On cue, the first snowflakes started mixing with the raindrops, and within minutes, a heavy snow began to fall. We were still sitting in our places when the faery troop meandered back to the camp, chased home by the sud-den inclemency. Winter sometimes came early to our part of the country, but usually we did not get a snowfall until after Christmas. As the squall blew in, I wondered for the first time whether Christmas had passed altogether, or perhaps at least Thanksgiving had slipped by, and most certainly Halloween was gone. I thought of my family, still looking for me every day in the woods. Perhaps they thought me dead, which made me feel sorry and wish that word could be sent concerning my welfare.

话音方落，雪花开始夹杂着雨点落下，几分钟后，就降下一场大雪。仙灵队被突如其来的严酷天气赶回了家，他们缓步回营时，我们还坐在老地方。在这个国度，我们居住的这块地方冬天有时来得早，但通常第一场雪会在圣诞节后才下。暴风雪刮起来时，我第一次想到圣诞节是否已经结束，还有至少感恩节已经偷偷溜走了，而万圣节几乎肯定已过。我想着我的家人仍然每天在树林中寻找我。也许他们以为我死了，这让我感到难过，希望能报个平安。

At home, Mom would be unpacking boxes of decorations, putting out the stable and the manger, running garland up the stair rail. The past Christ-mas, my father took me out to chop down a small fir tree for the house, and I wondered if he was sad now, without me to help him choose the right one. I even missed my little sisters. Were they walking and talking and dreaming of Santa Claus, wondering what had become of me?

在家里，妈妈会打开盛着装饰品的箱子，清理马厩和马槽，把花环挂上楼梯栏杆。上一个圣诞节，爸爸带我去砍了一棵小冷杉运回家，我想他现在会不会觉得悲伤，因为我不能帮他挑选合适的树木。我还思念我年幼的妹妹们。她们是否在走路，说话，梦见圣诞老人，奇怪我到底出了什么事？

"What day is it?" I asked Luchóg as he changed into warmer clothes.

"今天是什么日子？"我问鲁契克，他在换暖和的衣服。

He licked his finger and held it into the wind. "Tuesday?"

他舔了舔手指，伸进风里，"礼拜二？"

"No, I mean what day of the year? What day of the month?"

"不，我是问今年的几月几号？"

"I have no idea. Judging by the signs, could be late November, early December. But memory is a tricky thing and unreliable when it comes to time or weather."

"我不知道。从现象来看，可能是十一月底，十二月初了吧。但是说到时间和天气，记忆会开玩笑，靠不住的。"

Christmas had not passed after all. I resolved to watch the days from then on and to celebrate the season in an appropriate fashion, even if the rest of them did not care about holidays and such things.

毕竟圣诞节还没过。我决定从此以后要观察日子，以合适的方式来庆祝这个节日，尽管其他人并不关心节日之类的事。

"Do you know where I can get a paper and a pencil?"

"你知道我从哪里可以弄到一张纸，一支铅笔？"

He struggled into his boots. "Now, what would you want them things for?"

他用力穿上靴子，"你要这些东西干吗？"

"I want to make a calendar."

"我想做个日历。"

"A calendar? Why, you would need a store of paper and any number of pencils to keep a calendar out here. Ill teach you how to watch the sun in the sky and take notice of the living things. Youll know time enough by them."

"日历？在这儿做日历，你会用掉一大堆纸，无数铅笔。我会教你怎么观察天空中的太阳，怎么留意活的东西。它们足以让你知道时间。"

"But what if I want to draw a picture or write someone a note?"

"但如果我想画画或给某人写张便条呢？"

Luchóg zipped up his jacket. "Write? To whom? Most of us have forgot-ten how to write entirely, and those that havent, didnt learn in the first place. It is better to have your say and not be putting down in more or less a perma-nent way what youre thinking or feeling. That way lies danger, little trea-sure."

鲁契克拉上拉链，"写字？给谁？我们大多数人都彻底忘记了怎么写字，那些没忘记的，本来也就没学过。你最好用说的，别把你的想法和感受写下来，这或多或少会长久留存下来。这样会造成隐患，小宝贝。"

"But I do like to draw pictures."

"但我喜欢画画。"

We started across the ring, where Smaolach and Igel stood like two tall trees, conferring. Because Luchóg was the smallest of us all, he had trouble keeping up with me. Bouncing along at my side, he continued his disserta-tion.

我们穿过空地，斯茂拉赫和伊格尔站得像两棵高高的树，正在交谈。因为鲁契克是我们中间最矮的，他得费点力才能跟上我。他在我身边一蹦一跳地前进，继续他的发言。

"So, youre an artist, are ye? No pencil and paper? Do you know that the artists of old made their own paper and pens? Out of animal skin and bird feathers. And ink from soot and spit. They did, and further back still, they scratched on stones. Ill teach you how to leave your mark, and get you that paper if you want, but in due time."

"这么说，你是个艺术家啰，是吗？没有铅笔和纸？你不知道以前的艺术家都是自己做纸笔的吗？用动物皮和鸟毛来做。墨水用煤灰和唾液来做。他们就是这样干的，更早的年代，他们在石头上刻画。我会教你怎么留下标记，如果你要纸，我会给你，但得过段时间。"

When we reached the leader, Igel clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Youve earned my trust, Aniday. Listen and heed these two."

我们跟上首领后，伊格尔拍了拍我肩膀说："安尼戴，你赢得了信任。听这两位的话，注意他们的动作。"

Luchóg, Smaolach, and I set off into the woods, and I looked back to wave goodbye. The other faeries sat together in bunches, huddled against the cold, and let the snow coat them, mad and exposed stoics.

鲁契克、斯茂拉赫和我出发进入森林，我回头挥手告别。其他仙灵扎堆而坐，互相围拢着来抵御寒冷，任凭雪花落在身上，傻气而坚忍地待在露天。

I was thrilled at being out of that camp, but my companions did their best to control my curiosity. They let me stumble about on the trails for a time before my clumsiness flushed a covey of doves from their rest. The birds exploded into the air, all pipes and feathers. Smaolach put a finger to his lips, and I took the hint. Copying their movements, I became nearly as graceful, and we walked so quietly that I could hear the snowfall over the sound of our footsteps. Silence has its own allure and grace, heightening all the senses, espe-cially hearing. A twig would snap in the distance and instantly Smaolach and Luchóg would cock their heads in the direction of the sound and identify its cause. They showed me the hidden things silence revealed: a pheasant craning its neck to spy on us from a thicket, a crow hopping from branch to branch, a raccoon snoring in its den. Before the daylight completely faded, we tramped through the wet grounds to the mucky bank of the river. Along the waters edge ice crystals grew, and listening closely, we heard the crack of freezing. A single duck paddled further down the river, and each snowflake hissed as it hit the waters surface. The sunlight faded like a whisper and vanished.

能从营寨里出来，我极度兴奋，但我的同伴全力控制我的好奇心。我笨拙的动作惊飞了一群窝里的鸽子，之后他们又任凭我在藤蔓上绊了一脚。鸟群猛冲上天，鸣叫响成一片，羽毛纷纷飘落。斯茂拉赫把手指竖在唇边，我领会了这暗示。我学着他们，动作变得优美起来，我们走得很轻，能听见盖过我们脚步声的落雪声。寂静自有一番魅力和雅致，所有的感官都敏锐起来，尤其是听觉。远处有一根小树枝折断的声音，斯茂拉赫和鲁契克就立刻朝声源抬起头，确定它的来因。他们指给我那些原本隐藏起来、却被寂静暴露了的东西：一头野鸡从灌木丛中伸长脖子打探我们，一只乌鸦在树枝间跳来跳去，一只浣熊在窝里打鼾。在天光完全被吞没之前，我们渡过湿地，来到河的泥岸。水边正在结冰，细听之下，有结冻的"咔咔"声。一只鸭子顺水游下，每片雪花触碰水面都发出轻微的嘶嘶声。阳光如低语般渐渐喑弱，消失。
关键字:失窃的孩子
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