11 Little Tail

11 Little Tail

11 小尾巴

The pencil was eighteen centimetres long and bright yellow. But it wasn't your usual machine-hewn, perfectly hexagonal cylinder of wood, with a smooth point at one end and an eraser at the other. Oh no. For a start, it looked really old. Like, really, really old. Secondly, it had the feel of an object that had been whittled by hand. Carved, almost. None of the lines was quite straight. It looked more like a sculpture of a pencil than an actual writing implement. The pointy end, in particular, was quite remarkable. There was a centimetre or so of bare wood (the yellow coating looked like it had been hacked away by someone with a miniature axe) that surrounded a thick, black lead. The exposed lead was way longer than Peanut was used to: about half the length of her thumb. It too had a handmade feel, extending fairly evenly for a couple of centimetres before suddenly tapering to a very sharp point. The other end featured a small length of what looked like very thin silver rope that had been wrapped around the pencil

这支铅笔长十八厘米，是鲜亮的明黄色。 可它不是你平常见的那种机器加工、形状规整的六边形木铅笔，那种铅笔一头是光滑笔尖，另一头装着橡皮。 才不是呢。 首先，它看起来特别旧。 就是那种，特别特别旧的样子。 其次，它摸起来就像是手工削出来的东西。 差不多就像手工雕出来的。 笔身上没有哪条线是完全笔直的。 它看着不像真正的书写工具，反倒更像一尊铅笔造型的雕塑。 尤其是笔尖那头，特别与众不同。 粗黑的笔芯外围露着一厘米左右的木头，那层黄漆看着就像是有人用小斧头砍下来的。 露出来的笔芯比花生平常用的长好多，差不多有她半个拇指那么长。 它也带着手工质感，均匀伸出两厘米左右，之后突然收窄成一个非常尖锐的笔尖。 铅笔另一头绕着一小段看起来细得像银丝的绳子

six times. It was holding a centimetre of pale blue rubber, roughly cut into a cylindrical shape. What Peanut was most fascinated by, however, were the faded letters running along the main body of the pencil. They had been printed very unevenly in black, and they read: L.......... OR... E All in all, it was, without doubt, the most beautiful object that Peanut had ever seen. Little Tail—that was the name on its box. She stared at it for a good five minutes before she dared pick it up. When she did, it was heavier than she'd expected. She mimed drawing a few shapes in the air while Catface, who had been hiding in her usual spot underneath the wardrobe, watched with a confused look on her face. Peanut jumped from the bed, rummaged through one of the piles on her desk and pulled out a plain piece of cartridge paper. She thought about how her life had changed since last year and how hopeless she felt. She wished that everything was the way it used to be. What she wouldn't give to wake up in the morning, kiss Mum and Dad goodbye and head off to Melody High. She recalled something Dad would tell her whenever she felt worried: Remember, Peanut, wherever a flower blooms, so does hope. Even the tiniest plant can have the toughest roots. She started to draw. The pencil moved across the paper

绕了六圈。 绳子固定着一厘米长的淡蓝色橡皮，这块橡皮被粗略削成了圆柱形。 不过，最让花生着迷的，是笔身那行褪了色的字母。 这些黑色字母印得歪歪扭扭，拼起来是：L…… OR…… 总而言之，它毫无疑问是花生见过的最美的东西。 小尾巴——这就是盒子上写的名字。 她盯着它看了整整五分钟，才敢伸手把它拿起来。 拿起来才发现，它比她预想的要重。 她拿着笔在空中比画着画了几个图形，一直躲在衣柜底下老地方的猫脸，一脸困惑地看着她。 花生跳下床，在书桌的杂物堆里翻了翻，找出一张空白绘画纸。 她想起自从去年以来生活变了好多，她觉得特别无望。 她多希望一切都能回到原来的样子。 她多想能像从前一样，早上醒来和爸爸妈妈吻别，然后去梅洛迪高中上学呀。 她想起每当她焦虑的时候爸爸都会说：记住呀花生，花开的地方就有希望。 哪怕是最小的植物，也能长出最坚韧的根。 她开始画画了。 铅笔在纸上移动起来

smoothly, its line crisp and even. It felt perfectly balanced in her hand, almost like it was an extension of her arm. Before she knew it, she was finished. She held up the drawing. "Wherever a flower blooms, so does hope," she said aloud. Catface yawned. Peanut looked over at her and yawned too. She suddenly felt exhausted. She found some Blu Tack and stuck her drawing to the wall, right next to her favourite Fantastic Four postcard. She carefully laid the pencil back in its secret hiding place in the box, put her pyjamas on and climbed into bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

笔触顺滑，线条清晰又均匀。 它在她手里轻重刚好，就好像是她手臂延伸出去的一部分。 不知不觉，她就画完了。 她把画举了起来。 "花开的地方就有希望。"她大声说道。 猫脸打了个哈欠。 花生看向它，也跟着打了个哈欠。 她突然觉得累极了。 她找出蓝丁胶，把画贴在墙上，正好贴在她最喜欢的神奇四侠明信片旁边。 她小心地把铅笔放回盒子里它的秘密藏身处，换上睡衣爬上了床。 她头一沾枕头就睡着了。