11 A Ghost in the House

CHAPTER 11 A Ghost in the House At last the day came for Grandmamma to leave. It was a sad time for Clara and Heidi. Weeks passed and the only cheer Heidi knew was the book she read in her room each night. Her hopes of seeing Grandfather and the rest of the mountain seemed to fade a little more each day. Meanwhile, something strange and mysterious was going on in the Sesemann house. Every morning when the servants went downstairs, they found the front door

第十一章房子里的鬼终于到了奶奶要离开的那一天。 对克拉拉和海蒂来说，这是一段悲伤的时光。 几个星期过去了，海蒂唯一知道的快乐就是她每天晚上在房间里读的那本书。 她想见到爷爷和山中其他地方的希望似乎一天比一天更渺茫了。 与此同时，赛赛曼的房子里发生了一些奇怪而神秘的事情。 每天早上，当仆人们下楼时，他们发现了前门

wide open. Nobody in the house knew why. At first they thought there must be a thief sneaking in, but nothing was missing. The servants checked that the door was locked twice a night. Sebastian even put a wooden bar across it for extra safety, but that did no good, either. The next morning, the door was always open again. The servants took turns trying to solve the mystery. But one by one the adults grew more helpless and less brave. Were strangers trying to break in at night? Were ghosts or other spirits roaming the house? Finally Ms. Rottenmeier couldn't take it any more and decided to write a letter to Mr. Sesemann. The letter told of strange things around the house and explained how frightened she and everyone had become. She also told him that Clara was extremely upset over the ghost. In truth, however, Clara and Heidi found the ghost story quite silly.

敞开的。房子里没人知道为什么。 起初他们以为有贼溜进来了，但是什么也没丢。 仆人们每晚检查两次门锁上了。 塞巴斯蒂安甚至在上面放了一根木条，以增加安全系数，但也无济于事。 第二天早上，门总是开着的。 仆人们轮流试图解开这个谜团。 但是大人们一个接一个地变得越来越无助，越来越不勇敢。 有陌生人试图在晚上闯入吗？ 是鬼魂还是其他鬼魂在房子里游荡？ 最后，罗特麦耶女士实在忍不住了，决定给赛赛曼先生写封信。 这封信讲述了房子周围的奇怪事情，并解释了她和每个人都变得多么害怕。 她还告诉他，克拉拉对鬼魂感到非常不安。 事实上，克拉拉和海蒂觉得这个鬼故事很愚蠢。

The letter was successful, and Mr. Sesemann came home two days later. He talked to the girls and to all the servants in the house. Soon after, he called his friend, the doctor. "There is no one sick in the house," he told the man when he arrived. "Much worse than that, my friend. We have a ghost!" The doctor laughed aloud. "I see you feel bad for us," Mr. Sesemann continued. "Really, Sesemann, a ghost?" "I know, I know. I have doubts myself." Mr. Sesemann told him how the front door had been opened each night. Either someone was playing a joke on the servants or there really was a thief. Finally the doctor agreed to help. Near midnight the two men settled down in armchairs and began talking about all sorts of things. They laughed off the talk of ghosts

这封信写得很成功，赛赛曼先生两天后回家了。 他对姑娘们和家里所有的仆人说话。 不久之后，他打电话给他的朋友，医生。 “家里没有人生病，”当他到达时，他告诉那个人。 “比那糟多了，我的朋友。 我们有鬼了！”医生大声笑了起来。 “我知道你为我们感到难过，”赛赛曼先生继续说。 “真的吗，赛赛曼，鬼魂？”“我知道，我知道。 我自己也怀疑。”赛赛曼先生告诉他前门每天晚上都是如何被打开的。 要么是有人在跟仆人开玩笑，要么就是真的有贼。 最后医生同意帮忙。 快到午夜时，两个人在扶手椅上坐下来，开始谈论各种各样的事情。 他们对鬼话一笑置之

and chatted happily of old times. Suddenly the doctor lifted his finger. "Hush! Sesemann, do you hear something?" They both listened. They were sure they heard someone lift the wooden bar off the door and put the key into the lock. Mr. Sesemann got up slowly. "Who's there?" the doctor yelled as he stood up. The two men stepped forward with

我们愉快地聊着过去的时光。 突然，医生抬起了手指。 “嘘!赛赛曼，你听到什么了吗？”他们俩都听着。 他们确信听到有人把木条从门上拿开，把钥匙插进锁里。 赛赛曼先生慢慢地站了起来。 “谁在那儿？”医生站起来喊道。 那两个人向前走了几步

The small figure they saw turned and gave a low cry. There in her little white nightgown stood Heidi. Her feet were bare and her eyes were wild. She was trembling from head to foot like a leaf in the wind. The two men looked at each other in surprise. "Child, what do you need? Why did you come down here?" Mr. Sesemann asked.

他们看到的那个小人儿转过身来，低声叫了一声。 海蒂穿着她的白色小睡衣站在那里。 她光着脚，眼神狂野。 她从头到脚抖得像风中的一片叶子。 两个人惊讶地面面相觑。 “孩子，你需要什么？”你为什么到这里来？”赛赛曼先生问。

Heidi was white with fear and hardly able to make her voice heard. "I don't know," she said. The doctor stepped up to the child. "This child is sick, my friend. Let me take her to her room." With that, he put down his light, took the child's hand, and led her upstairs. "Don't be frightened. It's all right. Let's go quietly." When he reached Heidi's room, the doctor took Heidi in his arms and laid her on the bed. He carefully covered her up and then sat down beside her to wait until she had stopped trembling. Then he took her hand and said in a kind, soothing voice, "There, there, now you feel better. Tell me where you were trying to go." "I didn't want to go anywhere," said Heidi. "I didn't know I went downstairs, but all at once I was there." "I see. And were you dreaming?"

海蒂吓得脸色发白，几乎听不见她的声音。 “我不知道，”她说。医生走到孩子跟前。 “这个孩子病了，我的朋友。 让我带她去她的房间。” 说完，他放下蜡烛，拉着孩子的手，领她上了楼。 “不要害怕。没关系的。 我们安静地走吧。”当他到达海蒂的房间时，医生把海蒂抱在怀里，放在床上。 他小心翼翼地把她盖好，然后坐在她旁边，等她停止颤抖。 然后他拉着她的手，用一种亲切、安慰的声音说：“好了，好了，现在你感觉好多了。 告诉我你要去哪儿。” “我哪儿也不想去，”海蒂说。 “我不知道我下了楼，但突然我就在那儿了。” “我明白了。你是在做梦吗？”