高齊云

My older brother Lars went skiing every night in his blue sweater. Tonight he skied so fast that he nearly ran into our house.

我哥哥拉爾斯每天晚上都穿著他的藍(lán)色毛衣滑雪。今晚他滑得如此之快，以至于差點(diǎn)兒沖進(jìn)我們的房子。

“I saw a nisse！” Lars called to Ma. “I told you so！Im going back to find him.” Ma did not

believe in elves3. She did not believe they lived in the woods behind our house， protecting4 our home.

“我看到一個(gè)尼森！”拉爾斯打電話給媽媽，“我早就告訴過(guò)你了！我要回去找它。”媽媽不相信有精靈。她不相信它們住在我們屋子后面的樹林中，保護(hù)著我們的家。

But Dad did. Long ago， he told me and Lars a secret5： A good nisse would turn to stone if a grown-up looked into its eyes. A bad one would not. Lars did not believe there were any good nisses left.

但是爸爸相信。很久以前，他告訴我和拉爾斯一個(gè)秘密：如果大人看著尼森的眼睛，好的尼森會(huì)變成石頭，壞的不會(huì)。拉爾斯不相信世上有好尼森。

But I knew there were still good nisses. Whenever I found silver6 coins on the ground or woke up to new snow， I knew a nisse was near.

但是我知道還是有好尼森的。每當(dāng)我在地上發(fā)現(xiàn)銀幣，或被剛下的雪喚醒，我就知道附近有一個(gè)尼森。

“Martin！” Dad whispered7. “You have to find the nisse before your brother does. What if its a good one？” I went outside， put on my skis， and looked around the house.

“馬??！”爸爸小聲說(shuō)，“你必須在你哥哥之前找到尼森。如果是好的那怎么辦？”我跑到外面，穿上滑雪板，然后在房子周圍尋找。

I quietly followed Lars. He held a camera to take a picture of the nisse. If he had a picture， Ma might believe a bad nisse lost the keys yesterday， not him. But I was afraid the nisse was good—and Lars would turn it to stone. I had to find it first. I looked and looked and looked for the nisse， but I didnt see anything at all.

我悄悄地跟著拉爾斯。他拿著照相機(jī)想為尼森拍照片。如果有照片，媽媽可能會(huì)相信是壞尼森昨天弄丟了鑰匙，而不是他。但是我擔(dān)心是好尼森——拉爾斯會(huì)把它變成石頭。我必須先找到它。我看了又看，但是什么也沒(méi)看見。

Maybe Ma was right. Maybe Dad was wrong. Maybe there were no nisses. I was about to speed up and caught Lars， so we could go home and eat. But suddenly he stopped and started to turn around. I hid behind a tree.

也許媽媽是對(duì)的，爸爸可能是錯(cuò)的，也許世上沒(méi)有尼森。我馬上加速趕上拉爾斯了，這樣我們可以回家吃飯。但是突然間他停了下來(lái)，開始轉(zhuǎn)身。我躲在一棵樹后面。

I saw a little hat—a nisse hat， all pointy8 and red. The hat moved. The nisse was under his hat！Lars heard my sounds of surprise and started to laugh.

我看到一頂小帽子，是一頂尼森式的帽子，尖尖的紅色帽子。帽子動(dòng)了，尼森在它的帽子下面！拉爾斯聽到了我驚訝的聲音，笑了起來(lái)。

“Come out， Martin！” Lars said. “I see you！Come out and help me to find the nisse.”

“出來(lái)，馬丁！”拉爾斯說(shuō)?！拔铱匆娔懔耍〕鰜?lái)幫我找尼森。”

“No！ No！” The nisse whispered， “Hell turn me to stone.” The nisse hid under the trees roots9， his small hand holding up his red hat.

“不！不！”那個(gè)尼森小聲說(shuō)?！八麜?huì)把我變成石頭?！蹦嵘瓘澭阍跇涓?，它的小手舉著它的紅色帽子。

I knew what the nisse needed me to do. Putting the nisses hat on， I skied out from behind the tree.

我知道尼森需要我做什么。我戴上尼森的帽子，從樹后滑出來(lái)。

“Martin！” Lars looked at the hat and laughed， “Its you！”

“馬丁！”拉爾斯看著帽子笑了，“原來(lái)是你??！”