Coraline waved him goodbye. They went to the department store to buy the school clothes.
卡萝兰挥手对爸爸说再见，然后跟妈妈去镇上的商店买校服。
Her mother ignored her; she was talking to the shop assistant. They were talking about which kind of pullover to get for Coraline, and were agreeing that the best thing to do would be to get one that was embarrassingly large and baggy, in the hope that one day she might grow into it.
妈妈不理她，忙着跟售货员说话。两个人商量应该给卡萝兰买哪种毛线衫，最后定下一种松松垮垮的，大得让人难堪。她们觉得等卡萝兰个子长高以后，这件衣服正合适。
Coraline saw some Day-glo green gloves she liked a lot. Her mother refused to get them for her, preferring instead to buy white socks, navy-blue school underpants, four grey blouses, and a dark grey skirt.
卡萝兰看中了几副绿色的荧光手套，可妈妈不肯给她买。她想买的是白袜子、学校女生穿的海军蓝内衣裤、四件灰色衬衣、一件深灰色的短裙。
“But Mum, everybody at school’s got grey blouses and everything. NobodyÕs got green gloves. I could be the only one.”
“妈妈，这些东西，灰衬衣什么的，学校里每个人都穿。没人有绿手套，只有我一个人有。”
Coraline wandered off, and looked at a display of Wellington boots shaped like frogs and ducks and rabbits. Then she wandered back.
卡萝兰逛来逛去，看放在架子上的一排雨靴。雨靴做成各种小动物的样子，有青蛙，有鸭子，有兔子。她又溜达回来。
The next day the sun shone, and Coraline’s mother took her into the nearest large town to buy clothes for school. They dropped her father off at the railway station. He was going into London for the day to see some people.
第二天，太阳出来了。卡萝兰的妈妈带她去最近的大镇上买校服。爸爸中途下车，去火车站。他今天要去伦敦见几个人。
“Not unless you can walk through bricks, dear.”
“不能，除非你能穿过墙壁走过去，亲爱的。”
In the car on the way back home, Coraline said, “What’s in the empty flat?”
开车回家的路上，卡萝兰问：“那套没人买的房子里有什么？”
“Yes, dear. Now, I think you could do with some more hairclips, don’t you?”
“好啦，亲爱的。我觉得你应该多用几个发卡。你说呢？”
Coraline didn’t say anything.
卡萝兰什么都没说。
They got home around lunchtime. The sun was shining, although the day was cold. Coraline’s mother looked in the fridge, and found a sad little tomato and a piece of cheese with green stuff growing on it. There was only a crust in the bread bin.
差不多到吃午饭的时候，她们回了家。太阳亮晃晃的，但天气还是很凉。卡萝兰的妈妈打开冰箱瞧了瞧，只找到一个小得可怜的番茄，一片上面长了一层绿东西的奶酪。面包篮里只剩下一个硬壳面包。
“I was kidnapped by aliens,” said Coraline. “They came down from outer space with ray guns, but I fooled them by wearing a wig and laughing in a foreign accent, and I escaped.”
“我刚才被外星人绑架了。”卡萝兰说，“他们是从外太空来的，拿着激光枪。可我还是把他们骗了。我戴上假发，装出外国口音哈哈笑，就逃出来了。”
“I don’t know. Nothing, I expect. It probably looks like our flat before we moved in. Empty rooms.”
“我不知道，估计什么都没有吧。多半跟咱们那套房子一样，我是说咱们刚刚搬进来的时候。几个空房间。”
“Do you think you could get into it from our flat?”
“你能从咱们的套间进到那套房子里吗？”
“I’d better dash down to the shops and get some fishfingers or something,” said her mother. “Do you want to come?”
“我得赶紧去商店跑一趟，买点儿炸鱼条什么的。”妈妈说，“想一块儿去吗？”
“Well, let’s say half a dozen, to be on the safe side,” said her mother.
“好，咱们还是保险点，买半打。”妈妈说。
“No.”
“不。”
“Coraline? Oh, there you are. Where on earth were you?”
“卡萝兰？哦，原来你在这儿。跑哪儿去了？”
“Oh.”
“噢。”
She flipped through a book her mother was reading about native people in a distant country; how every day they would take pieces of white silk and draw on them in wax, then dip the silks in dye, then draw on them more in wax and dye them some more, then boil the wax out in hot water, and then, finally, throw the now-beautiful cloths on a fire and burn them to ashes.
她胡乱翻着妈妈正在念的一本书，讲的是一个遥远国家的事。当地的人拿一块白布，用蜡在上面画画，再把画了画的布浸到染料里，然后用蜡在上面画更多的画，重新浸在染料里，最后把布放在热水里煮，把上面的蜡煮掉，拿出来以后就成了一块漂亮的料子。他们这才把这块料子放在火上，一把火烧成灰。
Coraline was bored.
卡萝兰觉得无聊极了。
“Suit yourself,” said her mother, and left. Then she came back and got her purse and car keys and went out again.
“随你吧。”妈妈说完，走了。紧接着又回来了，拿上钱包和车钥匙，又出门了。
It seemed particularly pointless to Coraline, but she hoped that the people enjoyed it. She was still bored, and her mother wasn’t yet home.
卡萝兰觉得这么做简直没道理，她希望那些人做得开心。她还是无聊，妈妈又老是不回来。
“No,” said Coraline.
“不想。”卡萝兰说。
Coraline got a chair and pushed it over to the kitchen door. She climbed on to the chair, and reached up. She clambered down, and got a broom from the broom cupboard. She climbed back on the chair again, and reached up with the broom.
卡萝兰把一把椅子推到厨房门边，站在椅子上伸手朝上够。够不着。她跳下椅子，从扫帚柜里拿出一把扫帚，重新爬上椅子，用扫帚朝门框上一扫。
Chink. She climbed down from the chair and picked up the keys. She smiled triumphantly. Then she leaned the broom against the wall and went into the drawing room.
哗啦。她爬下椅子，从地上拾起钥匙，胜利地笑了。接着，她把扫帚倚着墙边放好，走进客厅。
Then Coraline put her hand on the doorknob and turned it; and, finally, she opened the door.
卡萝兰这才伸手握住门把手，一转。门开了。
The family did not use the drawing room. They had inherited the furniture from Coraline’s grandmother, along with a wooden coffee table, a side table, a heavy glass ashtray and the oil painting of a bowl of fruit. Coraline could never work out why anyone would want to paint a bowl of fruit. Other than that, the room was empty: there were no knick-knacks on the mantelpiece, no statues or clocks; nothing that made it feel comfortable or lived-in.
家里人根本不用这间客厅。这里的家具都是从卡萝兰的奶奶那儿继承来的。有一张木头咖啡桌，一张靠墙桌，一个沉甸甸的玻璃烟灰缸，还有一幅油画，画的是一碗水果。卡萝兰不明白为什么有人要画一碗水果。除了这些东西以外，这间房子空着。壁炉架上没有小摆设，没有雕像，没有钟，没有一点儿东西让人觉得舒服，想在这间屋子里住。
It opened on to a dark hallway. The bricks had gone, as if they’d never been there. There was a cold, musty smell coming through the open doorway: it smelled like something very old and very slow.
打开的房门后面是一条黑黢黢的过道，原来的砖墙连影子都瞧不见，好像从来没有那堵墙似的。过道里传来一股冷飕飕的霉味儿，闻着像一种非常非常老、动作非常非常慢的东西。
The old black key felt colder than any of the others. She pushed it into the keyhole. It turned smoothly, with a satisfying clunk.
这是一把老钥匙，黑乎乎的，握在手里冰凉，比别的钥匙凉得多。她把钥匙插进锁孔。门锁发出让人高兴的喀嚓一声，顺顺当当打开了。
Coraline stopped and listened. She knew she was doing something wrong, and she was trying to listen for her mother coming back, but she heard nothing.
卡萝兰停住脚步，竖起耳朵听。她知道不应该开这扇门，想听听妈妈回来没有。她什么动静都没听见。
Coraline walked down the corridor uneasily. There was something very familiar about it.
卡萝兰提心吊胆地沿着过道向前走，总觉得这个地方十分熟悉。
The carpet beneath her feet was the same carpet they had in their flat. The wallpaper was the same wallpaper they had. The picture hanging in the hall was the same that they had hanging in their hallway at home.
脚下铺着地毯，她自己房间里铺的地毯就是这一种；墙纸也是家里用的那种墙纸；过道墙壁上挂着画，和她家里挂在过道上的画一模一样。
Coraline went through the door.
卡萝兰走了进去。
She shook her head, confused.
她摇晃着脑袋，糊涂了。
She knew where she was: she was in her own home. She hadn’t left.
她知道她这是在什么地方：她在她自个儿的房间里。她哪儿都没去。
The picture they had in their own hallway showed a boy in old-fashioned clothes staring at some bubbles. But now the expression on his face was different — he was looking at the bubbles as if he was planning to do something very nasty indeed to them. And there was something peculiar about his eyes.
他们自家过道上的画上面是个男孩子，穿着老式衣服，盯着一串水泡出神。可在这里，他脸上的表情变了——他望着水泡，好像正打算对这些水泡干出什么非常坏的坏事似的。还有他的眼睛，总觉得有点不对劲。
She stared at the picture hanging on the wall: no, it wasn’t exactly the same.
她盯着墙上的画：不，跟家里挂的并不完全一样。
She almost had it when somebody said, “Coraline?” It sounded like her mother.
就在她刚要琢磨出来的时候，有人叫了一声，“卡萝兰？”声音像她的妈妈。
She wondered what the empty flat would be like — if that was where the corridor led.
她心想，不知那套空房间是什么样儿一如果这条过道真的通向那儿的话。
Coraline stared at his eyes, trying to work out what exactly was different.
卡萝兰盯着他的眼睛，使劲琢磨到底是哪儿不对劲。
Coraline went down the hall, to where her father’s study was. She opened the door. There was a man in there, sitting at the keyboard, with his back to her.
卡萝兰沿着过道，朝爸爸书房的方向走。她推开房门。书房里有个男人，坐在键盘前，背对着她。
The man turned round. His eyes were buttons — big and black and shiny.
那个男人转过身来。他的眼睛是两只纽扣，又大又黑，亮晶晶的。
“Coraline?” the woman said. “Is that you?”
“卡萝兰，”那女人说，“是你吗？”
“Well, go on.” said the woman.
“快去呀。”那女人说。
Coraline went into the kitchen, where the voice had come from. A woman stood in the kitchen with her back to Coraline. She looked a little like Coraline’s mother. Only É
卡萝兰走进厨房，声音就是打这儿来的。一个女人站在厨房里，背对卡萝兰。背影有点像卡萝兰的妈妈，只是…
And then she turned round. Her eyes were big black buttons.
她转过身来。她的一双眼睛是两只又大又黑的纽扣。
Only her skin was white as paper.
只是，她的皮肤太白，白得像纸一样。
“Lunchtime, Coraline,” said the woman.
“吃午饭了，卡萝兰。”那女人说。
“I’m your other mother,” said the woman. “Go and tell your other father that lunch is ready.” She opened the door of the oven.
“我是你的另一个妈妈。”女人说，“去告诉你的另一个爸爸，说午饭做得了。”她打开烤箱门。
Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark-red fingernails were curved and sharp.
只是，她的指头长了些，不停地动弹。指甲是暗红色的，有点卷，尖尖的。
Only she was taller and thinner.
只是，她高了些，瘦了些。
Suddenly Coraline realised how hungry she was. It smelled wonderful.
忽然间，卡萝兰发现自己饿坏了。味道真香啊。
“Who are you?” asked Coraline.
“你是谁？”卡萝兰问。
“Hello,” said Coraline. “I-I mean, she said to say that lunch is ready.”
“你好，”卡萝兰说，“我——我是说，她说午饭做得了。”
Coraline shovelled the food into her mouth. It tasted wonderful.
卡萝兰大口大口吃着。好吃极了。
“Hello, Coraline,” he said. “I’m starving.”
“你好，卡萝兰。”他说，“我都快饿死了。”
He got up and went with her into the kitchen.
他站起来，和她一块儿走进厨房。
“We’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” said Coraline’s other father.
“我们一直在等你，等了好长时间。”卡萝兰的另一个爸爸说。
They sat at the kitchen table and Coraline’s other mother brought them lunch. A huge, golden-brown roasted chicken, fried potatoes, tiny green peas.
他们在餐桌边坐下，卡萝兰的另一个妈妈端上午餐。一只很大的鸡，烤得黄铮铮的，配着炸马铃薯，煮小青豆。
“Yes,” said the other mother. “It wasn’t the same here without you. But we knew you’d arrive one day, and then we could be a proper family. Would you like some more chicken?”
“对。”另一个妈妈说，“没有你，这儿不像个家的样子。可我们知道，你总有一天会来的，我们会组成一个非常好的家庭。再来点鸡肉？”
“For me?”
“等我？”
She took some more chicken.
她又来了点鸡肉。
It was the best chicken that Coraline had ever eaten. Her mother sometimes made chicken, but it was always out of packets, or frozen, and was very dry, and it never tasted of anything. When Coraline’s father cooked chicken he bought real chicken, but he did strange things to it, like stewing it in wine, or stuffing it with prunes, or baking it in pastry, and Coraline would always refuse to touch it on principle.
这是卡萝兰吃过的最好吃的烤鸡。她的妈妈有时候也做烤鸡，但鸡总是真空包装，要不就是冻鸡，肉干巴巴的，什么滋味都没有。要是换了卡萝兰的爸爸做菜，他会买真正的鸡，可做法稀奇古怪。比如把鸡放在葡萄酒里炖，往鸡肚子里塞李子，要不就是烤之前涂许多面粉。一般说来，卡萝兰碰都不要碰。
“I didn’t know I had another mother,” said Coraline cautiously.
“我以前怎么不知道还有另一个妈妈？”卡萝兰小心地问。
“The rats?”
“老鼠？”
“Of course you do. Everyone does,” said the other mother, her black-button eyes gleaming. “After lunch I thought you might like to play in your room with the rats.”
“你当然知道，每个人都有另一个妈妈。”另一个妈妈说，黑纽扣眼睛一闪一闪的，“吃完午饭以后，你可以在你房间里和老鼠玩一会儿。”
Coraline had never seen a rat, except on television. She was quite looking forward to it. This was turning out to be a very interesting day after all.
卡萝兰只在电视上见过老鼠，从来没有当真见过一只。她巴不得能跟老鼠玩。看来，今天其实过得蛮有意思。
After lunch her other parents did the washing-up, and Coraline went down the hall to her other bedroom.
午饭吃完后，她的另一个爸爸妈妈洗碗碟，卡萝兰从过道回她的卧室。她的另一间卧室。
It was different from her bedroom at home. For a start it was painted in an off-putting shade of green and a peculiar shade of pink.
另一间卧室和家里的卧室不一样，比如，它的颜色是一种让人不太舒服的绿色，还带点怪里怪气的粉红。
“From upstairs.”
“楼上的老鼠。”
Coraline decided that she wouldn’t want to have to sleep in there; but that the colour scheme was an awful lot more interesting than the one in her own bedroom.
卡萝兰想明白了，她不喜欢在这间屋子里睡觉。可这间卧室的颜色比她自己的卧室有意思多了。
There were all sorts of remarkable things in there she’d never seen before: wind-up angels that fluttered around the bedroom like startled sparrows; books with pictures that writhed and crawled and shimmered; little dinosaur skulls that chattered their teeth as she passed. A whole toybox filled with wonderful toys.
这里好玩的东西多极了，她一辈子都没见过：拧上发条就能飞的小天使，在卧室里扑腾着，像吓得到处乱飞的麻雀；彩画书，书一动，上面的画就变来变去，动个不停；小小的恐龙脑袋，她一走过，两排牙齿就会叭地一下咬紧。一个装满奇妙玩具的玩具箱。
This is more like it, thought Coraline. She looked out of the window.
更像是这样，卡萝兰想。她向窗外望去。
Something black scurried across the floor and vanished under the bed.
有个黑东西飞快地跑过地板，钻进床底下不见了。
“Well,” asked Coraline, “what do you do?”
“那，”卡萝兰问，“你们会什么？”
The rats formed a circle.
老鼠们围成一个圈子。
Outside, the view was the same one she saw from her own bedroom: trees, fields and, beyond them, on the horizon, distant purple hills.
屋外的景色和她从卧室里看到的一模一样：树木、田野，还有远处地平线上远处的紫色山丘。
“Can you talk?” she asked.
“你们会说话吗？”她问。
The rats began to sing, in high, whispery voices,
老鼠们唱了起来，声音又尖又细，颤巍巍的。
They came out from under the bed, blinking their eyes in the light. They had short, soot-black fur, little red eyes, pink paws like tiny hands, and pink, hairless tails like long, smooth worms.
它们从床底下钻出来。外面太亮，它们一个个直眨巴眼睛。它们的毛短短的，黑黑的。长着小红眼睛。粉红的小爪子和很小很小的手一样。背后拖着一根粉红色的尾巴，上面没长毛，像长长的、光溜溜的虫子。
Coraline got down on her knees and looked under the bed. Fifty little red eyes stared back at her.
卡萝兰跪下来，朝床底下张望。五十只小小的红眼睛瞪着她。
“Hello,” said Coraline. “Are you the rats?”
“你们好，”卡萝兰说，“你们是老鼠吗？”
Then they began to climb on top of each other, carefully but swiftly, until they had formed a pyramid with the largest rat at the top.
然后，老鼠们玩起了叠罗汉，一些老鼠垫底，另一些爬到它们背上。小心而迅速，直到他们形成了一个金字塔，那只最大的大老鼠站在塔顶。
The largest, blackest of the rats shook its head. It had an unpleasant sort of smile, Coraline thought.
个子最大、毛最黑的老鼠摇摇头。卡萝兰心想，它脸上的笑容真不讨人喜欢。
We have teeth and we have tails We have tails, we have eyes We were here before you fell you will be here when we rise.
我们有牙齿，我们有尾巴。我们有尾巴，我们有眼睛。我们早来了，在你倒下前。你就瞧着吧，瞧我们站起来。
Then the pyramid fell apart, and the rats scampered, fast and black, towards the door.
就在这时，金字塔塌下来。老鼠们一哄而散，快极了，一片黑，朝门口跑去。
The other crazy old man upstairs was standing in the doorway, holding a tall black hat in his hands. The rats scampered up him, burrowing into his pockets, into his shirt, up his trouser-legs, down his neck.
另一个楼上的疯老头儿站在门口，两手捧着一只黑色的高帽子。老鼠们乱哄哄爬到他身上，扎进他的口袋，溜进他的衬衣，拱上他的裤腿，钻入他的衣领。
“Hello, Coraline,” said the other old man upstairs. “I heard you were here. It is time for the rats to have their dinner. But you can come up with me, if you like, and watch them feed.”
“你好，卡萝兰。”另一个楼上的老头儿说，“我听说你来了。老鼠们该吃饭了，不过你可以跟我上去，瞧它们开饭。想去吗？”
In seconds the only evidence that the rats were there at all were the restless lumps under the man’s clothes, forever sliding from place to place across him; and there was still the largest rat, who stared down, with glittering red eyes, at Coraline from the man’s head.
几秒钟后，唯一能证明老鼠就在那儿的证据就是那人衣服下不安的肿块，永远在他身上从一个地方滑到另一个地方；还有一只最大的老鼠在那人的头上，它用闪闪发光的红眼睛盯着卡萝兰。
The old man put his hat on, and the last rat was gone.
老头儿把帽子朝头上一扣，大老鼠不见了。
It wasn’t a pretty song. Coraline was sure she’d heard it before, or something like it, although she was unable to remember exactly where.
这首歌不好听。卡萝兰肯定自己以前听过这首歌，或者是另外一首差不多的歌。可她记不起在哪儿听的。
The largest rat climbed on to the old man’s shoulders, swung up on the long grey moustache, past the big black-button eyes, and on to the top of the man’s head.
最大的那只爬上老头儿的肩膀，揪着他长长的灰白色大胡子，一荡，荡过那双又大又黑的纽扣眼睛，跳上老头儿头顶。
Her other parents stood in the kitchen doorway as she walked down the corridor, smiling identical smiles, and waving slowly.
她沿着过道向外走，她的另一个爸爸和妈妈站在厨房门口，脸上的笑容一模一样，慢慢地向她招手。
“Have a nice time outside,” said her other mother.
“去外头好好玩。”她的另一个妈妈说。
There was something hungry in the old man’s button eyes that made Coraline feel uncomfortable. “No, thank you,” she said. “I’m going outside to explore.”
老头儿的纽扣眼睛里一股馋痨劲儿，卡萝兰有点害怕。“不，谢谢您。”她说，“我要去宅子外面探险。”
The old man nodded, very slowly. Coraline could hear the rats whispering to each other, although she couldn’t tell what they were saying.
老头儿很慢很慢地点点头。卡萝兰听见老鼠们叽叽喳喳交头接耳，她听不懂它们在说什么。
She was not certain that she wanted to know what they were saying.
她也不知道自己究竟想不想听懂它们在说什么。
Coraline walked outside, and down the steps.
卡萝兰走出大门，走下楼梯。
“We’ll just wait here for you to come back,” said her other father.
“我们就在这儿，等你回来。”她的另一个爸爸说。
When Coraline got to the front door, she turned back and looked at them. They were still watching her, and waving, and smiling.
卡萝兰走到大门口，回头一看，他们还站在那儿，脸上挂着笑，慢慢地向她招手。
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