Sorry I left you and sorry for this bloody cancer. Sorry I was a shit moor than a not-shit sometimes.
包歉，我离开了你，包歉，我得了这个见鬼的癌症。包歉，我有时候是个混蛋，有时候不是。
Sorry I have to dye. Sorry I dyed. Sorry I got old.
包歉，我不得不死去。包歉，我死了。包歉，我老了。
I luv you more than 10000 eternities of fairytails. Tell Halfie the fairytails! And protect the castel! Protect your frends because they will protect you. The castel is yours now. No one is braver and wyser and stronger than you. You are the best of us all. Grow up and be diffrent and don’t let anyone tell you not to be diffrent, because all superheros are diffrent. And if they mess with you then kick them in the fusebox! Live and larf and dream and bring new fairytails to Miamas. I will wait there. Maybe grandad as well — buggered if I know. But it’s going to be a grate adventure anyways.
我艾你，一万个同话永恒。告诉小半那些同话。保护城保！保护你的朋友，因为他们也会保护你。城保现在是你的了。没有人比你更勇敢、匆明和强大。你是我们中最了不起的人。好好长大，做个与众不同的人，不要让任何人告诉你不应该不同，因为所有超级英雄都是与众不同的，如果他们敢惹你，就踢他们的要害！好好生活，好好大笑，好好做梦，为密阿玛斯窗造新的铜话故事。我会在那里等着的。也许外公也会——鬼知道啦。但不管怎么说，这都将是一场伟大的茂险。
To my knight Elsa.
我的爱莎骑士：
Sorry I was mad.
包歉，我很疯狂。
Epilogues in fairy tales are also difficult. Even more difficult than endings. Because although they aren’t necessarily supposed to give you all the answers, it can be a bit unsatisfying if they stir up even more questions. Because life, once the story has ended, can be both very simple and very complicated.
童话故事的尾声也是很难写的，比结束故事更难。尽管不需要在其中告诉你所有的答案，但如果引发了更多问题，就有点儿不够令人满意了。因为一旦故事结束，人生可能又简单又复杂。
Damn, how I luv you.
见鬼，我超级超级艾你。
Granny’s spelling really was atrocious.
外婆的错别字异常凶残。
I luv you.
我艾你。
Harry is christened in a little chapel in the churchyard where Granny and the wurse are buried. Mum insists on all the windows being kept open, even though it’s snowing outside, so everyone can see.
哈利在一个小教堂中受洗，外面就是外婆和呜嘶安葬的墓地。虽然外面在下雪，但妈妈坚持要把所有窗户都打开，让所有人都能看见。
“And what will the boy’s name be?” asks the vicar, who’s also an accountant and a doctor and, it’s emerged, works a bit on the side as a librarian.
“孩子叫什么名字？”牧师问，他也是会计、医生，结果他还兼职做着图书管理员。
Elsa celebrates her eighth birthday with Dad and Lisette. Dad drinks three glasses of mulled wine and dances the “spruce dance.” Lisette and Elsa watch Star Wars. Lisette knows all the dialogue off by heart. The boy with a syndrome and his mum are there, and they laugh a lot, because that is how you overcome fears. Maud bakes cookies and Alf is in a bad mood and Lennart gives Lisette and Dad a new coffee percolator. Lennart noticed that Lisette and Dad’s coffee percolator has loads of buttons, and Lennart’s is better because it only has one button. Dad seems to appreciate this observation.
爱莎和爸爸还有莉丝特一起庆祝了她的八岁生日。爸爸喝了三杯热红酒，跳了“云杉舞”。莉丝特和爱莎一起看了《星球大战》。莉丝特对所有对话烂熟于心。生病男孩和他妈妈也在，他们笑得很多，因为这就是克服恐惧的方法。莫德烤了饼干，阿尔夫心情很不好，莱纳特送给莉丝特和爸爸一个有很多按钮的新咖啡机，但莱纳特的更好，因为它只有一个按钮。爸爸似乎觉得这很贴心。
And it’s getting better. It’s going to be fine.
一切都好了，一切都会没事的。
“Harry,” says Mum, smiling.
“哈利。”妈妈笑着说。
“He doesn’t need any godparents! He has a big sister!”
“他不需要教父教母！他有个姐姐！”
“And will the child have godparents?”
“孩子有教父教母吗？”
Elsa snorts loudly.
爱莎重重地哼了一声。
And she knows that people in the real world don’t understand that sort of thing. But in Miamas a newborn doesn’t get a godparent, newborns get a Laugher instead. After the child’s parents and granny and a few other people that Elsa’s granny, when she was telling Elsa the story, didn’t seem to think were terribly important, the Laugher is the most important person in a child’s life in Miamas. And the Laugher is not chosen by the parents, because Laughers are far too important to be chosen by parents. It’s the child who does the choosing. So when a child is born in Miamas, all the family’s friends come to the cot and tell stories and pull faces and dance and sing and make jokes, and the first one to make the child laugh becomes the Laugher. The Laugher is personally responsible for making it happen as often and as loudly and in as many situations as possible, particularly those that cause embarrassment to the parents.
她知道真实世界的人不明白这种事。但在密阿玛斯，新生儿没有教父教母，他们会有一位“笑母”。外婆告诉爱莎“笑母”是密阿玛斯孩子人生中最重要的人。“笑母”不是父母选择的，因为她太重要，不能由父母选出，而是孩子自己选的。在密阿玛斯，当一个孩子出生后，所有家族朋友都会来到婴儿床边，讲述故事，做鬼脸，跳舞唱歌，说笑话，而第一个让孩子笑出来的人就会成为“笑母”。他们要确保在尽可能多的情形下，让孩子常常大笑，特别是那些父母会尴尬的时候。
The vicar nods and winks at Elsa.
牧师点点头，朝爱莎挤了挤眼。
They go back to the house, where the people continue to live their lives. Once every other week, Alf gets into Taxi and drives Maud and Lennart to a large building where they get to sit in a little room and wait for a very long time. And when Sam enters through a small door with two large security guards, Lennart gets out some coffee and Maud produces some cookies. Because cookies are the most important thing.
他们回到家，人们继续在那里生活。每隔一周，阿尔夫会用出租车载着莫德和莱纳特去一幢大建筑，他们会坐在一间小房间里，等待很长时间。等山姆和两个魁梧的看守进入小房间后，莱纳特倒出咖啡，莫德拿出饼干，因为饼干是最重要的东西。
Of course, Elsa knows very well that everyone will tell her Harry is too small to understand the whole thing about having a big sister. But when she looks down at him in her arms, the two of them know damned well that it’s the first time he’s laughing.
当然，爱莎很清楚每个人都会告诉她，哈利太小了，还不懂姐姐是什么。但当她看着怀里的哈利时，他们俩很清楚那是他第一次大笑。
And probably a lot of people think Maud and Lennart shouldn’t do that, and that types like Sam shouldn’t even be allowed to live, let alone eat cookies. And those people are probably right. And they’re probably wrong too. But Maud says she’s firstly a grandmother and secondly a mother-in-law and thirdly a mother, and this is what grandmothers and mothers-in-law and mothers do. They fight for the good. And Lennart drinks coffee and agrees. And Maud bakes cookies, because when the darkness is too heavy to bear and too many things have been broken in too many ways to ever be fixed again, Maud doesn’t know what weapon to use if one can’t use dreams.
也许很多人会觉得莫德和莱纳特不该这么做，像山姆那种人不该继续活下去，更不该吃饼干。那些人也许是对的，也可能是错的。但莫德说，她首先是一位奶奶，其次是一位婆婆，然后就是一位母亲，而这是一位奶奶、婆婆、母亲应该做的。她们为了美好而战。莱纳特喝着咖啡，表示赞同。莫德烘培饼干，是因为当黑暗太过沉重，而太多破碎的东西无法愈合时，她不知道除了“梦想”还能用什么武器来对抗。
So that’s what she does. One day at a time. One dream at a time. And one could say it’s right and one could say it’s wrong. And probably both would be right. Because life is both complicated and simple.
所以，她就烤饼干，一次次，一天天。一次一个梦想。有人会赞同有人会反对。也许两方都是正确的。因为人生又复杂又简单。
Wolfheart comes back to the house on New Year’s Eve. The police have decided it was self-defense even though everyone knows it wasn’t himself he was protecting. That could also be right or wrong, possibly.
狼心在新年夜回家了。警察判定他是自卫，虽然每个人都知道他那时候保护的不是自己。这也许是对的，也许是错的。
Which is why there are cookies.
所以就有了那些饼干。
He stays on in his flat. The woman in jeans stays on in hers. And they do what they can. Try to learn to live with themselves, try to live rather than just existing. They go to meetings. They tell their stories. No one knows if this is the way they are going to mend everything that’s broken inside them, but at least it’s a way towards something. It helps them breathe. They have dinner with Elsa and Harry and Mum and George every Sunday. Everyone in the house does. Sometimes Green-eyes also comes. She’s surprisingly good at telling stories. And the boy with a syndrome still doesn’t talk, but he teaches them all how to dance beautifully.
他待在他的公寓里。穿牛仔裤的女人待在她的公寓里。他们努力地学习如何自处，如何生活，而不仅仅是生存。他们去参加会议，讲述他们的故事。没人知道这是不是修补好他们心灵碎片的方法，但至少这是某种方法。这帮助他们呼吸。他们每周日都会和爱莎、哈利、妈妈、乔治一起吃晚餐。每个住在楼里的人都会来。有时候绿眼睛也会来。她居然很擅长讲故事。生病男孩还是不说话，但他教大家如何优雅地舞蹈。
“Yes,” mutters Alf.
“对。”阿尔夫嘟囔着。
“I’ve been a bloody idiot,” mutters Kent.
“我是个蠢货。”肯特嘟囔着。
Alf wakes up one morning because he’s thirsty. He gets up and has some coffee and is just on his way back to bed when there’s a knock on the door. He opens it, taking a deep slug of coffee. Looks at his brother for a long time. Kent is supporting himself on a crutch and looking back at him.
阿尔夫某天因为口渴而醒来。他起床煮了些咖啡，正要回去睡觉时，听见了敲门声。他开门，喝了一大口咖啡，盯着他的弟弟看了很久。肯特用一副拐杖支撑着自己，也看着他。
Kent’s fingers grip the crutch even harder.
肯特的手指紧紧抓着拐杖。
They stand there in craggy silence, with a whole life of conflict between them. As brothers do.
他们站在这尴尬的沉默中，伴随着他们之间持续一生的冲突。就像兄弟。
“You want some coffee, or what?” grunts Alf.
“你是想要点儿咖啡，还是怎样？”阿尔夫咕哝道。
“If you have some ready,” grunts Kent.
“如果你已经煮好了的话。”肯特咕哝道。
“The company went bankrupt six months ago.”
“公司六个月前就破产了。”
And then they drink coffee. As brothers do. Sit in Alf’s kitchen and compare postcards from Britt-Marie. Because she writes to them both every week. As women like Britt-Marie do.
然后他们一起喝咖啡，就像兄弟。他们坐在阿尔夫的厨房里，比较着布里特—玛丽寄来的明信片。她每周都会给他们俩写明信片，正如布里特—玛丽这样的女人会做的。
They all still have a residents’ meeting once every month in the room on the bottom floor. They all argue, as ever. Because it’s a normal house. By and large. And neither Granny nor Elsa would have wanted it any other way.
他们每个月还是会在底层房间开一次租户会议。同之前一样，他们每次都会争吵。因为这是一栋普通的房子，大体而言。而不管是外婆还是爱莎都不想让它变成别的样子。
A few days go by. Maybe a few weeks. But after that, one by one, other different children start tagging along with Alex and Elsa in the playground and corridors. Until there are so many of them that no one dares to chase them anymore. Until they’re an army in themselves. Because if a sufficient number of people are different, no one has to be normal.
过了几天。或是几周。自那以后，一个接一个，其他与众不同的孩子开始在操场和走廊上聚集在亚历克斯和爱莎的周围。直到他们人太多了，没有人敢再来追他们。直到他们自己成为一支军队。如果很多人都与众不同，就没有人需要变得普通了。
Elsa will always love her for that.
为此，爱莎永远爱她。
The Christmas holidays come to an end and Elsa goes back to school. She knots her gym shoes tightly and carefully tightens the straps of her backpack as children like Elsa do after the Christmas holidays. But Alex starts in her class that day and she is also different. They become best friends immediately, as you only can when you’ve just turned eight, and they never have to run away again. When they’re called into the headmaster’s office the first time that term, Elsa has a black eye and Alex has scratch marks on her face. When the headmaster sighs and tells Alex’s mum that she “has to try to fit in,” Alex’s mum tries to throw the globe at him. But Elsa’s mum gets there first.
圣诞假期结束，爱莎回到学校。她系紧运动鞋的鞋带，小心调紧背包的背带，正如像爱莎这样的孩子在圣诞假期后会做的。然而那天，亚历克斯转到了爱莎的班级，她也是与众不同的。她们立刻成为了最好的朋友，正如你刚满八岁时会做的，然后她们再也不用一起逃跑了。那学期第一次被叫到校长办公室时，爱莎青了一个眼眶，亚历克斯的脸被抓伤了。校长叹着气，告诉亚历克斯的妈妈，亚历克斯“必须努力合群”，亚历克斯的妈妈想把地球仪扔他脸上，但爱莎的妈妈抢先了一步。
Because all seven-year-olds deserve superheroes.
因为每个七岁的小孩都该拥有一位超级英雄。
When they go back in, Elsa and Alex are also dressed up as princesses. Spider-Man princesses.
他们回到舞会时，爱莎和亚历克斯也扮成了公主。蜘蛛侠公主。
And after that, they’re the boy’s superheroes.
自那以后，她们成为男孩的超级英雄。
In the autumn, the boy with a syndrome starts in the first year. When there’s a costume party, he comes dressed up as a princess. A group of older boys laugh and make fun of him, until he starts crying. Elsa and Alex notice this and take him outside into the parking area and Elsa calls her dad. He arrives with a bag of new clothes.
到了秋天，生病男孩开始念一年级。他在一场化装舞会上把自己打扮成了一位公主。一群年长的男孩嘲弄取笑他，他哭了。爱莎和亚历克斯注意到这事，将他带到了停车场，然后爱莎打电话给她爸爸。他带着一大包新衣服来了。
And whoever disagrees with that needs their head examined.
而所有不同意的人都需要去检查一下脑袋有没有毛病。
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