The Hollow

The Hollow, written by Russ Bouillac, illustrated by Thomas Boatwright.

《幽谷》，作者拉斯·布亚克，绘图托马斯·博特赖特。

I'm scared, Sarah says, looking around at the trees. Empty branches reach out of the darkness like skeletal hands. Those hands scratched and tore at our costumes as we ran here. I lost my warrior's shield. Sarah lost her cat ears. We lost our flashlights and most of our candy. And Jake's ghost costume is in tatters.

“我好害怕。”萨拉一边说，一边望着四周的树林。 光秃秃的枝桠从黑暗里伸出来，就像骷髅的手。 我们跑过来的时候，这些手刮破扯坏了我们的万圣节服装。 我的武士盾牌弄丢了。 萨拉弄丢了她的猫耳朵。 我们的手电筒和大部分糖果都丢了。 还有杰克的幽灵装也破成了碎布。

I'm just as terrified as Sarah. It's all I can do not to curl up and cover my face till morning. But I have to take care of Jake. There's nothing to be scared of, I say. It's just the hollow. We walk by it every day. Every day, yes. But this is Halloween night, Sarah whines. You know the Hollow is haunted. They say if you play in these woods, some kids will come play with you, and they never let you leave. You become a ghost like them. That's why you don't go in the Hollow. Stop it. You're scaring Jake I say

我和萨拉一样害怕。 我拼尽全力才忍住没缩成一团，捂着脸挨到天亮。 可我必须照顾好杰克。 我说：没什么好害怕的。 这不过就是那个幽谷而已。 我们每天都从这儿路过呀。 没错，天天都路过。 萨拉嘟囔着：可今天是万圣夜呀。 你知道这个幽谷闹鬼的。 据说要是你在这片林子里玩，就会有小孩来找你玩，还永远不放你走。 你也会变成和他们一样的鬼魂。 所以大家才不进幽谷里去。 别说了。 我说：你都吓到杰克了。

Are the ghosts going to get Odie? Jake asked, looking up at me. He'd insisted on bringing his wiener dog trick -or -treating with us. As we walked by the hollow, Odie heard something move in the forest and bolted into the darkness. home. We start walking, stopping every few minutes to untangle Jake's costume from the branches. Strange sounds follow us. The whispering of movement in the dead leaves on the ground. The creak of branches, a snapping twig. My nerves are just about to snap when we hear it, a faint barking. It's Odie. Jake starts to run. Sarah and I run after him, our hands up to protect our faces from the tree's claws. Suddenly we burst into a clearing where nothing grows except for a gnarled thorn bush.

鬼魂会抓走奥蒂吗？ 杰克仰着头问我。 他非要带着他的腊肠犬一起去不给糖就捣 蛋活动。 我们路过幽谷的时候，奥蒂听见林子里有动静，一头扎进黑暗里不见了。 往家走。 我们开始往前走，每隔几分钟就要停下来，把杰克的服装从树枝上解开。 奇怪的声音一直跟着我们。 地上枯叶被踩动，发出悄悄话似的沙沙声。 树枝的咯吱声，还有细枝折断的咔嗒声。 我吓得神经都快绷断的时候，我们听到了一声轻轻的狗叫。 是奥蒂。 杰克立刻跑了起来。 萨拉和我跟在他后面跑，我们抬手挡着脸，免得被树枝划伤。 突然我们冲进一片空地，空地上除了一棵疙疙瘩瘩的荆棘丛，什么都不长。

The moon gives the place a cold glow. It's strangely quiet. Sarah's eyes are wide and she's shaking. We wait in silence. Then we hear the laughing, distant at first, but growing louder. Suddenly, a boy of about Jake's age appears from behind the bush, laughing and running. He wears pants bunched up just below his knees, long socks, and a large stained white shirt. Sarah screams.

月亮给这块地方蒙上了一层冷冷的光。 这里静得奇怪。 萨拉眼睛瞪得大大的，浑身都在发抖。 我们静静地等着。 接着我们听到了笑声，一开始远远的，后来越来越响。 突然，一个和杰克差不多大的男孩从灌木丛后面跑出来，笑着跑着。 他的裤子堆在膝盖下方，搭配着长袜子，还有一件沾了污渍的大白衬衫。 萨拉尖叫起来。

Odie! Jake takes off toward the bush. Odie jumps from behind it, sees Jake, and starts running toward him. The two meet in the middle of the clearing, and Jake hugs Odie so tightly that I think the dog might burst.

奥蒂！ 杰克朝灌木丛跑了过去。 奥蒂从灌木丛后面跳出来，看见杰克，立刻朝他跑过来。 他俩在空地中间碰到一起，杰克抱奥蒂抱得太紧，我都觉得小狗快要喘不上气了。