We moved in our new house. The house has cathedral ceilings up and down, and the only attic space was in the adjoining wall from my son’s room, which is above the kitchen. It is about twelve feet long, and its highest point is about five feet, and then it tapers down from the angle of the roof...
我們搬進了新房子。房子的天花板就像教堂上尖尖的屋頂一樣從中間向邊上傾斜，緊鄰著我兒子的房間是一間閣樓，也是這所房子里面唯一的一間，位于廚房的上面。這間閣樓差不多有十二尺長，最高的地方有將近五尺，屋頂從尖角的位置向下延伸開來逐漸變得寬闊，就像圓錐那樣。

The first thing I noticed that was odd was that it had been nailed shut. Not just with a few nails but about twelve long ominous ones…The former occupant was either attempting to stop someone getting in….Or out.
第一件讓我奇怪的事情是閣樓的門被釘死了，而且不是用的幾個小釘子，而是十二根很長的，讓人有一種不祥的預感?？雌饋矸孔酉惹暗闹魅耸窍胱柚故裁慈诉M去，或是出來…
　　
The house is in a very nice neighborhood with a creek nearby, the mountains nicely within view and a multitude of parks… It was upon the third night that we first heard something out of sorts…A scratching noise above the kitchen. I told my wife and son that we must have a trapped animal in the attic space, perhaps a rat. Yet, for some unexplainable reason my imagination kept considering a far more sinister prospect... Whatever the course I was going to have to investigate…
房子四周的風景很美，附近有一條小溪，幾座景色宜人的大山還有很多公園…但是，住進來的第三天晚上我們聽到了一些讓人不大高興的聲音…廚房上面?zhèn)鱽砹艘魂囙枥锱纠驳穆曇?。我就和妻子兒子說肯定是閣樓里面關著了什么動物，也許是只老鼠，但是，不知道為什么我的腦海里總是出現一些不祥的預感。究竟是怎么回事呢?我打算去看看…

That Saturday my wife went off shoe shopping and left me and my son to attend to a variety of ‘honey do’s”. Towards the top of the list was investigating the attic.
那個星期六妻子出去逛商店買鞋了，留下我和兒子在家做一大堆的“親情勞動”，妻子列出了清單，第一件事就是檢查一下閣樓里面是什么。

It was the last task I completed that day. Finally I could no longer procrastinate, and retrieved my tool box from the garage and, with Jonathan eagerly at my heel we slowly marched upstairs. My dog Tasha was as usual also by my side…
但那是我那天做的最后一件事情，最后我實在是不能再耽誤了，于是從車庫里找來工具箱，緩緩地走上樓去。喬納森緊緊跟在我后面，我的狗塔莎像往常一樣跟在我身旁。

We went into Jonathan’s room and into the corner where the wood panel is nailed into place. The angle from the attic continues up in my son’s room, so there is only five- foot height outside the panel...
我們進了喬納森的房間，走到墻角釘著木板的地方。四周并不是豎直的墻壁，屋頂還在繼續(xù)向外傾斜著，因此釘著木板的地方只有五尺高。

I sighed and set my tool box down, and banged my head in the process. This entertained my son but only irritated me further. I pulled my hammer from the box and with much effort I eventually pulled out the first nail…It was six inches long. The strange thing was after that first nail got out, Tasha started whining and licking my hand…Eventually she was so much of a distraction that I had to ask Jonathan to take her downstairs…
我嘆了口氣，放下工具箱埋頭苦干起來，一不留神腦袋撞在了墻上，兒子覺得很好玩，但是我的火氣越來越大。我拿出來錘子，費了九牛二虎之力終于拔出了一根釘子…居然有六寸長，看起來很不錯?？墒瞧婀值氖虑樵谖野纬鲠斪右院蟀l(fā)生了，塔莎開始低聲嗚嗚的叫著，并且不斷地舔我的手…它攪得我不能專心干活，于是我就讓喬納森把它抱下樓去了。

It must have taken three quarters of an hour to get the first eleven nails out…It was a warm afternoon, and my salty sweat was starting to drip down my forehead and burn my eyes…I was just drying off my eyes when I thought I heard something from inside the space… A rustling noise and the noise however slight, was a noise nonetheless, this could only mean one thing that something was moving in there, just a few feet from where I was now sitting. The look on my son’s face was transformed to a bored look, to one of slight fear. Perhaps he was somehow in tune to my thoughts, or maybe he could also sense that things were not quiet right with this attic. I considered simply nailing the board back into place…Yet part of me could not do that. I simply had to know…
我用了差不多45分鐘才把前十一根釘子拔出來，那天下午很暖和，汗水從我的前額淌下來流到了眼睛里，我正揉眼睛的時候，覺得聽到了什么聲音從里面?zhèn)鞒鰜?hellip;好像是一陣“沙沙”的聲音。那聲音很輕，但是卻很清晰，離我現在坐的地方幾英尺以外的閣樓里一定是有什么東西在動。我兒子臉上無聊的表情消失了，此時看上去似乎有點害怕。也許是他看出了我在想什么，或者他也感覺到了閣樓里面并不是正常情況下的安靜無聲。我本想簡單的再把木板釘回去了事…但是我不愿意那樣做，我想要看個究竟…

So I took a deep breath and worked on the last nail. As it slipped from the place it had obviously been situated in years, the board came free. The first thing that we became aware of was the smell…It reminded me of rotting meat. As there were no lights put into the space, I sent Jonathan back down to the garage to retrieve the most powerful flashlight I own…He raced down with the exuberance of a ten year old and was back moments later.
我深深地吸了口氣，去拔最后一根釘子。當我從墻壁里面把它抽出來的時候，木板掉到了地上，明顯能看出來這塊板子被釘上去有很多年了。接下來的第一件事就是我們聞到了里面的氣味…就好像是一堆爛肉所散發(fā)出來的。閣樓里面沒有燈，于是我讓喬納森下樓去車庫把最亮的手電筒拿來…他以一個十歲孩子最快的速度沖下樓去，不一會兒就回來了。

Jonathan looked at me.
喬納森看著我。

I looked at Jonathan.
我也看著他。

"Well," he said, "are you going in or not?"
“你真得要進去嗎?”他問我。

Now surely I could not disappoint the only person who considered me afraid of nothing? I edged into the space and fired up the flashlight…I was completely taken aback by the sight that met my eyes…And quickly exited. I had noticed three things…a baby’s rattle, an old-fashioned teddy bear and what looked to be a baby…
此刻我決不能讓兒子對心目中天不怕地不怕的父親形象失望，于是我把身子探進去，打開手電筒…看到了里面的情景后我猛然間向后一縮，隨即迅速退了出來。我看見三樣東西…一個小孩子的玩具，一件老式的玩具熊，還有一個東西好像是個孩子…

As I re-entered the attic, with a more rational mind, and discovered what had appeared to be a baby was only in fact a doll. I sent Jonathan to get my camera and we took this photograph. I chuckled to myself at how my mind had twisted the situation…We left the door unnailed, just resting against the gaping hole, and continued on with the day. We did not think much more of it until that evening whilst we were watching television; we once more heard the noise. But this time it was significantly louder.
第二次進去的時候我有了心理準備，這時發(fā)現那個似乎是孩子的東西其實是個洋娃娃。我讓喬納森去拿照相機來，給這些東西拍了照片。我笑自己怎么會把情況想得那么復雜…隨后我們離開了，并沒把木板釘回去，而是就立在了洞口的地方。那天接下來的時間就這么過去了，我們都沒再想什么，直到晚上看電視的時候我們又聽見了那個聲音，而且這次的聲音明顯比以前大了。

That morning, I once again stuck my head in to the attic, and this time I almost screamed…Not from what I saw, but from what I did not see. The doll had vanished.
轉天早上我又把頭探進閣樓去看個究竟，當時我?guī)缀跫饨谐鰜?hellip;并不是因為我又看見了什么，而是因為我沒有看見的東西。昨天的那個洋娃娃不見了。

I quickly nailed up the panel again…And to this day I have never again ventured inside our attic…And yes, on occasion, we still do hear strange noises coming from that space.
我趕忙把木板釘了回去…并且至今為止我也沒有再進到閣樓里面去…不過，有時我們還能聽到那個奇怪的聲音從里面?zhèn)鞒鰜怼?/p>

Was it really just his imagination?
難道這是他的靈魂嗎?

I am not so very sure…I suspect that my attic might hold a sordid past…
我不知道到底是怎么回事…我只是在想，也許閣樓里面當初發(fā)生過某件不光彩的事情。

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