9 Encounter with a Ghost

CHAPTER 9 Encounter with a Ghost Later that same morning, I went on another hike. It was very early, but the morning was already hot. The world of the future was much warmer than the world of today. Maybe it was because the sun had grown hotter. Or maybe the earth was closer to the sun. Whatever the reason, it was so hot that I went in search of some cool

那天上午晚些时候，我又进行了一次徒步旅行。 时间还很早，但早晨已经很热了。 未来的世界比今天的世界要温暖得多。 也许是因为太阳变得更热了。 或者地球离太阳更近。 不管什么原因，天气太热了，我去找点凉快的

shelter. I came to a large building that had started to fall apart and climbed in through a hole in one wall. Inside, I found a hallway. It was very dark because the windows were blocked with broken stone and metal. Suddenly, I stopped. A pair of glowing eyes looked out at me from the dark shadows. The eyes made me think of the creature I had seen in the bushes and the ghost-like animals on the hill. I wanted to run, but I managed to stay calm. Instead of fleeing, I took a step forward and said, "Who's there?" I slowly walked closer. I put out my hand and felt something soft. I gasped as something ran past me from the shadow. It was a strange, ape-like creature. It ran into the light behind me with its head down. It must have had its eyes closed, too, because it ran into a wall and stumbled. The thing got up quickly and darted into the shadows behind a pile of rubble. I didn't get a good look at it, but I knew it was

避难所。我来到一幢开始坍塌的大楼前，从墙上的一个洞爬了进去。 在里面，我发现了一条走廊。 窗户被碎石头和碎金属堵住了，所以很黑。 突然，我停了下来。一双发光的眼睛从黑暗的阴影中望着我。 那双眼睛使我想起了我在灌木丛中看到的生物和山上那些幽灵般的动物。 我想跑，但我设法保持冷静。 我没有逃跑，而是向前走了一步，问：“谁在那儿？”我慢慢走近。 我伸出手，摸到了柔软的东西。 有个东西从阴影里跑过，我倒吸了一口气。 这是一种奇怪的、像猿的生物。 它低着头跑进了我身后的灯光里。 它一定也是闭着眼睛的，因为它撞到了墙上，绊了一跤。 那东西迅速站起来，冲进一堆瓦砾后面的阴影里。 我没看清楚，但我知道是

covered in white hair and had large, grayish-pink eyes. Still, I couldn't tell if it ran on four legs or whether it used its arms to help itself run. Fighting my fear, I followed it into the shadows. I couldn't see it anywhere. It was as if it had disappeared. As I searched the darkness, I found a well—just like the ones I had seen outside. I wondered if the thing had climbed down into it. I lit a match and peered over the edge. There it was, looking up at me with its shining eyes. It clung to a twisted metal ladder that wound its way down the side of the well. The thing looked like a human spider as it clambered down from rung to rung. Then the match burned my finger, and I dropped it. By the time I'd lit another, the creature was gone. I sat staring into the inky darkness for a long time. As I peered down the well, I realized that the thing wasn't some kind of animal. It was covered in hair and moved like an ape. But when I saw its face, I knew it wasn't a wild creature. It

满头白发，有一双灰粉色的大眼睛。 不过，我还是不知道它是用四条腿跑，还是用胳膊帮助自己跑。 与恐惧作斗争，我跟着它走进阴影。 我哪儿都看不到它。 它好像消失了。 当我在黑暗中搜寻时，我发现了一口井——就像我在外面看到的那些井一样。 我怀疑那东西是不是爬进去了。 我点燃了一根火柴，从边缘往外看。 它就在那儿，用闪亮的眼睛看着我。 它粘在一个扭曲的金属梯子上，梯子沿着井的一侧蜿蜒而下。 这个东西从一个横档爬到另一个横档，看起来像一只人蜘蛛。 然后火柴烧到了我的手指，我把它掉在地上了。 等我点燃了另一支，那怪物就不见了。 我坐在那里盯着漆黑的黑暗看了很长时间。 当我往井里看的时候，我意识到那东西不是什么动物。 它浑身是毛，行动起来像只猿猴。 但当我看到它的脸时，我知道它不是野生动物。 它

had to be human. In an instant, everything I had thought about the world of the future changed.

必须是人类。刹那间，我对未来世界的一切想法都改变了。

I now saw that there were two kinds of humans. There were the gentle little people who lived in the Upperworld, and there were the ape- like humans who lived underground and did not like the bright light of day. Just then, two Eloi ran into the hallway. They became upset when they saw me looking down the well. I tried to ask them a question, but they were frightened and turned to go. I lit a match to see down the well. At the sight of the flame, the two Eloi stopped. They approached me and stood looking at the match. Their eyes widened, and they smiled with delight. It was as if they were seeing the most beautiful sight ever. The Eloi had probably forgotten how to make fire long ago, and fires from lightning would be very rare. So the sight of a flame was magical to them. As they stared at the flickering match, I asked them another question about the well, but they

我现在明白了，世上有两种人。 有住在上层世界的温文尔雅的小人物，也有像猿猴一样的人，他们住在地下，不喜欢白天明亮的光线。 就在这时，两个爱洛伊跑进了走廊。 当他们看到我往井里看时，他们变得很不安。 我想问他们一个问题，但他们很害怕，转身就走了。 我点了根火柴往井里看。 看到火焰，两个爱洛伊人停了下来。 他们走近我，站在那里看着比赛。 他们睁大了眼睛，高兴地笑了。 他们仿佛看到了有史以来最美丽的景象。 埃洛伊人可能很久以前就忘记了如何生火，而且闪电引起的火是非常罕见的。 所以看到火焰对他们来说是很神奇的。 当他们盯着闪烁的火柴时，我又问了他们一个关于井的问题，但他们

didn't answer. And when the flame died, they left. So I went outside, too, and started to look for Weena. My mind was spinning as I made my way to the white building. I thought I'd understood how the world had changed in eight hundred thousand years, but I had been wrong about so much. Now I saw that the ghost-like creatures lived underground. They had large eyes, just like owls or cats that prowl at night. With such large eyes, they found the sunlight too bright. That's why the thing had closed its eyes and run into the wall. Their white hair reminded me of animals that live in caves and never see the sun. Those animals are often white, too. I passed by another well. I'd already guessed that fresh air flowed down the wells and foul air came up through the chimneys. Now I knew why. The air was so these creatures could breathe. I saw the wells everywhere I went, so I

没有回答。当火焰熄灭时，他们离开了。 于是我也走到外面，开始寻找威娜。 当我走向那座白色的建筑时，我的脑子一直在旋转。 我以为我已经明白了世界在80万年里是如何变化的，但我错了太多。 现在我看到了那些幽灵般的生物住在地下。 它们的眼睛很大，就像猫头鹰或猫在夜间徘徊一样。 眼睛那么大，它们觉得阳光太亮了。 这就是那东西闭上眼睛撞到墙上的原因。 它们的白毛使我想起了那些住在山洞里，看不到太阳的动物。 这些动物通常也是白色的。 我经过另一口井。我已经猜到新鲜的空气从井里流下来，而污浊的空气从烟囱里飘上来。 现在我知道为什么了。空气是为了让这些生物呼吸。 我所到之处都能看到水井，所以我