7 THE LONG NIGHT

CHAPTER 7 THE LONG NIGHT Kaz still didn't understand what sleeping was. Obviously it was something that took a long, long, long time. How long? he wondered as he floated around the upstairs turret room. Even though he'd just met Claire, he missed her. He missed his family even more. Kaz peered into the Outside night. He wondered where Mom, Dad, Little John, and Cosmo were. Did they find their way to new haunts, or were some of them still blowing about in the Outside? What about Finn? And Grandmom and Grandpop?

第七章漫漫长夜卡兹仍然不明白睡眠是什么。 很明显，这需要很长，很长，很长的时间。 多久?他一边在楼上塔楼的房间里游荡，一边想着。 虽然他刚认识克莱尔，但他很想念她。 他更想念他的家人了。 卡兹凝视着外面的夜色。 他想知道妈妈、爸爸、小约翰和科斯莫在哪里。 他们是找到了新的去处，还是他们中的一些人还在外面游荡？ 芬恩呢？爷爷奶奶呢？

Would Kaz ever see any of them again? Back at his haunt, nighttime was when the family told stories. But here in the library, without Claire for company, Kaz didn't know what to do with himself during the dark hours of the night. Kaz drifted down the hallway. He knew Claire was behind one of those closed doors. She'd said earlier that one of those rooms was hers, but he couldn't remember which one. He heard a strange rumbling from behind one of the doors. It sounded like... well, Kaz didn't know what it sounded like. He'd never heard a sound like that before. "Hello? Claire?" he said outside the door. Claire didn't answer. Kaz heard a softer rumbling from behind the door across the hall. He swam over. "Claire?" he said again. "Are you in there? What's that noise?" Kaz sucked his body in and made himself as flat as he could. He dived down and tried to swim under the door, but the floor here was different

卡兹还会再见到他们吗？ 回到他常去的地方，晚上是一家人讲故事的时候。 但在图书馆里，没有克莱尔的陪伴，卡兹不知道在漆黑的夜晚该做些什么。 卡兹飘飘然地走过走廊。 他知道克莱尔就在其中一扇关着的门后面。 她之前说过其中一个房间是她的，但他不记得是哪一个了。 他听到一扇门后面传来一阵奇怪的隆隆声。 听起来像是……卡兹不知道那是什么声音。 他以前从未听到过这样的声音。 “喂?克莱尔？”他在门外说。 克莱尔没有回答。卡兹听到从走廊对面的门后传来一声柔和的隆隆声。 他游了过去。“克莱尔？”他又说。 “你在里面吗？”那是什么声音？”卡兹把身体吸进去，尽量把自己压平。 他往下潜，想从门下游过去，但这里的地板不一样

than it had been at the old schoolhouse. It was fuzzy and thick, and it stretched all the way to the bottom of the door. Kaz couldn't swim under this door. He sighed. Bored, he wafted down the dark hallway... across the—what did Claire call this room? The 'living room'?... and down the stairs. When he reached the entryway, he noticed a light coming from the nonfiction room. Didn't Claire's grandma "turn out the lights" when she went upstairs? Didn't "turning out the lights" make the library dark? Kaz wafted over and peered around the doorway. He saw a light shining in a corner of the room. That ghost man, Beckett, hovered near the light with a book in his hands. A solid book. Kaz stared. It wasn't easy for a ghost to hold on to a solid object. Kaz wondered how long Beckett had been doing it.

比在老校舍的时候还好。 它又厚又模糊，一直延伸到门的底部。 卡兹不能从这扇门下面游过去。 他叹了口气。他厌倦了，飘飘然地走过黑暗的走廊。 克莱尔叫这个房间什么来着？ “客厅”？然后下了楼。 当他走到入口处时，他注意到一盏灯从非小说类的房间里照了进来。 克莱尔的奶奶上楼的时候不是把灯关了吗？ “关灯”不是让图书馆变黑了吗？ 卡兹飘了过来，在门口四处张望。 他看见房间角落里有一盏灯在闪烁。 那个鬼人，贝克特，手里拿着一本书在灯光附近徘徊。 一本扎实的书。Kaz盯着。一个鬼魂要抓住一个固体物体是不容易的。 卡兹想知道贝克特做了多久。

"Well, are you going to stay there in the

“那么，你打算在那儿呆在……

doorway or are you going to come in?" Beckett asked as he reached out a ghostly hand to turn a page in the solid book. Kaz was surprised that Beckett knew he was there. "How long have you been holding that book?" he asked as he swam into the room. "About an hour," Beckett replied. "My record is an hour and a half." "Wow." Kaz was impressed. Beckett sniffed. "Unfortunately, I can't practice during the day with all those solids coming and going. It's difficult to even read at a table during the day. That solid with the pink stripe in her hair keeps grabbing my books out from under me and putting them away." Kaz could see how that would be a problem. Beckett set his book down on the table, then glided over to Kaz. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Beckett." He tipped his hat. "Kaz."

门口，还是你要进来？”贝克特一边问道，一边伸出一只幽灵般的手翻开这本厚实的书。 卡兹很惊讶贝克特知道他在那里。 “你拿着那本书多久了？”他边游进房间边问。 “大约一个小时，”贝克特回答。 “我的记录是一个半小时。” “哇。”卡兹被打动了。贝克特闻了闻。 “不幸的是，我不能在白天练习，因为这些固体来来去去。 白天坐在桌边看书都很困难。 那个头发上有粉色条纹的女人总是从我身下把我的书抢过来，然后把它们收起来。” 卡兹看得出这是个问题。 贝克特把书放在桌子上，然后滑到卡兹身边。 “我想我们还没有正式介绍过。 我是贝克特。”他脱帽致意。 “Kaz。”

"Well, Kaz. I was a little surprised you didn't follow me back to my private haunt earlier. I don't extend an invitation to every ghost I meet, you know. Imagine if word got out that there was a secret place no solid could ever get into. I'd be overrun! But you didn't even want to join me." "It's not that I didn't want to," Kaz said, lowering his eyes. "It's just... well, I sort of don't like to pass through walls." "You can't pass through walls?" Beckett gaped at Kaz. "I didn't say I couldn't," Kaz said. "I said I don't like to." "Hmm," Beckett said. "So you'd rather spend time with that solid girl than pass through a wall." "Well...," Kaz said. Actually, he would rather spend time with Claire than pass through a wall. "You don't like solids much, do you?" Kaz said. "Nope," Beckett said, making no apologies.

“嗯,Kaz。我有点惊讶你之前没有跟着我去我的私人住所。 我不会邀请每一个我遇到的鬼魂。 想象一下，如果有消息传出去，说有一个秘密的地方，任何固体都进不去。 我会被压垮的！但你甚至都不想和我一起。” “不是我不愿意。”和子垂下眼睛说。 “这只是…嗯，我有点不喜欢穿墙而过。” “你不能穿墙吗？”贝克特目瞪口呆地看着卡兹。 “我没说我不能，”卡兹说。 “我说过我不喜欢。”“嗯，”贝克特说。 “所以你宁愿花时间和那个结实的女孩在一起，也不愿穿过一堵墙。” “嗯……卡兹说。事实上，他宁愿和克莱尔在一起也不愿穿过墙。 “你不太喜欢固体，是吗？”Kaz说。 “不，”贝克特说，没有道歉。