It’s a normal building, by and large. It has four floors and nine flats and the whole block smells of Granny (and coffee, thanks to Lennart). It also has a clear set of regulations pinned up in the laundry, with the heading FOR EVERYONE’S WELL-BEING in which WELL-BEING has been underlined twice. And a lift that’s always broken and rubbish separated for recycling in the yard, and a drunk, a very large animal of some sort, and, of course, a granny.
大体上来说，这是一栋普通的建筑。它有四层楼，九间公寓，整栋楼闻上去都像是外婆（和咖啡——多亏了莱纳特）的气味。洗衣房里张贴着一套明确的规章，标题是“为了每个人的福祉”，其中“福祉”下面画了双横线。电梯总是坏的，垃圾在院子里分类存放便于回收。这里有一个酒鬼、一头巨大的动物，当然，还有一位外婆。
There’s something special about a grandmother’s house. You never forget how it smells.
外婆的房子有些特别之处。你绝对不会忘记它的味道。
Granny lives at the top, opposite Mum and Elsa and George. Granny’s flat is exactly like Mum’s except much messier, because Granny’s flat is like Granny and Mum’s flat is like Mum.
外婆住在顶楼，和妈妈、爱莎、乔治对门。外婆的公寓和妈妈的完全一样，除了乱得多，因为外婆的公寓就像外婆这个人，而妈妈的公寓就像妈妈这个人。
George lives with Mum and that’s not always the easiest of things, because it means he also lives next door to Granny. He has a beard and a very small hat and is obsessed with jogging, during which he insists on wearing his shorts over the top of his tracksuit. He cooks in English, and so when he’s reading the recipes he says “pork” instead of “flask.” Granny never calls him “George,” just “Loser,” which infuriates Mum, but Elsa knows why Granny’s doing it. She just wants Elsa to know she’s on Elsa’s side, no matter what. Because that’s what you do when you’re a granny and your grandchild’s parents get divorced and find themselves new partners and suddenly tell your grandchild there’s a half sibling on its way. That it irritates the hell out of Mum is something Granny views purely as a bonus.
乔治和妈妈住在一起，这通常不是件容易的事，因为这意味着他也住在外婆隔壁。他蓄着胡子，常戴一顶小帽子，痴迷于慢跑，跑步时总坚持将运动服束在短裤里头。他烹饪时用外语念菜谱。外婆从不叫他“乔治”，只叫他“废物”，这让妈妈非常愤怒，但爱莎知道外婆为什么这么叫。她只是想让爱莎知道，她是站在爱莎这边的，不管发生什么。因为当外孙女的父母离异且找到新伴侣，还告诉外孙女她将有一个同母异父的弟弟或者妹妹时，一位外婆就应该这么干。惹怒妈妈在外婆看来单纯只是附加的奖励。
Halfie is either going to be called Elvir or Elvira, Mum and George have decided. When Elsa told Granny this, she just stared at her. “ELV-ir?!”
妈妈和乔治决定给“小半”取名为埃尔维或者埃尔维拉。爱莎告诉外婆此事时，她盯着爱莎说：“埃尔维？！”
“It’s the boy version of Elvira.”
“是埃尔维拉的男孩子版本。”
Obviously Elsa knows that Granny doesn’t dislike Halfie. Or even George, really. She just talks that way because she’s Granny. One time Elsa told Granny she really did hate George, and that sometimes she even hated Halfie too. It’s very difficult not to love someone who can hear you say something as horrible as that and still be on your side.
爱莎当然知道外婆其实不是不喜欢“小半”，包括乔治。她这么表现只是因为她是外婆。有一次，爱莎告诉外婆，她真的恨乔治，有时候甚至恨“小半”。当你说出这么可怕的话时，听到的那个人居然还能站在你这边，你无法不去爱这样的人。
“Elvir, though? Are they planning to send him to Mordor to destroy the ring, or what?” (This was soon after Granny had watched all of the Lord of the Rings films with Elsa, because Elsa’s mum had expressly told Elsa she wasn’t allowed to watch them.)
“但是，埃尔维？他们是打算送他去魔多摧毁戒指吗？”（那时候，外婆刚刚和爱莎一起看完了所有《魔戒》电影，而爱莎的妈妈明令禁止爱莎观看。）
Mum and George don’t want to know if Halfie is a boy-half or a girl-half, even though it’s easy to find out. It’s especially important for George not to know. He always calls Halfie she/he, so he doesn’t “trap the child in a gender role.” The first time he said it, Elsa thought he said “gender troll.” It ended up being a very confusing afternoon for all involved.
妈妈和乔治不想知道“小半”会是女小半还是男小半，虽然很容易就能查出来。不知道性别对乔治来说尤其重要。他总是称呼小半“他或她”，这样可以“不将孩子困在一种性别角色中”。第一次听他说“性别角色”这个词时，爱莎以为他说的是“性别巨魔”[1]。结果，所有参与聊天的人都度过了一个非常困惑的午后。【注：[1]“性别角色（gender role）”与“性别巨魔（gender t roll）”发音近似。】
Britt-Marie is almost always at home, so Elsa assumes she is not an entrepreneur. Granny calls her “a full-time nag-bag who will forever be the bane of my life.” She always looks a little like she just popped the wrong chocolate into her mouth. She’s the one who put up the sign in the laundry with that FOR EVERYONE’S WELL-BEING bit on it. Everyone’s well-being is very important to Britt-Marie, even though she and Kent are the only people in the house with a washing machine and tumble-dryer in their flat. One time after George had done some laundry, Britt-Marie came upstairs and asked to have a word with Elsa’s mum. She’d brought a little ball of blue fluff from the tumble-dryer filter, which she held out towards Mum as if it were a newly hatched chick, and said: “I think you forgot this when you were doing the laundry, Ulrika!” And then when George explained that actually he was in charge of their laundry, Britt-Marie looked at him and smiled, though she didn’t seem very genuine about it. And then she said, “How very modern,” and smiled well-meaningly at Mum and handed her the fluff and said: “For everyone’s well-being, in this leaseholders’ association we clear the dryer filter when we’ve finished, Ulrika!”
布里特—玛丽几乎总是在家，所以爱莎推测她不是位企业家。外婆称呼她为“永远是我的灾星兼全职烦人精”。她看上去总是一副吃错巧克力的模样。就是她在洗衣房里贴上了那个写着“为了每个人的福祉”的规章。每个人的福祉对布里特—玛丽来说十分重要，虽然她和肯特是整幢楼唯一在自己公寓里就有洗衣机和滚筒烘干机的人。某次乔治洗好衣服之后，布里特—玛丽上楼要求和爱莎的妈妈谈谈。她带着从滚筒烘干机的过滤器中取出的一小团蓝色毛球，举到妈妈面前，就好像那是一只新孵出来的小鸡，说：“我想，你洗衣服的时候忘记这个了，乌尔莉卡！”当乔治解释说，其实是他负责洗衣服时，布里特—玛丽看着他笑了，虽然这笑容看上去不怎么真诚。她说：“男人干家务，真新潮啊。”然后意味深长地朝着妈妈笑着递出了毛球。“在这个租户协会里，为了每个人的福祉，我们洗完衣服就该清干净毛球，乌尔莉卡！”
In the flat under Granny’s live Britt-Marie and Kent. They like owning things, and Kent especially likes telling you how much everything costs. He’s hardly ever at home because he’s an entrepreneur, or a “Kentrepreneur” as he likes to joke loudly to people he doesn’t know. And if people don’t laugh right away, he repeats it even louder. As if their hearing is the problem.
外婆楼下的公寓住着布里特—玛丽和肯特。他们喜欢“拥有东西”，肯特尤其喜欢告诉别人每件东西的价格。他几乎从不在家，因为他是个企业家，或者说是一位“垦（肯）业家”[2]——他总是对陌生人大声地这么开玩笑。如果人家没有立刻大笑，他就用更大的声音重复，就好像是别人的听力有问题。【注：[2]Kentrepreneur ＝ Kent（肯特）＋ entrepreneur（企业家）。】
Under Britt-Marie and Kent’s flat live Lennart and Maud. Lennart drinks at least twenty cups of coffee per day and always looks triumphantly proud every time his percolator is turned on. He is the second-nicest person in the world, and he’s married to Maud. Maud is the nicest person in the world and she has always just baked some cookies. They live with Samantha, who’s almost always asleep. Samantha is a bichon frise but Lennart and Maud talk to her as if she wasn’t. When Lennart and Maud drink coffee in front of Samantha they don’t say they’re having “coffee,” they call it “a drink for grown-ups.” Granny says they’re soft in the head, but Elsa just thinks they’re nice. And they always have dreams and hugs — dreams are a kind of cookie; hugs are just normal hugs.
布里特—玛丽和肯特楼下的公寓住着莱纳特和莫德。莱纳特每天至少要喝二十杯咖啡，每当他的咖啡壶开始运作时，他都看上去格外得意。他是这个世界上第二好的人，而且还娶了莫德。莫德是这个世界上最好的人，总是在烤饼干。他们和萨曼莎住在一起。萨曼莎是一条比熊犬，但莱纳特和莫德对它说话时从不当它是条狗。莱纳特和莫德在萨曼莎面前喝咖啡，也从不说自己在喝“咖啡”，而是说“大人的饮料”。外婆总说他们傻里傻气的，但爱莎认为他们是好人。而且他们总是有满满的梦想和拥抱——“梦想”是一种饼干，拥抱就是普通的拥抱。
In the flat opposite Britt-Marie and Kent lives the woman with the black skirt. You hardly ever see her except when she scurries between the front entrance and her door early in the morning and late at night. She always wears high heels and a perfectly ironed black skirt and talks extremely loudly into a white cord trailing from her ear. She never says hello and she never smiles. Granny says that her skirt is too well-ironed and “if you were the cloth hanging off that woman you’d be terrified of getting yourself creased.”
布里特—玛丽和肯特对面的公寓里住着穿黑裙的女人。人们很少见到她，除了一大清早或深更半夜她在大楼入口和她的家门之间匆匆经过时。她总是脚踏高跟鞋，身着熨烫平整的黑色短裙，冲着白色耳机线大声说话。她从不跟人打招呼也从不微笑。外婆总说，她的裙子熨得过分平整了。“如果你是那女人身上的衣服，你会紧张兮兮生怕被弄皱。”
It actually isn’t a leaseholders’ association yet. But it’s going to become one, Britt-Marie is at pains to point out. She and Kent will see it done. And in Britt-Marie’s leaseholders’ association it’s going to be very important to keep to the rules. That is why she is Granny’s antagonist. Elsa knows what “antagonist” means, because you do if you read quality literature.
其实目前并没有什么租户协会，但即将成立一个，布里特—玛丽总是尽力指出这点。她和肯特一定会确保这个协会的成立。对她的租户协会而言，遵守规定是非常重要的，这就是为什么她是外婆的敌人。爱莎知道“敌人”的意思，因为她读了不少好书。
In the flat under Lennart and Maud live the boy with a syndrome and his mum. The boy with a syndrome is a year and a few weeks younger than Elsa, and never speaks. His mother loses things all the time. Objects seem to rain from her pockets, like in a cartoon when the crook gets frisked by the police and the pile of stuff from his pockets ends up bigger than they are. Both the boy and his mother have very kind eyes, and not even Granny seems to dislike them. And the boy’s always dancing. He dances his way through his existence.
在莱纳特和莫德的楼下，住着生病的男孩和他的妈妈。生病的男孩比爱莎小一岁零几周，他从来不说话。他的妈妈总是丢三落四，东西似乎总是从她的口袋里像下雨一样下没了，就像卡通片里，坏蛋被警察搜身的时候，能搜出来比口袋还大的一堆东西。男孩和他的妈妈都有非常和善的眼睛，连外婆都不讨厌他们。那个男孩总是在跳舞，靠着跳舞度过人生。
In the flat next to theirs, on the other side of the lift that never works, lives The Monster. Elsa doesn’t know what his real name is, but she calls him The Monster because everyone is afraid of him. Even Elsa’s mum, who isn’t scared of anything in the entire world, gives Elsa’s back a little shove when they’re about to walk past his flat. No one ever sees The Monster because he never goes out in the daytime, but Kent always says “People like that shouldn’t be let loose! But that’s what happens when the authorities go for the soft option. People in this bloody country get psychiatric care instead of prison!” Britt-Marie has written letters to the landlord, demanding that The Monster be evicted in view of her firm conviction that he “attracts other substance abusers into the building.” Elsa is not sure what that means, and she’s not even sure Britt-Marie knows. She asked Granny one day, but she just went a bit quiet and said, “Certain things should be left well alone.” And this is a granny who fought in the War-Without-End, the war against the shadows in the Land-of-Almost-Awake, and who has met the most terrifying creatures that have been dreamed up in an eternity of ten thousand fairy tales.
在母子俩的隔壁，那台从不运转的电梯的另一侧，住着怪物。爱莎不知道他的真名，她叫他怪物，因为每个人都害怕他。即使是天不怕地不怕的爱莎妈妈，在经过他的公寓时，也会轻轻推一下爱莎的后背，让她走快点儿。没有人见过怪物，因为他从不在白天出门，但肯特总是说：“对那种人不能放任不管！政府图省事才会让这种事情发生，用精神病护理代替监狱！”布里特—玛丽曾多次给房东写信，要求将怪物驱逐出去，因为她可以肯定他“会吸引其他瘾君子来这栋房子”。爱莎不太明白那是什么含义，她甚至不确定布里特—玛丽是否明白。有一天她问外婆，而外婆迟疑了一下，说：“有些东西就不该去打扰。”这可是外婆啊，参加过不眠大陆抗击暗影的无尽战争的外婆，见识过耗费“一万个童话永恒”幻想出来的最可怕生物的外婆。
Opposite Lennart and Maud lives Alf. He drives a taxi and always wears a leather jacket under a layer of irascibility. His shoes have soles as thin as greaseproof paper because he doesn’t lift his feet when he walks. Granny says he has the lowest center of gravity in the entire bloody universe.
在莱纳特和莫德的对门住着阿尔夫。他是名出租车司机，总是穿着一件皮夹克，看上去怒气冲冲。他的鞋底薄得像一层防油纸，因为他走路时从不抬脚。外婆说，在这整个该死的宇宙中，他的重心是最低的。
That’s how you measure time in the Land-of-Almost-Awake: in eternities. There are no watches in the Land-of-Almost-Awake, so time is measured according to how you feel. If it feels like an eternity, you say, “This is a lesser eternity.” And if it feels sort of like two dozen eternities, you say, “An utter eternity.” And the only thing that feels longer than an utter eternity is the eternity of a fairy tale, because a fairy tale is an eternity of utter eternities. And the very longest kind of eternity in existence is the eternity of ten thousand fairy tales. That’s the biggest number in the Land-of-Almost-Awake.
“永恒”是不眠大陆的计时单位。不眠大陆没有手表，所以如何测量时间全凭你的感觉。如果感觉像是一个永恒，你就说这是“一个小永恒”。如果感觉有差不多两打永恒，你就说“一个完全永恒”。而唯一比“一个完全永恒”感觉更长的就是“一个童话永恒”，因为一个童话是无数个永恒的合集。而现有的最长“永恒”，是“一万个童话永恒”。这是不眠大陆最久的时间了。不过，“永恒”偶尔也会被外婆乱用来表示巨大的数字。外婆嘛。
Anyway, to get back to the point: at the bottom of the house where all these people live, there’s a meeting room, where residents’ meetings are held once every month. This is a bit more than in most buildings, but the flats are rented, and Britt-Marie and Kent really want everyone living there, by “a democratic process,” to make a request to the landlord to sell them the building so they can become flat owners. And to do that, you must have residents’ meetings. Because no one else in the house actually wants to be a flat-owner. The democratic bit of the democratic process is the one Kent and Britt-Marie like the least, you might say.
言归正传，在所有这些人住的公寓的底层，是一间公共休息室，每月一次的居民会议就在这里举行。这比大多数公寓楼都要频繁，因为这里的公寓全是租的，而布里特—玛丽和肯特非常希望每个住在这里的人“通过民主流程”要求房东把房子卖给他们，使他们成为房主。为此，他们必须召开居民会议。而公寓里的其他人其实都不想成为房主，因此可以说，布里特—玛丽和肯特最不喜欢的便是民主流程中的“民主”部分。
Elsa arrives early. Kent hasn’t got there yet, because Kent is always late. Alf hasn’t arrived either, because Alf is always exactly on time. But Maud and Lennart are sitting at the big table and Britt-Marie and Mum are in the pantry discussing the coffee. Samantha is sleeping on the floor. Maud pushes a big tin of dreams towards Elsa. Lennart sits next to her, waiting for the coffee. Meanwhile he sips from a thermos he has brought with him. It’s important to Lennart to have standby coffee available while he’s waiting for the new coffee.
爱莎到早了。肯特还没有来，因为肯特总是迟到。阿尔夫也没到，因为阿尔夫总是掐着点儿准时到。但莫德和莱纳特已经坐在长桌旁，而布里特—玛丽和妈妈则在小厨房里讨论着咖啡。萨曼莎在地上睡觉。莫德把一大罐“梦想”饼干推到爱莎面前。莱纳特坐在她身旁，等着咖啡。同时，他小口喝着自己带来的膳魔师保温杯里的咖啡。在等待新咖啡时，有备用咖啡可以喝，这对莱纳特而言很重要。
Britt-Marie is by the kitchen counter in the pantry with her hands clasped together in frustration over her stomach, while she looks nervously at Mum. Mum is making coffee. This is making Britt-Marie nervous because she thinks it would be best if they waited for Kent. Britt-Marie always thinks it would be best to wait for Kent, but Mum is not so big on waiting. She is more about taking control. Britt-Marie smiles well-meaningly at Mum.
布里特—玛丽沮丧地站在小厨房的橱柜旁，双手交叠按在自己的胃部，紧张地看着妈妈。妈妈正在煮咖啡。布里特—玛丽之所以紧张，是因为她觉得最好还是等肯特来了再煮。布里特—玛丽总是觉得应该等一等肯特，但妈妈很不喜欢等待，她更喜欢掌控大局。布里特—玛丽讨好地朝妈妈笑了笑。
And the meetings are obviously terrifically boring. First everyone argues about what they were arguing about in the last meeting, and then they all look at their agendas and argue about when to have the next meeting, and then the meeting is over. But Elsa still goes there today because she needs to know when the arguing starts, so no one notices when she sneaks off.
这些会议显然非常无聊。首先，每个人会就上一次会议时争论的东西再吵一遍，然后大家查看各自的日程，就下一次会议何时召开争执一番，之后会议就结束了。但爱莎今天还是去了，因为她得知道争吵何时开始，才能在没人发现的情况下偷溜出去。
“Maybe we should wait for Kent after all?”
“也许我们还是应该等肯特来？”
“Well, it’s lovely that you and your little Elsa are here today. We all think it’s… lovely,” says Britt-Marie.
“你和你的小爱莎今天能来真好，我们都觉得…很好。”
Maud sits at the table looking worried. Because Maud doesn’t like conflict. That’s why she bakes so many cookies, because it’s much more difficult to have conflict when there are cookies around.
莫德坐在桌旁，看上去有点儿担心，因为莫德不喜欢争执。她之所以烤这么多饼干，是因为有饼干吃就很难吵起架来。
“Oh, I think we can manage to make some coffee without Kent,” Mum answers pleasantly.
“拜托，我觉得煮咖啡这种小事还用不着肯特莅临指导吧。”
Mum looks as if she’s counting to some three-digit number and continues measuring the scoops of coffee.
妈妈继续一勺一勺计量着咖啡粉，似乎快数到三位数了。
“Yes, thanks,” says Mum curtly.
“是的，多谢关心。”妈妈简短地回答。
“It’s only coffee, Britt-Marie.”
“只不过是咖啡啦，布里特—玛丽。”
“Well, of course, please yourself, Ulrika. You always do.”
“那好吧，你开心就好，乌尔莉卡。反正你总是这样。”
Britt-Marie nods her understanding of the situation and brushes some invisible dust off her skirt. There is always a bit of invisible dust on Britt-Marie’s skirt, which only Britt-Marie can see, and which she absolutely must brush off.
布里特—玛丽点头表示理解，从裙子上掸去一些看不见的灰尘。布里特—玛丽的裙子上总是有些隐形的灰尘，只有她自己能看见，必须要掸掉。
“Kent always makes very nice coffee. Everyone always thinks Kent makes very nice coffee.”
“肯特煮的咖啡很好喝。每个人都觉得他煮得好喝。”
Again, Britt-Marie clasps her hands together over her stomach. Smiles.
布里特—玛丽再一次将双手覆上她的胃部，笑了笑。
“Everything all right with the coffee, Ulrika?”
“咖啡煮得还顺利吧，乌尔莉卡？”
“I mean, it must be hard for you to find time for little Elsa, we can appreciate that, what with you being so ambitious about your career.”
“我是说，你一定很难找时间陪小爱莎，因为你对你的事业这么雄心勃勃。我们很欣赏这一点。”
There’s a patient “mmm” from Mum. A bit more coffee is measured out. A bit more dust is brushed off.
妈妈耐心地“嗯”了一声回应。更多的咖啡粉被添加进去，更多的灰尘被掸掉。
Britt-Marie goes to the window and moves a plant and says, as if thinking out aloud: “And your partner’s so good, isn’t he, staying at home to take care of the household. That’s what you call it, isn’t it? Partner? It’s very modern, I understand.” And then she smiles again. Well-meaning. Brushes a little more and adds, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. Nothing at all.”
布里特—玛丽走到窗边，移动了一盆植物，自言自语道：“你的伴侣非常好，不是吗？待在家里照顾家人。是这么称呼吗？伴侣？真是太新潮了，我明白的。”然后她又笑了笑，讨好的笑容，掸了掸灰，补充道：“这没什么不对的，当然。没任何问题。”
Alf comes in, in a very bad mood, wearing his creaking leather jacket with a taxi logo on its chest. He has an evening newspaper in his hand. Checks his watch. It’s seven o’clock sharp.
阿尔夫走了进来，心情很差，穿着他那件咯吱响的皮夹克，胸前有个出租车的标志，手上拿着一份晚报，看着手表。七点整。
And then Mum spoons the coffee a little as if she’s having fantasies of flinging it in Britt-Marie’s face. But in a controlled way.
听到这话，妈妈舀起了一点儿咖啡粉，似乎在幻想把它泼到布里特—玛丽的脸上，但还是忍住了。
“Bloody says seven on the note,” he grunts across the room at no one in particular.
“见鬼，便条上写着七点。”他走了过来，自言自语。
“Kent is a little late,” says Britt-Marie, and smiles and clasps her hands together over her stomach again. “He has an important group meeting with Germany,” she goes on, as if Kent is meeting the entire population of Germany.
“肯特要稍微晚一点儿，”布里特—玛丽笑着，双手又扣在胃部，“他跟德国有个重要会议。”她说得好像肯特是和德国全体公民开会似的。
Fifteen minutes later Kent comes storming into the room, his jacket flapping like a mantle around him, and yelling, “Ja, Klaus! Ja! We will dizcuzz it at ze meeting in Frankfurt!” into his telephone. Alf looks up from his evening newspaper and taps his wristwatch and mutters, “Hope we didn’t cause you any inconvenience by being here on time.” Kent ignores him and instead claps his hands excitedly towards Lennart and Maud and says, with a grin, “Shall we kick things off, then? Eh? It’s not like we’re getting any babies made here, are we?” And then he turns quickly to Mum and points at her belly and laughs: “At least no more than we’ve already got!” And when Mum doesn’t immediately laugh, Kent points at her belly again and repeats, “At least no more than we’ve already got!” in a louder voice, as if his levels weren’t quite right the first time.
十五分钟后，肯特冲进了房间，外套像斗篷般挂在身上，夹杂着德语大声对着电话喊：“呀（好的），克鲁兹！呀！我们在法兰克福的会上再讨论！”阿尔夫从晚报里抬起头，敲着手表，抱怨道：“希望我们准时来不会给你造成什么不便。”肯特无视了他，兴奋地朝莱纳特和莫德拍着手，咧嘴笑道：“我们开始吧！嗯？应该没有人要生孩子吧？”然后他快速地转向妈妈，指着她的肚子大笑：“至少除了这个不会再有了！”妈妈没有立刻笑出来，于是肯特再次指着她的肚子更大声地重复道，好像觉得第一遍的声音还不够响：“至少除了这个不会再有了！”
Then she looks at the door of the flat next to The Monster’s, the one without a name on the mail slot. That is where Our Friend lives. Elsa stands a few feet from it, holding her breath because she’s afraid it will smash the door and come charging out of the splintered remains and try to close its jaws around her throat if it hears her coming too close. Only Granny calls it Our Friend; everyone else says “the hound.” Especially Britt-Marie. Elsa doesn’t know how much fight there is in it, but either way she’s never seen such a big dog in her life. When you hear it barking from behind the door it’s like being whacked in the stomach by a medicine ball.
然后她看向怪物隔壁的房门，那扇门上的投信口没有写名字。“我们的朋友”就住在那里。爱莎站在几步开外，屏住呼吸，害怕它如果听见自己靠得太近，就会撞破房门，从木门碎片中冲出来，张开大嘴咬断她的喉咙。只有外婆称它为“我们的朋友”，别人都叫它“猎犬”，尤其是布里特—玛丽。爱莎不知道它到底有多凶猛，在她的人生中从没见过那么大的狗。听它在门里的吼叫声，感觉就像实心球击打在肚子上。
And then Kent declares the meeting open and then everyone argues for two hours about what they argued about at the last meeting. Which is when Elsa sneaks out without anyone noticing. She tiptoes up the stairs to the mezzanine floor. She peers at the door to The Monster’s flat, but calms herself with the thought that there is still daylight outside. The Monster never goes outside while it’s still light.
之后，肯特宣布会议开始，每个人就上一次会议时他们争吵的事情再次吵上两小时。于是，爱莎就可以在无人注意的情况下偷溜出去。她踮着脚尖走上楼梯到二楼，盯着怪物的公寓房门，对自己说现在外头天还亮着，以此让自己镇定下来。怪物从不在天亮时出门。
Maud brings in cookies. Mum serves coffee. Kent takes a gulp, pauses, and announces that it’s rather strong. Alf sweeps down the whole cup in one go and mutters, “Just right!” Britt-Marie takes a tiny, tiny mouthful and rests the cup in the palm of her hand before offering her verdict: “I do think it’s a little strong, personally.” Then she throws a furtive glance at Mum and adds, “And you’re drinking coffee, Ulrika, even though you’re pregnant.” And before Mum has time to answer, Britt-Marie immediately excuses herself: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, obviously. Obviously not!”
莫德拿来饼干。妈妈端上咖啡。肯特喝了一大口，停下，说咖啡太浓了。阿尔夫一口气灌下了一整杯，小声咕哝：“正好！”布里特—玛丽微微抿了一口，端着杯子，做出了她的裁决：“我个人觉得这的确有点儿浓了。”然后她小心翼翼地看了妈妈一眼，补充道：“而你在喝咖啡，乌尔莉卡，即使怀着孕。”妈妈还没来得及回应，布里特—玛丽又立刻解释道：“我不是说这样不对。这当然没什么问题！”
But she has only seen it once, in Granny’s flat, a few days before Granny got taken ill. She couldn’t have imagined feeling more afraid, even if facing a shadow eye-to-eye in the Land-of-Almost-Awake.
她只见过它一次，在外婆的房间里，就在外婆生病前几天。她从没这么害怕过，就算在不眠大陆与暗影面对面也不可能比那次更吓人。
Granny carried on rolling her cigarette and replied indifferently: “That’s Our Friend. It won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt it.”
外婆卷着烟，淡定地回答：“这是我们的朋友。如果你不去惹它，它也不会伤害你。”
“What is… that thing?” Elsa had whispered.
“那…是什么东西？”爱莎小声问。
It was a Saturday and Granny and Elsa were going to an exhibition about dinosaurs. That was the morning Mum put the Gryffindor scarf in the wash without asking and made Elsa take another scarf — a vomit-green one. Mum knows Elsa hates green. She really lacks empathy sometimes, that woman.
那是一个周六，外婆和爱莎打算去看一个恐龙主题展。那天早上，妈妈没打招呼就把格兰芬多围巾拿去洗了，还强迫爱莎戴另一条围巾：一条颜色像呕吐物一样的绿围巾。妈妈知道爱莎讨厌绿色。那个女人有时候真的缺乏同情心。
Our Friend had been lying on Granny’s bed, like a sphinx outside a pyramid. Elsa stood transfixed in the hall, staring at that gigantic black head and the terrifying, depthless eyes. Granny had come out of the kitchen and was putting on her coat as if it were the most natural thing in the whole universe to have the biggest thing ever lying on her bed.
“我们的朋友”那时正躺在外婆的床上，像矗立在金字塔前的狮身人面像。爱莎惊恐地呆立在客厅，盯着那颗巨大的黑色脑袋和吓人的深邃眼睛。外婆从厨房走出来，穿上外套，仿佛这么大的玩意儿躺在她床上是一件再正常不过的事情。
Easy for her to say, Elsa thought — how was she supposed to know what would provoke one of those? Once, one of the girls at school had hit her because she had “an ugly scarf.” That was apparently all Elsa had done to her, and she got hit for it.
说得倒容易，爱莎想，她怎么知道什么事情会惹到那种东西？有一次，学校里一个女孩打了爱莎，因为爱莎戴了“一条丑围巾”。她就这么莫名其妙挨了顿打。
And so Elsa stood there, her usual scarf in the wash and in its place an ugly scarf chosen by her mother, worrying that vomit-green might provoke the beast. In the end Elsa had explained that it was her mum’s scarf, not hers, and her mum had terrible taste, before backing away towards the door. Our Friend just stared at her. Or at least that was what Elsa thought, if she was right in thinking those were its eyes. And then it also bared its teeth, Elsa was almost sure of it. But Granny just muttered something about “kids, you know” and rolled her eyes at Our Friend. Then she went to find the keys to Renault and then she and Elsa went to the dinosaur exhibition. Granny left the front door wide open, Elsa remembers, and when they sat in Renault and Elsa asked what Our Friend was doing in Granny’s flat, Granny just answered: “Visiting.” When Elsa asked why it was always barking behind its door, Granny answered cheerily, “Barking? Ah, it only does that when Britt-Marie goes past.” And when Elsa asked why, Granny grinned from ear to ear and answered: “Because that’s what he likes doing.”
所以，爱莎站在那儿——格兰芬多围巾洗了——戴着一条妈妈选的丑围巾，担心恶心的绿色会激怒那头野兽。最后，爱莎解释道，这是她妈妈的围巾，不是她自己的，妈妈的品位可差了，然后倒退着走向大门。“我们的朋友”只是盯着她。至少爱莎是这么认为的，如果那的确是它的眼睛的话。它随后露了露牙齿，爱莎几乎可以肯定。而外婆只是咕哝了几句“小孩子，切”，朝“我们的朋友”翻了个白眼，随后去找雷诺的车钥匙，接着就和爱莎一起去恐龙展了。爱莎记得外婆出门时没有关门，在雷诺车里，爱莎问“我们的朋友”在外婆的房间里做什么，外婆只是回答：“来做客。”爱莎问为什么它老是在门后吠叫，外婆欢快地回答：“吠叫？哈，它只在布里特—玛丽经过的时候这么干。”爱莎问为什么，外婆大笑着说：“因为它就喜欢这么干。”
And then Elsa had asked who Our Friend lived with, and then Granny said: “Not everyone needs to live with someone, good God. For instance, I don’t live with anybody.” And even though Elsa insisted that this might have some connection with the fact that Granny was not a dog, Granny never explained anything else about it.
爱莎又问“我们的朋友”和谁住在一起，外婆说：“不是每个人都需要跟别人住在一起的，天啊。比方说我就不跟别人住一起。”后来即使爱莎坚持说那也许是因为外婆不是一条狗，外婆也不再对此做任何解释了。
And now here Elsa stands, on the landing, peeling off wrappers from the Daim chocolate. She throws in the first one so quickly that the flap slams when she lets go of it. She holds her breath and feels her heart thumping in her whole head. But then she remembers Granny saying that this needs to be done quickly, so Britt-Marie doesn’t get suspicious during the residents’ meeting downstairs.
而此时此刻，爱莎站在楼梯平台上，剥着代姆巧克力的包装纸。她把第一块迅速扔了进去，投信口因此“砰”的一声关上。她屏住呼吸，感觉整个脑袋里回荡着自己的心跳声。不过随后她想到，外婆说过要速战速决，不然在楼下开会的布里特—玛丽就会怀疑了。
She hears its breath. It sounds like there’s a rockfall going on in its lungs. Elsa’s heart thumps until she’s sure Our Friend will feel the vibrations through the door.
她听见了它的呼吸声，听上去像是它的肺里正在发生一场山崩。爱莎的心猛跳着，她敢肯定“我们的朋友”能通过门感觉到她心脏的振动。
Britt-Marie really hates Our Friend. Elsa tries to remind herself that, in spite of it all, she is a knight of Miamas, and after that she opens the mail slot with more courage.
布里特—玛丽真的非常恨“我们的朋友”。爱莎试着提醒自己，不管怎么样，她可是密阿玛斯的骑士，便鼓起勇气推开了投信口。
“Granny’s ill,” Elsa explains while it’s eating.
“外婆病了。”爱莎在它吃糖的时候说道。
Then she hears it moving and snatches back her hand, startled. There’s silence for a few seconds. She hears the abrupt crunch of Our Friend taking the chocolate in its jaws.
她听见它走了过来，吓了一跳，于是猛地收回手。安静了几秒钟。她突然又听见“我们的朋友”嚼巧克力发出的嘎嘣嘎嘣声。
“My granny says to tell you she’s sorry for not bringing you any sweets for such a long time!” she says diligently through the mail slot, removing fistfuls of wrappers and dropping them on the floor.
“外婆向你问好，还有向你道歉，因为她这么久都没带糖果给你！”她认真地通过投信口朝里头说道，剥开了一把糖，然后把糖扔在了地上。
She isn’t prepared for the way the words tremble as they come out of her. She convinces herself that Our Friend is breathing more slowly. She empties in more chocolate.
她说出这些话时，没想到自己的声音居然在发抖。她让自己平静下来，“我们的朋友”呼吸放缓了，她又扔进去更多的巧克力。
Elsa has no friends, so she isn’t quite sure of the normal procedure for these types of errands. But she imagines that if she did have friends, she’d want them to know if she had cancer. Even if they happened to be the biggest things of anything. “She sends her best and says sorry,” she whispers into the darkness and drops in the rest of the chocolate and gently closes the flap.
爱莎没有朋友，所以不是很确定该如何处理这种差事。但她想，如果是自己得了癌症，而她有朋友，就会希望他们知道这件事。“她向你问好，也向你道歉。”爱莎在黑暗中低语，将剩下的巧克力统统扔进房间，轻轻地关上了投信口。
She stays there for a moment, looking at Our Friend’s door.
她在那里又待了一会儿，看着“我们的朋友”的房门。
“She has cancer,” whispers Elsa.
“她得了癌症。”爱莎小声说。
Because it’s a normal house.
这是一栋普通的房子。
George is still in the laundry. In the meeting room, they are all drinking coffee and arguing.
乔治还在洗衣房。而休息室里，他们都喝着咖啡，争论不休。
And then at The Monster’s. If this wild animal can be hiding behind one of the doors, she doesn’t even want to know what might be behind the other.
然后她又看向怪物的房门。如果一只野生动物可以躲在其中一扇门后，她就完全不想知道另一扇门后有什么。
By and large.
大体上而言。
Then she jogs down the stairs to the front entrance.
再然后，她跑下楼梯，跑向前门。
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