Chapter 3

Chapter Three IN WHICH Stories Are Told and a Theft Is Discovered We've seen goblins and a troll and a griffin," Jared told her eagerly as they arranged themselves at the foot of the hospital bed. It was such a relief to be believed. Now if she would just explain how important the Guide was, everything would be okay. "And Thimbletack," Mallory put in, picking up a cookie and taking a bite. "We've seen him, although we're not sure if he counts as a brownie or a boggart."

“我们看到了半兽人、一只巨怪和一只狮鹫。”他们在医院的床脚坐了下来，贾里德急切地对她说。 让人相信这是一种解脱。 现在只要她解释一下《指南》有多重要，一切都会好起来的。 “还有西姆布兰蒂克。”马洛里插嘴说，拿起一块饼干咬了一口。 “我们见过他，虽然我们不确定他算布朗尼还是博格特。”

"Right," said Jared. "But we need to ask you something important." "Thimbletack?" Aunt Lucinda asked, patting Mallory's hand. "I haven't seen him in ages. How is he? The same, I expect. They're all always the same, aren't they?" "I... I don't know," Mallory said. Aunt Lucy reached into the drawer on her side table and brought out a worn, green cloth bag embroidered with stars. "Thimbletack loved these." Jared took the bag and peered into it. Silvery jacks next to several stone and clay marbles glinted inside the pouch. "They're his?" "Oh, no," she said. "They're mine, or they were, when I was young enough to play with such things. I'd just like him to have them. The poor

“好的。”杰瑞德说。“但是我们需要问你一些重要的事情。” “Thimbletack ?”露辛达姨妈拍着马洛里的手问道。 “我好久没见到他了。 他怎么样了？我想是一样的。 他们总是一样的，不是吗？”“我…… 我不知道，”马洛里说。 露茜姨妈把手伸进边桌的抽屉，拿出一个绣着星星的破旧绿布袋。 “西姆布兰蒂克喜欢这些。” 杰瑞德接过包，往里看。 银杰克旁边的几个石头和粘土弹珠在袋子里闪闪发光。 “他们?”“哦，不，”她说。 “它们是我的，或者说曾经是我的，那时我还小，还能玩这些东西。 我只是想给他。 穷人

thing, all alone in that old house. He must be so glad you've come." Jared didn't think Thimbletack was all that glad, but he didn't say so. "Was Arthur your dad?" Simon asked. "Yes. Yes, he was," she said with a sigh. "Have you seen his paintings in the house?" They nodded. "He was a wonderful artist. He used to illustrate advertisements for soda pop and women's stockings. He made paper dolls for Melvina and me. We had a whole folder of them, with different dresses for each season. I wonder what ever happened to those things." Jared shrugged. "Maybe they're in the attic." "It doesn't matter. He's been gone for a long time now. I'm not sure I'd want to see them anyway." "Why not?" Simon asked. "Brings back memories. He left us, you know." She looked down at her thin hands. They were trembling. "He went out for a walk one day and

东西，一个人待在老房子里。 他一定很高兴你来了。” 贾里德觉得西姆布兰蒂克不怎么高兴，但他没这么说。 “亚瑟是你爸爸吗？”西蒙问。 “是的。是的，他是。”她叹了口气说。 “你在房子里见过他的画吗？”他们点了点头。 “他是一位了不起的艺术家。 他曾经为汽水和女袜的广告画插图。 他给我和梅维娜做了纸娃娃。 我们有一整个文件夹，每个季节都有不同的衣服。 我不知道这些东西后来怎么样了。” 杰瑞德耸耸肩。“也许它们在阁楼里。” “没关系。他已经离开很久了。 反正我也不确定我想不想看到他们。” “为什么不?”西蒙问。勾起了我的回忆。 你知道，他离开了我们。”她低头看着自己瘦弱的双手。 他们在颤抖。“有一天他出去散步，然后

never came back. Mother said she had known he was going to leave for a long time." Jared was surprised. He'd never given much thought to what Uncle Arthur was like. He thought of the stern, bespectacled face in the library painting. He'd wanted to like his great- great-uncle, who could draw and see faeries. But if what Lucinda said was true, then he didn't like Arthur at all. "Our dad left too," said Jared. "I just wish I knew why." Aunt Lucy turned her head away, but Jared thought he saw the glint of tears in her eyes. She pressed her hands together to make them stop shaking.

再也没有回来。妈妈说她早就知道他要走了。” 杰瑞德很吃惊。他从来没有想过亚瑟叔叔是什么样的人。 他想起了图书馆那幅画上那张严肃的、戴着眼镜的脸。 他想要像他的曾叔祖父一样，他会画画，还能看到仙子。 但如果露辛达说的是真的，那他根本就不喜欢亚瑟。 “我们的爸爸也走了。”杰瑞德说。 “我只希望知道原因。”露西姨妈转过头去，但贾里德觉得他看到了她眼中闪烁的泪光。 她把双手合在一起，使它们不再颤抖。

"Maybe he had to move for his job," Simon offered. "Like our dad." "Oh, come on, Simon," Jared said. "You can't really believe that load of crap." "Shut up, morons." Mallory glared at them. "Aunt Lucy, how come you're in this hospital? I mean, you're not crazy." Jared winced, sure that Aunt Lucy would be mad, but she only laughed. His anger faded. "After Father left, Mother and I moved one town over to live with his brother. I grew up alongside my cousin Melvina—that's your grandmother. I told her about Thimbletack and

“也许他是为了工作才搬家的，”西蒙说。 “就像我们的爸爸。”“哦，别这样，西蒙，”贾里德说。 “你不会真的相信那一堆废话。” “闭嘴，白痴。”马洛里瞪着他们。 “露西姨妈，你怎么会在这家医院里？” 我是说，你没有疯。” 贾里德畏缩了一下，他肯定露西姨妈会生气的，但她只是笑了笑。 他的怒气消了。父亲离开后，我和母亲搬到另一个城镇去和他哥哥住在一起。 我和我的表妹梅尔维娜一起长大，那是你的祖母。 我跟她说了西姆布兰蒂克的事

about the little sprites, but I don't think she ever really believed me. "Mother died when I was only sixteen. A year later I moved back into the estate. I tried to use what little money there was to fix the place up. Thimbletack was still there, of course, but there were other things too. Sometimes I saw shapes skulking around in the dark. Then one day they stopped hiding. They thought I had Father's book. They would pinch me and poke me and insist that I give it to them. But I didn't have it. Father had taken it with him. He never would have left it behind." Jared started to speak, but his aunt was lost in her memories and didn't seem to notice. "One night the faeries brought me a piece of fruit—just a little thing—the size of a grape and red as a rose. They promised not to hurt me anymore. Stupid girl that I was, I took the fruit and sealed my fate." "Was it poison?" Jared asked, thinking of Snow White and apples.

小妖精的事，但我觉得她从来都不相信我。 “我十六岁时母亲就去世了。 一年后，我搬回了庄园。 我试图用仅有的一点钱把这个地方修缮一下。 当然，西姆布兰蒂克还在那儿，但也有别的东西。 有时我看到黑暗中有人影鬼鬼祟祟。 后来有一天，他们不再躲藏了。 他们以为我拿了父亲的书。 他们会掐我，戳我，坚持要我给他们。 但我没有。父亲把它带走了。 他绝对不会丢下它的。” 贾里德开始说话，但他的姨妈沉浸在她的记忆中，似乎没有注意到。 “一天晚上，仙女们给我带来了一颗水果——只是一个小东西——葡萄那么大，红得像玫瑰。 他们保证不会再伤害我。 我是一个愚蠢的女孩，我拿走了水果，注定了我的命运。” “是毒药吗？”杰瑞德问道，想起了白雪公主和苹果。