The Hidden Room
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Sarah sighs—I’ve never heard her so exhausted.
莎拉叹气... 我从未听过她如此疲惫。
“Why do these bizarre things keep happening to us?
“为什么这些怪事总是发生在我们身上?
What’s with this key, the lantern, and these scissors?
这把钥匙、灯笼和剪刀是怎么回事?
Nothing’s making sense.”
无所适从。 “
We’re sitting in her room; I’m at the computer, while she sits cross-legged on the bed.
我们坐在她的房间里;我在电脑上,而她却坐在床上。
The key, lantern, and scissors are spread before her.
钥匙、灯笼和剪刀都放在她面前
“We’ll figure it out,” I say.
“我们会想出办法的。”
“I’m starting to hear those kids laughing all the time, especially when I’m trying to sleep.”
我开始听到那些孩子总是在笑, “
“You mean you actually hear them, as if they’re in the house?”
“你是指你听到的, “
I ask.
我问.
“Yes.
“对。
no.
没有。
I don’t know.”
我不知道, “
She shakes her head.
她摇起头
“ Any luck?”
“...... 有结果吗? “
“I’ve searched everywhere I can think of on the Web, but I’m not coming up with anything we didn’t learn in school,” I say.
「我在网络上找遍了一切,
“John Porter founded the mill, and the town grew up downriver.
“约翰·波特建立了磨坊,该镇在下游长大。
I did uncover something about his wife.
我确实发现了一些关于他妻子的事
She was considered very charitable, taking in children who had nowhere else to go and caring for them.
她被认为是非常慈善的,收留了无处可去的儿童并照顾他们.
That’s all the information I can find, though.”
我只能找到这些信息。 “
Just then, Sarah’s Aunt Terra opens the door.
莎拉的姨妈Terra打开了门。
“Children—” she begins and stops short.
" 儿童 -- -- " 她开始和停止短。
Her smile fades and her eyes grow large as she steps inside, not shifting her intense gaze away from the bed.
她的微笑渐渐地消退,她的眼睛在她走进里面时会变大,而不是将她强烈的目光移出床外.
“Where did you get these things?”
“这些东西是从哪里来的? “
“We found them,” Sarah says.
Sarah说:“我们找到了他们。”
“Nonsense—to get these things, you’ d have to seek them out,” Aunt Terra says.
”Terra姨妈说,
Her accent is extraordinary.
她的口音很特别
Sarah told me her mom’s family immigrated from a village on the border between Nepal and India.
Sarah告诉我,她母亲的家人是从尼泊尔和印度边境上的一个村庄移民过来的。
“It’s true,” I begin.
" 这是真的, " 我首先说。
“We haven’t been looking for these things at all—we just sort of find them.
“我们根本没有寻找这些东西,
It’s almost as if someone is leading us to them or bringing them to us.”
似乎有人带领我们找到他们, “
“ Along with some creepy laughing kids,” Sarah adds.
“...... Sarah补充说,
I didn’t think it could happen, but Aunt Terra’s eyes intensify as she shuts the door.
但Terra姨妈闭上了门,
“Come, child,” she beckons for me to join them on the bed.
" 来,孩子,"她要求我和他们一起躺在床上。
“Tell Auntie everything.”
“告诉阿姨一切。 “
Sarah and I exchange glances, unsure if we should continue—or if Aunt Terra would actually believe us.
Sarah和我换一眼,
“It started on Halloween.
“它始于万圣节。
Sarah begins slowly, and soon the story pours out of us.
莎拉开始缓慢, 很快的故事从我们身上涌出。
We divulge everything: the strange kid in the Hollow; the lantern, scissors, and key; and the disturbing laughter that continues to follow us.
我们披露一切:洞穴中陌生的孩子;灯笼、剪刀和钥匙;以及继续跟着我们的令人不安的笑声。
When we finish, Aunt Terra runs her fingers over the items on the bed.
吃完后 Terror阿姨把手指放在床上
“Children should not speak such tales,” Aunt Terra says, picking up the items, “and children should not have such toys.”
“儿童不应该讲这种故事,”Terra阿姨说,拿起物品,“儿童不应该有这种玩具。 “
We try to protest, but one stern look from Aunt Terra silences us.
我们试图抗议, 但从Terra姨妈的一个严酷的表情让我们沉默。
“Now return to your homework and games, and think no more on these things.”
“现在回到你的功课和游戏,不要再想这些事情了。 “
With that, she departs, leaving Sarah and me in stunned silence.
她就这样走了 把我和Sarah都吓呆了
“What just happened?”
“刚才发生了什么? “
Sarah says.
莎拉说。
“She believed us,” I say.
我说,“她相信我们,”
“You saw her expression and the way she reacted when we told her about the laughter.
“当我们告诉她笑声时,你看到她的表情和反应方式。
She knows something.”
她知道一些东西。 “
“ Aunt Terra has many secrets, and we’re not going to learn any of them unless she wants us to.”
Terra姨妈有很多秘密, 除非她愿意, “
I roll my eyes and say, “Don’t be so dramatic—we just need to follow her to find out where she put those things.”
我翻出眼睛说,“别这么戏剧化——我们只需要跟着她,找出她把这些东西放在哪里。 “
“Oh, well, she certainly won’t like that, either,” Sarah says, but I’m already at the door, peering into the hallway.
莎拉说, “哦,好吧,她肯定不会喜欢的,”
It’s filled with doors.
它充满了门。
Sarah lives in an old Victorian house, one of the oldest in town, and it has a ridiculous number of tiny rooms.
莎拉住在一座维多利亚时代的老房子中,是镇上最古老的房屋之一,它拥有一些可笑的小房间.
“Is she out there?”
“她在外面吗? “
Sarah asks.
莎拉问.
“Shhh!”
"嘘!"
I snap.
我发作。
“I can hear her.”
“我能听到她的声音。 “
We wait, listening to Aunt Terra’s movement.
我们等待,聆听Terra阿姨的动作。
Suddenly, she emerges looking very concerned, almost frightened.
突然,她看起来很担心,几乎害怕。
She heads to the end of the hallway and descends the stairs.
她朝走廊的尽头走去 然后下楼梯
I open the door and point.
我打开门和指点。
“She came out of that room.”
“她走出了那个房间。 “
“That’s the office,” Sarah replies.
Sarah回应说,
“Dad doesn’t like me to go in there without him.
“爸爸不喜欢我一个人进去。
He says I might break something.”
他说我可能会弄坏东西 “
“We’ll be careful,” I say and step into the hallway.
「我们会小心,
“Besides, Aunt Terra knows something.”
“此外,Terra阿姨知道一些事情。 “
“That she doesn’t want us to know— probably for a reason,” Sarah hisses.
她不想让我们知道,
The door to the office opens with barely a creak, and we slip inside.
办公室的门开着 几乎没有一裂,我们溜进去。
Like all the other rooms in the house, it’s fairly small and made smaller by the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
与屋内其他房间一样,
In the center of the room is a small desk with some mail and a laptop computer.
房间中央有一张小桌子,上面有一些邮件和笔记本电脑.
A single window lets in moonlight from outside.
单窗让月光从外出。
“Quick, let’s look around,” I say.
「快点,
Sarah starts opening drawers, and I start combing through the shelves.
Sarah开始打开抽屉 我开始梳理货架
I find nothing, but when I turn around, Sarah is sitting at the desk, holding a photo.
我什么也没有发现,但当我转身时,莎拉坐在桌子上,拿着相片.
“I remember where I saw the scissors before,” she says.
“我记得我以前在什么地方见过剪刀,”她说。
“They belonged to my mother.”
“他们属于我母亲。 “
She shows me the photo.
她给我看相片。
It’s of a beautiful woman sitting at a sewing machine.
一个美丽的女人坐在缝纫机旁。
“Dad says she was always making clothes for people who needed them.”
“爸爸说,她总是为需要的人做衣服。 “
I don’t really know what to say, so I just place my hand on Sarah’s shoulder.
我不知道该说什么,
She has told me about her mother’s disappearance before.
她告诉我她母亲失踪的事。
It’s not easy for her to talk about.
她谈论此事并不容易。
One day her mother was simply—gone.
有一天,她的母亲只是走了。
Some people claimed they saw her walking into the Hollow, but the police searched the woods and never found anything.
一些人声称他们看到她走入了"谷地",但警察搜查了树林,从没有找到任何东西.
I had an uncle who disappeared, too, but I barely knew him.
我也有个叔叔失踪了 但我几乎不认识他
I couldn’t imagine how Sarah felt.
我无法想象莎拉的感受。
“Wait, I hear something,” Sarah says.
莎拉说,
She stands up and presses her ear against one of the shelves.
她站起来用耳朵压着一个架子
“Here, listen.”
“在这里,听着。 “
I follow suit and quickly hear it—a soft scratching, like fingernails against wood.
我照着做,并很快地听到... 一个柔软的划痕,就像指甲对着木头。
“What’s on the opposite side of this wall?”
“这道墙的对面是什么? “
I ask.
我问.
“I don’t know.
“我不知道。
Nothing, I think,” Sarah replies.
我认为,“莎拉回答说,
I start pulling out books and stacking them on the desk.
我开始取出书 堆到桌子上
Sarah takes the cue, grabs the desk chair, and stands on it to reach the higher shelves.
Sarah拿着提示,拿起桌椅,站在上方到达高架.
As she grabs the first book, an entire section comes down.
当她拿起第一本书, 整个部分下来。
“They’re fake!”
“他们是假的!”
she says and tosses the hollow books down to me.
她说把空心书扔给我
“I can see some kind of handle.”
“我可以看到某种手柄。 “
“Pull on it!”
“把它盖上! “
I say.
我说
She does, and the entire bookcase shifts and swings toward us.
她有,整个书架都转向我们
She pulls harder, and it swings open more to reveal a dark room.
她拉得更用力, 并且它挥起更多的打开 揭示一个黑暗的房间。
I flick on a lamp on the table.
我在桌子上放一盏灯
The room is small—no bigger than a closet, really.
房间很小,不比衣柜大,真的。
Little bottles filled with herbs and other things I can’t really make out line racks on the wall.
小瓶子装满了草药和其他东西,
Everything looks neat and organized.
一切都看起来整齐有序。
The scissors, key, and lantern sit on a small table beside a small book with yellowed papers hanging out of it.
剪刀、钥匙和灯笼 坐在一张小书旁边的小桌子上 上面挂着黄色的纸
“Whoa,” Sarah says, “Dad said this house had some hidden places.”
Sarah说:“爸爸说,这所房子有些隐蔽的地方。 “
“We should get our stuff before Aunt Terra figures out we’re in here.”
「我们应该在Terra阿姨发现我们在这里之前, “
Sarah nods, and we gather our things.
莎拉点头,我们收集我们的东西。
She hesitates and grabs the book, too.
她犹豫不决,还拿了书
We close the bookcase again and replace all the books before sneaking back into Sarah’s room.
我们再次关闭书架,
“Children, dinner!”
"孩子们,吃饭了!"
Aunt Terra calls from downstairs, and we quickly hide all our finds before heading down the hallway.
Terra姨妈从楼下打来 我们快把发现都藏起来 然后走下走廊
Then it hits me.
然后它击中我。
“Wait,” I say, grabbing Sarah’s arm.
" 等等,"我说,抓住莎拉的手臂。
“Who was scratching inside the hidden room?”
“谁在隐藏的房间里抓? “