18 Dad's Story

18 Dad's Story "It all began the night before my eighteenth birthday," said Dad. "I remember my mother sitting me down at the dining-room table and telling me that there was something I needed to know. A family secret." Mum was still staring at Woodhouse, open-mouthed. The rat, slightly disconcerted by her reaction, had climbed up onto the control panel and was trying to avoid eye contact with her. "It was all very odd," continued Dad. "She said that just before he died, my father had told her that we were distantly related to a famous Frenchman called Nicolas-Jacques Conté. Apparently, he was the inventor of the pencil. Not only that, but the prototype he made, the first ever pencil, had been passed

18 爸爸的故事 “一切都始于我十八岁生日前一晚，”爸爸说。 “我还记得妈妈让我坐在餐桌旁，说有件事一定要告诉我。 一个家族秘密。” 妈妈仍旧目瞪口呆地盯着伍德豪斯。 那只老鼠被她的反应弄得有点不知所措，爬到了控制面板上，一直避开和她对视。 “这一切都太奇怪了，”爸爸继续说道。 “她说，我爷爷去世前告诉她，我们和一位名叫尼古拉-雅克·孔泰的法国名人是远亲。 没错，他就是铅笔的发明者。 不仅如此，他打造的原型，也就是世上第一支铅笔，一直被

down through the generations of my father's family. Now that my father was gone and I was about to turn eighteen, it was time for me to inherit it. Then she pulled out a small wooden box and opened the lid. Inside I saw... that." He pointed to Little Tail. Peanut pulled it from her bandolier and held it up to show Mum. "She said it was known as Pencil Number One," continued Dad. "I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My mother said that not only was this a very famous and legendary artefact, but that my dad had told her it also held a myriad of strange and wonderful powers. She said it was far too delicate and precious to use, so I was to keep it hidden away in its special box. Er, Tracey, are you listening?"

顺着我父系家族一代代传了下来。 如今我父亲已经去世，我也马上满十八岁，该轮到我继承它了。 接着她拿出一个小木盒，打开了盒盖。 我在里面看见了……就是它。” 他指向了小尾巴。 花生把它从自己的子弹带里拿出来，举给妈妈看。 “它被称作一号铅笔，”爸爸继续说道。 “我当时觉得，这是我见过最美的东西。 我妈妈说，它不只是一件鼎鼎大名的传奇文物，我爸爸还说它拥有许许多多奇妙的力量。 它太娇贵珍贵，不能随便使用，所以我得把它好好藏在专属盒子里。 那个，特蕾西，你在听吗？

Mum blinked several times and then jumped slightly as she woke from her talking-rat-induced trance. She turned to face her husband. "Er, y-yes," she said, her crossness slowly starting to return. "You were saying something about your mum giving you a pencil. Big deal!" "That's not all," Dad said. "She also told me about a hidden city. A place called Chroma." "Chroma?" said Mum. "Little-Bit, didn't you just mention Chroma?" The little girl nodded. "Now, this is the part that is going to be hard to get your head around, Tracey, but please try to be open-minded. Chroma is a place that exists entirely in another dimension. Only a few people ever get to visit. And it is a completely illustrated city." "Illustrated?" asked Mum. "What on earth do you mean by that?" "The city has been created by artists for artists. Literally. Drawn and painted and sculpted and sketched. And, what's more, Chroma is the creative hub of the entire world. Every single one of the great artists throughout history has visited the city, swum in its Rainbow Lake, and, as a result, become imbued with a wonderous sense of creativity. They've

妈妈眨了好几次眼，接着猛地轻轻一怔，才从这只会说话的老鼠带来的恍惚中回过神。 她转过身面向自己的丈夫。 “呃，是、是啊，”她说，火气慢慢又上来了。 “你刚才说你妈妈给了你一支铅笔。 有什么了不起的！” “这还没完，”爸爸说。 “她还告诉了我一座隐藏的城市。 一个叫柯罗玛的地方。” “柯罗玛？”妈妈说。 “小不点，你刚才是不是提到柯罗玛了？” 小女孩点了点头。 “听着特蕾西，接下来这件事确实很难接受，但拜托你试着放开心怀听我说。 柯罗玛是一个完全存在于另一个维度的地方。 只有少数人能够到访那里。 而且整座城市全都是画出来的。” “画出来的？”妈妈问道。 “你这话到底是什么意思？” “这座城市是艺术家为艺术家创造的。 完完全全就是这样。 又是画又是涂又是雕又是描。 而且，柯罗玛是全世界的创作中心。 古往今来每一位伟大艺术家都来过这座城市，在彩虹湖游过泳，之后就会充满绝妙的创作灵感。 他们曾

then returned to the real world and created their incredible works of art." The colour was beginning to return to Mum's cheeks now. "OK, Well, you won't be surprised to hear that I have questions," she said. "Of course you do, but please let me finish first," said Dad. "I promise I'll answer everything when I'm done." "Go ahead," Mum said. "So, my mother told me that once I turned eighteen, I could visit Chroma whenever I wanted. She even told me how to get there. Apparently, there was a secret doorway at the National Portrait Gallery. A portal to the city, she said. It was years before I actually used it, mind you." "Really? Why didn't you go straight there?" asked Peanut. "I would have." "I don't really know," replied Dad. "I guess I was a bit sceptical. I'm not sure I believed Gran, to be honest. It is a pretty wild story after all." "You can say that again," said Mum, sarcastically. "Instead, I put the box away and forgot all about it." "So when did you visit Chroma for the first time, Daddy?" asked Little-Bit. "It was years before I thought about the illustrated city again. Just after your gran passed away, actually. When she died, everything she had told me came flooding back. I suddenly felt

回到现实世界，创作出了那些了不起的艺术作品。” 这会儿妈妈的脸上渐渐恢复了血色。 “好吧，我说我有一堆问题，你肯定不会吃惊，”她说。 “我当然知道你有问题，但请先让我说完，”爸爸说。 “我保证说完后一定回答你所有问题。” “那你继续，”妈妈说。 “所以我妈妈告诉我，等我满十八岁后，随时都可以去柯罗玛。 她甚至告诉了我去那里的方法。 她说国家肖像馆里有一道密门。 那就是通往这座城市的传送门。 不过说真的，过了好多年我才真的用上它。” “真的吗？ 你为什么不直接过去呢？”花生问道。 “换我肯定马上就去。” “我也说不清楚，”爸爸回答。 “我想我那时候有点怀疑。 说实话，我那时候不太相信奶奶说的话。 毕竟这个故事实在太离谱了。” “可不是嘛，”妈妈讽刺地说。 “所以我把盒子收了起来，彻底忘了这件事。” “爸爸，你第一次去柯罗玛是什么时候呀？”小不点问道。 “又过了好多年，我才重新想起这座画出来的城市。 其实就是你奶奶去世后没多久。 她去世后，她告诉我的所有事一下子全都涌回了我的脑海。 我突然感到

a huge sense of responsibility to her and my father, and to the generations of Joneses that had gone before. I felt that it was my duty to learn more about the city, about my heritage. So I decided to go to the National Portrait Gallery. I found the portal, right behind the bust of Queen Victoria, just like Gran had said, and off I went to Chroma."

对奶奶、对父亲、对琼斯家以往一代代先祖的沉甸甸责任。 我觉得我有责任去多了解这座城市，了解我的家族传承。 所以我决定动身去国家肖像馆。 我找到了那道传送门，就在维多利亚女王的胸像后面，和奶奶说的一模一样，接着我就出发去柯罗玛了。”

"Gary, why didn't you tell me about all this back then?" asked Mum. Her voice was still angry, but starting to soften. I couldn't, Tracey," he replied. "You see, when I got to Chroma, I realised that there was, er, a dangerous element there, and I couldn't risk getting you and the kids caught up in it." A dangerous element?" said Rockwell. "Ah. So, that's when you learned about Mr White's plan to destroy the city and rid the world of all its creativity?" "Yes," said Dad. "It's also when I joined the Resistance." And soon after that, you told me about Chroma," said Leo. "You said certain forces were at play and you were worried that something might happen to you." "That's right," agreed Dad. "During my time with the Resistance, we learned that Mr White had heard that Conté's heir— that was me, of course— had surfaced. That made me the number one target. I knew that being taken prisoner or worse— was now a distinct possibility. I also knew how important it was that the pencil was kept safe. So I decided I had to tell Leo about it and give him instructions for what to do should anything happen to me." "Leo, you knew?" gasped Mum. Her son blushed and nodded. "Mum, at first I was cross about that too," said Peanut.

“加里，那时候你为什么不把这些事都告诉我呀？”妈妈问道。 她的声音还带着火气，但已经慢慢软下来了。 “我那时候没办法说啊，特蕾西，”他回答。 “你想啊，我到克罗玛之后，才发现那里，呃，有一股危险势力，我不能让你和孩子们卷进来冒险。” “危险势力？”罗克韦尔问道。 “哦。 原来，那时候你就知道怀特先生要毁掉城市、除掉全世界所有创造力的计划了？” “没错，”爸爸说。 “也是那时候我加入反抗军的。” “那之后没多久，你就跟我说起克罗玛了，”里奥说。 “你说有股势力在暗中行动，你担心自己会出事。” “没错，”爸爸点头承认。 我在反抗军的时候，我们查到怀特先生已经听说孔代的继承人——当然就是我——浮出水面了。 这就让我成了头号目标。 我很清楚，我被抓走甚至 worse的情况，真的很有可能发生。 我也明白，保住那支铅笔有多重要。 所以我决定，必须把这件事告诉里奥，交代清楚万一我出事该怎么办。” “里奥，你早就知道？”妈妈倒吸一口凉气。 她的儿子红着脸点了点头。 “妈妈，一开始我也生这件事的气呀，”皮纳特说。