There was a newcomer in the village.
小镇上来了生人。
New people were always a source of interest and speculation among the Them, [It didn’t matter what the four had called their gang over the years, the frequent name changes usually being prompted by whatever Adam had happened to have read or viewed the previous day (the Adam Young Squad; Adam and Co.; The Hole-in-the-Chalk Gang; The Really Well-Known Four; The Legion of Really Super-Heroes; The Quarry Gang; The Secret Four; The Justice Society of Tadfield; The Galaxatrons; The Four Just Persons; The Rebels). Everyone else always referred to them darkly as Them, and eventually they did too.] but this time Pepper had impressive news.
生人总会激起“他们”的兴趣和好奇，但这次佩帕带来了惊人的消息。（这些年他们四个用过不少名号，灵感多半都来自于亚当头天晚上看到或读到的东西。亚当·扬小队、亚当和公司、白垩坑党、绝对知名四人组、绝对超级英雄军团、采掘场党、秘密四人组、塔德菲尔德正义联盟、银河战队、正义四人联盟、反抗军。）但无论如何自诩，别人私下里总是用“他们”来指代他们，最终他们也接受了这个名字。
“My father says there’s no such thing as witches,” said Wensleydale, who had fair, wavy hair, and peered seriously out at life through thick black-rimmed spectacles. It was widely believed that he had once been christened Jeremy, but no one ever used the name, not even his parents, who called him Youngster. They did this in the subconscious hope that he might take the hint; Wensleydale gave the impression of having been born with a mental age of forty-seven.
“我父亲说世上没有什么女巫。”温斯利戴[1]说。他有一头金色卷发，还有总从黑边厚眼镜后面认真窥视世间万象的眼睛。很多人都相信他受洗时曾被命名为杰里米，但谁都没用过这个名字称呼他，就连他父母也一样——他们叫他小家伙。他们之所以这样做，是因为潜意识中希望他能领会此中暗示。温斯利戴总给人一种刚出生心理年龄就有四十七岁的感觉。【注：[1]温斯利的大名。】
“She’s moved into Jasmine Cottage and she’s a witch,” she said. “I know, because Mrs. Henderson does the cleaning and she told my mother she gets a witches’ newspaper. She gets loads of ordinary newspapers, too, but she gets this special witches’ one.”
“她住进了茉莉小屋，而且是个女巫。”佩帕说，“我全知道。为她打扫房间的亨德森太太跟我妈妈说，那人订了一份女巫的报纸。她有很多普通报纸，但有一份是专门向女巫发行的。”
“That’s not witches,” said Wensleydale. “My aunt has that. That’s just spoon-bending and fortune-telling and people thinking they were Queen Elizabeth the First in another life. There’s no witches any more, actually. People invented medicines and that and told ’em they didn’t need ’em any more and started burning ’em.”
“那不是给女巫看的。”温斯利戴说，“我婶婶就有。那上面的文章都是意念弯勺、占卜算命和认为自己上辈子是伊丽莎白女王的人。实际上，世上早就没有女巫了。人们发明了医药，然后对她们说‘你们没用了’，接着就把她们全烧死了。”
“Don’t see why not,” said Brian, who had a wide, cheerful face, under an apparently permanent layer of grime. “I don’t see why witches shouldn’t have their own newspaper. With stories about all the latest spells and that. My father gets Anglers’ Mail, and I bet there’s more witches than anglers.”
“我不明白为什么没有。”布赖恩有张洋溢着快乐的宽脸庞，上面总是蒙着一层灰尘，“我不明白为什么女巫们不能有自己的报纸。可以登最新法术之类的报道。我父亲订了份《垂钓者邮报》，我打赌世上的女巫肯定比垂钓者多。”
“It’s called Psychic News,” volunteered Pepper.
“那报纸叫《通灵新闻报》。”佩帕主动说。
“Anyway, your aunt could be a witch,” said Pepper. “In secret. She could be your aunt all day and go witching at night.”
“何况你婶婶也可能是女巫。”佩帕说，“潜藏起来的女巫。她白天是你婶婶，晚上才搞巫术。”
“An’ recipes,” said Brian. “New uses for leftover toad.”
“还有食谱。”布赖恩说，“剩青蛙的新做法。”
“It could have pictures of frogs and things,” said Brian, who was reluctant to let a good idea go to waste. “An’– an’ road tests of broomsticks. And a cats’ column.”
“那上面可能有青蛙之类的图片。”布赖恩不想白白浪费一个有趣的点子，“还有…还有长柄扫帚的驾驶测试。还有猫咪专栏。”
“Not my aunt,” said Wensleydale darkly.
“我婶婶不是。”温斯利戴狠狠地说。
Brian snorted. If it had been Wensley who had said that, there’d have been a half-hearted scuffle, as between friends. But the other Them had long ago learned that Pepper did not consider herself bound by the informal conventions of brotherly scuffles. She could kick and bite with astonishing physiological accuracy for a girl of eleven. Besides, at eleven years old the Them were beginning to be bothered by the dim conception that laying hands on good ole Pep moved things into blood-thumping categories they weren’t entirely at home with yet, besides earning you a snake-fast blow that would have floored the Karate Kid.
布赖恩哼了一声。如果这话出自温斯利戴之口，接下来很可能发生一场朋友间半真半假的打闹。但“他们”的男性成员早就明白，佩帕从不认为自己应该遵守朋友间打闹的不成文规定。她会以十一岁女孩惊人的准确度又踢又咬。另外，十一岁的“他们”已经隐隐觉得把手放在老伙计佩帕身上，会让人进入心跳加速的状态，并因此感到困扰。当然，这样做也少不了惹来一记足以击倒功夫小子的蛇拳。
“Oh, shut up,” said Pepper.
“哦，闭嘴。”佩帕说。
But she was good to have in your gang. They remembered with pride the time when Greasy Johnson and his gang had taunted them for playing with a girl. Pepper had erupted with a fury that had caused Greasy’s mother to come round that evening and complain.
但她在你这派里总是好的。他们都骄傲地记得，有一次戈里希·约翰逊和他的帮派——小镇中仅有的另一派——嘲笑他们跟女孩玩，佩帕突然爆发，最终闹到戈里希的妈妈夜里找上门来抱怨。
[Greasy Johnson was a sad and oversized child. There’s one in every school; not exactly fat, but simply huge and wearing almost the same size clothes as his father. Paper tore under his tremendous fingers, pens shattered in his grip. Children whom he tried to play with in quiet, friendly games ended up getting under his huge feet, and Greasy Johnson had become a bully almost in self-defense. After all, it was better to be called a bully, which at least implied some sort of control and desire, than to be called a big clumsy oaf. He was the despair of the sports master, because if Greasy Johnson had taken the slightest interest in sport, then the school could have been champions. But Greasy Johnson had never found a sport that suited him. He was instead secretly devoted to his collection of tropical fish, which won him prizes. Greasy Johnson was the same age as Adam Young, to within a few hours, and his parents had never told him he was adopted. See? You were right about the babies.]
（戈里希·约翰逊是个可怜的大块头。每所学校都有这么个孩子。其实不能算胖，只是又大又壮，穿的衣服几乎跟他爸爸尺码相同。纸张在他粗壮的手指间粉碎，铅笔在他掌中断裂。他试着跟别人玩些安静友好的游戏，但最终别人会被踩在他的大脚下。戈里希·约翰逊几乎是出于自卫地成了个小霸王。小霸王这个称呼总比大笨瓜好，至少它表明了支配力和一点期许。戈里希让体育老师们绝望，因为只要他对体育有一点点兴趣，就能为学校赢得冠军荣誉。但戈里希从没找到适合自己的运动。私下里，他热衷于收集热带鱼，还因此获过奖。戈里希·约翰逊跟亚当·扬年纪相同，前后就差几小时，而且他父母从没说过他是收养来的。明白了吗？婴儿们的经历，你猜得一点没错。）
Pepper’s given first names were Pippin Galadriel Moonchild. She had been given them in a naming ceremony in a muddy valley field that contained three sick sheep and a number of leaky polythene teepees. Her mother had chosen the Welsh valley of Pant-y-Gyrdl as the ideal site to Return to Nature. (Six months later, sick of the rain, the mosquitoes, the men, the tent-trampling sheep who ate first the whole commune’s marijuana crop and then its antique minibus, and by now beginning to glimpse why almost the entire drive of human history has been an attempt to get as far away from Nature as possible, Pepper’s mother returned to Pepper’s surprised grandparents in Tadfield, bought a bra, and enrolled in a sociology course with a deep sigh of relief.)
佩帕的名字是皮平·凯兰崔尔·月之子[2]。她在一个泥泞谷地中举行的命名仪式上得到了这个名字。那谷地里还有三只病羊和几顶漏雨的塑料帐篷。她妈妈当时认为威尔士潘提—吉尔多山谷是回归自然的理想场所。六个月后，她妈妈厌倦了雨水、蚊子和男人，也厌倦了先是吃光社区大麻田，然后吃掉社区古董面包车，还老是踩踏帐篷的羊群，也逐渐明白为什么人类发展史就是一段尽可能远离自然的过程。她回到塔德菲尔德，让父母大吃一惊，然后买了个胸罩，登记入学修习社会学课程，这才长出了一口气。【注：[2]皮平和凯兰崔尔都是《魔戒》中的角色，当年的嬉皮士们将这本书视作圣典。】
Pepper looked upon him, a giant male, as a natural enemy.
佩帕将这体格硕大的男孩视作天生的敌人。
She herself had short red hair and a face which was not so much freckled as one big freckle with occasional areas of skin.
佩帕有一头红色短发，雀斑不算太多，至少她的脸还不会被视作偶尔露点皮肤的整块雀斑。
There are only two ways a child can go with a name like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, and Pepper had chosen the other one: the three male Them had learned this on their first day of school, in the playground, at the age of four.
叫皮平·凯兰崔尔·月之子的孩子通常只有两条出路，佩帕选择了第二条。“他们”的三位男性成员上学第一天就在操场上领教过了。那时他们才四岁。
Adam drummed his heels on the edge of the milk crate that was doing the office of a seat, listening to this bickering with the relaxed air of a king listening to the idle chatter of his courtiers.
亚当坐在充当座椅的牛奶箱上，用脚跟敲打着箱边，从容自若地聆听着朋友们的争吵。那感觉就如同一位君王聆听着群臣们叽叽喳喳的空谈。
They had asked her her name, and, all innocent, she had told them.
他们问她叫什么，她很天真地说了。
He chewed lazily on a straw. It was a Thursday morning. The holidays stretched ahead, endless and unsullied. They needed filling up.
他懒洋洋地嚼着一根稻草。假日漫长，无穷无尽，洁白无瑕，需要找些东西来填充。
He let the conversation float around him like the buzzing of grasshoppers or, more precisely, like a prospector watching the churning gravel for a glint of useful gold.
亚当任由那些对话像蝗虫的嗡鸣一般在身边环绕，更准确地说，仿佛一个探矿者看着搅动的沙石，寻找金砂的闪光。
Subsequently a bucket of water had been needed to separate Pippin Galadriel Moonchild’s teeth from Adam’s shoe. Wensleydale’s first pair of spectacles had been broken, and Brian’s sweater needed five stitches.
后来人们用了几桶冷水才把皮平·凯兰崔尔·月之子的牙和亚当的鞋子分开。温斯利戴的第一副眼镜碎了，布赖恩的汗衫需要缝五针。
The Them were together from then on, and Pepper was Pepper forever, except to her mother, and (when they were feeling especially courageous, and the Them were almost out of earshot) Greasy Johnson and the Johnsonites, the village’s only other gang.
从那以后，“他们”就聚在一起，而佩帕则永远成了“小辣椒”佩帕。只有她妈妈、戈里希·约翰逊和约翰逊派的孩子，（当他们心中充满勇气，又确定“他们”不在附近的时候）才会用原来那个名字。
“That’s what it said.”
“就是那么写的。”
“What, by worshipin’ Nature and eatin’ health food?” said Wensleydale.
“什么，就靠敬拜自然和吃健康食品？”温斯利戴说。
“Andit said they dance round with no clothes on,” he added. “They go up on hills and Stonehenge and stuff, and dance with no clothes on.”
“报纸上还说她们会围成一圈光着身子跳舞。”他说，“她们会到山上或是巨石阵之类的地方，光着身子跳舞。”
Brian leaned forward conspiratorially.
布赖恩鬼鬼祟祟地往前探了探身子。
“In our Sunday paper it said there was thousands of witches in the country,” said Brian. “Worshiping Nature and eating health food an’ that. So I don’t see why we shouldn’t have one round here. They were floodin’ the country with a Wave of Mindless Evil, it said.”
“我家订的星期日报刊上说，乡下有数以千计的女巫。”布赖恩说，“敬拜自然，还吃健康食品什么的。凭什么咱们这儿就不能有一个？她们用没头没脑的恶意席卷乡野，报纸上说的。”
This time the consideration was more thoughtful. The Them had reached that position where, as it were, the roller coaster of Life had almost completed the long haul to the top of the first big humpback of puberty so that they could just look down into the precipitous ride ahead, full of mystery, terror, and exciting curves.
这次的思考更加深入。“他们”已经到了这个阶段。就是说，生命的过山车几乎已经完成漫长的爬坡过程，来到青春期第一个大波峰顶端。于是他们可以俯视前方陡峭的车轨，还有那些充满神秘、恐惧和刺激的弯道。
The Them gave this due consideration. They had once — at Adam’s instigation — tried a health food diet for a whole afternoon. Their verdict was that you could live very well on healthy food provided you had a big cooked lunch beforehand.
“他们”思考了一下这个问题。他们曾在亚当的煽动下，尝试过整整一下午的健康节食。最终得出结论，你可以靠健康食品活得很好，只要预先吃一顿丰盛的午餐就行。
“That’s necromancy, that is,” said Brian. “It’s in the Bible. She ought to stop it. God’s dead against necromancy. And witches. You can go to Hell for it.”
“那叫通灵术。”布赖恩说，“《圣经》里有。她应该马上放弃。上帝坚决反对通灵术，也反对女巫们。你会为这事儿下地狱的。”
“Huh,” said Pepper.
“哈。”佩帕说。
“Not my aunt,” said Wensleydale, breaking the spell. “Definitely not my aunt. She just keeps trying to talk to my uncle.”
“我婶婶不是。”温斯利戴打破了幻象，“我婶婶绝对不是。她只是老想跟我叔叔说话。”
“She says he still moves a glass about,” said Wensleydale defensively. “My father says it was moving glasses about the whole time that made him dead in the first place. Don’t know why she wants to talk to him,” he added, “they never talked much when he was alive.”
“她说他还会时常动动杯子，”温斯利戴辩解道，“但我爸说，就是因为他老动酒杯，所以才死得这么早。而且不知道她想跟他说些什么。”他又补充说，“我叔叔活着的时候，他们很少说话。”
There was a lazy shifting of position on the milk crate throne. Adam was going to speak.
牛奶箱宝座上传来一阵懒洋洋的挪动声。亚当准备发言了。
“Your uncle’s dead,” said Pepper.
“你叔叔死了。”佩帕说。
The Them fell silent. Adam was always worth listening to. Deep in their hearts, the Them knew that they weren’t a gang of four. They were a gang of three, which belonged to Adam. But if you wanted excitement, and interest, and crowded days, then every Them would prize a lowly position in Adam’s gang above leadership of any other gang anywhere.
“他们”都安静下来。亚当的话向来值得一听。在内心深处，他们知道“他们”不是个四人帮派，而是属于亚当的三人帮。但他们都认为，如果你想要刺激、有趣又充实的生活，那么在亚当派中跑跑腿，也比当世上其他帮派的老大强。
The Them glanced at one another. This sounded promising.
“他们”对视一眼。这话有点意思。
“And they can make you be ill just by looking at you,” said Pepper. “It’s called the Evil Eye. They give you a look, and then you get ill and no one knows why. And they make a model of you and stick it full of pins and you get ill where all the pins are,” she added cheerfully.
“而且她们光靠目光就能让你生病。”佩帕说，“这叫邪眼。她们看你一眼，然后你就病了，谁都不知道为什么。而且她们还会做个你的模型，在上面扎满针。针扎的地方都会生病。”她快活地补充说。
“Well, they blight crops,” said Pepper. “And sink ships. And tell you if you’re going to be king and stuff. And brew up stuff with herbs.”
“哦，她们会让作物枯萎。”佩帕说，“还会把船搞沉。还会告诉你会不会成为国王什么的。还会用香草泡茶。”
“That sort of thing doesn’t happen any more,” reiterated Wensleydale, the rational thinking person. “‘Cos we invented Science and all the vicars set fire to the witches for their own good. It was called the Spanish Inquisition.”
“再也没有这种事了。”理性思考者温斯利戴重申道，“因为我们发明了科学，另外所有郊区牧师都会烧死女巫，这是为她们好。这被称作西班牙宗教审判。”
“My mother uses herbs,” said Adam. “So does yours.”
“我妈妈就用香草。”亚当说，“你们的妈妈也是。”
“Don’t see why everyone’s so down on witches,” Adam said.
“我不知道为什么所有人都歧视女巫。”亚当说。
“Oh, those are all right,” said Brian, determined not to lose his position as occult expert. “I expect God said it was all right to use mint and sage and so on. Stands to reason there’s nothing wrong with mint and sage.”
“哦，那些都没问题。”布赖恩决定坚守神秘学专家的地位，“我估计上帝说过薄荷和鼠尾草什么的都是好东西。显而易见，用薄荷、鼠尾草没问题。”
“It’s all right if you’re religious,” said Brian reassuringly. “And it stops the witches from goin’ to Hell, so I expect they’d be quite grateful if they understood it properly.”
“如果你是宗教人士就行。”布赖恩保证说，“这样做还能防止女巫下地狱，所以我想如果她们能够摆正心态，就会感激不尽。”
“I don’t reckon it’s allowed, going round setting fire to people,” said Adam. “Otherwise peopled be doin’ it all the time.”
“我觉得到处放火烧死别人，肯定是不被允许的。”亚当说，“要不人们岂不是玩起来没完？”
“Can’t see Picky setting fire to anyone,” said Pepper.
“我觉得皮克斯吉尔不可能放火烧任何人。”佩帕说。
“Not actually setting them on actual fire,” sniffed Pepper. “He’s more likely to tell their parents, and leave it up to them if anyone’s goin’ to be set on fire or not.”
“不会真用火烧她们。”佩帕不屑地说，“他多半会通知那些人的家长，然后让他们自己决定要不要点火。”
“Then I reckon we should find out if her at Jasmine Cottage is a witch and if she is we should tell Mr. Pickersgill,” said Brian. Mr. Pickersgill was the vicar. Currently he was in dispute with the Them over subjects ranging from climbing the yew tree in the churchyard to ringing the bells and running away.
“那么我认为，咱们应该搞清住在茉莉小屋里的是不是女巫。如果是的话，就去告诉皮克斯吉尔先生。”布赖恩说。皮克斯吉尔先生是教区牧师。当下，在从爬墓地的紫杉树到按响门铃就逃跑等一系列问题上，他都跟“他们”存在分歧。
“Oh, I dunno,” said Brian, meaningfully.
“哦，我可不知道。”布赖恩意味深长地说。
The Them shook their heads in disgust at the current low standards of ecclesiastical responsibility. Then the other three looked expectantly at Adam.
他们摇了摇头，对当前牧师责任心的匮乏表示惋惜。接着另外三个人都期待地望向亚当。
“Neighborhood Witch,” said Pepper.
“邻里互煮会。”佩帕说。
There was silence.
沉默。
“No,” said Adam coldly.
“不。”亚当冷冷地说。
Lunchtime came and went. The new Spanish Inquisition reconvened.
午饭时间来而复往。新组建的西班牙宗教审判所重新集合。
“P’raps we ought to do it ourselves,” he said. “Someone ought to be doing something if there’s all these witches about. It’s — it’s like that Neighborhood Watch scheme.”
“也许咱们应该自己干。”他说，“如果真有那么多女巫，那总要有人做点什么。这就像…就像邻里安全互助会。”
“I’ve got a bullfight poster with my name on it,” said Brian, slowly.
“我有张斗牛士海报，上面有我的名字。”布赖恩缓缓说道。
They always looked expectantly at Adam. He was the one that had the ideas.
他们总是期待地看着亚当。而他总能想出主意。
“I bet you don’t have to be Spanish to be the Spanish Inquisition,” said Adam. “I bet it’s like Scottish eggs or American hamburgers. It just has to look Spanish. We’ve just got to make it look Spanish. Then everyone would know it’s the Spanish Inquisition.”
“我打赌西班牙宗教审判官不一定非是西班牙人。”亚当说，“我打赌这就像苏格兰鸡蛋和美国汉堡。只要有西班牙的样子就行。咱们只要让它看着像是西班牙的，所有人就会知道这是西班牙宗教审判。”
It was broken by the crackling of one of the empty crisp packets that accumulated wherever Brian was sitting. They looked at him.
总是堆积在布赖恩座位周围的空薯片包发出吱嘎声响，打破了这片寂静。所有人都看着他。
“What’re those?” he demanded.
“这是什么？”他问道。
“But we can’t be the Spanish Inquisition,” said Wensleydale. “We’re not Spanish.”
“但咱们不能当西班牙宗教审判官。”温斯利戴说，“咱们不是西班牙人。”
“You click them together when you dance,” said Wensleydale, a shade defensively. “My aunt brought them back from Spain years ago. They’re called maracas, I think. They’ve got a picture of a Spanish dancer on them, look.”
“你跳舞的时候把它们敲在一起。”温斯利戴略显警惕地说，“我婶婶几年前从西班牙带回来的。我记得是叫响葫芦。这上面还有个西班牙舞者拿着它们的图片，看。”
The Head Inquisitor inspected it critically.
大审判官挑剔地检视着眼前的东西。
“That’s to show it’s Spanish,” said Wensleydale. Adam let it pass.
“为了表明是西班牙的。”温斯利戴说。亚当算它通过了。
“What’s she dancing with a bull for?” said Adam.
“她干吗跟一头牛跳舞？”亚当说。
“It’s for putting wine in,” she said defiantly. “My mother brought it back from Spain.”
“这是用来放葡萄酒的。”女孩挑衅地说，“我妈妈从西班牙买回来的。”
The bullfight poster was everything Brian had promised.
斗牛士海报是布赖恩许诺的一切。
Pepper had something rather like a gravy boat made out of raffia.
佩帕拿来的东西，很像酒椰壳做的酱油瓶。
“It hasn’t got a bull on it,” said Adam severely.
“这上面没有牛。”亚当苛求道。
“It doesn’t have to,” Pepper countered, moving just ever so slightly into a fighting stance.
“用不着。”佩帕反驳道，同时身子略微一动，进入战斗姿态。
Adam hesitated. His sister Sarah and her boyfriend had also been to Spain. Sarah had returned with a very large purple toy donkey which, while definitely Spanish, did not come up to what Adam instinctively felt should be the tone of the Spanish Inquisition. The boyfriend, on the other hand, had brought back a very ornate sword which, despite its tendency to bend when picked up and go blunt when asked to cut paper, proclaimed itself to be made of Toledo steel. Adam had spent an instructive half-hour with the encyclopedia and felt that this was just what the Inquisition needed. Subtle hints had not worked, however.
亚当迟疑片刻。他姐姐莎拉和男朋友也去过西班牙。莎拉带了头很大的紫色玩具驴回来，尽管绝对是西班牙的，但亚当本能地感觉出它与西班牙宗教审判气氛不合。另一方面，她男朋友买了把很华丽的宝剑，还说是西班牙最好的托莱多钢剑。虽说拿起来时剑刃总会弯曲，想借来裁纸也会因“要变钝”而被拒绝，但亚当花了半小时阅读百科全书，觉得这正是宗教审判需要的东西。很可惜，微妙的暗示不起作用。
“You certain they’re Spanish onions?” said Pepper, relaxing.
“你确定这是西班牙洋葱？”佩帕放松下来，随即问道。
“Very good,” he said.
“很好。”他说。
In the end Adam had taken a bunch of onions from the kitchen. They might well have been Spanish. But even Adam had to concede that, as decor for the Inquisitorial premises, they lacked that certain something. He was in no position to argue too vehemently about raffia wine holders.
最后亚当从厨房拿了串洋葱。它们很可能是西班牙的。但就连亚当也必须承认，作为宗教审判所的装饰品，它们肯定缺乏某种感觉。他现在没有强烈反对酒椰红酒架的立场。
“It doesn’t matter,” said Adam, who was getting fed up with onions. “France is nearly Spanish, an’ I don’t expect witches know the difference, what with spendin’ all their time flyin’ around at night. It all looks like the Continong to witches. Anyway, if you don’t like it you can jolly well go and start your own Inquisition, anyway.”
“无所谓。”亚当说，他已经受够洋葱了，“法国离西班牙很近，而且我觉得那些整晚在天上飞来飞去的女巫们也看不出区别。在她们看来，都只是欧洲大陆的一部分。再说了，如果你不满意，大可以离开，自己开个宗教审判所去。”
“‘Course,” said Adam. “Spanish onions. Everyone knows that.”
“当然。”亚当说，“西班牙洋葱。所有人都知道。”
“They could be French,” said Pepper doggedly. “France is famous for onions.”
“有可能是法国的。”佩帕固执地说，“法国盛产洋葱。”
For once, Pepper didn’t push it. She’d been promised the post of Head Torturer. No one doubted who was going to be Chief Inquisitor.
佩帕这次让步了。亚当已经许诺让她做首席行刑人。无人质疑大审判官的人选。
Wensleydale and Brian were less enthralled with their roles of Inquisitorial Guards.
只是温斯利戴和布赖恩对审判所卫士的角色不太满意。
“Well, you don’t know any Spanish,” said Adam, whose lunch hour had included ten minutes with a phrase book Sarah had bought in a haze of romanticism in Alicante.
“得了，你们都不懂西班牙语。”亚当说。他在吃午饭时，花了十分钟看了一本短语书，那是莎拉一时头脑发热从西班牙阿利坎特市买回来的。
“And Spanish,” said Adam firmly. “That’s why it’s the Spanish Inquisition.”
“还有西班牙语。”亚当肯定地说，“所以才叫西班牙宗教审判。”
“I don’t see why it shouldn’t be a British Inquisition,” said Brian. “Don’t see why we should of fought the Armada and everything, just to have their smelly Inquisition.”
“我真不明白为什么不能是英国宗教审判。”布赖恩说，“不明白咱们打败了无敌舰队什么的，干吗还要进行他们这种臭烘烘的宗教审判。”
The new inhabitant of Jasmine Cottage would have to wait, they’d decided. What they needed to do was start small and work their way up.
茉莉小屋的新住客可以再等等。他们需要稳扎稳打，从小处做起。
“I reckon,” he said, “that we should sort of start Spanish, and then make it the British Inquisition when we’ve got the hang of it. And now,” he added, “the Inquisitorial Guard will go and fetch the first witch, por favor.”
“我想。”他说，“咱们应该先进行西班牙的，等抓住诀窍就可以把它变成英国宗教审判了。那么现在，”他说，“审判所卫士去带第一个女巫来，por favor[3]。”【注：[3]西班牙语：请。】
“That doesn’t matter, because actually you have to talk in Latin,” said Wensleydale, who had also been doing some slightly more accurate lunchtime reading.
“那没关系，因为你其实应该说拉丁语。”温斯利戴说。他在午饭时的阅读成果更加准确。
This had been slightly bothering Adam’s patriotic sensibilities as well.
这个问题也略微困扰着亚当的爱国心。
“Art thou a witch, oh lay?” said the Chief Inquisitor.
“汝可是女巫，oh lay[4]？”大审判官说。【注：[4]hola之误，意为你好。】
“Yes,” said Pepper’s little sister, who was six and built like a small golden-haired football.
“是的。”佩帕的妹妹说。她今年六岁，长得像个金发小足球。
The little suspect gave the decor of the Inquisitorial headquarters a disparaging look. There was a decided odor of onions.
小疑犯不屑一顾地看了看审判所总部的饰物。空气中弥漫着挥之不去的洋葱气息。
“You mustn’t say yes, you’ve got to say no,” hissed the Head Torturer, nudging the suspect.
“你不能说是，你要说不。”首席行刑人捅了捅疑犯，小声说。
“And then we torture you to make you say yes,” said the Head Torturer. “I told you. It’s good fun, the torturin’. It doesn’t hurt. Hastar lar visa,”she added quickly.
“然后我们就对你用刑，让你承认。”首席行刑人说，“我都跟你讲过。用刑可有意思了。一点也不疼。Hastar lar visa[5]。”她又急忙加了一句。【注：[5]Hasta la vista之误，意为再见。】
“Huh,” she said. “I want to be a witch, wiv a warty nose an’ a green skin an’ a lovely cat an’ I’d call it Blackie, an’ lots of potions an’–“
“哼。”她说，“我要当女巫，有个长瘤的大鼻子和绿皮肤和可爱的猫，我要叫它小黑，还有很多药水和…”
The Head Torturer nodded to the Chief Inquisitor.
大审判官冲首席行刑人点点头。
“And then what?” demanded the suspect.
“然后呢？”疑犯问道。
“Look,” said Pepper, desperately, “no one’s saying you can’t be a witch, you jus’ have to say you’re not a witch. No point in us taking all this trouble,” she added severely, “if you’re going to go round saying yes the minute we ask you.”
“听着。”佩帕绝望地说，“谁也没说你不能当女巫，你只是要说自己不是女巫。如果我们一问，你就马上承认，”她又严厉地说，“那我们干吗还要费这么大劲？”
The suspect considered this.
嫌犯思忖片刻。
“But I wants to be a witch,” she wailed. The male Them exchanged exhausted glances. This was out of their league.
“但我要当女巫。”小女孩放声大哭。“他们”的男性成员交换着无力的眼神。这种事儿他们可应付不来。
Adam gave a magisterial cough.
亚当官气十足地咳嗽一声。
“Don’t see why me and Brother Brian should have to do all the work,” said Brother Wensleydale, wiping the sweat off his brow. “I reckon it’s about time she got off and we had a go. Benedictine ina decanter.”
“不明白为什么我跟布赖恩兄弟要干所有活儿。”温斯利戴兄弟说着擦去额头的汗水，“我觉得应该让她出来，换我们玩了。Benedictine ina decanter[7]。”【注：[7]意为瓶子里的甜酒。】
“Why have we stopped?” demanded the suspect, water pouring out of her shoes.
“为什么要停下？”疑犯询问道。水从她的鞋子里直往外冒。
“No,” she decided.
“不是。”她说。
The sister took a look at Pepper’s face, and decided not to chance it.
小女孩看了佩帕一眼，决定先不冒险。
It was a hot afternoon and the Inquisitorial guards felt that they were being put upon.
这是个炎热的下午，审判所卫士们感觉自己成了牺牲品。
It had occurred to the Chief Inquisitor during his researches that the British Inquisition was probably not yet ready for the reintroduction of the Iron Maiden and the choke-pear. But an illustration of a medieval ducking stool suggested that it was tailor-made for the purpose. All you needed was a pond and some planks and a rope. It was the sort of combination that always attracted the Them, who never had much difficulty in finding all three.
大审判官进行研究时认为，英国宗教审判也许还没做好重新引入铁处女和噎犁[8]的准备。一幅中世纪浸水椅的插图让他觉得这才是上上之选。所需之物就是一个水池、几块木板和一根绳子。这种组合总能吸引“他们”，而且找到这三样东西也很容易。【注：[8]一种金属刑具，形状若梨，用来塞入受害者的口腔、肛门或下体。】
“Art thou a witch, viva espana?” he repeated.
“汝可是女巫，viva espana[6]？”他重复说。【注：[6]意为西班牙万岁。】
It was a very good torture, everyone agreed. The trouble was getting the putative witch off it.
这是一次很棒的刑罚，所有人都表示赞同。问题在于，如何让已被定罪的女巫别玩了。
“You have used it,” snapped her sister, “I’ve seen it and it’s all worn out and the bit where you put the hay is broke and –“
“你玩过。”她妹妹反驳道，“我见过，都旧了。放干草的地方都破了，而且…”
“If you just say no,” said Pepper, “You can have my Sindy stable set. I’ve never ever used it,” she added, glaring at the other Them and daring them to make a comment.
“只要你说不。”佩帕说，“我就把辛蒂娃娃马厩套装给你。我从来没玩过呢。”她说着瞥了其他人一眼，想看看谁敢多说一句。
“It’s not allowed for inquisitors to be tortured too,” said the Chief Inquisitor sternly, but without much real feeling. It was a hot afternoon, the Inquisitorial robes of old sacking were scratchy and smelled of stale barley, and the pond looked astonishingly inviting.
“审判官们是不可以受刑的。”大审判官严肃地说，但语气中显然少了些真情实意。这是个炎热的下午，审判官们的旧帆布袋长袍很扎人，而且有股发霉的大麦味，水池看上去则是那么诱人。
“I’m going to go home unless I can have a go,” muttered Brother Brian. “Don’t see why evil witches should have all the fun.”
“如果我不能玩，那我就回家了。”布赖恩兄弟嘟囔道，“我不明白为什么乐子全让邪恶女巫得去了。”
“All right, all right,” he said, and turned to the suspect. “You’re a witch, all right, don’t do it again, and now you get off and let someone else have a turn. Oh lay,” he added.
“好吧，好吧。”他说着把头转向疑犯，“你是个女巫，好吗，别再玩了。现在你下来让别人试试吧。Oh lay。”他补充说。
Adam hesitated. Setting fire to her would probably cause no end of trouble, he reasoned. Besides, she was too soggy to burn.
亚当犹豫片刻。他推想到放火烧了她可能引来无穷无尽的麻烦。再说了，她湿成这样，也点不着。
The suspect was now green to the waist.
现在疑犯下身都是绿的。
He was also distantly aware that at some future point there would be questions asked about muddy shoes and duckweed-encrusted pink dresses. But that was the future, and it lay at the other end of along warm afternoon that contained planks and ropes and ponds. The future could wait.
他还隐约意识到，在未来某个时刻，会出现很多有关泥巴鞋和粘满浮萍的粉裙子的问题。但那是未来，它存在于漫长下午的另一端。而这个炎热的下午还有木板、绳子和池塘。未来可以等在一旁。
“It’s just like a seesaw,” she said. “Whee!”
“这个好像荡秋千。”她说，“哇。”
“What happens now?” said Pepper’s sister.
“然后干什么？”佩帕的妹妹说。
“I don’t see why we should have a hosepipe ban,” Adam heard Mr. Young telling Mrs. Young. “I pay my rates like everyone else. The garden looks like the Sahara desert. I’m surprised there was any water left in the pond. I blame it on the lack of nuclear testing, myself. You used to get proper summers when I was a boy. It used to rain all the time.”
“我不明白咱们怎么会被禁止使用橡胶软管。”亚当听到扬先生对扬太太说，“我跟所有人一样交费。花园看起来好像撒哈拉沙漠。那池塘里还有水，倒真让我吃惊。我觉得这都是因为缺乏核试验的缘故。我小时候，总有像模像样的夏天。一天到晚都下雨。”
Dust hung heavy on the bushes.
灌木丛上落了厚厚一层尘土。
Now Adam slouched alone along the dusty lane. It was a good slouch. Adam had a way of slouching along that offended all right-thinking people. It wasn’t that he just allowed his body to droop. He could slouch with inflections, and now the set of his shoulders reflected the hurt and bewilderment of those unjustly thwarted in their selfless desire to help their fellow men.
亚当无精打采地漫步在尘土飞扬的小路上。他无精打采得有模有样，懒洋洋的派头足以把所有正人君子刺激得大为恼火。这可不仅是让身体松弛下来那么简单。亚当的无精打采还有各种变化，此刻他的双肩完美体现出了大公无私地想要帮助世人，却被横加干涉而产生的痛苦和迷茫。
The future came and went in the mildly discouraging way that futures do, although Mr. Young had other things on his mind apart from muddy dresses and merely banned Adam from watching television, which meant he had to watch it on the old black and white set in his bedroom.
未来以未来特有的方式倏忽而过，让人略感气馁。除了泥裙子以外，扬先生还有其他事情要操心，所以只是禁止亚当看电视。这意味着他只能看自己卧室里的老黑白电视。
Dog slouched along dutifully behind his Master. This wasn’t, insofar as the hell-hound had any expectations, what he had imagined life would be like in the last days before Armageddon, but despite himself he was beginning to enjoy it.
狗狗尽职尽责地跟在主人身边，同样没精打采。假设地狱犬也会有所期待的话，那它想象中末日来临前的日子肯定跟现在完全不同。尽管如此，它已经开始享受这种生活了。
“I bet if they’d jus’ let us get started properly we could of found hundreds of witches,” he told himself, kicking a stone. “I bet ole Torturemada dint have to give up jus’ when he was getting started just because some stupid witch got her dress dirty.”
“我打赌只要他们允许我们正儿八经地干起来，我们就能找到成百上千的女巫。”他踢着石子，自言自语道，“我打赌托尔克马达[9]不会因为某些愚蠢的女巫弄湿了裙子，就被迫停止刚刚起步的工作。”【注：[9]托马斯·德·托尔克马达，西班牙宗教审判官，以手段残忍著称。】
He heard his Master say: “Bet even the Victorians didn’t force people to have to watch black and white television.”
它听到主人说：“就连维多利亚时代的人也不能强迫别人看黑白电视。”
“Serve everyone right if the witches took over the whole country and made everyone eat health food and not go to church and dance around with no clothes on,” he said, kicking a stone. He had to admit that, except perhaps for the health food, the prospect wasn’t too worrying.
“如果女巫们夺取了整个国家，那才好呢。可以让人们吃健康食品，不用去教堂，光着身子跳舞。”他一边说，一边踢着块小石子。他必须承认，这个前景并不太可怕，也许除了健康食品以外。
Form shapes nature. There are certain ways of behavior appropriate to small scruffy dogs which are in fact welded into the genes. You can’t just become small-dog-shaped and hope to stay the same person; a certain intrinsic small-dogness begins to permeate your very Being.
形态塑造性格。小脏狗的某些正常举动，实际上是固化在基因里的。你不能变成小狗的样子，还指望能保持过去的性格。内在固有的小狗性格会逐渐渗入你的本性。
“Serve ’em right if we’re all overcome by Evil Forces,” his Master grumbled.
“如果我们被邪恶大军征服才好呢。”他的主人抱怨说。
He’d already chased a rat. It had been the most enjoyable experience of his life.
他已经追过一只老鼠。那是他有生以来最快活的经历。
And then there were cats, thought Dog. He’d surprised the huge ginger cat from next door and had attempted to reduce it to cowering jelly by means of the usual glowing stare and deep-throated growl, which had always worked on the damned in the past. This time they earned him a whack on the nose that had made his eyes water. Cats, Dog considered, were clearly a lot tougher than lost souls. He was looking forward to a further cat experiment, which he’d planned would consist of jumping around and yapping excitedly at it. It was a long shot, but it might just work.
另外还有猫，狗狗想道。他把隔壁那只大黄猫吓了一跳，然后试图以惯用的怒目而视和低沉咆哮，把它变成一堆哆哆嗦嗦的果子冻，过去这招对地狱里的冤魂可是屡试不爽。但这次的结果是鼻子上挨了重重一击，疼得直流眼泪。猫，狗狗心想，显然比失落灵魂厉害不少。他希望再进行一次更加深入的猫咪试验，计划中包括围着它欢蹦乱跳，以及激动地汪汪叫。成功率不高，但也有可能奏效。
“They just better not come running to me when ole Picky is turned into a frog, that’s all,” muttered Adam.
“只要老皮克变成青蛙时，他们别跑来找我就行了。”亚当嘟囔道。
Adam was a soft touch for tears. He hesitated a moment, and then cautiously peered over the hedge.
亚当就见不得眼泪。他迟疑片刻，然后小心地透过篱笆向屋里望去。
It was at this point that two facts dawned on him. One was that his disconsolate footsteps had led him past Jasmine Cottage. The other was that someone was crying.
正当此时，两个事实凸显在他面前。一是闷闷不乐的步伐已经把他带到茉莉小屋附近。二是有人在哭。
“Hallo,” he said, unslouching.
“你好。”他打起精神说。
To Anathema, sitting in a deck chair and halfway through a packet of Kleenex, it looked like the rise of a small, dishevelled sun.
对于坐在轻便折叠椅上、已经用完半包纸巾的安娜丝玛来说，这就像一轮发丝凌乱的小太阳。
Adam doubted that she was a witch. Adam had a very clear mental picture of a witch. The Youngs restricted themselves to the only possible choice amongst the better class of Sunday newspaper, and so a hundred years of enlightened occultism had passed Adam by. She didn’t have a hooked nose or warts, and she was young… well, quite young. That was good enough for him.
亚当怀疑她到底是不是女巫。他心中有一幅清晰的女巫形象图。扬家只订阅上流星期日报刊中的唯一之选，所以近百年的启蒙神秘学常识跟亚当擦肩而过。她没有鹰钩鼻和大瘤子，而且很年轻…好吧，相当年轻。对他来说，这就够了。
She blew her nose and stared at him.
安娜丝玛擤了擤鼻子，看着他。
What was looking over the hedge should be described at this point. What Anathema saw was, she said later, something like a prepubescent Greek god. Or maybe a Biblical illustration, one which showed muscular angels doing some righteous smiting. It was a face that didn’t belong in the twentieth century. It was thatched with golden curls which glowed. Michelangelo should have sculpted it.
这里有必要描述一下正从篱笆后面往屋里张望的亚当。据安娜丝玛事后所说，她看到的东西仿佛一尊正值青春期的希腊神祇。或者一幅《圣经》插图，画的是肌肉虬结的天使在执行正义惩戒。这是张不属于二十世纪的面孔。浓密的金色发卷闪着光芒。米开朗琪罗应该把他雕刻出来。
He probably would not have included the battered sneakers, frayed jeans, or grubby T-shirt, though.
当然，也许他应当丢掉破破烂烂的运动鞋、磨破边的牛仔裤和脏兮兮的T恤衫。
“I’m well known around here,” said Adam.
“我在附近名声很响。”亚当说。
“Mrs. Henderson said I was to be sure to keep an eye out for you,” she went on.
“亨德森夫人说，我应该小心提防你。”她说。
Adam grinned. Notoriety wasn’t as good as fame, but was heaps better than obscurity.
亚当露齿一笑。恶名当然不如美名好，但总比籍籍无名强多了。
“I’m Adam Young,” said Adam. “I live just down the lane.”
“我是亚当·扬。”亚当说，“就住在小路的另一头。”
“What’ve you been cryin’ for?” said Adam bluntly.
“你为什么哭？”亚当直接问道。
“I’ll help you look for it, if you like,” said Adam gallantly. “I know quite a lot about books, actually. I wrote a book once. It was a triffic book. It was nearly eight pages long. It was about this pirate who was a famous detective. And I drew the pictures.” And then, in a flash of largess, he added, “If you like I’ll let you read it. I bet it was a lot more excitin’ than any book you’ve lost. ‘Specially the bit in the spaceship where the dinosaur comes out and fights with the cowboys. I bet it’d cheer you up, my book. It cheered up Brian no end. He said he’d never been so cheered up.”
“我会帮你找找，如果你愿意的话。”亚当豪爽地说，“说真的，我知道很多有关书的事。我还写过一本呢。那本书棒极了，几乎有八页长。讲的是个海盗，他是知名的侦探。而且我还画了插图。”他突然豪情大发，又接着说，“如果你想看的话，我就借你看看。我打赌肯定比你丢的书精彩多了。特别是恐龙出现在太空船里，跟牛仔们开打的部分。我打赌那书会让你高兴起来。它让布赖恩高兴坏了。他说他从没读过这么好看的书。”
“She said you were the worst of the lot of Them,” said Anathema, looking a little more cheerful. Adam nodded.
“她说你是‘他们’里最坏的一个。”安娜丝玛的心情似乎好了些。亚当点点头。
“She said you were born to hang,” said Anathema.
“她说你生来就该被吊死。”安娜丝玛说。
“She said, ‘You watch out for Them, Miss, they’re nothing but a pack of ringleaders. That young Adam’s full of the Old Adam,'” she said.
“她说，‘你得小心他们，小姐。那帮孩子都是些坏坯。小亚当简直跟那老亚当一个样，原罪的代表。”
“Oh. Yes. I’ve heard of you,” said Anathema, dabbing at her eyes. Adam preened.
“哦，对。我听说过你。”安娜丝玛说着用手绢蹭了蹭眼睛。亚当骄傲地挺起胸脯。
“Oh? Oh, I’ve just lost something,” said Anathema. “A book.”
“哦？哦，我丢了点东西。”安娜丝玛说，“一本书。”
“Who’re you?” she said.
“你是谁？”她问。
“For miles an’ miles,” said Adam.
“方圆百英里都没问题。”亚当说。
“Thank you, I’m sure your book is a very good book,” she said, endearing herself to Adam forever. “But I don’t need you to help look for my book — I think it’s too late now.”
“谢谢。我敢说你的书一定特别好。”这句话让亚当彻底喜欢上了她，“但我不用你帮忙找书…我想现在已经太晚了。”
“You haven’t seen two men in a big black car?” said Anathema.
“你有没有见过两个开一辆大黑车的人？”安娜丝玛问。
She looked thoughtfully at Adam. “I expect you know this area very well?” she said.
她若有所思地看着亚当。“你应该很熟悉这地方吧？”她说。
“Did they steal it?” said Adam, suddenly full of interest. Foiling a gang of international book thieves would make a rewarding end to the day.
“他们把书偷走了？”亚当的兴致突然被吊了起来。粉碎国际盗书集团，会让今天有个完美结局。
“Not really. Sort of. I mean, they didn’t mean to. They were looking for the Manor, but I went up there today and no one knows anything about them. There was some sort of accident or something, I believe.”
“不能这么说。但也有点类似。我是说，他们不是有意的。他们在找大宅，但我今天到那儿去了，谁也没听说过他们。我感觉那儿似乎出了点事。”
She stared at Adam. There was something odd about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She just had an urgent feeling that he was important and shouldn’t be allowed to drift away. Something about him…
安娜丝玛看着亚当。这小男孩有点怪怪的，但她就是说不清楚。她只是强烈感觉到亚当很重要，不能轻易放手。有些东西…
“What’s the book called?” said Adam.
“那本书叫什么？”亚当说。
“The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch,” said Anathema.
“《巫女艾格尼丝·风子的精良准确预言书》。”安娜丝玛说。
“I saw that,” said Adam. “It was really interesting, the way them kings carried on. Gosh. What’s nice about ’em?”
“我看过。”亚当说，“可有意思了，那些国王发疯的样子。天哪。它们有什么精良的？”
“Nice used to mean, well, precise. Or exact.” Definitely something strange. A sort of laid-back intensity. You started to feel that if he was around, then everyone else, even the landscape, was just background.
“精良的意思是，嗯，精确。或是正确。”绝对有些奇怪。一种懒洋洋的紧张感。只要他在周围，你就会觉得所有人，甚至包括附近的风景，都变成了背景。
“Which what?”
“舞女？”
She’d been here a month. Except for Mrs. Henderson, who in theory looked after the cottage and probably went through her things given half a chance, she hadn’t exchanged more than a dozen real words with anyone. She let them think she was an artist. This was the kind of countryside that artists liked.
安娜丝玛刚来一个月。除了在理论上打理这间小屋、一有机会就翻她东西的亨德森夫人以外，安娜丝玛跟别人说过的话加在一起不超过十个字。她自称艺术家。这里正是艺术家们喜欢的乡野。
“No. Witch. Like in Macbeth,” said Anathema.
“不。女巫。就像《麦克白》里那些人。”安娜丝玛说。
And that was depressing, because this was where it was going to happen. According to Agnes, anyway. In a book which she, Anathema, had allowed to be lost. She had the file cards, of course, but they just weren’t the same.
那件事要在此地上演，这难免令人感伤。但艾格尼丝就是这么说的，全都记载在安娜丝玛居然弄丢的书里。当然，她有档案卡，但那不一样。
Actually, it was bloody beautiful. Just around this village it was superb. If Turner and Landseer had met Samuel Palmer in a pub and worked it all out, and then got Stubbs to do the horses, it couldn’t have been better.
实际上，它美得出奇。尤其是小镇周围，简直无与伦比。如果透纳、兰西尔和塞缪尔·帕默在一个酒吧相遇，决定合力创作一幅画卷，然后再找斯坦布斯来绘制马匹，也不会比这儿更美。[10]【注：[10]威廉·透纳，法国印象派先驱，擅长画山水风景。爱德华·兰西尔，英国维多利亚时期学院派画家，擅长画动物。塞缪尔·帕默，十九世纪英国风景画家。乔治·斯坦布斯，英国画家，画过很多以马为主题的作品。】
“No,” said Anathema.
“不行。”安娜丝玛说。
“Doesn’t sound very nice to me, then,” said Adam. “Don’t see what the future’s got in it if there’s no robots and spaceships.”
“那我真不觉得有什么好的。”亚当说，“真不知道没有机器人和太空船，未来该如何发展。”
Anathema narrowed her eyes. So much for Mrs. Henderson poking around.
安娜丝玛眯起眼睛。亨德森夫人的鼻子伸得太长了。
“Would you like a lemonade?” she said.
“你想喝柠檬水吗？”她说。
“Sorry.”
“抱歉。”
“Any spaceships in it?”
“里面有太空船吗？”
“Look, ‘scuse me for askin’, if it’s not a personal question, but are you a witch?” he said.
“呃，如果这不算隐私的话，请恕我冒昧问一句，你是女巫吗？”他说。
“Not many,” said Anathema.
“不多。”安娜丝玛说。
“Wicked!” said Adam, who had been turning over in his mind the implications of a book of nice and accurate prophecies. “It tells you who’s going to win the Grand National, does it?”
“酷毙了。”亚当反复琢磨着一本精良准确的预言书意味着什么，“它会告诉你谁是今年全国越野障碍赛马冠军吗？”
“Robots?” said Adam hopefully.
“机器人？”亚当期待地问道。
About three days, thought Anathema glumly. That’s what it’s got in it.
大概三天，安娜丝玛沮丧地想道，这就是未来的发展。
Adam hesitated. Then he decided to take the bull by the horns.
亚当犹豫片刻，最终决定迎难而上。
If Anathema had been in full control of her own mind at that moment — and no one around Adam was ever in full control of his or her own mind — she’d have noticed that whenever she tried to think about him beyond a superficial level her thoughts slipped away like a duck off water.
如果安娜丝玛此刻能够保持头脑清醒，就会注意到每当自己试图深入思考亚当的问题，思绪就会像水流遇到鸭子一样旋即滑开。而在亚当周围，没人能够保持头脑清醒。
Dog whined and gave him a pleading look. His stubby tail thumped on the floor once or twice.
狗狗惨叫几声，可怜兮兮地看着他。小短尾巴敲了两下地板。
“You can leave him in the garden,” said Anathema.
“你可以把他留在花园里。”安娜丝玛说。
She looked him up and down.
安娜丝玛上上下下打量着他。
“You know what an occultist is, do you?” she said.
“你知道什么是神秘学者，对吗？”她说。
“No,” said Adam. “He’s got to do what he’s tole. I read it in a book. Trainin’ is very important. Any dog can be trained, it said. My father said I can only keep him if he’s prop’ly trained. Now, Dog. Go inside.”
“不。”亚当说，“他应该服从命令。我在一本书上读到过。训练至关重要。上面说，所有狗都可以被驯服。我爸爸说除非它能被驯服，否则我就不能养。快，狗狗。进来。”
“Who, me?” said Adam guiltily.
“谁？我？”亚当内疚地说。
“Oh, yes,” said Adam confidently.
“哦，当然。”亚当信心十足地说。
“Oh. Well. That’s all right, then,” said Adam, cheering up.
“哦。好啊。那就对了。”亚当高兴地说。
“Come on, you silly dog,” said Adam. “It’s only old Jasmine Cottage.” He gave Anathema an embarrassed look. “Normally he does everything I say, right off.”
“进来，你这蠢狗。”亚当说，“这只是老茉莉小屋。”他不好意思地看了安娜丝玛一眼。“通常我说什么，他都立马照办。”
“You were thinking ‘Nothin’ wrong with my eyes, they don’t need examining,’ weren’t you?”
“你在想‘我的眼睛没问题，它们不需要检查’，对吗？”
“Well, so long as you’re happier now,” said Anathema. “Come on in. I could do with a drink myself. And… Adam Young?”
“好吧，只要你高兴就成。”安娜丝玛说，“进来吧。我自己也得喝一杯。另外…亚当·扬？”
“Yes?”
“嗯？”
Dog was the problem. He wouldn’t go in the cottage. He crouched on the doorstep, growling.
狗狗是个问题。他不肯进屋，只是蹲在门口不住咆哮。
“Some people might say so,” she said. “Actually, I’m an occultist.”
“有些人会这么说。”她说，“实际上，我是个神秘学者。”
Occasionally he would very nearly swear.
有几次，他差点儿就爆出粗口。
Anathema hadn’t really made herself at home in the cottage. Most of her implements were piled up on the table. It looked interesting. It looked, in fact, as though a voodoo priest had just had the run of a scientific equipment store.
安娜丝玛从没把小屋当成自己的家。很多器材都直接堆在桌上，看起来很有趣。实事求是地讲，就像个刚在科学器材商店里转了一圈的巫毒祭师的家。
With extreme reluctance, as if making progress in the teeth of a gale, he slunk over the doorstep.
他极不情愿地溜过门口，仿佛迎着十级大风艰难前进。
Every now and again there was a rattling at the door when prospective customers of Intimate Books next door mistook the entrance. He ignored it.
门口时而传来一阵窸窣声，那是隔壁“老友书店”的顾客找错了门。天使没有理会。
The only sound in the room was the occasional turning of a page.
屋里唯一的动静是偶尔响起的翻书声。
And a little bit more of Hell burned away…
又有点地狱成分蒸发了…
“There,” said Adam proudly. “Good boy.”
“嗯。”亚当骄傲地说，“好孩子。”
It was corroded and half covered with the paint of centuries. So neither Adam nor Anathema gave it a thought, or noticed how it was now cooling from a white heat.
马蹄铁早就锈蚀磨损，还被数百年的油漆盖住大半。所以亚当和安娜丝玛都没多想，也没注意到它正从白炽状态冷却下来。
Anathema shut the door.
安娜丝玛把门关上。
Aziraphale’s cocoa was stone cold.
亚茨拉菲尔的可可冷得像块石头。
There had always been a horseshoe over the door of Jasmine Cottage, ever since its first tenant centuries before; the Black Death was all the rage at the time and he’d considered that he could use all the protection he could get.
自从几世纪前茉莉小屋有了第一位住客以来，门口就一直都有块马蹄铁。当年黑死病席卷全欧，他觉得任何保护措施都不为过。
His Master’s voice.
主人的声音。
“Brilliant!” said Adam, prodding at it. “What’s the thing with the three legs?”
“帅呆了。”亚当指指点点地说，“那个三条腿的东西是什么？”
“It’s a theodolite,” said Anathema from the kitchen. “It’s for tracking ley-lines.”
“那是魔法经纬仪。”安娜丝玛在厨房里说，“用来追踪魔力射线。”
“All over the place?”
“无处不在？”
“What are they, then?” said Adam.
“那又是什么？”亚当问。
She told him.
她解释了一番。
Adam didn’t often listen, but he spent the most enthralling twenty minutes of his life, or at least of his life that day. No one in the Young household so much as touched wood or threw salt over their shoulder. The only nod in the direction of the supernatural was a half-hearted pretense, when Adam had been younger, that Father Christmas came down the chimney. [If Adam had been in full possession of his powers in those days, the Youngs’ Christmas would have been spoiled by the discovery of a dead fat man upside down in their central heating duct.]
亚当通常不会认真听别人讲话，但这是他有生以来——至少是今天以来——听得最入神的二十分钟。碰碰木头或是往肩膀后面撒盐这些英国传统避邪驱鬼的仪式，在扬家从来没有施行过。他们家跟超自然现象的唯一交集，是一次马马虎虎的伪装。亚当才几岁大的时候，圣诞老人曾经从烟囱造访。（如果当年亚当就掌握了自己的全部力量，扬家的圣诞节肯定要被中央供热管道里大头朝下的胖男人尸体所破坏。）
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“I’ve never seen ’em. Amazin’, there bein’ all these invisible lines of force around and me not seeing ’em.”
“我从没见过。难以想象，到处都是这种透明的射线，我们却看不见。”
“Yes.”
“当然。”
“Cor,” he said. “Are they?”
“哇哦。”他说，“真的吗？”
He’d been starved of anything more occult than a Harvest Festival. Her words poured into his mind like water into a quire of blotting paper.
亚当渴求着任何比丰饶收获节更具神秘色彩的东西。安娜丝玛的话灌进了他的心田，就像水渗入一摞吸水纸。
Anathema didn’t only believe in ley-lines, but in seals, whales, bicycles, rain forests, whole grain in loaves, recycled paper, white South Africans out of South Africa, and Americans out of practically everywhere down to and including Long Island. She didn’t compartmentalize her beliefs. They were welded into one enormous, seamless belief, compared with which that held by Joan of Arc seemed a mere idle notion. On any scale of mountain moving it shifted at least point five of an alp. [It may be worth noting here that most human beings can rarely raise more than.3 of an alp (30 centi-alps). Adam believed things on a scale ranging from 2 through to 15,640 Everests.]
安娜丝玛不只推崇魔法射线，还推崇海豹、鲸鱼、自行车、雨林、全麦面包、再生纸、把南非白人赶出南非，以及把美国人赶出包括长岛在内的差不多所有地方。她从不划分自己的信仰。这些东西融会成一个巨大无缝的信仰，圣女贞德的信念跟它比起来，就像是个空洞的概念。俗话说信仰可以移动大山，从标准化尺度来看，安娜丝玛可以移动0.5阿尔卑斯。（有必要指出，大多数人很少能达到0.3阿尔卑斯，也就是30“厘阿”。亚当的信仰范围则是从2阿尔卑斯到15640珠穆朗玛。）
Dog lay under the table and growled. He was beginning to have serious doubts about himself.
狗狗趴在桌子底下呜呜直叫。他已经产生了严重的身份认同障碍。
The only time he interrupted her was to agree with her views on nuclear power: “I’ve been to a nucular power station. It was boring. There was no green smoke and bubbling stuff in tubes. Shouldn’t be allowed, not having proper bubbling stuff when people have come all the way to see it, and having just a lot of men standin’ around not even wearin’ space suits.”
他只打断了安娜丝玛一次，好附和她对核能的观点。“我去过一座核电站。真没劲。没有绿烟，也没有管子里的泡泡。这种东西就不该存在。让人们大老远去参观，却连泡泡都没有，只有一群人站在那里，甚至不穿太空服。”
No one had even used the word “environment” in Adam’s hearing before. The South American rain forests were a closed book to Adam, and it wasn’t even made of recycled paper.
过去从没人在亚当的听力范围内，提到过“环境”这个词。南美雨林对他来说，就像一本从未打开的书。这本书甚至不是用再生纸印的。
“Huh,” said Adam.
“啊。”亚当说。
“They should be done away with this minute.”
“核电站应该被立刻废除。”
“They do all the bubbling after visitors have gone home,” said Anathema grimly.
“等游客都回家了，他们才会弄那些泡泡。”安娜丝玛严肃地说。
“Serve them right for not bubblin’,” said Adam.
“没有泡泡，活该被废除。”亚当说。
He had no aura.
亚当没有气场。
Anathema nodded. She was still trying to put her finger on what was so odd about Adam, and then she realized what it was.
安娜丝玛点点头。她还在努力探究为什么亚当显得如此古怪，接着她终于意识到了。
She was quite an expert on auras. She could see them, if she stared hard enough. They were a little glow of light around people’s heads, and according to a book she’d read the color told you things about their health and general well-being. Everyone had one. In mean-minded, closed-in people they were a faint, trembling outline, whereas expansive and creative people might have one extending several inches from the body.
安娜丝玛是个气场专家，只要认真观察，就可以看到它们。那是一种环绕在人们头上的微光，她读过的一本书上说，从气场的颜色你可以看出人们的健康状况和心理状态。所有人都有气场。内向的人只有黯淡抖动的轮廓，而想象力丰富的外向人群，气场可能会从身体向外扩张几英寸距离。
Maybe I’m just tired, she thought.
也许我只是累了，她想。
Anyway, she was pleased and gratified to find such a rewarding student, and even loaned him some copies of New Aquarian Digest, a small magazine edited by a friend of hers.
无论如何，能找到这么有前途的学生，她大感欣慰，特别高兴。安娜丝玛甚至借了几本《新水瓶座文摘》给他，这是她的一个朋友编的杂志。
She’d never heard of anyone without one, but she couldn’t see one around Adam at all. Yet he seemed cheerful, enthusiastic, and as wellbalanced as a gyroscope.
她从没听说过没有气场的人，但亚当周围就完全看不到。可这孩子热情洋溢、神采飞扬，身体均衡得像只陀螺。
This wasn’t Wensleydale’s aunt and a wineglass. This sort of occulting was a lot more interesting.
那里没有温斯利戴的婶婶和酒杯。这种超自然景观要有趣得多。
When the batteries ran out he emerged into the darkened room and lay back with his head pillowed in his hands, apparently watching the squadron of X-wing® fighters that hung from the ceiling. They moved gently in the night breeze.
电池耗光后，他从毯子里钻出来，脑袋枕着手掌，躺在黑漆漆的房间里，似乎正注视着挂在天花板上、伴随微风轻柔摇摆的X翼战斗机中队。
It changed his life. At least, it changed his life for that day.
这改变了亚当的生活。至少改变了那天的生活。
Besides, he liked Anathema. Of course, she was very old, but when Adam liked someone he wanted to make them happy.
另外，他喜欢安娜丝玛。当然，她已经很老了，但如果亚当喜欢上谁，就希望让对方开心。
To his parents’ astonishment he went to bed early, and then lay under the blankets until after midnight with a torch, the magazines, and a bag of lemon drops. The occasional “Brilliant!” emerged from his ferocious-chewing mouth.
亚当很早就上了床，让父母大吃一惊。他躺在毯子下面，拿着手电、杂志和一包柠檬糖，一直看到午夜。“帅呆了！”的声音时而从忙着咀嚼的嘴里冒出来。
But Adam wasn’t really watching them. He was staring instead into the brightly lit panorama of his own imagination, which was whirling like a fairground.
但亚当看的不是飞机模型。想象中明亮的画面，正像个游乐场似的在他眼前打转。
It used to be thought that the events that changed the world were things like big bombs, maniac politicians, huge earthquakes, or vast population movements, but it has now been realized that this is a very oldfashioned view held by people totally out of touch with modern thought. The things that really change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things. A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe.
人们过去以为改变世界的事件，都是超级炸弹、疯狂政治家、大地震，或大规模人口流动之类的。但现在我们知道这是个很老套的看法，只有完全与现代观念脱节的人才会相信。根据混沌理论，真正改变世界的是小事。南美雨林里一只蝴蝶扑打下翅膀，会产生肆虐半个欧洲的台风。
He wondered how he could make Anathema happy.
他琢磨着怎么才能让安娜丝玛开心。
It was for the same reason that people in Trafalgar Square can’t see England.
这个原因，就跟站在伦敦特拉法尔加广场的人看不到整个英国是一样的。
It might, or might not, have helped Anathema get a clear view of things if she’d been allowed to spot the very obvious reason why she couldn’t see Adam’s aura.
如果安娜丝玛能够发现看不到亚当气场的确切原因，也许有助于对眼前局势有一个清醒认识，当然也可能适得其反。
Somewhere in Adam’s sleeping head, a butterfly had emerged.
在亚当睡意朦胧的头脑里，一只蝴蝶正在出现。
Alarms went off.
警报响起。
Of course, there’s nothing special about alarms going off in the control room of a nuclear power station. They do it all the time. It’s because there are many dials and meters and things that something important might not get noticed if it doesn’t at least beep.
当然，核电站主控室里有警报响起没什么大不了的。这种事时有发生。因为在一个有无数仪表盘和计数器的地方，如果某些重要的东西连点哔哔声都没有，很可能根本没人注意。
And the job of Shift Charge Engineer calls for a solid, capable, unflappable kind of man, the kind you can depend upon not to make a beeline for the car-park in an emergency. The kind of man, in fact, who gives the impression of smoking a pipe even when he’s not.
当值管理工程师必须是处乱不惊、可靠又有能力的人。你可以相信这种人不会一有紧急情况就匆匆忙忙往停车场跑。实际上，这种人总会给你一种抽着烟斗的印象，就算他根本不抽。
It was 3:00 A. M. in the control room of Turning Point power station, normally a nice quiet time when there is nothing much to do but fill in the log and listen to the distant roar of the turbines.
凌晨三点，在“转折点”核电站的主控室里，这通常是个特别安静的时段，除了填写日志和倾听远方涡轮机的轰鸣，几乎没什么事好做。
Horace Gander looked at the flashing red lights. Then he looked at some dials. Then he looked at the faces of his fellow workers. Then he raised his eyes to the big dial at the far end of the room. Four hundred and twenty practically dependable and very nearly cheap megawatts were leaving the station. According to the other dials, nothing was producing them.
霍勒斯·甘德看了看闪烁的红光，看了看几个仪表，又看看同事们的脸。他最后抬起头，望向房间对面的一块大表盘。4.2亿千瓦时绝对安全又几乎非常廉价的电能正从电站输出。但根据其他仪表显示，没有东西在发电。
Until now.
直到现在。
He didn’t say “That’s weird.” He wouldn’t have said “That’s weird” if a flock of sheep had cycled past playing violins. It wasn’t the sort of thing a responsible engineer said.
他没说“这可真怪”。他就算看见一群羊拉着小提琴从天上飞过，也不会说“这可真怪”。这就不是负责任的工程师该说的话。
What he did say was: “Alf, you’d better ring the station manager.”
他所说的是：“阿尔夫，你最好给站长打个电话。”
Three very crowded hours went past. They involved quite a lot of phone calls, telexes, and faxes. Twenty-seven people were got out of bed in quick succession and they got another fifty-three out of bed, because if there is one thing a man wants to know when he’s woken up in a panic at 4:00 A. M., it’s that he’s not alone.
让人手忙脚乱的三小时过去了。其中包括许多电话、电报和传真。二十七个人相继从床上起来，接着他们又弄醒了五十三个人。如果一个人凌晨四点心慌意乱地从梦中惊醒，那他最想知道的就是自己并不孤单。
Anyway, you need all sorts of permissions before they let you unscrew the lid of a nuclear reactor and look inside.
更何况，如果你想拧开核反应堆的盖子，朝里面看上一眼，就需要得到一系列许可。
A meter in his hand should have been screaming. Instead, it let out the occasional halfhearted tick.
他手里的计量器本该惊声尖叫。但现在只是偶尔没精打采地嘀嗒一声。
Horace Gander said, “There’s got to be a sensible reason for this. Five hundred tons of uranium don’t just get up and walk away.”
霍勒斯·甘德说：“肯定有个合理的解释。五百吨铀不可能站起来跑掉。”
Right at the bottom, all alone in the center of the bright cold floor, was a lemon drop.
反应堆最下面明亮冰冷的地板中央，有一颗孤零零的柠檬糖。
Where the reactor should have been was an empty space. You could have had quite a nice game of squash in it.
反应堆该在的地方空空如也。你可以在里面打壁球。
They got them. They unscrewed it. They had a look inside.
他们得到了许可。他们拧开了盖子。他们朝里面看了一眼。
Outside in the cavernous turbine hall the machines roared on.
外面巨大的涡轮间里，机器兀自发出轰鸣。
And, a hundred miles away, Adam Young turned over in his sleep.
而在一百里外，亚当·扬在睡梦中翻了个身。
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