Mystery1 Train 神秘火车

游余

Claire is not afraid of the ghost2 train at first.

克莱尔一开始并不害怕幽灵火车。

“The ghost train is for children！” said Claire.

“幽灵火车是给孩子们坐的！”克莱尔说。

“People look afraid when they leave，” said Peter. He tried to take Claire to the worlds best ghost train. “Its fun！”

彼得说：“人们离开那趟列车时看起来很害怕。”他想带克莱尔去世界上最好玩的幽灵列车，“很好玩！”

“They know its not real， so why are they afraid？ Im going home.”

“他们知道这不是真的，所以为什么要害怕呢？我要回家了。”

“OK，” Peter said. He bought a ticket for himself.

“那好吧。”彼得说，他给自己买了一张票。

But there was one thing left to do at the fair3—buy a candyfloss4. It was very difficult to finish a candyfloss. They were too big and too sweet. Its possible5， Claire thought， as she paid for the big pink one. “And tonight Im going to eat a whole one.” For that， she needed time. “Ill walk home by the train tracks，” she said to herself.

但是在市集上还有一件事要做，那就是买一个棉花糖。很难吃完一块棉花糖，它们太大太甜了。这是可能的，克莱尔想，因为她买了一个大大的粉红色棉花糖。“今晚我要吃完一整份。”为此，她需要时间。“我要沿着铁轨走回家。”她自言自语说。

It wasnt very dark yet. Of course， Claire knew not to walk on train tracks6—it was dangerous7. Last year some boys in the city died8 playing on the tracks. But there was nothing dangerous here because there were no trains in Fellside. There wasnt even a train station. The tracks just finished.

天还不是很黑，当然，克莱尔知道不能走在火车轨道上，那很危险。去年城里有几个男孩在铁轨上玩耍时死了。但是这里没有什么危险，因为菲尔思德那儿没有火车，连个火车站都没有，轨道才刚刚修好。

It was a mystery， but an old one and nobody thought about it now. They were just there， and that was it. Claire thought about another mystery. Where does candyfloss go when you eat it？ It disappeared9 in her mouth so fast. There was a lot left. She needed to walk slower.

这是一个谜，但却是一个古老的谜，现在没有人会想起它。它们就在那里，就是这样而已。克莱尔想到了另一个谜。当你吃棉花糖的时候，它会去哪里？它在她嘴里消失得太快了，棉花糖还有很多，她要走慢一点。

The tracks vibrated10 as she walked. She could feel it and then she could hear it too. It was getting louder11. She looked back. A round light， small but getting bigger， was coming. It wasnt possible！

她走着走着，铁轨震动起来了。她能感觉到，之后还听到了，震动越来越大。她回过头，看到一盏又圆又小的灯，灯变得越来越大，正朝她驶了过来。这不可能！

A train.

是一列火车。

Claire fell to the right， off the track. The train passed her， empty12， and then slowed and stopped.

克莱尔倒向右边，摔出了铁轨之外。火车从她身边驶过，空荡荡的，接着减速停了下来。

“Where is it going？ ” she thought. “The tracks end soon.”

“它要去哪里？”她想，“很快就到鐵轨尽头了。”

A man put his head out of the window and shouted， “What are you doing？ Its dangerous on the tracks！”

一个男人把头伸出窗外大声喊道：“你在干什么？在铁轨上很危险！”

“But...there arent any trains！” Claire said. Maybe there were no trains before， but there was a train now. “Its not real，” she told herself.

“但是……这儿没有火车！”克莱尔说。也许以前没有火车，但现在就有一列火车。她告诉自己，这不是真的。

“This isnt real，” she said. But the heat13 coming from the train felt real.

“这不是真的。”她说，但是从火车上传来的热气让人感觉很真实。

“You cant walk on the tracks，” the driver said. “You have to get on the train.”

“你不能在铁轨上走。”司机说，“你得登上火车。”

“No！”

“不！”

“Are you afraid？” he asked. “It isnt real， remember？ So what are you afraid of？” They were her own words to Peter.

“你害怕吗？”他问道。“这不是真的，记得吗？你在害怕什么呢？”这是她自己对彼得说的话。

She didnt want to， but she got on the train， candyfloss in hand.

她不想上去，但最终还是上了火车，手里拿着棉花糖。

“Sit，” he said， and the train slowly started moving again.

“坐好。”他说，然后火车慢慢又开动了。

“Where are we going？” Claire asked.

“我们要去哪里？”克莱尔问。

“End of the line，” he said.

“轨道尽头。”他说。

“Oh！” That wasnt far because the tracks ended near here.

“哦！”那不远，因为铁轨在这附近就到头了。

She didnt want the candyfloss. It takes forever14 to eat it all， she thought. Its not possible.

她不想要棉花糖了。她想，要花很长时间才能把它吃光。这是不可能的。

“How long until we get there？” Claire shouted， because it was noisy inside the train too.

“我们还要多久才能到？”克莱尔喊道，因为火车里也很吵。

“The time it takes to eat all the candyfloss，” the driver of the real ghost train said. Then he disappeared.

“吃光棉花糖所要的時间。”真正的幽灵火车司机说道，然后就消失了。

（英语原文选自：learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org）

【Notes】

1. mystery [        ] adj. 神秘的n. 谜 2. ghost [       ] n. 鬼，幽灵

3. fair [     ] n. 展览会;市集 4. candyfloss [             ] n. 棉花糖

5. possible [] adj. 可能的;合理的 6. track [      ] n. 轨道;足迹，踪迹

7. dangerous [] adj. 危险的 8. die [    ] v. 死亡

9. disappear [            ] v. 消失;失踪;不复存在

10. vibrate [          ] v. 振动;颤动 11. loud [      ] adj. 大声的，高声的

12. empty [        ] adj. 空的 13. heat [    ] n. 高温;压力;热度

14. forever [] adv. 永远