贝尔草甸的雷恩

第 1 页

Wren of Bell Meadow

The road ran out where the larches began. Aunt Marta set down the tin case, pointed up the last switchback, and said the mountain would do the rest. Then she turned and went down, and her footsteps got smaller until the wind had them all.

Wren pulled her blue scarf over her chin and climbed.

Above her the cloud sat on the path like a lid.

贝尔草甸的雷恩

道路在落叶松开始生长的地方到了尽头。玛尔塔姨妈放下铁皮箱，指了指最后一段盘山路，说剩下的路就交给山吧。接着她转身往山下走去，脚步声越来越轻，直到全被风卷走。

雷恩把蓝围巾拉到下巴上，开始往上爬。

她头顶的云压在小路上，像一只盖子。

第 2 页

She walked into it, and out of it, and all at once the ridge was there — bare rock going gold at the top, larches falling away below, and somewhere under her feet the sound of small wooden bells.

她走进云里，又走出云外，忽然间，山脊就出现在眼前——顶端的裸岩正泛起金色，下方的落叶松一路铺展开去，而在她脚下的某个地方，传来小木铃的声音。

第 3 页

The cabin had a slate roof and one crooked chimney. A tall old man was splitting wood by the door with a coil of rope over his shoulder. He looked at her for a long moment, the way you look at weather coming.

"Marta's girl," he said. It was not a question.

"Wren," said Wren.

He carried her case inside without another word.

小屋有一顶石板屋顶和一根歪斜的烟囱。一位高大的老人正站在门边劈柴，肩上搭着一圈绳子。他盯着她看了很久，像望着正逼近的天气那样。

“玛尔塔家的姑娘。”他说。这不是一句问话。

“雷恩。”雷恩说。

他没再说一句话，就把她的箱子提进了屋。

第 4 页

Supper was barley soup and hard bread and no talking at all.

On the windowsill sat a row of little bells carved out of pale wood, each one different.

When she had eaten, the old man pointed his knife at the ladder in the corner, and that was how Wren learned where she would sleep.

晚餐是大麦汤、硬面包，还有彻底的沉默。

窗台上摆着一排用浅色木头雕成的小铃铛，每一个都不一样。

她吃完后，老人用手里的刀指了指角落里的梯子，雷恩就这样知道了自己要睡在哪里。