Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.
搬进宅子没多久，卡萝兰就发现了那扇门。
It was a very old house — it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it.
这是一幢很老很老的宅子。屋顶有个阁楼，地底下有个地窖，还有个长满杂草灌木的园子，园子里有几株很老很老的大树。
Coraline’s family didn’t own all of the house — it was too big for that. Instead they owned part of it. There were other people who lived in the old house.
这幢宅子不是卡萝兰一家人的，因为它太大了。卡萝兰一家只拥有宅子的一部分。这幢老屋里还住着其他人家。
Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flat below Coraline’s, on the ground floor. They were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing Highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. Once upon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible had been actresses, as Miss Spink told Coraline the first time she met her.
斯平克小姐和福斯波尔小姐住在一楼的一个套间里，就在卡萝兰家楼下。她们俩都是胖乎乎的老太婆，在套间里养了一大群岁数很大的高地小猎犬，起的都是哈米什、安德鲁、约克之类的男人名字。很久很久以前，斯平克小姐和福斯波尔小姐还当过演员哩。头一次见面，斯平克小姐就告诉卡萝兰了。
“You see, Caroline,” Miss Spink said, getting Coraline’s name wrong, “both myself and Miss Forcible were famous actresses, in our time. We trod the boards, luvvy. Oh, don’t let Hamish eat the fruitcake, or he’ll be up all night with his tummy.”
“告诉你，卡罗琳，”斯平克小姐把卡萝兰的名字叫错了①。“我们年轻的时候，我和福斯波尔小姐都是很有名的演员。登台表演，宝贝儿。哟，别给哈米什吃水果蛋糕，不然晚上非闹肚子不可。”【注：①卡萝兰和卡罗琳字形接近，但卡罗琳这个名字更常见。】
“It’s Coraline. Not Caroline. Coraline,” said Coraline.
“我叫卡萝兰，不是卡罗琳。卡萝兰。”卡萝兰说。
In the flat above Coraline’s, under the roof, was a crazy old man with a big moustache. He told Coraline that he was training a mouse circus. He wouldn’t let anyone see it.
卡萝兰楼上的阁楼套间里住的是一个长着一把大胡子的疯老头儿。他告诉卡萝兰说，他在训练一个老鼠马戏团，可又不肯让别人看。
“One day, little Caroline, when they are all ready, everyone in the whole world will see the wonders of my mouse circus. You ask me why you cannot see it now. Is that what you asked me?”
“总有一天，小卡罗琳，等它们准备好了，到那时，全世界都会看到这个奇迹：我的老鼠马戏团。嗯，你刚才是在问我为什么这会儿不能看，对不对？”
“No,” said Coraline quietly, “I asked you not to call me Caroline. It’s Coraline.”
“不，”卡萝兰小声说，“我刚才说，请您别管我叫卡罗琳了。我叫卡萝兰。”
“The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,” said the man upstairs, “is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play the songs I have written for them. All the songs I have written for the mice to play go oompah oompah. But the white mice will only play toodle oodle, like that. I am thinking of trying them on different types of cheese.”
“为什么这会儿不能看？”住在楼上的老头儿说，“因为老鼠们还没准备好，没排练好。还有，它们不肯演奏我替它们写的曲子。我替它们写的曲子是这样的：”嘣嚓嚓，嘣嚓嚓‘，可小白鼠只肯演’滴哒哒，滴哒哒‘。就是这么回事儿。我打算换一种奶酪试试。
Coraline didn’t think there really was a mouse circus. She thought the old man was probably making it up.
卡萝兰不相信真有一个老鼠马戏团，她觉得老头儿在瞎编。
The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring. She explored the garden.
搬到这儿来的第二天，卡萝兰出发探险。她探索了园子。
It was a big garden: at the very back was an old tennis court, but no-one in the house played tennis and the fence around the court had holes in it and the net had mostly rotted away; there was an old rose garden, filled with stunted, flyblown rose-bushes; there was a rockery that was all rocks; there was a fairy ring, made of squidgy brown toadstools which smelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them.
这是一个很大的园子，园子后面部分是个破旧的网球场。这幢宅子里谁也不打网球，所以球场周围的围栏上面全是坑坑洞洞，球网也差不多全朽了；园子里有一个很老的玫瑰花圃，里面长满乱蓬蓬、脏兮兮的玫瑰丛；还有一座假山，全是石头；还有一个蘑菇圈，一圈软塌塌的小蘑菇，要是不小心踩上它们，那种气味别提有多难闻了。
There was also a well. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Coraline how dangerous the well was, on the first day Coraline’s family moved in, and warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.
还有一口井。卡萝兰一家人搬进来头一天，斯平克小姐和福斯波尔小姐就反复告诫卡萝兰，说那口井是多么多么危险，千万离它远点儿。所以卡萝兰特意要去调查调查，这样才能好好避开它。
She found it on the third day, in an overgrown meadow beside the tennis court, behind a clump of trees — a low brick circle almost hidden in the high grass. The well had been covered up by wooden boards, to stop anyone falling in. There was a small knot-hole in one of the boards, and Coraline spent an afternoon dropping pebbles and acorns through the hole, and waiting, and counting, until she heard the plop as they hit the water, far below.
直到第三天，卡萝兰才发现了那口井。在网球场后的一片蒿草丛里，被一簇树档着。一圈儿砖砌的井栏，都快被草丛遮没了。井口盖着几块木板，免得有谁掉下去。其中一块木板上本来有个节疤，节疤脱落以后成了一个小窟窿。卡萝兰花了一个下午的时间往窟窿里扔石子儿、橡子。扔进去一颗，等着，心里数着数，半天才能听见落进水里的噗通一声。
Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog, and a snake-skin (but no snake), and a rock that looked just like a frog, and a toad that looked just like a rock.
动物方面，卡萝兰也作了一番探索。她发现了一只刺猬，一卷蛇蜕（不是真正的蛇），一块模样像癞蛤蟆的石头，一只模样像石头的癞蛤蟆。
There was also a haughty black cat, who would sit on walls and tree stumps, and watch her; but would slip away if ever she went over to try to play with it.
还有一只态度非常傲慢的黑猫，蹲在墙头上、树桩上，眼睛盯着卡萝兰，可只要她走过去想跟它玩，它就会哧溜一下，溜得远远的。
That was how she spent her first two weeks in the house — exploring the garden and the grounds.
搬进宅子的头两星期都是这么过的：探索园子，查看环境。
Her mother made her come back inside for dinner, and for lunch; and Coraline had to make sure she dressed up warm before she went out, for it was a very cold summer that year; but go out she did, exploring, every day until the day it rained, when Coraline had to stay inside.
每到中饭和晚饭的时候，妈妈便会把她拉回家，还逼着她每次出门前都穿得暖暖和和的，因为今年夏天天气很凉。虽然麻烦，但卡萝兰总能出门，去园子里探险。就这样过了一天又一天，最后开始下雨了，卡萝兰只好待在屋里。
“What should I do?” asked Coraline.
“我该干什么？”卡萝兰问。
“Read a book,” said her mother. “Watch a video. Play with your toys. Go and pester Miss Spink or Miss Forcible, or the crazy old man upstairs.”
“拿本书看，”妈妈说，“看盘录像，玩玩具。烦斯平克小姐和福斯波尔小姐去，或者楼上的疯老头儿也行。”
“No,” said Coraline. “I don’t want to do those things. I want to explore.”
“不，”卡萝兰说，“我不想去。我想去探险。”
“I don’t really mind what you do,” said Coraline’s mother, “as long as you don’t make a mess.”
“做什么都行，”卡萝兰的妈妈说，“只要别弄得一身脏就好。”
Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn’t the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup.
卡萝兰走到窗户前，看着外面的雨。这不是那种可以出去玩水的小雨，是另外一种，跟天上往下倒水似的。水一着地，马上溅得到处都是。这是那种准备干点名堂出来的雨。眼下，它干出的名堂就是把好好的园子变成一汪稠稠的泥汤。
Coraline had watched all the videos. She was bored with her toys, and she’d read all her books. She turned on the television. She went from channel to channel to channel, but there was nothing on but men in suits talking about the stock market, and schools programmes. Eventually, she found something to watch: it was the last half of a natural history programme about something called protective coloration. She watched animals, birds and insects which disguised themselves as leaves or twigs or other animals to escape from things that could hurt them. She enjoyed it, but it ended too soon, and was followed by a programme about a cake factory.
家里的录像卡萝兰全都看过，玩具也玩厌了，她的书也都读过了。她打开电视，一个一个换频道，所有频道里全是穿西装打领带的人说着股市里的事儿，要不就是对话节目。卡萝兰好不容易才找到一个可以看看的。是个讲大自然的节目，已经过了一半，说的是一种叫做保护色的东西。她看着动物、鸟，还有昆虫，把自个儿打扮成树叶、树枝，或者扮成其他动物，用这种办法躲开它们的对头。挺好看的，可惜一会儿就完了。接下来的节目演的是点心工厂。
It was time to talk to her father.
该找爸爸谈谈了。
Coraline’s father was home. Both of her parents worked, doing things on computers, which meant that they were home a lot of the time. Each of them had their own study.
卡萝兰的爸爸在家。她父母都在电脑上工作，也就是说，他们常常在家。爸爸妈妈各自有各自的书房。
“Hello, Coraline,” he said when she came in, without turning round.
“你好吗，卡萝兰？”爸爸埋头工作，没转过身。
“Mmph,” said Coraline. “It’s raining.”
“嗯，”卡萝兰说，“在下雨。”
“Yup,” said her father. “It’s bucketing down.”
“没错儿。”爸爸说，“瓢泼大雨。”
“No,” said Coraline, “it’s just raining. Can I go outside?”
“才不是呢。”卡萝兰说，“就是一般的雨。我能出去玩儿吗？”
“What does your mother say?”
“妈妈怎么说？”
“She says, ‘You’re not going out in weather like that, Coraline Jones.'”
“她说，‘卡萝兰·琼斯，这种天气不许出门。’”
“Then, no.”
“那么，不行。”
“But I want to carry on exploring.”
“可我想接着探险。”
“Then explore the flat,” suggested her father. “Look — here’s a piece of paper and a pen. Count all the doors and windows. List everything blue. Mount an expedition to discover the hot-water tank. And leave me alone to work.”
“那就在屋子里探险吧。”爸爸给她出主意，“对了——这儿有一张纸，一枝笔。数数有多少扇门，多少扇窗户。把所有蓝颜色的东西记下来。再找找屋子的热水槽在哪儿。别打扰我工作。”
“Can I go into the drawing room?”
“我可以去客厅玩儿吗？”
The drawing room was where the Joneses kept the expensive (and uncomfortable) furniture Coraline’s grandmother had left them when she died. Coraline wasn’t allowed in there. Nobody went in there. It was only for best.
卡萝兰的奶奶死后，留给琼斯家一批贵重家具（用起来很不舒服），这些家具都放在客厅里。爸爸妈妈平时不许她去客厅，别人也不去。客厅只是个摆样子的地方。
“If you don’t make a mess. And you don’t touch anything.”
“只要别弄得一团糟就行。还有，什么都别碰。”
Coraline considered this carefully, then she took the paper and pen and went off to explore the inside of the flat.
卡萝兰想了想，然后拿起纸和笔，探索屋子去了。
She discovered the hot-water tank (it was in a cupboard in the kitchen).
她找到了热水槽（就藏在厨房的一个碗碟橱里）。
She counted everything blue (153).
她数了所有蓝颜色的东西（153）；
She counted the windows (21).
她数了窗户（21）；
She counted the doors (14).
她数了门（14）；
Of the doors that she found, thirteen opened and closed. The other, the big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room, was locked.
所有这些门中，或开或关的一共十三扇。最后一扇在客厅里面的一个角落里，很大，雕着花纹，一扇褐色的木头门。这扇门紧紧锁着。
She said to her mother, “Where does that door go?”
她问妈妈：“门后面是什么？”
“Nowhere, dear.”
“什么都没有。”
“It has to go somewhere.”
“总得有什么东西吧。”
Her mother shook her head. “Look,” she told Coraline.
妈妈摇摇头。“看看就知道了。”她对卡萝兰说。
She reached up, and took a string of keys from the top of the kitchen doorframe. She sorted through them carefully and selected the oldest, biggest, blackest, rustiest key. They went into the drawing room. She unlocked the door with the key.
她找了找，从厨房门框上取下串钥匙，在一大把钥匙中间仔细挑选，最后挑出最旧、最大、最黑、锈得最厉害的一把。她们俩走进客厅，妈妈用它打开了门。
The door swung open.
门开了。妈妈说得对。
Her mother was right. The door didn’t go anywhere. It opened on to a brick wall.
门后面什么都没有，打开后只有一堵砖墙。
“When this place was just one house,” said Coraline’s mother, “that door went somewhere. When they turned the house into flats, they simply bricked it up. The other side is the empty flat on the other side of the house, the one that’s still for sale.”
“从前，这幢宅子里只有一家人。”卡萝兰的妈妈说，“那时候，这扇门通向别的地方。后来，他们把宅子改建成一个个套间，在这儿砌了一堵墙，把门封了。墙后面是一套空房间，在宅子的另一面，现在还没卖出去。”
She shut the door and put the string of keys back on top of the kitchen doorframe.
她关上门，把那串钥匙放回厨房门框上。
“You didn’t lock it,” said Coraline.
“你没锁门。”卡萝兰说。
Her mother shrugged. “Why should I lock it?” she asked. “It doesn’t go anywhere.”
妈妈耸耸肩，“干吗锁？”她说，“门后面反正没东西。”
Coraline didn’t say anything.
卡萝兰什么都没说。
It was nearly dark now, and the rain was still coming down, pattering against the windows and blurring the lights of the cars in the street outside.
外面已经快黑了。雨还在下个不停，打在窗户上，连外面街道上来来往往的车灯都看不清了。
Coraline’s father stopped working and made them all dinner.
卡萝兰的爸爸停下工作，替大家做晚饭。
Coraline was disgusted. “Daddy,” she said, “You’ve made a recipe again.”
卡萝兰一脸不高兴，“爸爸，”她说，“你又在按菜谱做菜。”
“It’s leek and potato stew, with a tarragon garnish and melted GruyŽre cheese,” he admitted.
“韭菜马铃薯浓汤，加上一点香蒿叶和融化的瑞士奶酪。”爸爸承认了。
Coraline sighed. Then she went to the freezer and got out some microwave chips and a microwave mini-pizza.
卡萝兰叹了口气，打开冰箱，拿出放在微波炉里加热后吃的薯条和小披萨饼。
“You know I don’t like recipes,” she told her father, while her dinner went round and round and the little red numbers on the microwave oven counted down to zero.
“你明明知道，我不喜欢你按菜谱做的菜。”她对爸爸说。微波炉里，她的晚餐转呀转的，炉门上小小的红色数字不断倒数，最后变成零。
“If you tried it, maybe you’d like it,” said Coraline’s father, but she shook her head.
“你尝一尝，说不定喜欢吃呢。”卡萝兰的爸爸说，可她摇摇头。
That night, Coraline lay awake in her bed.
那天晚上，卡萝兰躺在床上，好长时间睡不着。
The rain had stopped, and she was almost asleep when something went t-t-t-t-t-t. She sat up in bed.
雨停了，她迷迷糊糊，正要睡着，忽然听见一阵轻轻的“嗒、嗒、嗒”。她从床上坐了起来。
Something went kreeee É
有动静，“吱…”
É aaaak.
“…嘎…”
Coraline got out of bed and looked down the hall, but saw nothing strange. She walked down the hallway. From her parents’ bedroom came a low snoring — that was her father — and an occasional sleeping mutter — that was her mother.
卡萝兰下了床，望望外面的过道。什么都没有。她沿着过道向下走。从爸爸妈妈的卧室里传来低低的鼾声——那是爸爸，还有呜呜噜噜说梦话的声音——那是妈妈。
Coraline wondered if she’d dreamed it, whatever it was.
卡萝兰心想：刚才说不定是做梦，不知她梦见的是什么。
Something moved.
有东西动了一下。
It was little more than a shadow, and it scuttled down the darkened hall fast, like a little patch of night. She hoped it wasn’t a spider. Spiders made Coraline intensely uncomfortable.
影影绰绰的，但比影子更实在一点儿，从黑乎乎的过道一窜就下去了。一小片黑东西，嗖的一下。她希望不是蜘蛛。卡萝兰特别不喜欢蜘蛛，一看到蜘蛛就紧张。
The black shape went into the drawing room and Coraline followed it in, a little nervously.
黑东西窜进客厅，卡萝兰跟在它后面，心里有点七上八下。
The room was dark. The only light came from the hall, and Coraline, who was standing in the doorway, cast a huge and distorted shadow on to the drawing-room carpet: she looked like a thin giant woman.
客厅里一片黑，只有外面的过道透进来的一点点光。卡萝兰站在门口，在客厅地毯上映出一道长长的、歪歪扭扭的影子，好像她是个又高又瘦的女人似的。
Coraline was just wondering whether or not she ought to turn on the light when she saw the black shape edge slowly out from beneath the sofa. It paused, and then dashed silently across the carpet towards the farthest corner of the room.
卡萝兰犹豫着，不知道应不应该打开灯。就在这时，她看见沙发脚下慢慢爬出一个黑东西。它停下来，然后，一点儿声音都没有，飞一样穿过地毯，冲向客厅最里面的角落。
There was no furniture in that corner of the room.
客厅那个角落里什么家具都没有。
Coraline turned on the light.
卡萝兰打开灯。
There was nothing in the corner. Nothing but the old door that opened on to the brick wall.
角落里什么都没有。空空荡荡，只有那扇后面是砖墙的旧门。
She was sure that her mother had shut the door, but now it was ever so slightly open. Just a crack.
她记得很清楚，妈妈已经关上了那扇门。可现在，它开了一道缝，窄窄的一道缝。
Coraline went over to it and looked in. There was nothing there — just a wall, built of red bricks.
卡萝兰走到门边，朝里面张望。门里什么都没有，只有一堵墙，用红砖砌成的一堵砖墙。
Coraline closed the old wooden door, turned out the light, and went back to bed.
卡萝兰合上那扇很旧的木头门，关了灯，回床上去了。
She dreamed of black shapes that slid from place to place, avoiding the light, until they were all gathered together under the moon. Little black shapes with little red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. They started to sing:
她梦见许多小小的黑东西，躲着灯光，从一个地方偷偷摸摸溜到另一个地方。最后，它们在月亮下面会合了。小小的黑东西，长着小小的红眼睛，一口尖尖的黄牙。它们唱了起来。
We are small but we are many
我们个子小，
We are many, we are small
数目可不少。
We were here before you rose
数目虽不少，
We will be here when you fall.
个子还是小。
Their voices were high and whispery and slightly whiny. They made Coraline feel uncomfortable.
声音又尖又细，还有点气忿忿的，让卡萝兰觉得很不舒服。
Then Coraline dreamed a few commercials, and after that she dreamed of nothing at all.
接下来，卡萝兰梦见了几个电视上放的广告。再以后，她睡熟了，什么都没梦见。
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