73 One Year Later

One Year later... Little-Bit pushed the hatch. It opened with a loud creak and a shower of dust drifted down onto her forehead. She wiped it away and hauled herself into the attic. It smelled exactly like the old bike shed at school, the one that no one ever used because they thought a troll lived in it. A pungent mixture of damp wood and old sock. It was also very dark up there. The one shard of pale light that had fought its way in through a small window in the sloping ceiling wasn't doing its job very well. How am I supposed to find the sewing machine in these conditions? she thought. She walked around the musty room looking for

一年之后…… 小不点推开了活板门 门“嘎吱”一声开了，一阵灰尘簌簌落到她的额头上 她擦去灰尘，用力爬进了阁楼 这里闻起来跟学校那个旧自行车棚一模一样，没人敢用那个棚子，大家都觉得里面住着怪物 是潮木头混着旧袜子的刺鼻气味 阁楼里也黑得厉害 斜顶小窗透进来的一缕微光，根本没法照亮这里 这么黑，我该怎么找到缝纫机呀？ 她心想 她在这个满是霉味的房间里四处走动，寻找着

something with the word SINGER written on it. Ever since the Markmakers had told Peanut and her that the new-and- improved Nerys had become an exceptional quilt-maker while in prison back in Chroma, Little-Bit had been determined to give sewing a try herself. When Mum mentioned that Auntie Jean had a machine that Gran had left for her when she'd died, Little-Bit decided to try to find it. She didn't realise that she'd have to brave the dreaded attic to do so, however. She was in the darkest corner of the room, rummaging through a pile of old Just Seventeen magazines, when she found something curious hidden beneath an issue with a young Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover. It was a flat, green leather case, with a small handle and tarnished brass hinges and clasps. It looked very old, its surface peeling and flaking around the reinforced corners. Little-Bit picked it up. Then she walked over to the shard of pale light, knelt on the floor and put the case on her lap. It was much heavier than she had expected it to be. She pressed the two clasps with her thumbs and they flipped open with a satisfying thunk. Slowly, she opened the lid. Inside were three of the most beautiful objects that Little-Bit had ever seen, each one solid silver, highly polished and elaborately ornamented. It was a musical instrument of some sort and, to her eyes, it looked brand new. But it couldn't

一样写着“胜家”字样的东西 自从标记人告诉小不点和皮纳特，改造后的奈丽丝在克罗玛坐牢时成了出色的拼布师，小不点就下定决心要试试缝纫 当妈妈说起琼阿姨有一台外婆去世时留给她的缝纫机，小不点就决定要找到它 可她没想到，找缝纫机还要硬着头皮闯这个吓人的阁楼 她在房间最暗的角落翻找一堆旧《十七岁》杂志，在一本封面印着年轻莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥的杂志下，发现了一样奇怪的东西 那是一个扁扁的绿色皮箱，带一个小提手，还有氧化变暗的黄铜铰链和锁扣 它看起来非常旧，加固边角的表皮已经剥落了 小不点把它捡了起来 接着她走到那缕微光旁，跪在地上，把箱子放在腿上 它比她预想的要沉得多 她用大拇指按开两个锁扣，锁扣“咔嗒”一声弹开，声音清脆爽利 她慢慢掀开箱盖 箱子里放着三样小不点见过的最美的东西，每样都是纯银打造，打磨光亮，还带着精致繁复的装饰 这应该是某种乐器，在她看来，它看起来就跟全新的一样 可它不可能

have been. The case was ancient. And it was buried under loads of old magazines. It must have been up in the attic for years. "It's a flute," she said aloud, when she noticed the lip-plate. Just like the one Marley uses in Junior Orchestra, but a lot cleaner." She picked up the long, gleaming barrel and the smaller foot joint and slotted them together. She then inserted the neck piece into the other end. As she did so, a single exquisite harmonic rang out. Little-Bit smiled. She had never played a flute before, but something compelled her to try to get a tune out of this one. She lifted the lip-plate to her mouth and held the instrument out to the side, like she'd seen Marley do at school. Then she took a deep breath and blew.

是全新的 箱子本身都已经很古老了 它还被压在一大堆旧杂志下面 它肯定在阁楼里待了好多年了 看到唇板后，她出声说道：“这是长笛 就跟马利在少年乐团用的那支一样，只不过干净多啦” 她拿起长长的亮闪闪的笛身和更小的笛脚，把它们拼接起来 接着她把笛颈插进了另一头 就在拼接的时候，一声优美的泛音响了起来 小不点笑了 她从来没吹过长笛，可有种力量驱使她试试吹出调子 她把唇板贴到嘴边，像在学校见过马利做的那样，把乐器举到身侧 然后她深吸一口气，吹了下去

Suddenly, her fingers began to dance across the keys and, to her complete surprise, the most beautiful melody filled the room. Little-Bit almost dropped the flute with shock. How did that happen? she wondered. And then she saw it. A thin, vertical strip of white light had appeared in the opposite corner of the attic. It seemed to be... floating in mid-air. Little-Bit stood up and walked towards it. As she got closer, she saw that it was some sort of... rip A tear in space, almost. She blinked hard and slapped her cheeks with both hands to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Then she lifted the flute to her mouth, took another deep breath and blew again. This time, the tune was even more beautiful than it had been before. She continued to play, and as she did so, the rip got wider. And wider. Soon it had become a hole, big enough for her to climb through. Little-Bit recognised what it was. She, of all people, knew a portal when she saw one. She moved closer to the rip and looked through. On the other side was a bright white landscape that looked like it was made entirely of light. On the floor was a pathway comprised of five thick, parallel lines which led to a large wooden sign. Little-Bit squinted, but she couldn't quite make out what the words on it said. She needed to get closer.

忽然，她的手指开始在按键上灵活跳跃，出乎她意料的是，一段无比优美的旋律填满了整个房间 小不点震惊得差点把长笛掉在地上 这是怎么回事？ 她暗自疑惑 接着她看到了 阁楼对面的角落里，出现了一道细细的竖直白光 它好像……飘在半空中 小不点站起身，朝它走过去 越走越近，她才看清，这好像是一道……裂口，差不多就像是空间撕开了一道口子 她用力眨了眨眼，又用双手拍了拍脸颊，确认自己不是在做梦 接着她把长笛举到嘴边，再一次深吸一口气，吹了起来 这一次，旋律比刚才还要动听 她一直吹，吹着吹着，那道裂口越来越宽 越来越宽 很快它就变成了一个洞，大得足够让她钻进去 小不点认出这是什么了 她比谁都熟悉传送门，一眼就能认出来 她走到裂口边，朝里面望去 另一边是一片明亮的白色天地，看起来完全是由光构成的 地上有一条小路，由五条粗粗的平行线组成，一直通向一块大大的木牌子 小不点眯起眼睛，可还是看不清牌子上写了什么字 她得再走近一点

Perhaps the decision had already been made for her, or perhaps she made it herself, there and then. Either way, Little-Bit stepped through the portal and walked along the path towards the sign. Five steps later, she could read the words clearly. And when she did, she found herself at the beginning of a whole new adventure. WELCOME TO SONATA CITY OF MUSIC

也许决定早就替她做好了，也许是她自己当下就做了决定 不管怎样，小不点踏进了传送门，沿着小路朝木牌子走去 走了五步之后，她清楚地读出了上面的字 看清字样的那一刻，她发现自己站在了一场全新冒险的起点 欢迎来到 音乐之城奏鸣曲