The Book

Yvonne Freeman

張倩云選譯

There was once a very old book whose cover was made of lovely red leather and itspages were of the finest paper. It belonged to a girl named Amelia. His Amelia， as thelittle book liked to think of her， was sweet and kind， and of course she loved to read.

曾經有一本非常古老的書，它的封面是由可愛的紅色皮革制成的，書頁用的是最好的紙。它屬于一個叫阿米莉亞的女孩。就像這本小小的書想象中的一樣，阿米莉亞既可愛又善良，當然她很喜歡讀書。

At first Amelia ' s mother would read to ber， but as she grew older Amelia could readthe little book all by herself. This was not an ordinary book， for within its pages were themost amazing stories that had ever been written. There were tales of princesses anddragons， of pirates 1 and treasure 2， of things you could hardlv believe！ When you openedthe book， a world of adventure lay within.

起初，阿米莉亞的母親會讀給她聽，但隨著年齡的增長，阿米莉亞可以獨自閱讀這本小小的書了。這不是一本普通的書，因為它的書頁上是有史以來最令人驚奇的故事。有公主和龍的故事，海盜和寶藏的故事，一些你幾乎不敢相信的故事！當你打開這本書時，一個冒險世界就在里面。

Amelia loved the little book， for it had belonged to her mother， and her mother'smother before her， but something was about to happen that the little book did not expect.

阿米莉亞喜歡這本小小的書，因為它曾是屬于她母親的，而在那之前則是屬于她外婆的，但即將發生的事情是這本小小的書沒有預料到的。

One day as he lay on the heavy nightstand3 next to Amelia's bed， where he spentmuch of his time. a terrible thing happened. The family cat jumped up and accidentallygave him a great big shove4. The little red book slid 5 right over the edge6 and fell behindthe nightstand. He just lay there， wedged7 tightly in the space between the wall and thenightstand. He could not cry out for help. All he could do was hope that help would come.

一天，它躺在阿米莉亞床旁邊沉重的床頭柜上，它在那里度過了大部分時光，這時一件可怕的事情發生了。家里的貓跳了起來，不小心猛推了它一把。這本紅色的小書正好從邊緣滑過，落在了床頭柜后面。它只能躺在那里，緊緊地擠在墻和床頭柜之間的空隙里。它無法大聲呼救，所能做的就是期望著有人來幫助它。

Alas 8， it did not.

唉，幫助并沒有到來。

His Amelia， in fact her whole family， searched far and wide， high and low， btt noone could see him. So there he lay. Amelia was heartbroken， for she loved the little bookabove all others. No other book that her mother gave her could replace the little red bookwith its wonderful stories.

它的阿米莉亞，其實是她全家人都在四處尋找，卻沒有人看到它。所以它一直躺在那里。阿米莉亞傷心欲絕，因為她喜愛這本小小的書勝過一切。她母親給她的其他書都不能取代那本有著精彩故事的小紅皮書。

And so the years passed. The little book never really gave up hope of being found， buthis heart was full of sadness. for he missed his Amelia and the way that she had alwaysturned his pages with such gentle and loving hands. Then one day， when he thought that allhope was lost， something happened. The heavy nightstand that had kept him hidden all thoseyears was being moved and suddenly he heard a voice cry out， "My book， my book！ It'sbeen here all this time！ " Then familiar hands gently picked him up， carefully dusted himoff， then held him close.

許多年過去了。這本小小的書從來沒有真正放棄過被人找到的希望，但它的心里充滿了悲傷，因為它想念它的阿米莉亞，也想念她總是用那樣溫柔愛惜的手翻過它書頁的方式。然后有一天，當它以為所有的希望都破滅了的時候，事情有了轉機。這些年來一直把它藏住的沉重床頭柜被移開了，突然它聽到一個聲音喊道：“我的書，我的書！它一直都在這里！”然后一雙熟悉的手輕輕地把它撿了起來，小心地替它撣去灰塵，然后把它緊緊抱在懷里。

But this was not his Amelia！ Where was his Amelia'？ Then the woman began to turn hispages and suddenly the little book knew. Amelia must have grown up during the long yearsthat he'd been lost. But the gerntle， loving hands were the same. He was home at last！

但這不是它的阿米莉亞！它的阿米莉亞在哪里？然后這位女士開始翻動它的書頁，突然這本小小的書明白了。阿米莉亞一定是在它失蹤的漫長歲月里長大了。但這雙溫柔愛惜的手還是一樣的。它終于回家了！

Then he heard the sound of children's voices.

然后它聽到了孩子們的聲音。

“Mummy， mummV！”they cried. "What is that book ？"

“媽媽，媽媽！”他們大聲喊道，“那是本什么書？”

“This is it！”said their Mother. "My book， my lost book！ Found again！”

“就是那本！”他們的母親說，“我的書，我不見了的書！失而復得！”

"Read to us. read to us，" the children begged， and so she did. With those gentle handsshe turned the little book's pages and with that sweet voice she told his amazing stories. Dayturned to night and still the wide-eyed children sat and listened as his amazing stories werebeing read to them.

“讀給我們聽，讀給我們聽。”孩子們央求著，于是她就讀了。她用那雙溫柔的手翻開這本小小的書的書頁，用那甜美的聲音講述了書里令人驚奇的故事。白天變成了夜晚，孩子們仍然坐著，睜大眼睛聽著讀給他們聽的故事。

Such stories！

Such adventures！

Such joy！

The little book' s heart was overflowing 9， forhere he was， back with his Amelia. And the little book knew that Amelia's children， and herchildren ' s children would continue to read his wondrous l0 tales for vears to come.

多么棒的故事！多么棒的冒險！多么開心！這本書心滿意足，因為它回到了阿米莉亞的身邊。這本小小的書知道，阿米莉亞的孩子和她孩子的孩子會在未來的年月里繼續讀它奇妙的故事。

And the little red book was happy.

小紅書感到很高興。

（英語原文選自：the-office.com）

[Notes]

1.pirate[?pa?r?t] n.海盜

2.treasure [?tre??] n.財寶

3.nightstand[?na?tst?nd]n.床頭柜

4.shove [??v] n.推;擠

5.slid [sl?d] v.滑;滑落

6.edge[ed?]n.邊緣

7.wedge[wed?]v.楔入;擠進

8.alas [??l?s] int，唉（表示難過或不幸的驚嘆聲）

9.overflowing [???v??fl????] adj.溢出的，充滿的

10. wondrous [?w?ndr?s]adj.奇妙的;令人驚奇的