03 Player Piano

Chapter 3. Player Piano. Outside, the sad tune played on. It's coming from there! said Annie. She crept toward a building that had a sign with the word, hotel on it. Jack limped after her. Annie slowly pushed open a swinging door. They peeked inside. The fading daylight lit a piano in the corner of the room. The keys were moving up and down, but no one was there.

第三章 自动钢琴 外面，悲伤的曲子还在响着。 “是从那边传来的！”安妮说。 她悄悄朝一栋建筑走去，建筑上的牌子写着“旅馆”两个字。 杰克一瘸一拐地跟在她后面。 安妮慢慢推开一扇摇晃的门。 他们朝里面偷偷张望。 渐渐暗下来的日光落在房间角落的一架钢琴上。 琴键上下动着，可旁边一个人都没有。

Yikes! whispered Annie. A ghost playing the piano. Suddenly the keys were still. The air got very cold. No, no way! said Jack. There's no such thing as a ghost. We saw one in ancient Egypt! whispered Annie. Yeah, but that was ancient Egypt! said Jack. Even so his heart raced. I'll look it up. Jack pulled out the Wild West book. He found a picture of a piano. He read aloud.

“妈呀！”安妮小声说，“有鬼在弹钢琴。”突然琴键不动了。 空气变得凉飕飕的。“不可能，绝对不可能！”杰克说，“这世界上根本没有鬼。” “我们在古埃及见过鬼呀！”安妮小声说。“是没错，可那是古埃及呀！” 杰克说。可他的心还是怦怦跳得飞快。“我来查查书。”杰克掏出那本西部荒野的书。 他找到一张钢琴的图片，大声读了起来。

Player pianos were popular in the Old West. The piano played automatically when someone pumped its floor pedals. Later, with the help of electricity, the piano played all by itself. Phew! Jack closed the book. I knew there was an answer. He said, It must be electric, and somehow it came on. I didn't know they had electricity in the Wild West, said Annie. They didn't, said Jack. He looked at Annie. Oh, man, let's get out of here, he said.

自动钢琴在旧西部很受欢迎。 有人踩底部的踏板时，钢琴就会自动演奏。 后来有电之后，钢琴自己就能演奏了。 “呼！”杰克合上书，“我就说肯定有合理的解释嘛。”他说， 这架钢琴肯定是电动的，不知道怎么自己启动了。 “我都不知道荒野西部有供电呢。”安妮说。 “他们这儿没有电啊。”杰克看着安妮说。 “天呐，我们快离开这儿吧。”他说。

Jack and Annie backed out of the hotel. When they got outside, they heard another sound, horse hooves thumping against the hard ground. A cloud of dust seemed to be moving toward the town. As it got closer, Jack saw three riders. They were herding a small band of horses. Hide! Jack said. Where? said Annie. Jack looked around wildly. He saw two barrels outside the hotel. There! he said. Jack and Annie hurried to the empty barrels. Jack climbed inside one and tried to scrunch down. His hat wouldn't fit. He jumped out of the barrel and threw his hat into the hotel.

杰克和安妮退着走出旅馆。刚到外面，他们又听到另一个声音， 是马蹄重重踩在硬地上的声音。一团尘土正朝着小镇的方向飘过来。 等离得更近了，杰克看到三个骑手，他们正赶着一小群马。 “快躲起来！”杰克说。 “躲哪儿？”安妮说。杰克着急地四处张望，看到旅馆外面放着两个桶。 “那儿！”他说。 杰克和安妮赶紧跑到空桶旁边，杰克爬进一个桶里，努力把身子缩成一团。 他的帽子塞不下，他又跳出桶，把帽子扔进了旅馆里。

Mine too, said Annie. Jack grabbed hers and threw it. Then he scrambled back into the barrel, just in time. Jack heard the horses thunder into town. He peeked through a crack in the barrel and saw a blur of cowboys and horses go by. Whoa, whoa, whoa, men shouted. Jack heard the horses come to a halt. They stamped and snorted. All he could see were shadows through the crack. Dust covered Jack. He had to sneeze. He pinched his nose. The creek bed must have dried up, a cowboy yelled. This town's a ghost. Yeah, it gives me the shivers, said another. Let's camp over the rise. Jack really had to sneeze now. He pinched his nose tighter. But he couldn't stop the...

“我的也塞不下。”安妮说。 杰克拿过她的帽子也扔了进去。 接着他赶紧爬回桶里，时间刚刚好。 杰克听到马儿轰隆隆地跑进了小镇。 他从桶的缝隙里往外偷看，只看到牛仔和马匹模糊的身影跑过去。 “吁！吁！吁！”男人们大喊着。 杰克听到马儿都停了下来。 马儿们跺着蹄子，打着响鼻。 透过缝隙，他只能看到一团团影子。 杰克身上落满了灰尘。 他忍不住想打喷嚏。 他使劲捏住自己的鼻子。 “小溪河床肯定已经干了。”一个牛仔大喊道。 “这镇子是个鬼镇。” “是啊，我都起鸡皮疙瘩了。”另一个牛仔说。 “我们去小山丘那边扎营吧。” 杰克现在更想打喷嚏了。 他把鼻子捏得更紧了。 可他还是忍不住要……

Sneeze, he let out a choked, achoo. What was that? Someone said. Just then a loud whinny split the air. Jack saw a beautiful horse rear up. She had no rider or saddle, just a rope around her neck. She was as red as the sunset. She had a wild black mane and a white star above her eyes. We can't keep fighting this one, boss, a cowboy yelled. Yep, she wants her colt, another said. We shouldn't have left him behind.

打喷嚏！他憋得慌，还是打出了一声“阿嚏”。 “那是什么声音？” 有人说道。 就在这时，一声响亮的马嘶划破了天空。 杰克看到一匹漂亮的马前蹄抬了起来。 她背上没有骑手也没有马鞍，脖子上只套了一根绳子。 她的毛像日落的晚霞一样红。 她长着乱糟糟的黑色鬃毛，眼睛上方有一块星星形状的白斑。 “老大，我们搞不定这匹马。”一个牛仔大喊道。 “是啊，她想找她的小马驹。”另一个说。 “我们不应该把小马驹落下的。”