A dying boy finds his answer to peace.

男孩臨終尋得安眠。

“What if Death forgets to come for your soul？ What happens then？”

“要是死神忘記來帶走一個人的靈魂怎么辦？會出什么事嗎？”

“Death always finds you. He is not forgetful...”

“死神總能找到那個人的。他的記性很好……”

“How do you know？ What if your soul waits and he never comes？”

“您怎么知道呢？如果人的靈魂一直等著，結(jié)果死神一直沒來呢？”

“Let me tell you a secret. The more a person has lived their life with passion and good will， the more their soul glows bright. It is a beacon2 for dear Death to find you.”

“我告訴你個秘密吧。一個人越熱愛生活、心懷善念，靈魂就越明亮，像座燈塔指引死神找到他?！?/p>

“Really？”

“真的嗎？”

“Yes... Stell， do you think your grandmother is a good person？”

“真的……小星，你覺得奶奶是好人嗎？”

“Yes！”

“當(dāng)然！”

“Ah... Good. Then I have nothing to worry about. I won’t be lost.”

“啊……那就好。那我就沒什么好擔(dān)心的了。我不會迷路了。”

Stell sat outside on the porch staring at the starry sky remembering the last conversation he had with his grandmother.

小星坐在屋外門廊上，凝望繁星點點的夜空，回想著自己和奶奶的最后一次聊天。

“Any day now，” he whispered to himself.

“沒幾天了?！彼÷晫ψ约赫f。

“Stell！ Why are you outside？ You should not be moving on your own！” he heard his mother say as she held him with his arms helping him move inside.

“小星！你怎么走到外面去了？你不該自己亂動的！”他聽見媽媽說。媽媽邊說邊攙起他的手臂，幫他走回屋里。

He lay there on his bed and could not sleep. Did he hear his mother crying again？ He felt sorry for his parents. They only had one son. Stell felt his body get cold and weak.

他躺在床上，毫無睡意。他剛才是不是又聽見媽媽哭了？他對父母充滿了愧疚，畢竟他們只有他一個兒子。小星感覺身體發(fā)冷、發(fā)虛。

“Will it be today？” he wondered.

“會是今天嗎？”他想。

He slowly sat up and looked out the window. It had a beautiful view of the firefly forest. When he was younger， he would go there with his grandmother. There would be fireflies dancing all around them.

他緩緩坐了起來，往窗外望去，入眼是螢火蟲森林的美麗景色。他小時候會和奶奶一起去森林里玩，那里會有許多螢火蟲圍著他們翩翩起舞。

“I guess it’s time.”

“我想是時候了?！?/p>

Stell slowly walked out of their hut3， being careful not to wake up his parents. The moon was shadowed by clouds. He slowly started walking towards the forest.

小星慢慢走出自家棚屋，小心翼翼地，生怕驚醒父母。云朵遮住了月亮。他緩緩邁步，向森林走去。

“Grandma… what if your soul does not glow brightly？”

“奶奶……要是人的靈魂不夠明亮怎么辦？”

“Then you will have to wait awhile...”

“那就得等上一會兒了……”

“Do you think my soul would glow enough for Death to find me？”

“您覺得我的靈魂夠不夠明亮，能讓死神找到我嗎？”

Stell slowly walked through the trees in the forest. He looked up at the trees and saw there were not that many fireflies. Soon his back was against a tree for support. He slowly breathed in the air and again started walking.

小星在林中慢慢走著，走過了一棵又一棵樹。他抬頭看向樹上，發(fā)現(xiàn)螢火蟲并不多。不一會兒，他背靠上一棵大樹，想歇歇腳。小星緩緩吸了口氣，又邁出了腳步。

“Where are you going， Stell？”

“你要去哪兒呀，小星？”

He heard a small voice in his head ask. It sounded like his grandmother.

他聽見自己腦海里有個微弱的聲音在發(fā)問，這聲音像是奶奶。

“To look for the fireflies...” he replied.

“去找螢火蟲……”他回答道。

“Why？”

“為什么呢？”

“You know why...”

“您知道的……”

Stell looked around and saw that there were more fireflies.

小星環(huán)顧四周，看見了更多螢火蟲。

“I am getting closer...”

“我離得越來越近了……”

“Closer to what？”

“離什么越來越近了？”

He remembered what she had said， “If it does not glow brightly enough， the fireflies in our forest will add to the light of the soul. You will never be lost. If my soul needs a little more light， you will be there to help too.”

小星想起奶奶說過的話：“要是靈魂不夠明亮，我們這片森林里的螢火蟲會為它增添光彩。你永遠也不會迷路。如果我的靈魂需要再亮一點，你也會到那里幫我?！?/p>

He could not walk anymore. Stell slowly sat under a tree and wondered how far he had walked. Did he walk for a few minutes or hours？

小星再也走不動了。他緩緩坐到一棵樹下，想著自己到底走了多遠。是走了幾分鐘還是幾小時？

“I hope there are enough fireflies here to make up for my soul’s light.”

“希望這里的螢火蟲夠多，能補足我靈魂的光亮?！?/p>

“Why？”

“為什么這么說？”

It wasn’t a voice in his head. He looked to his right to see a figure but he could not make out the face.

這聲音并非來自他的腦海。他轉(zhuǎn)頭向右看去，看到一個人影，但他看不清那張臉。

“Who are you？”

“你是誰？”

“A wanderer. I was guided here by the fireflies.”

“哪兒都去的人。我是被螢火蟲吸引到這兒來的。”

“Ah...if you came to be here then maybe Death will find me too.”

“啊……既然你能找到這里，那死神沒準(zhǔn)兒也能找到我了。”

“Why do you think Death will need fireflies to find you？”

“你為什么覺得死神需要螢火蟲的指引才能找到你？”

“Because my soul won’t burn bright.”

“因為我的靈魂肯定不夠亮?！?/p>

“Why？”

“為什么？”

“I lived my life without changing much in the world. I don’t think I made people as happy as I should have. I don’t think I was as good a person. I know that what my grandmother told me was probably made up. I don’t know if Death exists or if my grandmother ever found her way. I have no idea how the world works. I will die not knowing much of anything. A boy who only lived till 19. Lived in a small village and died leaving his parents alone， old and lost.”

“因為我這一生沒為世界做過什么貢獻。我本來應(yīng)該給他人帶來歡樂，但我覺得我沒有做到。我想我這個人不夠好。我知道奶奶告訴我的那些可能只是編的。我不知道死神是否存在，也不知道奶奶究竟有沒有找到離去的路。我甚至不知道這個世界是怎么運轉(zhuǎn)的。我會一無所知地死去。一個只活到19歲的男孩，在小村莊里生活了一輩子，最后只留下無依無靠、年邁無望的雙親?！?/p>

Stell felt his tears dripping down his cheeks.

小星感覺到自己的淚水從臉頰上滑落。

“Stell， you were kind.”

“小星，你是善良的好孩子?！?/p>

It was his grandmother’s voice coming from the figure. But he was too weak to look at the figure properly.

那人影的聲音是奶奶的，但小星太虛弱了，沒法看清。

“Grandmother？”

“奶奶？”

“Death does not need light to find you. The light is for the person dying. To see for one last time， how brightly they lit up the world. Stell， look at your life.”

“死神不需要依靠光就能找到你。那光是為將死之人準(zhǔn)備的，讓他們最后看看，自己給這世界帶來了多少光明。小星，看看你的人生吧。”

Stell could see his body sitting under the tree. And the tree was gloving with fireflies. The light from them filled all the space around， and you could not see any leaves or branches.

小星能看見自己的身體正坐在樹下。整棵樹都籠罩在螢火蟲的光輝中，它們發(fā)出的亮光充溢整個空間，淹沒了所有枝葉。

“So bright， why are there so many fireflies？”

“好亮呀，怎么會有這么多螢火蟲？”

“Those are not fireflies，” he heard his grandmother say.

“那些可不是螢火蟲?！彼犚娔棠陶f。

He remembered standing near the forest with his grandmother. He was awed4 by the small lights flickering5 inside.

他想起了以前和奶奶站在林邊的情景。他被林中閃爍的熒熒微光所震撼。

“What are those， grandma？”

“那些是什么呀，奶奶？”

“Those are called fireflies.”

“那些叫螢火蟲?！?/p>

“They are pretty.”

“它們好漂亮。”

“I used to see them with your grandfather. Our sea of stars.”

“我以前總和你爺爺一起看，那是我們的星海。”

He felt his grandmother’s hand grip him a little tighter.

他感覺奶奶的手把他攥得更緊了。

“Do you know what your name means， Stell？”

“小星，你知道你的名字是什么意思嗎？”

“What？”

“什么意思？”

“When we saw you we felt so happy. It was like our moments watching fireflies but just a thousand times more.”

“我們一看見你就特別開心，就像我們一起看螢火蟲那么開心，不過比那還要開心一千倍。”

She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheeks.

奶奶緊緊抱住小星，親吻他的臉頰。

“Stell means firefly. Our little firefly.”

“‘小星’的意思就是螢火蟲，你是我們的小螢火蟲?！?/p>

In the last moments of his life he again felt his grandmother’s embrace and then he slept.

在生命的最后時刻，小星又感受到了奶奶的懷抱，隨后便長長久久地睡去了。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1本文標(biāo)題是故事主人公的名字，此處沒有按人名音譯，而是根據(jù)文意做了意譯處理，以更好體現(xiàn)故事寓意。stell 作為英語詞根，源自拉丁語名詞stella，表示星星。" 2 beacon（指引車船等的）燈標(biāo)；燈塔。

3 hut簡陋的小房子（或棚、舍）。

4 awe使驚嘆。" 5 flicker閃爍。