7 Lord Midnight's curse

Chapter 7 Lord Midnight's curse Once Adam and Sally had settled down, the old man began. I've seen dreadful things at Twelve Bells End. "I'm Frank Forthright," he said, "and I used to be the Midnights' gardener."

亚当和莎莉安顿下来后，老人开始说话了。 我在十二钟庄园见过可怕的事。 “我叫弗兰克·福特赖特，”他说，“我以前是午夜园的园丁。”

"For the last fifteen years, the family has been under a dreadful curse. Every year, on the twelfth day of the twelfth month, another victim is struck down." "It always happens on the twelfth stroke of midnight. Some victims are killed instantly and their ghosts haunt the house. Others survive, but they are never the same again."

“在过去的十五年里，这个家族一直受到可怕的诅咒。 每年12月的第12天，都会有另一个受害者被杀死。” “总是在午夜十二点钟敲十二下的时候。 有些受害者当场死亡，他们的鬼魂在房子里出没。 有些幸存了下来，但它们再也不一样了。”

"There's Posy, who used to be a dancer. She had a bad fall and turned soccer crazy." "Young Joker slipped on a banana skin and started finding mathematics more funny than jokes." "Then, two years ago, Mervin the banker was hit on the head. Now he wants to join the circus.

“有波西，他曾经是个舞者。 她重重地摔了一跤，变成了足球迷。” “小小丑踩到香蕉皮滑倒了，开始发现数学比笑话更有趣。” 然后，两年前，银行家默文（Mervin）头部被击中。 现在他想加入马戏团。

"And, of course, there's your cousin Max. After his accident last year, he only wants to eat really disgusting food." Mmmm! "So all those people at dinner are victims of the Midnight curse..." said Sally. That's why they're so odd!

“当然，还有你的堂兄马克斯。 去年出了事故之后，他只想吃非常恶心的食物。” 嗯!“所以晚餐上的那些人都是午夜诅咒的受害者……” 莎莉说。这就是为什么他们这么奇怪！

"And the ghosts that haunt our room are victims too," added Adam with a shiver. "But why are the Midnights cursed?" "Look here," said Frank, reaching for a book. He thumbed through the pages, to a picture of a silver urn. "See the dark blue stone set in the urn," he said. "That's the Midnight Stone and it's the cause of all the trouble." Adam and Sally studied the page.

“在我们房间里出没的鬼魂也是受害者，”亚当打了个寒颤，补充说。 “但是为什么午夜会被诅咒呢？”“看这里，”弗兰克说，伸手去拿一本书。 他翻了翻书页，看到一幅银瓮的画。 “看那块嵌在瓮里的深蓝色的石头，”他说。 “那是午夜之石，是一切麻烦的根源。” 亚当和莎莉仔细看了看那页纸。

The Curse of the Midnight Stone The Midnight Stone has always been a Midnight family treasure. Set in an antique silver urn, the stone can never leave Twelve Bells End. If someone removes it from the urn, a curse will Fall on the whole Midnight family. The curse can only be broken if a member of the family returns the stone to its proper place. "I've seen that old urn by the staircase," said Adam. "But who removed the stone?" Frank gave a sigh. "Archibald Midnight. He was a wicked man."

午夜之石的诅咒午夜之石一直是午夜家族的宝藏。 在一个古董银瓮，石头永远不会离开十二钟巷。 如果有人把它从骨灰盒里拿出来，整个午夜家族都会受到诅咒。 只有家族成员把石头放回原处诅咒才能解除。 “我在楼梯旁看到过那个旧骨灰盒，”亚当说。 “可是谁移走了石头呢？”弗兰克叹了口气。 “阿奇博尔德午夜。他是个邪恶的人。”