat come from? He was waiting by the front door when I came in. Shot out like a bullet as I opened it.”
“瞧得出来。”妈妈说，“那只猫是哪儿来的？我进来的时候，它就在门口等着。我一开门它就跑出去了，快得像子弹。”
Coraline stretched and blinked. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I fell asleep.”
卡萝兰伸了个懒腰，眨着眼睛。“对不起，”她说，“我一下子就睡着了。”
“Probably had things to do,” said Coraline. Then she hugged her mother, so tightly that her arms began to ache. Her mother hugged Coraline back.
“可能它有急事吧。”卡萝兰说。说完，她紧紧抱着妈妈，抱得紧极了，连她自己的胳膊都疼起来。妈妈也搂了搂她。
“I tripped,” said Coraline. She went into the bathroom, and she washed her hands and cleaned her bloody knee. She put ointment on her cuts and scrapes.
“我绊了一跤。”卡萝兰说。她走进浴室，洗了手，把凝着血块的膝盖也洗干净，在划伤擦破的地方涂上油膏。
She went into her bedroom — her real bedroom, her true bedroom. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her dressing gown, and she pulled out three marbles, a stone with a hole in it, the black key, and an empty snow-globe.
她走进她的卧室——真正的自己的卧室。她双手插进睡袍口袋，掏出三颗大理石弹子、一块上面有个洞眼的石头，还有一个里面空空的雪花球。
“Dinner in fifteen minutes,” said her mother. “Don’t forget to wash your hands. And just look at those pyjama bottoms. What did you do to your poor knee?”
“十五分钟以后吃晚饭。”妈妈说，“别忘了饭前洗手。瞧瞧你的睡裤，屁股后头多脏。你可怜的膝盖又是怎么回事？”
She shook the snow-globe and watched the glittery snow swirl through the water to fill the empty world. She put it down and watched the snow fall, covering the place where the little couple had once stood.
她摇摇雪花球，里面那个空空的世界里马上飘起亮晶晶的小雪花。她放下雪花球，看着雪花飘呀飘，飘过原来那两个小人待的地方。
Coraline took a piece of string from her toybox and she strung the black key on to it. Then she knotted the string and hung it around her neck.
卡萝兰从她的玩具盒子里取出一根线，系好那把黑钥匙，打了个结，挂在脖子上。
“There,” she said. She put on some clothes, and hid the key under her T-shirt. It was cold against her skin. The stone went into her pocket.
“好啦。”她换了身衣服，把钥匙藏在T恤下面。贴着皮肤，冰凉。她又把石头放进口袋。
Coraline walked down the hallway to her father’s study. He had his back to her, but she knew, just on seeing him, that his eyes, when he turned around, would be her father’s kind grey eyes, and she crept over and kissed him on the back of his balding head.
卡萝兰从过道走进爸爸的书房。他背冲着她，但她一看背影就知道，等他转过身来的时候，脸上一定是爸爸那双和气的灰色眼睛。她蹑手蹑脚溜过去，在爸爸正在谢项的后脑上亲了一下。
“Hello, Coraline,” he said. Then he looked round and smiled at her. “What was that for?”
“好吗，卡萝兰？”他说。说完才扭过头，笑着说，“亲这一下是为什么？”
“Nothing,” said Coraline. “I just miss you sometimes. That’s all.”
“不为什么。”卡萝兰说，“就是有时候有点想你，就这个。”
“Oh good,” he said. He put the computer to sleep, stood up, and then, for no reason at all, he picked Coraline up, which he had not done for such a long time, not since he had started pointing out to her she was much too old to be carried, and he carried her into the kitchen.
“哦，好吧。”他说。他让电脑进入休眠状态，站起来。接着，也没有什么原因，他把卡萝兰抱起来。爸爸已经好久没这么做过了。他告诉过卡萝兰，她已经是个大孩子了，不该老要人抱着走。
And soon enough it was bedtime.
好像没过一会儿，上床睡觉的时间就到了。
Dinner that night was pizza, and even though it was home-made by her father (so the crust was alternately thick and doughy and raw, or too thin and burnt), and even though he had put slices of green pepper on it, along with little meatballs and, of all things, pineapple chunks, Coraline ate the entire slice she had been given. Well, she ate everything except for the pineapple chunks.
这会儿，他抱着卡萝兰，走进厨房。这天晚上的晚饭是披萨。是爸爸做的。爸爸做的披萨不是太厚、半生不熟，就是薄薄的、烤煳了。这一次，他还在上头洒绿胡椒粉，放上小肉丸子，甚至还放了不少凤梨块儿。可是，卡萝兰还是把切给她的一大片披萨全部吃完了。嗯，基本上全部吃完了，只剩下凤梨块儿。
Coraline kept the key around her neck, but she put the grey marbles beneath her pillow; and in bed that night, Coraline dreamed a dream.
卡萝兰还是把钥匙挂在脖子上，但把那些灰色弹子塞在枕头下面。那天晚上，上床睡觉以后，卡萝兰做了一个梦。
She was at a picnic, under an old oak tree, in a green meadow. The sun was high in the sky and, while there were distant fluffy white clouds on the horizon, the sky above her head was a deep, untroubled blue.
她在一棵老橡树下，在一片绿色的草地上野餐。太阳高悬在天空中，远处的地平线上飘着白云，而她头顶上的天空却是一片深蓝，没有一丝烦恼。
There was a white-linen cloth laid on the grass, with bowls piled high with food — she could see salads and sandwiches, nuts and fruit, jugs of lemonade and water and thick chocolate milk. Coraline sat on one side of the tablecloth while three other children took a side each. They were dressed in the oddest clothes.
草地上铺着一块白色亚麻布，上面放着好多碗，碗里满满地盛着好吃的。有沙拉和三明治，硬壳果和水果，一壶又一壶柠檬汽水、水、稠稠的巧克力牛奶。卡萝兰坐在餐布一边，其他三边坐着另外三个小孩。他们穿的衣服怪极了。
The smallest of them, sitting on Coraline’s left, was a boy with red-velvet knee-britches and a frilly white shirt. His face was dirty, and he was piling his plate high with boiled new potatoes and with what looked like cold, whole, cooked trout. “This is the finest of picnics, lady,” he said to her.
最小的一个是个男孩，坐在卡萝兰左边。他穿着红色天鹅绒齐膝短裤，一件镶褶边的衬衣。他脸上脏兮兮的，盘子里高高地堆着烤土豆，居然还有一整条冷鲑鱼，是烤出来的。“野餐之美，莫过于此了，女士。”他对她说。
“Yes,” said Coraline. “I think it is. I wonder who organised it.”
“对，”卡萝兰说，“说得对。就是不知道是谁安排的。”
“Aye. This is the finest food I have eaten in centuries,” said the girl on Coraline’s right. She was a very pale child, dressed in what seemed to be spiders’ webs, with a circle of glittering silver set in her blonde hair. Coraline could have sworn that the girl had two wings — like dusty silver butterfly wings, not bird wings — coming out of her back. The girl’s plate was piled high with pretty flowers. She smiled at Coraline, as if it had been a very long time since she had smiled and she had almost, but not quite, forgotten how. Coraline found herself liking this girl immensely.
“此言极是。数百年来，惟这一顿可称至善至美。”卡萝兰右手的女孩说。她长得很白净，穿一件像蛛网一样薄的丝裙，金色头发上扎着一根亮闪闪的银带。卡萝兰百分之百地肯定，这女孩背后长着两只翅膀。淡淡的银色，不是鸟翅膀，很像蝴蝶翅膀。她冲卡萝兰笑着，好像很久很久没有笑过，已经快忘了应该怎么笑。卡萝兰觉得自己一下子喜欢上了这女孩。
“Why, I rather think you did, miss,” said a tall girl, sitting opposite Coraline. She wore a brown, rather shapeless dress, and had a brown bonnet on her head which tied beneath her chin. “And we are more grateful for it and for all than ever words can say.” She was eating slices of bread and jam, deftly cutting the bread from a large golden-brown loaf with a huge knife, then spooning on the purple jam with a wooden spoon. She had jam all around her mouth.
“这个，今日欢聚，皆应归功于你，女士。”坐在卡萝兰对面的高个子女孩说。她穿着一件褐色裙子，卡萝兰实在说不清样式。头上还戴着一顶兜帽，在下巴底下系好，“感激之情，难以言表。”她在吃果酱面包片。用一把很大的刀子，从烤得黄黄的大面包上灵巧地切下一片，再用木勺舀出一勺紫色果酱。她嘴巴四周沾满了果酱。
And then, in the way of dreams, the picnic had ended and they were playing in the meadow, running and shouting and tossing a glittering ball from one to another.
和平时做梦一样，不知怎么的，野餐一下子就完了。大家在草地上玩，跑来跑去，喊着，闹着，扔一个亮晶晶的球。
Coraline knew it was a dream then, because none of them ever got tired or winded or out of breath. She wasn’t even sweating. They just laughed and ran in a game that was partly tag, partly piggy-in-the-middle, and partly just a magnificent romp.
卡萝兰明白了，这是一个梦，因为没有谁累，也没有谁喘不上气。她连汗都没出。大家笑啊，跑啊。那个游戏有点像官兵抓强盗，又有点像扔手帕，反正就是跑来跑去，玩得高兴极了。
And then, without a word about it being spoken, the game was over and the four of them went back to the picnic cloth, where the lunch had been cleared away, and there were four bowls waiting for them, three of ice-cream, one of honeysuckle flowers piled high. They ate with relish.
然后，没说一句话，游戏就这么结束了。大家回到餐布旁。午餐的碗碟已经收走了，只有四个碗等着他们。三碗冰激凌，一碗堆得高高的金银花。他们吃起来，胃口好极了。
“Thank you for coming to my party,” said Coraline. “If it is mine.”
“谢谢你们来参加我办的野餐，”卡萝兰说，“不过我也不知道是不是我办的。”
Three of them ran along the ground, while the pale girl fluttered a little over their heads, swooping down on butterfly wings to grab the ball and swinging up again into the sky before she tossed the ball to one of the other children.
三个人在地上跑。那个白净女孩扑打着翅膀，飞在他们头顶上一点儿，不时一个猛子扎下来抢球，再飞上天，把球传给别的孩子。
“The pleasure is ours, Coraline Jones,” said the winged girl, nibbling another honeysuckle blossom. “If there were but something we could do for you, to thank you, and to reward you.”
“不胜荣幸之至，卡萝兰·琼斯。”长翅膀的女孩一边说，一边小口吃着金银花，“再造之恩，不敢言谢。绵薄之礼，不成敬意。”
Was it her imagination, or did a shadow cross the faces of the other children at the picnic?
也不知是不是她的想像，其他三个孩子脸上忽然蒙上了一层阴影。
“I’m just pleased it’s all over,” said Coraline.
“我真高兴，这件事总算完了。”卡萝兰说。
“Aye,” said the boy with the red-velvet britches and the dirty face. He put out his hand and held Coraline’s hand with his own. It was warm now.
“说得是。”穿红色天鹅绒短裤、脸上脏兮兮的男孩说。他伸出手，握住卡萝兰的手。他的手现在不凉了，暖乎乎的。
“There’s a but, isn’t there?” said Coraline. “I can feel it. Like a rain cloud.”
“下面的话呢，你下面肯定还有一个‘可是’，对不对？”卡萝兰说，“我听得出来，它就躲在你的话后面，像躲在雨云里一样。”
The winged girl, the circlet in her hair glittering like a star, rested her fingers for a moment on the back of Coraline’s hand. “It is over and done with for us,” she said. “This is our staging post. From here, we three will set out for uncharted lands, and what comes after no one alive can say É” She stopped talking.
长翅膀的女孩头上那根发带亮得像星星，她把手放在卡萝兰手背上。“对我三人，此事已了。”她说，“这里是我等的驿站，不久便将从此地前往乐土。对你却不然。此后的事，唉，本来，天机不可泄露…”她不说话了。
The boy on her left tried to smile bravely, but his lower lip began to tremble and he bit it with his upper teeth and said nothing.
站在她左手的男孩本来想鼓起勇气笑一笑，可下嘴唇却哆嗦起来。他用牙齿咬住嘴唇，什么都没说。
“It’s a very fine thing you did for us, miss,” said the tall girl. She now had a smear of chocolate ice-cream all around her lips.
“深恩厚意，我等铭记在心。”高个子女孩说。这会儿，她嘴唇周围沾了一圈儿巧克力冰激凌。
The girl in the brown bonnet shifted uncomfortably and said, “Yes, miss.”
戴兜帽的女孩不安地扭动着，说：“是的，女士。”
“Well, can’t you give me a clue?” asked Coraline. “Isn’t there something you can tell me?”
“嗯，你们能给我一点提示吗？”卡萝兰说，“你们总可以多少给我透露一点点吧？”
The boy squeezed Coraline’s hand with his. She found herself remembering when it had been her, trying to reassure him, when he was little more than a cold memory in the darkness.
男孩紧紧捏了捏卡萝兰的手。她想起来了，当时，他还只是黑暗中一段冷冷的记忆的时候，是她握住他的手，是她安慰他。
“The beldam swore by her good right hand,” said the tall girl, “but she lied.”
“那恶妇以其右手为誓，”高个子女孩说，“但后来，她却破了誓。”
“But I got you three back,” said Coraline. “I got Mum and Dad back. I shut the door. I locked it. What more was I meant to do?”
“可我已经把你们三个救出来了。”卡萝兰说，“我把妈妈爸爸救出来了，那扇门也关上了。我亲手锁上的。还有什么我没做的？”
“M-my governess,” said the boy, “used to say that nobody is ever given more to shoulder than he or she can bear.” He shrugged as he said this, as if he had not yet made his own mind up whether or not it was true.
“我的家庭女教师时常说起，”男孩说，“天将降重任，必先权衡，不使负担过重，致人无力承担。”说完，他耸耸肩，好像自己都不知道这话到底对不对。
“She hates you,” blurted out the boy. “She hasn’t lost anything for so long. Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky.”
“那恶妇恨你入骨。”男孩脱口而出，“此人从未失手。万勿懈怠，须得小心在意，鼓余勇，以智计为辅，方可保平安。”
“But it’s not fair,” said Coraline, in her dream, angrily. “It’s just not fair. It should be over.”
“可是，这不公平。”在梦中，卡萝兰生气地叫起来，“太不公平了。这件事应该已经完了。”
“We wish you luck,” said the winged girl. “Good fortune and wisdom and courage — although you have already shown that you have all three of these blessings, and in abundance.”
“祝你幸运长在。”长翅膀的女孩说，“智慧与勇气常伴左右。视君之作为，三者俱在，决无匮乏。故必能逢凶化吉。”
The three of them came to a small wooden bridge over a stream. They stopped there, and turned and waved, and Coraline waved back.
三人来到一条小溪边的一座木桥旁。他们停下来，转过身，向她挥手。卡萝兰也向他们挥手。
Coraline stood in the meadow, and she watched as the three children (two of them walking, one flying) went away from her, across the grass, silver in the light of the huge moon.
卡萝兰在草地上站起来，望着三个孩子（两个走，一个飞）在被月光染成银色的草地上渐渐远去。
Coraline woke in the early hours of the morning, convinced she had heard something moving, but unsure what it was.
天蒙蒙亮时，卡萝兰醒了。她觉得听到什么动静，又说不清到底是什么。
And what came after was darkness.
然后就是一片黑暗。
The boy with the dirty face stood up and hugged Coraline tightly. “Take comfort in this,” he whispered. “Thou art alive. Thou livest.”
脸上脏兮兮的男孩站起来，紧紧抱了抱卡萝兰。“你还活着，”他悄声说，“仍将活下去。振作些。”
Something made a rustling noise outside her bedroom door. She wondered if it was a rat.
卧室门外，有东西窸窣作响。她想，会不会是老鼠。
And in her dream Coraline saw that the sun had set and the stars were twinkling in the darkening sky.
在梦里，卡萝兰看见太阳落山了，星星在变黑的天空中闪闪烁烁。
The door rattled. Coraline clambered out of bed.
门吱吱嘎嘎响起来。卡萝兰爬下床。
She waited.
她等着。
“Go away,” said Coraline, sharply. “Go away or you’ll be sorry.”
“走开。”卡萝兰大声说，“走开，不然你会后悔的。”
There was a pause, then the whatever-it-was scuttled away down the hall. There was something odd and irregular about its footsteps, if they were footsteps.
外面的声音一顿，然后，不知道是什么的东西慌慌张张从过道逃走了。它的脚步声乱糟糟的，很奇怪（如果真是脚步声的话）。
She went towards the front door, sparing a hasty glance back at the wardrobe-door mirror hanging on the wall at the other end of the hallway, seeing nothing but her own pale face staring back at her, looking sleepy and serious. Gentle, reassuring snores came from her parents’ room, but the door was closed. All the doors off the corridor were closed. Whatever the scuttling thing was, it had to be here somewhere.
她走出门，瞧了一眼过道另一头挂着的镜子。镜子里只有她自己的脸向外张望，那张脸看上去既瞌睡、又紧张。爸爸妈妈房间里传出让人安心的轻轻的鼾声，他们的门关着。过道里所有门都是关着的。不管那个窸窸窣窣的东西是什么，它一定在别的地方。
Coraline found herself wondering if it was perhaps a rat with an extra leg…
卡萝兰心想，可能是一只多长了一条腿的老鼠…
“It isn’t over, is it?” she said to herself. Then she opened the bedroom door. The grey, pre-dawn light showed her the whole of the corridor, completely deserted.
“这件事还没完。”她告诉自己。她打开卧室门。灰蒙蒙的黎明天光照在过道里。整条过道里，什么都没有。
Coraline opened the front door and looked at the grey sky. She wondered how long it would be until the sun came up, wondered whether her dream had been a true thing while knowing in her heart that it had been. Something she had taken to be part of the shadows under the hall couch detached itself from beneath the couch and made a mad, scrabbling rush on its long white legs, heading for the front door.
卡萝兰打开大门，看看灰色的天空。她不知道太阳什么时候才会出来，也不知道那个梦究竟是不是真的（在她心里，她知道是真的）。过道沙发底下有东西，刚才她还以为那是沙发的影子。现在，那个影子从沙发下钻出来。沙沙沙，几条惨白色的长腿一阵乱爬，拼命朝大门逃去。
She knew what it was, and she knew what it was after. She had seen it too many times in the last few days, reaching and clutching and snatching and popping blackbeetles obediently into the other mother’s mouth. Five-footed, crimson-nailed, the colour of bone. It was the other mother’s right hand. It wanted the black key.
她知道这是什么，也知道它在找什么。过去几天里，她见过它好多次，抓、掐，听话地把蟑螂扔进另一个妈妈嘴里。五条腿，红指甲，颜色像骨头。它是另一个妈妈的右手。它想要那把黑钥匙。
Coraline’s mouth dropped open in horror and she stepped out of the way as the thing clicked and scuttled past her and out of the house, running crab-like on its too-many tapping, clicking, scurrying feet.
卡萝兰的嘴惊恐地张得老大。她吓得一跳，生怕那个咔嗒咔嗒从身旁窜过去的东西碰到自己。它逃出大门，像只螃蟹，几条咔嗒咔嗒响的腿乱爬乱挠。
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