Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A Thousand Pieces The next morning, Jessie sat with her grandmother at the dining room table and ripped the cellophane wrapper off the box of the new jigsaw puzzle. She couldn't wait to get started. Grandma looked like herself this morning. She had slept twelve hours last night, and at breakfast she'd given Jessie and Evan a giant bear hug. They'd even exchanged their Christmas gifts. Grandma was wearing the scarf that Jessie had knit for her draped over her shoulders, and Jessie had a brand-new calligraphy pen and two jars of metallic ink waiting for her upstairs in her room. Evan's present from Grandma was a magic set, and he had given her a Christmas cactus covered in pink blossoms. "That looks good enough to eat," said

第二天早上，杰西和祖母坐在餐桌旁，撕开了新拼图盒子上的玻璃纸。 她迫不及待地要开始了。 奶奶今天早上看起来很正常。 她昨晚睡了十二个小时，早餐时她给了杰西和埃文一个大大的熊抱。 他们甚至交换了圣诞礼物。 奶奶把杰西为她织的围巾披在肩上，杰西在楼上的房间里准备了一支崭新的书法笔和两罐金属墨水。 埃文从奶奶那里得到的礼物是一套魔术套装，他送给她一棵开满粉红色花朵的圣诞仙人掌。 “看起来很好吃，”他说

Grandma, staring at the picture of the puzzle that Jessie set up on one end of the table like a billboard. The brightly colored jellybeans reminded Jessie of Christmas lights all in a tangled pile. They even seemed to glisten and glow like lights on a tree. It was the most beautiful puzzle she had ever seen. And the hardest. It took Jessie and Grandma nearly ten minutes just to spread out all the pieces on the table and turn each one right side up. Then they had to separate out all the straight-edge pieces that would form the outside frame. When they had finished, they stopped and studied the puzzle. "They all look the same," said Jessie. It was true. Even though the pieces were different shapes, the picture on each one was basically the same. There was no way to pick one out from all the others. Jessie had never done a puzzle like this before. She didn't know where to begin. "Four corners," said Grandma, tapping the

奶奶盯着杰西放在桌子一端像广告牌一样的拼图图片。 色彩鲜艳的豆粒软糖让杰西想起了圣诞彩灯，它们乱成一团。 它们甚至像树上的灯一样闪闪发光。 这是她所见过的最美丽的拼图。 也是最难的。杰西和奶奶花了将近十分钟的时间才把桌子上所有的碎片摊开，并把每一块都朝上。 然后，他们必须把所有的直边分开，形成外面的框架。 完成后，他们停下来研究这个谜题。 “它们看起来都一样，”杰西说。 这是真的。尽管这些碎片的形状不同，但每一块上的图案基本上是一样的。 没有办法从所有的人中挑选出一个。 杰西以前从来没有做过这样的拼图。 她不知道从何说起。 “四个角，”奶奶说着，轻拍着

table. "That's how we always start, right?" So they searched through the puzzle pieces until they found the four corner pieces and matched those up to the picture to figure out which corner went where. Then they began the slow process of building off the corners to create the outside frame of the puzzle. "Grandma, tell me about the New Year's Eve bell," said Jessie. She'd been waiting all morning to ask her grandmother about the bell, but she was nervous. Mrs. Treski had warned both children: "Try not to say anything that might upset her," and she had told Jessie specifically, "Don't talk about how the bell is missing." "Well, what do you want to know?" asked Grandma, fitting a puzzle piece onto her side of the frame. "Where did it come from?" "My great-grandfather put it there to call the neighbors in case of an emergency." "Like what?" asked Jessie. "What kind of

表格。“我们总是这样开始的，对吧？”因此，他们在拼图中搜寻，直到找到四个角的碎片，并将它们与图片相匹配，以找出哪个角在哪里。 然后，他们开始慢慢地把边角搭起来，形成拼图的外部框架。 “奶奶，给我讲讲除夕夜的钟声吧，”杰西说。 她整个上午都在等着向祖母打听铃铛的事，但她很紧张。 特雷斯基太太警告过两个孩子：“尽量不要说任何可能让她不高兴的话，”她还特别告诉杰西，“不要说铃铛怎么不见了。” “那么，你想知道什么呢？”奶奶问，把一块拼图装到她那一侧的画框上。 “它是从哪儿来的？”“我的曾祖父把它放在那里，以便在紧急情况下打电话给邻居。” “比如什么？”杰西问。 “什么样的？

emergency?" She was hunting for a straight-edge piece with a purple jellybean on it. "Oh, all kinds of things. If someone was sick or if there was a lost child or a fire or a pack of wolves getting into the sheep." "Back in 1884?" Over the years, Jessie had traced her fingers over that date on the bell a hundred times. She knew the inscription by heart: THE JONES TROY BELL FOUNDRY COMPANY, TROY, N.Y. 1884. I SOUND THE ALARM TO KEEP THE PEACE. The letters were as tall as her thumb. "That's when the bell was cast." Jessie's grandma nodded. "That's when the bell was hung." "How did they hang it?" asked Jessie. "It must

紧急?”她在找一块镶着紫色软糖的直边蛋糕。 “哦，各种各样的事情。如果有人生病了，或者有一个迷路的孩子，或者一场火灾，或者一群狼进入了羊群。” “1884年？”这些年来，杰西用手指在钟上的那个日期上划了一百遍。 她对上面的铭文熟记于心：琼斯·特洛伊·贝尔铸造公司，特洛伊，纽约州 1884. 我拉响警报以维持治安。 这些字母和她的大拇指一样高。 “钟声就是在那时敲响的。” 杰西的奶奶点了点头。“那就是挂钟的时候。” “他们是怎么挂的？”杰西问。 “它必须

weigh a thousand pounds!" "Oh, no," said Grandma, scratching her earlobe, which is what she did when she concentrated. "It doesn't weigh that much. Maybe a hundred pounds. Two men could hang that bell easily. One time, years and years ago, the bell needed to be cleaned, so I lifted it off the hooks and dragged it back to the house on a sledge all by myself. Of course, it's a lot easier to take a bell down than it is to hang it up." "You took the bell down?" asked Jessie. "When?" "Oh, years ago. A long time ago. Just after your grandfather died. I was still young and strong back then. Not like now." Grandma turned a puzzle piece around in her hand, seeing if it would fit, but then put it back with the others on the table. "Grandma?" Jessie asked in a near whisper. "Did you take the bell down—sometime this year?"

体重一千磅！”“哦，不，”奶奶说，一边搔着耳垂，这是她集中注意力时的动作。 “它没有那么重。 也许100英镑。两个人就能轻而易举地把钟挂起来。 很多很多年以前，有一次，钟需要清洗，于是我把它从挂钩上取下来，用雪橇把它拖回了家。 当然，取下钟要比挂起来容易得多。” “你把铃铛拿下来了？”杰西问。 “什么时候?”“哦，很多年前。很久以前的事了。 就在你祖父去世之后。 那时我还年轻强壮。 不像现在。”奶奶把手里的一块拼图转了一圈，看看是否合适，然后又把它和其他的一起放回桌子上。 “奶奶?”杰西近乎耳语地问。 “你今年什么时候把钟拆掉了吗？”

Grandma laughed. "What a thing! No, I couldn't take that bell down anymore. That old bell is still up there on Lovell's Hill. Always will be." She had stopped working on the puzzle and was using her good hand to rub her shoulder as if it ached. "Maybe you wanted to sell it?" asked Jessie, thinking of the appraisal letter. "No, Jessie. I would never sell the New Year's Eve bell." "Maybe you... forgot." "I didn't forget, Jessie," said Grandma, shaking her head. "But you could have—" "No!" Her grandmother dropped her hand to the table so that it made a sharp rapping sound. "Now stop, Jessie! The bell is on the hill. It's always been there, and it always will be there. So, enough." "Okay, Grandma," said Jessie, but inside she wondered if maybe her grandmother's

奶奶笑了。“什么东西！”不，我不能再把钟拿下来了。 那口老钟还在洛弗尔山上。 永远都是。”她已经停止了做拼图，用那只好手揉着自己的肩膀，好像很疼似的。 “也许你想卖掉它？”杰西问，想起了那封评估信。 “不,杰西。我永远不会卖掉除夕夜的钟。” “也许你……忘记了。”“我没有忘记，杰西，”奶奶摇着头说。 “但是你可以——”“不！”她的祖母把手放在桌子上，发出了尖锐的敲击声。 “现在停下来，杰西！”钟在山上。 它一直在那里，而且将永远在那里。 所以,足够了。”“好吧，奶奶，”杰西说，但她心里想，也许是她奶奶的