自我挑战翻译,欢迎批评、转载 (请注明译者、出处),绝对严禁任何形式的商业使用谢谢 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WAKE DIDN’T SEE the hitchhiker until it was too late. It was night and he was tired, driving down the coastal road toward the lighthouse, driving too fast, as usual. The hitchhiker seemed to appear right out of the darkness, standing there in the middle of the road,just staring into Wake’s oncoming headlights. Wake didn’t even have time to hit the brakes, reacting only after he heard the thump of metal against flesh. 当伟克注意到那名便车客时，已经太迟了。 天色已经很暗了，加上一路沿着通往灯塔的 海岸公路上开车也让他觉得相当疲倦了，最糟糕的是，他开车跟平时一样－开的飞快。 那名便车客仿佛是从黑暗中突然出现在马路中央上，然後就站在那瞪着伟克越来越接近的 车头灯。 伟克根本没时间反应，事实上他踩下煞车还是在听到金属撞击肉体的声音之後 。 Shaken, head pounding, Wake got out of the car to check on the hitchhiker. The front end was splattered with blood, the hood crumpled.Steam rose from the crushed radiator. Wake bent over the body of the hitchhiker, the two of them caught in the headlights now as though onstage. The man was dead. Wake put his hand on the hitchhiker’s bloody clothes, wanting to apologize, to explain, to ask the man why he had just stood there unmoving as Wake hurtled at him. It wasn’t the hitchhiker who was going to have to explain his actions, though. 伟克吓坏了，他可以感觉到心脏在极剧烈地跳动；伟克深吸几口气後下车查看便车客的情 况。车头前鲜血四溅，车盖撞的严重变形，一缈蒸气也从损坏的冷却器中冒了出来。伟克 弯下腰检查便车客的身体，这时的两人在车头灯的照射下就像是在舞台上的两名演员。 「这男人..死了...」伟克在检查後喃喃地说。伟克将手放在便车客渗满血的衣服上，低 下头看着他，伟克想向他道歉、想向他解释、想问他为什麽就站在那里不躲开，不过这些 问题现在都不是便车客能回答的了。 There were no skid marks on the road, Mr. Wake, the police would say. Why didn ’t you slam on the brakes? Didn’t you see him?You’re a writer; were you distracted, maybe thinking about your next book? Just for the record, exactly how fast were you going, Mr.Wake? Had you been drinking before the accident? Taken any pills? You look tired 「伟克先生，地面上没有煞车痕迹，」 警察会这样问说。「你怎麽不踩煞车？ 你没看到 他吗？」 接着他还会这样问。「你是个作家，对吧？ 你当时在想些什麽？在想关於下本 新书的内容吗？」 「伟克先生，现在我想要问你一些问题做个记录。你知道你当时的速 度有多快吗？ 你在这件意外发生前有喝酒吗？ 有服用任何药物吗？ 你看起来很疲倦， 伟克先生。」 A raven cried out from a nearby tree, and Wake turned, seeing only its eyes in the darkness. When he looked back the hitchhiker was gone. Disappeared. Wake actually put his hand onto the spot where the hitchhiker had been lying, feeling around, as if he might find a hole, a deflated blow-up hitchhiker, some sort of insurance scam fake out, something. There was nothing and nobody there. Just the pavement, cool in the night air. 突然间，附近树林里的乌鸦叫声打断了伟克的幻想，伟克转过身搜寻却只能在黑暗中看见 它的一对眼睛，伟克盯着那对眼睛一会後，回过头来却发现便车客的屍体不见了。 「消 失了！？，怎麽会消失了？」伟克在心中暗叫道，伟克将手放在刚才便车客屍体躺着的地 方不停地摸索，仿佛他能找到一个洞穴里面躲着便车客，或是摸到像泄了气的气球般乾憋 的便车客皱皮，伟克暗暗希望这是某种诈取保险金的骗局，不过伟克什麽都没找到，没有 洞穴、没有屍体、没有骗取保险金的人，只有空无一物的地面与逐渐冷却的夜晚空气。 Wake stood, knees shaking. He looked around, then pushed the car to the side of the road. It was a write-off. He started walking toward the lighthouse in the near distance, trying to stay upright, to stay steady. The man had been there. Wake had hit him. Killed him. So where was the body? Wake turned back. His car was still there, water leaking onto the pavement, the hazard lights flashing against the night. Up ahead, a streetlight lit up a wooden, pedestrian walkway that wound its way to the lighthouse. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to tell the police when he reported the accident. 伟克站起身来，膝盖却无法克制地发抖。他再看了四周一眼，还是没有便车客的影子，伟 克放弃寻找走回车边，却发现车子已经无法再发动，伟克只好将车移到路肩，然後开始向 灯塔的方向走去，一路上伟克努力试着稳住脚步与保持冷静。「那男人明明刚刚还在那里 的」伟克心想，「我撞倒了他，我杀死了他！，但屍体到底跑哪去了？」，伟克想到这， 停下了脚步回头看，车子仍在那里，水箱的水从裂缝渗出来滴到柏油路上，而车子的警示 灯在黑暗中不停闪烁，除此之外什麽都没有，伟克盯了半响後回过头继续走。在前方不远 处有一盏路灯照亮一条通往灯塔方向的木板行人步道，伟克缓步往那方向走去一面心想， 等离开这里後，到时向警察报告他真不知道该怎麽解释屍体的情况。 A streetlight exploded as Wake walked under it. Son of a bitch, he thought, covering his head as tiny bits of broken glass drifted down around him like snow. He looked back again to his car. Froze. The hitchhiker was there. Standing in front of the car, covered in blood and shadows. He had something in his hand. An ax. He strode toward Wake. Wake couldn’t move. A streetlight farther down the road exploded, then another, and another still. “You don’t even recognize me, do you?” said the hitchhiker, disgusted. “ You think you can play with people’s lives, kill them when it adds to the drama?” He hefted the ax, his clothes spotted with gore. “Well, you’re in the story now, Wake, and you’re going to suffer for your art. Let’s see how you like that.” Wake recognized the hitchhiker now. He was a character in a story Wake had written when he was first starting out. An innocent man run down at the start of the story, a driver walking away in the night. He had never finished the story, but his character had now escaped off the page and was coming for vengeance. Wake started to run, his feet pounding on the wooden walkway as he raced toward the lighthouse. 一盏街灯在伟克走到正下方时突然爆碎。「他妈的」伟克暗骂，赶紧用双手护头蹲低避开 如雪花般落下的玻璃碎片。突然伟克听到後方有东西发出声响，他再次转身往车子的方向 看，但这次他惊讶到无法动弹。 便车客就在那里! 就在车前，身上除了布满了血迹外还 被一片诡异的黑影垄罩住全身，便车客手中多了一把斧头，而他正提起它大步向伟克走来 。 伟克这次是被吓得无法动弹。 随着便车客的接近，路灯开始一盏接着一盏爆裂开来，周遭景物逐渐被黑暗所吞噬。 「你甚至不认识我，对吧？」便车客声音带着令人反感的笑意。「你觉得你可以随意操弄 人们的性命，在故事剧情有需要时就夺走吗？」他顿了一下，掂掂手中的斧头，伟克现在 可以看到他的衣服上沾满了凝结的血块。「那麽伟克，现在你也身在故事中了，你也尝尝 看身为自己故事中的角色是什麽滋味吧，来瞧瞧你会多喜欢，哈哈哈……」 伟克现在知道便车客是谁了，他曾是伟克故事中的一名角色。伟克之前曾写了个故事，在 故事开头一名无辜男子就给车撞死了，而驾驶则趁夜色溜走了，伟克在之後并没有完成这 个故事，但现在他故事中的角色从原稿中出来进行复仇了。伟克终於回过神来，转过身急 忙向灯塔的方向跑去，忙乱的脚步在木板行道上发出巨大声响。 “What’s your hurry?” mocked the hitchhiker, coming after him. “I thought you liked horror stories.” Wake kept running, his footsteps drumming on the wooden slats, the lighthouse a beacon in the night. “What kind of a writer are you?” called the hitchhiker. The planks in the walkway were cracked and weathered, whole sections missing so that Wake had to jump over the gaps. Up ahead was a rickety footbridge that stretched over a chasm; the ocean crashed on the boulders below in a spray of foam. 「别急着走阿？」便车客边追边嘲弄地笑说。「我还以为你喜欢恐怖故事呢？」 伟克没里会他，他的脚步像打鼓般地不停踩踏在木板条上，向着黑夜中的最明显标地物-- 灯塔继续跑去。 「你这样算哪们子作家阿？题材都在眼前还跑。」便车客在後头大喊道。 伟克被迫停了下来，在他面前有一段步道因日久风化而整个塌陷，伟克犹豫了下後助跑跳 了过去，他在落地时翻了个滚，伟克赶紧爬起身继续向前跑，在前方有一座看起来不太牢 靠的天桥横跨了一个裂口架起了两边道路，在裂口下方深处，海洋不断地拍打岩盘产生了 大量的浪花泡沫。 “Mr. Wake!” A young man in a college letterman’s jacket waved from the far side of the footbridge. “Hurry!” Wake glanced behind him. The hitchhiker was closing in, the ax cleaving the air. “Hurry, Mr. Wake!” shouted the young man. Wake ran. Partway across the bridge, his leg broke through one of the rotting planks. He clung to the railing, pulled himself up. He limped across the remainder of the bridge. The young man grabbed his arm, led him toward a dark cabin at the base of the lighthouse. “It’s me, Mr. Wake. Clay Steward, don’t you remember?” “I don’t know you…” Wake shook him off. “You’re a joke, Wake!” shouted the hitchhiker, halfway across the bridge. “Get inside,” said Steward, pushing Wake up the steps of the cabin. “Turn on the lights, I’ll stop him.” Wake rushed into the cabin and fumbled for the light switch. He cried out as the door slammed shut behind him. Through the window he could see Steward standing by the front porch, holding a revolver as the hitchhiker approached. 「伟克先生！」一名穿着大学棒球外套的年经男子站在天桥的另一头大声挥手喊道。 「快过来这里！」 伟克撇後方一眼，便车客已经很接近了，伟克甚至能听到斧头划破空气的声音。 「快！伟克先生，快一点！」年经男子再度大叫。 伟克加快了速度，他在过桥中途踩断了一块已经腐烂的木板，幸好及时抓住了旁边栏绳才 没让自己掉下去，伟克把自己拉起来後拐着脚走过天桥剩下部分到了年经男子的身边。 那名年轻男子搀着伟克带他到一栋位於灯塔基部的昏暗小屋。「伟克先生，是我阿，克雷 ．史都华，你不记得我吗？」年轻男子说。 「抱歉，我想我不认识你。」伟克边跟他握手边说道。 「你只是一个笑话，伟克！」突然从天桥传来便车客的叫声，他已经走过一半的天桥。 「快进屋里。」史都华急忙地边说边将伟克推向屋前的台阶。「快去把灯打开，我来阻止 他」。 伟克冲进屋中到处摸索找电灯开关，在想怎麽还找不到那该死的开关时侯，他突然被背後 关门的巨大声响吓的叫了出来；伟克走近门边从门旁的窗户可以看到史都华站在门廊旁边 ，手里握着一把左轮手枪等着便车客靠近。 “Steward!” shouted Wake. “Get in here!” “Stay where you are, Mr. Wake,” said Steward, voice cracking. “Just put all the lights on!” “Come inside…” Wake tugged at the door, trying to open it, but it stayed shut. “Steward!” The hitchhiker rushed at Steward, swinging the ax with both hands. Wake struggled against the door, but couldn’t budge it. Steward fired the revolver. The bullets staggered the hitchhiker for an instant, but he shrugged it off. Steward fired again. “Why…why won’t you die?” Steward wailed, emptying the revolver, each shot hitting the hitchhiker. Wake watched as the hitchhiker hurtled forward and drove his ax deep into Steward’s chest, splitting the gold letter on the young man’s jacket. Steward let out an awful moan and sank to his knees. “No!” shouted Wake, beating on the window so hard it vibrated. The hitchhiker braced his foot against Steward’s chest and jerked the ax free. Its steel head dripped blood. Steward fell forward onto his face. The hitchhiker lifted the ax again, swung it down with all his strength into the center of the young man’s back. Wake finally found the light switch. He flicked it on but the lights stayed off. He flicked the switch off and on, off and on, but the cabin remained dark. 「史都华！」伟克大叫。「快进来！」 「待在屋内，伟克先生」史都华说，声音却带着颤抖。「快去把所有的电灯打开！」 「快进屋里……」伟克用力曳着门把试着将门打开，但门却丝毫不动，伟克试了几次後再 次大叫「史都华，快进来！」 便车客已经过了桥，他注意到史都华後开始冲向他，双手不停地在舞动斧头。 伟克使劲力气撞向门，但门依旧一动也不动。 史都华开火了。但子弹却只让便车客停顿了一下，便车客瞄了身上被子弹击中的位置，耸 了下肩，继续前进；史都华再次开枪。「怎……怎麽会杀不死你阿!?」史都华哀号地叫道 ，史都华打光了子弹，每一发都击中了便车客；却依然没有效果。 伟克只能在屋内看着便车客冲到史都华身边并将斧头深深地砍入他的胸膛里，斧头落的位 置正好将绣在夹克上的字母分成两半。 「不～～！」伟克边大叫边敲打窗户，力量大到整个窗子都在震动。 便车客将脚踩在史都华的胸膛上把斧头给抽出来，血液沿着斧口滑落而下染红了地面，失 去支撑的史都华缓缓的脸部朝下倒地。 便车客再次举起斧头使尽全身力气地砍进那名可 怜的年经人的背中。 伟克看不下去了。这时他感觉到手边摸到了什麽，是电灯开关，伟克赶紧押下开关，但电 灯却毫无反应，他不停重复开、关、开、关，但屋里依然一片黑暗。 The hitchhiker wrenched the axblade out of Steward’s back and started to slowly walk up the stairs to the front door of the dark cabin. The cabin began to shake gently at first, then harder and harder, grinding on the foundation, as though gripped by some enormous hand. The hitchhiker had disappeared from the front porch, as though his work were done and he was no longer needed. There was a roaring in his ears, and Wake wasn’t sure if it came from outside the cabin or inside his own head. The windows slowly cracked, then blew out, the wind howling through the cabin. The door flew open, upending furniture, scattering papers. The cabin groaned, started to come apart. Light poured in through the collapsing walls and Wake ran down the front steps, onto the dead grass around the cabin, out into the light. The roaring sound was gone now. 便车客在结束他的暴行後，将斧头从史都华的背上拧出来转身走向小屋，他慢慢地爬上楼 梯最後走到了门口停了下来。 伟克屏息等着便车客破门而入，但等了片刻却没有动静发生，伟克正觉得困惑的时候突然 感觉到小屋在微微震动，一开始只是些微摇晃紧接着变的越来越剧烈，剧烈到整座小屋就 像是被一只巨大的手握在掌心里慢慢握住。伟克摇摇晃晃地走到窗前，便车客已经不在门 前了，就好像他完成他的工作後就不再被需要，而被人给变消失了。伟克的耳朵突然充满 了巨大的轰鸣声响，逼着他不得不摀住耳朵，但他不确定这声音是来自小屋外头，还是从 他自己的脑袋冒出来的。窗户被压着慢慢变形，接着碎裂，夜风随即从屋外灌进整个小屋 ，屋门被吹开，家具被翻倒，纸张被吹的散落屋内各处。 从小屋某处传来吱吱嘎嘎的声响，紧接着墙壁便出现裂缝最後分成两半，从裂口处突然有 一柱光束倾泻而入，伟克赶紧跑出门外走下阶梯来到小屋旁的枯萎的草地，他正沐浴在光 束之中，耳中的轰鸣声随之消失了。 Wake blinked in a powerful light that hovered over him, caught. There was a form inside the light, a man, a space explorer, a deep-sea diver. The figure spoke to him, the voice sounding like it was coming from a great distance away, as though the Diver was struggling to be heard. “I have something important to tell you.” Wake tried to speak, but the light…it was too bright, scattering his thoughts. “It goes like this: For he did not know / That beyond the lake he called home / Lies a deeper, darker ocean green / Where waves are both wilder / And more serene / To its ports I’ve been / To its ports I’ve been. Do you understand?” “An ocean green? N-no,” said Wake. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “I entered your dream to teach you. The darkness is dangerous. It’s sleeping now, but when it feels you coming, it will wake up.” “What will wake up?” Wake looked around. The hitchhiker was back, the bloody ax in his hand. He stood on the very edge of the light, just inside the darkness, eager to cross over. As Wake watched, the darkness grew blacker, more intense, shiny as oil. Wake looked back at the Diver. “You are safe in the light. The darkness cannot hurt you there.” The light flickered and Wake screamed. 伟克被围绕在身边的强光照着不停眨眼，他可以隐约看到有个东西在光束之中缓缓飘浮， 是一个男人，穿着不知道是太空探险家或是深海潜水者的装备。 那个男人突然开口向伟 克说话，那声音听起来像从很远的地方传过来，就像是一名潜水者透过他的面罩勉强发出 来的声音。 「我有非常重要的事情要告诉你。」 伟克想试着说话，但那光芒实在太过明亮，亮到令伟克一时之间不知该说什麽才好。 「仔细听好了：对其来说不知之事；在被其称为家的湖之外更深处 ； 有着更深沉更黑暗 的绿之海洋 ；在该处的浪不仅更猛烈；也更平静；彼处之港我已抵达；彼处之港我已抵 达。你明白了吗?」 「一个绿色海洋？不…不明白..」伟克说。「我根本不懂你想表达什麽。」 「我现在是进入你的梦中来教导你，注意听了，黑暗非常危险，它现在还在沉睡当中，但 当它注意到你来的时候，它将苏醒。」 「什麽东西会苏醒？」伟克问说，但伟克突然感觉周遭有动静，他看了看四周一眼，是便 车客，他带着他沾满血的斧头回来了。便车客就站在光束能照射到的边缘，渴望能从黑暗 之中跨越进来。 当伟克盯着便车客的举动时，黑暗变的更深沉、更密集，厚实到像原油 般地反射出光泽，伟克有些不安地看向那名穿着潜水装的男人。 「你在光里会很安全的，黑暗是无法在光线里伤害你的。」 但这时光束却开始不安地闪烁了起来，突然涌上心头恐惧感让伟克忍不住放声尖叫。 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 114.45.33.8 ※ 编辑: justicedead 来自: 114.45.33.8 (06/02 22:09) ※ 编辑: justicedead 来自: 114.45.35.130 (06/04 22:42) ※ 编辑: justicedead 来自: 114.45.34.106 (06/09 23:20)