2 MADELEINE CAHILL 1526

MADELEINE CAHILL 1526 by Peter Lerangis As the last student fell unconscious to his desk, Madeleine Babbitt thought about lies. She'd lived inside them all her life. Lies and secrets. Now she could shout out the truth, and no one would hear it. She smiled as she pulled a pencil from under the face of a slumped-over Flynn O'Halloran. His head thumped, echoing through the Xenophilus Institute of Alchemy, a grand name for a one-room schoolhouse made of clay and dried peat. Maddy Babbitt, scared as a rabbit, they called her. She had acted the part almost all of her nineteen years. To keep attention away. To keep from being noticed. She almost believed she was that person. The stammer and the apologies had become part of her until her bolder side nearly faded away. Today, when Flynn had swiped her

玛德琳·卡希尔1526年彼得·莱兰吉斯最后一个学生昏倒在讲台上时，玛德琳·巴比特想到了谎言。 她一生都住在里面。 谎言和秘密。现在她可以大声说出真相，而没有人会听到。 她微笑着，从弯腰驼背的弗林·奥哈洛伦脸上抽出一支铅笔。 他的脑袋砰砰作响，回响在谢诺菲勒斯炼金术学院里，这是一座用粘土和干泥炭建造的只有一个房间的校舍的宏伟名字。 麦蒂·巴比特，吓得像只兔子，他们叫她。 在她19岁的一生中，她几乎一直扮演着这个角色。 为了分散注意力。不被注意。 她几乎相信她就是那个人。 结巴和道歉已经成为她的一部分，直到她大胆的一面几乎消失了。 今天，弗林偷了她

project notes and read them aloud, she had shrunk away. A sleeping potion— aren't you boring enough? he'd taunted. Everyone had dared her to demonstrate. So she had. And it felt wonderful. "Sleep well, my friends," she said, capping a vial of amber liquid. She glanced outside, looking for Professor Xenophilus, who had missed class today. A pity. He was probably lost in his own laboratory work, concocting medicines and marvelous inventions. "As you only sniffed the potion on a handkerchief," she continued to the silent class, "you will waken in five minutes, fizzy and refreshed. Had it entered your bloodstream directly, it would take an hour." Her stammer was gone. How liberating to speak to a stupefied audience! As she placed the vial into a pouch that hung around her neck, she felt fit to burst. Two decades of pent-up secrets bounced around inside her like unruly puppies before an opening door. "And also," she blurted out, "my name is not Maddy Babbitt! It's Madeleine…"

整理笔记，大声朗读，她退缩了。 安眠药——你还不够无聊吗？ 他嘲笑。每个人都怂恿她去示威。 于是她就这么做了。这感觉很棒。 “睡个好觉，我的朋友们，”她说着，盖上了一瓶琥珀色的液体。 她朝外面看了看，寻找谢诺菲勒斯教授，他今天没来上课。 一个遗憾。他可能迷失在自己的实验室工作中，调制药物和奇妙的发明。 “既然你们只是用手帕闻了闻药水，”她继续对沉默的同学们说，“五分钟后你们就会醒来，浑身冒着气泡，神清气爽。 如果它直接进入你的血液，需要一个小时。” 她的口吃消失了。对一群目瞪口呆的听众讲话是多么自由啊！当她把药瓶放进挂在脖子上的药袋里时，她觉得自己快要炸开了。 二十年来被压抑的秘密在她心里像一扇打开的门前不守规矩的小狗一样蹦来蹦去。 “还有，”她脱口而出，“我不叫玛蒂·巴比特！这是玛德琳……”

Say it! Go ahead. But try as she might, the name Cahill stuck in her throat. Her training was bone deep. As sunlight poked through the clouds and into the room, a tiny windmill of black-and-white sails began to turn on a table. These knocked a pebble down a chute, striking a hook that released a weighted pulley, which in turn raised a small spring-loaded hammer. The hammer then struck a brass gong, signifying the end of alchemy class. Soon the distant tune would sound— Mother summoning her, expecting help in the apothecary. Leaving behind the sleepers, Madeleine raced outside. She sped down a sloping path through heather and scrub. A low bank of clouds swept over the moor, casting the village of Scáth below in gray-green mist. Madeleine looked up to the soft-ceilinged sky as she ran. She thought of her father, a man she'd never met. Mother claimed he had been the greatest alchemist and an even better father. She hoped that wherever he was, he was looking down and seeing the results of her alchemy training.

说它!继续。但尽管她努力了，卡荷尔的名字还是萦绕在她的喉咙里。 她受过很深的训练。 当阳光透过云层照进房间时，一个由黑白相间的帆组成的小风车开始在桌子上转动。 它们把一颗鹅卵石撞到溜槽里，击中一个钩子，钩子释放出一个加重的滑轮，滑轮又升起一个装有弹簧的小锤子。 然后锤子敲了一下铜锣，这意味着炼金术课结束了。 不久，远方的旋律响起了——母亲召唤她，期待着药剂师的帮助。 玛德琳把睡觉的人抛在身后，跑了出去。 她穿过石南丛和灌木丛，沿着一条倾斜的小路疾驰而下。 一层低低的云掠过沼地，把下面的Scáth村笼罩在灰绿色的雾中。 玛德琳一边跑一边仰望着柔软的天空。 她想起了她的父亲，一个她从未见过的人。 母亲说他是最伟大的炼金术士，甚至是更好的父亲。 她希望无论他身在何处，他都能低头看到她炼金术训练的成果。

Even more, she hoped he was proud. In a moment, her shoes hit the cobblestones of town. She wove through winding alleys that echoed with the distant sound of a tin flute, piercing and sweet. This was Mother playing a tune called "Bhaile Anois," which meant home now. It was composed by Father and had become the traditional Cahill family song of summoning. As she ran, Madeleine waved to the pink-faced baker and soot-blackened chimney sweep, the burly butcher and weary lamplighter. She dashed around the corner of Front Street. Carriages groaned up the hill, passing an old beggar woman who slept in the shadow of an abandoned stable. Ahead, the street descended toward the lake, where it flattened and followed the gentle curve of the bank. At the bottom of the hill stood O. Babbitt & Daughter Apothecary. Madeleine slowed. Before the shop, a crowd of people had gathered in the street. A group of men was pounding on the front door. They were dressed in hooded capes of purple and black. Behind them stood a massive wooden dray cart tethered to pack horses. On the cart, three men

更重要的是，她希望他感到骄傲。 不一会儿，她的鞋子踩在了镇上的鹅卵石上。 她穿过弯弯曲曲的小巷，远处回荡着锡笛的声音，刺耳而甜美。 这是妈妈弹的曲子，叫做“Bhaile Anois”，意思是现在回家了。 它是由父亲创作的，已经成为卡希尔家族传统的召唤之歌。 玛德琳一边跑，一边向面红心赤的面包师、被烟熏黑的扫烟囱工人、魁梧的屠夫和疲惫的点灯工人挥手。 她急匆匆地绕过前街的拐角处。 马车呻吟着上山，经过一个睡在废弃马厩阴影里的老乞丐。 在前面，街道朝着湖的方向向下延伸，在那里变得平缓，顺着河岸平缓的弯道而行。 O站在山脚下。 巴比特和女儿药剂师。 玛德琳放缓。商店前，一群人聚集在街上。 一群人在猛敲前门。 他们穿着紫黑相间的兜帽披风。 他们身后站着一辆巨大的木马车，用绳子拴着，用来装马。 马车上坐着三个人

lay moaning and half dead. Shackled to the cart's frame, his clothes ripped and face covered in blood, was Professor Xenophilus. Madeleine stopped. The old man slowly turned his gaze up the hill. His deadened eyes settled on her. He gestured feebly with an arm that hung at an odd, unnatural angle. Run away, his body language was saying. One of the caped men spun toward Xenophilus, smacking his head with an open fist. The teacher's knees crumpled and he fell to the cobblestones. "Old fool," the man bellowed, "are ye sure there be Cahills here?" Madeleine stumbled backward at the sound of the name she'd only ever heard uttered by her mother. How did they know? How could Xenophilus—? Last week. Under her teacher's observation she'd sampled an earlier version of the formula. Just a bit. Upon awakening, he'd scolded her about proper dosage. Too strong, and the potion induced coma! Ah, but too weak, and the

躺着呻吟，半死不活。 谢诺菲勒斯教授被铐在车架上，衣服被撕破，满脸是血。 玛德琳停了下来。老人慢慢地把目光转向山上。 他呆滞的目光落在她身上。 他无力地做了个手势，一只手臂以一种奇怪的、不自然的角度垂着。 跑开，他的肢体语言在说。 其中一个披斗篷的人转身向谢诺菲勒斯走来，张开拳头打他的头。 老师跪倒在鹅卵石地上。 “老傻瓜，”那人吼道，“你肯定这儿有卡希尔家的人吗？”玛德琳听到这个她只听过她母亲说过的名字，踉跄着后退了几步。 他们是怎么知道的？Xenophilus怎么能？ 上周。在老师的观察下，她尝试了一个早期版本的公式。 只是一点点。一觉醒来，他就斥责她剂量不合适。 太强了，又被药水诱发昏迷！啊，但是太弱了，而且

recipient was half awake, unable to stop from saying his or her innermost thoughts! The look on his face had startled Madeleine. His usual jovial, patient expression had changed. He seemed confused, as if seeing her for the first time. I must have told him that day, she thought. Under the earlier, weaker formula, I must have revealed my name. It made sense— her father was so often on her mind. Surely Xenophilus would have recognized the name of such a famous alchemist. And now the secret had been beaten out of him— because of me, she thought. But by whom? Who were these people? A loud crack rang out. The men were using a wooden ram now, and the apothecary door was about to give. "We know you're in there, woman!" a voice shouted. "Mother!" Madeleine screamed, running down the hill. As she passed the stable, the beggar woman moved. Springing to her feet, she grasped

收信人半醒着，无法停止说出他或她内心深处的想法！他脸上的表情使玛德琳吃了一惊。 他平常那种愉快、耐心的表情变了。 他似乎很困惑，好像是第一次见到她。 我那天一定告诉过他，她想。 根据先前的弱公式，我一定泄露了我的名字。 这是有道理的——她的父亲经常出现在她的脑海里。 谢诺菲勒斯肯定知道这样一位著名炼金术士的名字。 现在秘密从他嘴里被打掉了——都怪我，她想。 但是谁呢？这些人是谁？ 一声巨响。男人们现在用的是木公羊，药店的门快要开了。 “我们知道你在里面，女人！”一个声音喊道。 “母亲!”玛德琳尖叫着跑下山坡。 当她经过马厩时，那个讨饭的女人动了。 她一跃而起，紧紧抓住