The Book

Yvonne Freeman

张倩云选译

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书，它的封面是由可爱的红色皮革制成的，书页用的是最好的纸。它属于一个叫阿米莉亚的女孩。就像这本小小的书想象中的一样，阿米莉亚既可爱又善良，当然她很喜欢读书。

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，阿米莉亚的母亲会读给她听，但随着年龄的增长，阿米莉亚可以独自阅读这本小小的书了。这不是一本普通的书，因为它的书页上是有史以来最令人惊奇的故事。有公主和龙的故事，海盗和宝藏的故事，一些你几乎不敢相信的故事！当你打开这本书时，一个冒险世界就在里面。

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.

阿米莉亚喜欢这本小小的书，因为它曾是属于她母亲的，而在那之前则是属于她外婆的，但即将发生的事情是这本小小的书没有预料到的。

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，它躺在阿米莉亚床旁边沉重的床头柜上，它在那里度过了大部分时光，这时一件可怕的事情发生了。家里的猫跳了起来，不小心猛推了它一把。这本红色的小书正好从边缘滑过，落在了床头柜后面。它只能躺在那里，紧紧地挤在墙和床头柜之间的空隙里。它无法大声呼救，所能做的就是期望着有人来帮助它。

Alas 8， it did not.

唉，帮助并没有到来。

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.

它的阿米莉亚，其实是她全家人都在四处寻找，却没有人看到它。所以它一直躺在那里。阿米莉亚伤心欲绝，因为她喜爱这本小小的书胜过一切。她母亲给她的其他书都不能取代那本有着精彩故事的小红皮书。

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.

许多年过去了。这本小小的书从来没有真正放弃过被人找到的希望，但它的心里充满了悲伤，因为它想念它的阿米莉亚，也想念她总是用那样温柔爱惜的手翻过它书页的方式。然后有一天，当它以为所有的希望都破灭了的时候，事情有了转机。这些年来一直把它藏住的沉重床头柜被移开了，突然它听到一个声音喊道：“我的书，我的书！它一直都在这里！”然后一双熟悉的手轻轻地把它捡了起来，小心地替它掸去灰尘，然后把它紧紧抱在怀里。

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！

但这不是它的阿米莉亚！它的阿米莉亚在哪里？然后这位女士开始翻动它的书页，突然这本小小的书明白了。阿米莉亚一定是在它失踪的漫长岁月里长大了。但这双温柔爱惜的手还是一样的。它终于回家了！

Then he heard the sound of children's voices.

然后它听到了孩子们的声音。

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

“妈妈，妈妈！”他们大声喊道，“那是本什么书？”

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

“就是那本！”他们的母亲说，“我的书，我不见了的书！失而复得！”

"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.

“读给我们听，读给我们听。”孩子们央求着，于是她就读了。她用那双温柔的手翻开这本小小的书的书页，用那甜美的声音讲述了书里令人惊奇的故事。白天变成了夜晚，孩子们仍然坐着，睁大眼睛听着读给他们听的故事。

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！多么开心！这本书心满意足，因为它回到了阿米莉亚的身边。这本小小的书知道，阿米莉亚的孩子和她孩子的孩子会在未来的年月里继续读它奇妙的故事。

And the little red book was happy.

小红书感到很高兴。

（英语原文选自：the-office.com）

[Notes]

1.pirate[?pa?r?t] n.海盗

2.treasure [?tre??] n.财宝

3.nightstand[?na?tst?nd]n.床头柜

4.shove [??v] n.推;挤

5.slid [sl?d] v.滑;滑落

6.edge[ed?]n.边缘

7.wedge[wed?]v.楔入;挤进

8.alas [??l?s] int，唉（表示难过或不幸的惊叹声）

9.overflowing [???v??fl????] adj.溢出的，充满的

10. wondrous [?w?ndr?s]adj.奇妙的;令人惊奇的