悲惨的意义 The Meaning in Misery

作者：John O’Bryan

岛上正值当午，薇古丝刚刚从前夜的酣睡中醒来。暗影岛上铺天盖地的黑雾今天尤其浓密，营造出一种与她完美契合的沉闷气氛。

It was midday on the island, and Vex was just emerging from her previous night’s sleep. The Black Mist that blanketed the Shadow Isles was especially thick today, creating an atmosphere of despondency that suited her perfectly.

可怕的幽魂大军将她团团包围，它们的尖叫和嘶吼汇聚成寒意逼人的大合唱，期待着她在这样一个格外沉闷的日子有心情与它们打成一片。

The grisly host of specters surrounding her released a chorus of blood-curdling shrieks and hisses, hoping she might be in the mood to engage them on this exceptionally dismal day.

“你们又想玩了？”薇古丝叹了口气，“唉。那我就陪你们玩吧。但这一次该换人当掘墓人了。”

“You wanna play again?” Vex sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it. But someone else has to be the gravedigger this time.”

在她身后，薇古丝听到她的影子在自告奋勇。

From her back, Vex heard her shadow volunteering.

“黑影，如果你要当掘墓人，那就意味着我也得当掘墓人了。”

“Shadow, if you’re gravedigger, that means I have to be gravedigger too.”

黑影用可怜、央求的眼神看着她。

Shadow looked at her with sad, hopeful eyes.

“啊随便吧。虽然这事从头到尾都蠢得要死，但还是由我和黑影来当掘墓人吧。其他人，快死快死。”

“Whatever. Even though this is completely stupid, me and Shadow will be gravedigger. Everyone else, go die.”

黑影用双手捂住眼睛，开始从一数到一百，而幽魂大军则四散逃窜，在岛上的巨石和废墟之中寻找藏身之处。

Covering its eyes with its hands, Shadow began to count to one hundred as the host of specters scattered to find hiding places in the rocks and ruins that dotted the island.

薇古丝倒是没有遮住双眼。她看到远处的薄雾中，某种很奇特的东西上下颠簸着，渐渐浮现。看上去像是……一对尖尖的耳朵？

Vex, her eyes uncovered, could see something peculiar bobbing through the haze in the distance. It looked like... a pair of pointy ears?

“小苗苗！”那对耳朵的下边发出一个声音，“你在吗，小丫蛋？”

“Small fry!” called a voice from just beneath the ears. “Are you here, yordling?”

“喔，糟了啊，”薇古丝垂头丧气地说，“别告诉我是……”

“Ohhhh no,” said Vex in dismay. “Tell me that’s not...”

那对耳朵一边上下甩动，一边朝她靠近。最后，耳朵的主人终于露面了。一个年长的约德尔人站到薇古丝面前，欣喜若狂地张开双臂。

The pointy ears continued bobbing toward her until, at last, the figure beneath them came into view. An older yordle stood before Vex, his arms splayed in excitement.

“找到你了，小丫蛋！”他说。

“There you are, yordling!” he said.

薇古丝满脸嫌弃地看着这张熟悉的脸。“米尔提叔叔，你怎么来了？”

Vex’s eyes narrowed contemptuously at the familiar face. “Uncle Milty, what are you doing here?”

“什么叫我怎么来了？难道一个成年的约德尔人就不能来看看他家里的小苗苗了吗？”米尔提叔叔说话的口吻带着不依不饶的欢快。

“What do you mean? Can’t a grown yordle pay a visit to his small fry?” said Uncle Milty with unrelenting cheer.

“别那样叫我。”

“Don’t call me that.”

薇古丝发现她的玩伴们正一个个地从藏身处冒头，显然是对这个新来的访客十分好奇。

Vex noticed her spectral peers were beginning to emerge from their hiding places, curious about the new visitor.

“我现在挺忙的，”薇古丝对叔叔说，“你有什么事赶紧说，然后尽快回去行吗？”

“I’m kinda busy,” Vex said to her uncle. “Can you just tell me what you want and get outta here?”

米尔提的脸色垮了下来，僵硬的笑意逐渐变成凝重的忧愁。“好吧。我不骗你，小苗苗——你父母情况不太好。”

Uncle Milty’s face melted, its stiff, resilient smile changing to a grave look of concern. “Very well. I won’t lie to you, small fry—it’s your parents.”

薇古丝用力翻起白眼，看着像是眼球都要滚出来了。“呃——，他们怎么了？”

Vex’s eyes rolled so hard they nearly fell from their sockets. “Ughhhhh, what about ‘em?”

米尔提叔叔干嘛要管她的父母呢？他都不是她真正的叔叔。

Why did Uncle Milty even care what her parents thought? He wasn't her real uncle, anyway.

“他们从来都没跟你说过，可是……他们担心死你了！”米尔提叔叔说，“你离开家搬到了……阴森森的臭水沟里。还跟鬼魂一起瞎胡闹。你一定得回家去。”

“They’d never tell you this, but... they’re worried sick about you!” said Uncle Milty. “You’re off living in some... drab stinkhole. Cavorting with ghosts. You have to come home.”

“不回。绝对不回。”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“算我求你，小苗苗。”

“Please, small fry.”

“我不。”

“No.”

“就回家看一眼？让他们知道你一切安好。”

“Just for a visit? Just to show them you’re okay.”

“我不。”

“No.”

“就一眨眼？进去就出来。”

“Just a quick one? Pop in and pop out.”

“不要！你走吧。”薇古丝说。

“NO. Now get lost,” said Vex.

米尔提没想到她这么抗拒，不禁皱起了眉头。但只过了片刻，他那副热情洋溢的笑容又回来了，眼中闪烁着亮光。

Uncle Milty’s brow furrowed at her resistance. A moment later, his beaming smile returned, and a twinkle sparked in his eye.

“好吧，看来我只剩一件事可以做了……”年长的约德尔人说着，扭动指尖，挥舞双手画出一道圆弧。一扇巨大的彩虹传送门在他面前展开。“咱赶快动身。你父母正要坐下喝茶呢。动作快点还能和他们一起！”

“Well, I can see there’s only one thing to do here…” said the old yordle. He wiggled his fingertips, moving his hands in an arc around his body. A large rainbow portal opened before him. “Let’s not tarry. Your parents are just about to sit down for tea. We can join them if we hurry!”

薇古丝满脸不情愿，米尔提叔叔拉着她走向传送门。她开动脑筋，抬起一只手，在他们脚下召唤出一道厚实的黑影，掐灭了色彩明快的传送门。“你要是以为我会乖乖走进那扇门，那你可比我想象中还要没脑子。”

Vex winced as Uncle Milty pulled her toward the magic gateway. Thinking quickly, she raised her hand, summoning a thick, black shadow at their feet, snuffing out the brightly colored portal. “If you think I’m walking through that thing, you’re even more clueless than I thought.”

米尔提叔叔抬起半边浓眉，一脸疑惑，“可是，小苗苗，你左右看看。这个地方只适合死掉的东西。”

Uncle Milty raised one of his bushy eyebrows high in befuddlement. “But—small fry, look around you. This place is for... dead things.”

“多新鲜啊。不然我来这里干嘛。”薇古丝说，“活人都好烦。约德尔人最烦了。五颜六色让我恶心，想吐。这里就没那么多恶心东西。”

“Duh. That’s why I’m here,” said Vex. “People suck. Yordles really suck. Colors make me wanna puke. And this place has none of those things.”

米尔提叔叔哑口无言，小丫头的话彻底震惊了他。随后他开始明白了，然后眼神中又闪起亮光。“哦，哦，我知道怎么回事了。你离开班德尔树林太久了！你把自己的约德尔精神弄丢了。你只需要回家住些日子，然后就会像玫瑰果一样水灵灵了！”

Uncle Milty stammered, stunned by his niece’s words. Then realization began to wash over him, and the twinkle returned to his eye. “Ohhhh, I know what this is. You’ve been away from the Bandlewood for too long! You’ve lost your yordle spirit. All you need is a couple days back home, and you’ll be right as rose hips!”

他手指拨动，再次召来了彩虹传送门。

He wiggled his fingers, conjuring the rainbow portal once more.

薇古丝感觉自己的灵魂空落落的，因为她意识到自己永恒的悲惨命运：她是约德尔人，永远都是约德尔人，所以会被他们不可磨灭的热情永远折磨下去。

Vex felt the very bottom fall out of her soul as she realized her eternal plight: she was a yordle, would always be a yordle, and would forever be tormented by their undying enthusiasm.

除非……

Unless...

薇古丝冒出了一个想法。她差点笑出来，因为她意识到这很可能是逃离这种折磨的对策。她迅速压住笑意，唤起她最真切的萎靡，毫不保留，低头看向地面。“有什么意义呢，米尔提叔叔？”

A thought popped into Vex’s mind. She nearly smiled as she realized it just might be the solution to this torture. She quickly suppressed the smile and summoned her true malaise, full strength, and gazed at the ground. “What’s the point, Uncle Milty?”

“什么有什么意义，小薇薇？”

“What’s the point of what, Vexy?”

“所有事情。班德尔城，约德尔人……生命，有什么意义？”她抬起目光，看到叔叔的笑容渐渐消退。

“All of it. Bandle City, yordles... life?” She looked up from the ground to see her uncle’s smile fading.

“生命的意义？”他自言自语道，“呃……难道不是……”

“The point of life?” he asked. “Uhhhnnn... isn’t it...”

叔叔一时语塞。薇古丝见状，立刻替他回答了这个问题。“你想，我们都只是一坨又一坨随机出现的魔法团。我们是谁，我们做什么，有什么样的家人——这些都不是我们自己决定的。我们只是在随波逐流，就和枯死的落叶一样，什么都控制不了。”

Seeing her uncle at a loss for words, Vex eagerly answered the question for him. “I mean, we’re all just random wads of magic. Who we are, what we do, who our family is—we don’t decide any of it. We’re all just drifting by like dead leaves with no control over anything.”

米尔提叔叔脸上浮现出一种奇怪的坚决。“噢，我觉得不是这样。比如说我们可以让别人快乐啊！我们都有这样的能力！”

A strange look of determination came over Uncle Milty. “Oh, I don’t think that’s true. What about making people happy? We all have the ability to do that!”

“就算有吧。可是人们的快乐从来都不长久，不是吗？”

“I guess. But their happiness never really lasts, does it?”

薇古丝可以清楚地感受到，她这句话让米尔提叔叔陷入了怀疑的旋涡。他活泼的长耳朵渐渐垂了下来。

Vex could feel her words knock the wind out of Uncle Milty’s sails as his long, perky ears began to droop.

“这个世界上的一切都是这样的，”她继续说，“快乐、飞鸟、绿树、甲虫……彩虹——所有这些都无法长久。估计你要说，短暂正是它们存在的意义。过眼云烟，飞花一现，然后死去。那你可以再问问这些大块头。”

“It’s like everything else in this world,” she continued. “Happiness, birds, trees, bugs… rainbows—they all fade away. I guess you could say that’s their purpose. They hang around for a few minutes, and then die. Just ask all these chumps here.”

薇古丝看了看那些幽魂，它们从藏身处探出头，露出一张张干枯阴森的面孔。当她再回过头时，差点儿没看见他的嘴角挂上了一丝苦涩。

Vex motioned toward her spectral friends, who were poking their gruesome, withered faces out from their hiding spots. When she turned back to her uncle, she could barely see the edges of a frown forming on his lips.

“我好像……从来都……没有这么想过。”叔叔说。

“I guess I never… thought of it quite that way,” said her uncle.

薇古丝朝自己深不见底的绝望探去，想把这种愁绪塞进他的内心深处。“我知道说起来很沮丧，但事实是，生命的全部意义……就是死亡。”

Vex reached into her bottomless well of despair, hoping to drive the stake of misery deeper into his heart. “I know it’s a downer, but the whole point of life… is death.”

“死？”米尔提叔叔用哭腔说道。

“Death?” whimpered Uncle Milty.

“对呀。而且你知道最惨的是什么吗？约德尔人连这一点都做不到。我们只能永远存在下去，命中注定要成为一种愚蠢、魔幻、没意义的存在。”

“Yeah. And the worst part of it all? Yordles don’t even get to do that. We just go on forever. Doomed to a stupid, magical, pointless existence.”

米尔提叔叔的嘴唇在颤抖。钻石般闪亮的泪珠从他眼角接连滚落。他身后的彩虹传送门蒸发消散在周围的黑暗中。

Uncle Milty’s lip quivered. Tears that shimmered like diamonds trickled from his eyes. The rainbow portal behind him evaporated into the surrounding darkness.

“实在是……太……残酷了。”他大声哭喊道。

“That’s... so... awful,” he cried.

“你说是吧？”薇古丝说。

“Right?” said Vex.

突然，米尔提叔叔开始止不住地啜泣。哭声像雷霆，即使是最可怕的怨灵都被他吓跑了。

Suddenly, Uncle Milty erupted in uncontrolled sobs. They came like thunder, scaring off even the ghastliest of the wraiths lingering nearby.

看着叔叔一边哭一边跑远，薇古丝深呼吸，长吁了一口气。不请自来的欢快终于走了，她如释重负。“好了，”她说，“你们都出来吧。”

As her uncle ran away crying, Vex breathed a deep sigh of relief, the burden of intrusive cheer no longer weighing on her tiny, slouching shoulders. “Okay,” she said, “you can all come out now.”

幽魂朋友纷纷从周围的巨石和废墟后现身。

One by one, her spectral comrades emerged from the rocks and ruins around her.

“再来一次，”薇古丝说，“不麻烦换人了——我来当掘墓人就是。”

“One more game,” said Vex. “And sure, why not—I’ll be the gravedigger.”