I can tell you diary, for this will not break
The promise I was made to make,
This poetic flair was fun at the start
Everyone thought I was really smart,
Now they think I’m doing it in spite,
Even now it affects the words I write!
If the stone is revealed then the spell will end,
Or so I was told by my secret friend,
And if I say aloud what’s in this book,
In that instant I will lose this luck…
我可以告诉你日记，因为这不会违背我做出的承诺，这种诗意的天赋一开始很有趣，每个人都认为我真的很聪明，现在他们认为我这样做，即使现在它影响了我写的文字！ 如果石头被揭穿，那么咒语就会结束，或者我的秘密朋友告诉我，如果我大声说出这本书里的内容，那一刻我就会失去这个运气……
Blaine popped the kettle on and stared out of the kitchen window. The sunshine struck the Dales, his daily reminder of Yorkshire’s unparalleled beauty, and he once again ignored the decaying flowers framing either side on the sill above the sink. One vase translucent yellow, the other translucent turquoise. Of the flowers, only an expert florist would be able to conduct a post-mortem.
Blaine打开水壶，盯着厨房的窗户。 阳光照在山谷里，每天提醒他约克郡无与伦比的美丽，他再次忽视了水槽上方窗台两侧的腐烂花朵。 一个花瓶是半透明的黄色，另一个是半透明的绿松石。 在这些花中，只有专业花店才能进行尸房。
Milly came downstairs and entered the kitchen. Her bubbling good mood, which moments ago spurred her into skipping, immediately evaporated as she entered. She stared at her father with unflinching animosity. The kettle began its boiled water quaking.
Milly下楼，走进厨房。 她冒泡的好心情，几分钟前促使她跳过，当她进入时，她立即蒸发了。 她坚定不移地敌视着她的父亲。 水壺的開水開始在晃動。
“Morning, darling, how did you sleep?”, he asked.
“早上好，亲爱的，你睡得怎么样？”他问道。
She gave a “hmph” in disgust and ravaged the cupboards to retrieve a bowl and some cereal.
她厌恶地“嗯”了一下，然后把橱柜都拿回了一碗和一些麦片。
“This foul mood is not worthy to keep”, he said with seriousness.
“这种肮脏的情绪不值得保留，”他严肃地说。
“Argh! Not even 10 seconds!”, she growled into the air. “Dad, you’re so bloody annoying!”
“啊！ 不到10秒！”，她在空中咆哮着。 “爸爸，你太烦人了！”
He sheepishly scratched his arm and turned to stare out the window again. Today was the beginning of the 4th day he couldn’t stop the rhyming.
他羞涩地挠了挠胳膊，转身再次盯着窗外。 今天是第4天的开始，他无法停止押韵。
“You really don’t believe me, it just… comes out like this all of the time!”, he said, picking out a tea bag from the jar and tossing it into the brown-stained “World’s Best Dad” mug, “Everything I say just comes out in…”, he paused as he was pouring the water and spun to look at her.
“你真的不相信我，它只是……总是这样出来！”，他说，从罐子里挑出一个茶包，把它扔进棕色的“世界上最好的爸爸”杯子里，“我说的一切都会出来……”，他一边倒水一边停顿，一边旋转着看着她。
She narrowed her eyes. “I can’t believe you are keeping this up!”, she said exasperated.
她眯起眼睛。 “我不敢相信你还在继续这样！”她气愤地说。
“Sweetie, what’s the matter?”, Sophie asked as she pushed open the door.
“亲爱的，怎么了？”Sophie推开门问道。
“Dad is keeping up his stupid rhyming game”, she reported with ire, adding an emphatic ‘ugh’ at the end and taking a big mouthful of breakfast.
“爸爸正在继续他那愚蠢的押韵游戏”，她愤怒地报告道，最后加了一个强调的“啊”，然后吃了一大口早餐。
“He’s just playing”, Sophie said smoothly, but her eyes glinted like daggers as she stared at her husband. “Sometimes he likes to play games a little too long, is all.”
“他只是在玩，”Sophie流畅地说，但当她盯着她的丈夫时，她的眼睛像匕首一样闪闪发光。 “有时他喜欢玩太久的游戏，仅此而已。”
Blaine also felt exasperated. “Oh for goodness sake! What’s it gonna take?”
Blaine也感到气愤。 “哦，看在上帝的份上！ 这需要什么？”
Sophie stroked her daughter’s hair as she passed her. “Even I’m starting to worry about him. Shall we take him to see the doctor?”
Sophie从她女儿身上经过时抚摸着她的头发。 “甚至我也开始担心他了。 我们要带他去看医生吗？”
Milly laughed into her cereal and kicked the floor in glee. Blaine decided not to offer any remark. He lifted his tea to his lips, with his mind preoccupied he took a sip and loudly sucked in a breath. Not only had he scorched the tip of his tongue, he hadn’t brewed the tea long enough to allow its full flavour to bloom. He put the mug down a little heavier than he intended, the sound of the ceramic hitting the counter made the two of them stop what they were doing to look at him.
Milly笑着吃着她的麦片，高兴地踢了地板。 Blaine决定不做任何评论。 他把茶提到嘴邊，全神貫注地喝了一口，大聲吸了一口氣。 他不仅把舌尖烧焦了，而且没有泡茶足够长的时间，让茶充分绽放。 他把杯子放下来比他打算的要重一点，陶瓷敲打柜台的声音让他们俩停下了正在做的事情，看着他。
A wet nose hunted down his palm. The golden retriever nuzzled into him with force and he rubbed her fur as fast as he could. “Ay-yup missy! Argh, my hands are all sloppy!” Her slobber had dribbled onto his fingers as he scratched her chin.
一个湿漉漉的鼻子沿着他的手掌追寻。 金毛猎犬用力地向他啹啕，他尽可能快地揉搓她的皮毛。 “是的，小姐！ 啊，我的手都邋遢了！” 当他挠她的下巴时，她的口水滴在他的手指上。
He looked up at the seriousness of their two faces; his darling wife who had loved him for 11 years, and his daughter who, until he had been given the stone, had loved him since she was born 7 years ago. Both of them were a carbon copy of the other, and at that moment, both were wearing a mask of absolute disdain.
他抬头看了看他们两张脸的严肃；他亲爱的妻子爱了他11年，他的女儿，直到他得到石头，她从7年前出生起就一直爱他。 他们俩都是对方的复制品，在那一刻，两人都戴着绝对蔑視的面具。
“I’m gonna go and walk Poppy”, he said resolutely.
“我要去遛罂粟花，”他坚定地说。
“Was that..?”, his daughter began.
“那是..吗？”，他的女儿开始说。
Sophie closed her eyes and shook her head. “Another rhyme.”
Sophie闭上眼睛，摇了摇头。 “另一个韵律。”
He donned his coat and scarf by the door, the whole time Poppy’s tail eagerly thwacked the wall in anticipation. Once outside he was instantly relieved by the crisp air, as if every speck of stress was sloughed away by the cool wind like dry dust.
他在门边穿上外套和围巾，Poppy的尾巴急切地敲打着墙壁，充满期待。 一到外面，他立刻被清新的空气所解脱，仿佛每一点压力都像干尘一样被冷风吹散了。
The stone was always with him, nestled in its hiding place. He thrust his hand into his pocket and stroked its smooth surface. Even one hour after receiving it he had doubted the origins of the short man who had given it to him. His eyes had tricked him. He even thought he would feel embarrassed to meet him again. He could never admit that during that first meeting he had momentarily believed he was talking with some fairytale creature.
石头一直和他在一起，依偎在它的藏身之处。 他把手伸进口袋，抚摸着它光滑的表面。 甚至在收到它一小时后，他甚至怀疑那个给他的矮个子男人的出身。 他的眼睛欺骗了他。 他甚至认为再次见到他会感到尴尬。 他永远无法承认，在第一次见面时，他曾一时相信自己在和某个童话般的生物交谈。
But the stone was nothing short of magical, that he could surmise. The incessant rhymes were clear proof, but even more convincing was the exceptional, even godlike, amount of luck.
但他可以猜测，这块石头是神奇的。 不断的押韵是明确的证明，但更令人信服的是非凡的，甚至是神一样的运气。
He wasn’t imagining it. A fellow dog walker waved and called as he finished stepping over the stile into the fields, the entrance of his and other dog lovers’ local walking route. She approached Blaine hastily, in her hand he could see was a red extendable lead attaching her to a very excited sheepdog.
他没有想象到。 当他跨过门进入田野时，一位遛狗的同伴挥手并叫道，田野是他和其他爱狗人士当地步行路线的入口。 她很靠近Blaine，在她的手中，他可以看到一条红色的可伸缩的导线，把她绑在一只非常兴奋的牧羊犬身上。
“Hello! Is this yours?”, she said indicating a crumpled doggie biscuit bag in her other hand. “Oh my god, yes! What a stroke of luck! I thought I’d have to take this to the police station!”, she exclaimed and handed it to him.
“你好！ 这是你的吗？”她说，另一只手指着一个被压碎的狗饼干袋。 “哦，我的天啊，是的！ 多么幸运啊！ 我想我必须把这个带到警察局！”她喊道，然后把它递给他。
He took the things abashed, then turning the biscuit bag over and saw a wallet and keys along with the bag of biscuits. He casually opened the wallet to check what he expected. Sure enough, just as before, there was an ID card mysteriously with his picture in it, something that linked this materialised good fortune to him. This time his face was framed by the light pink of a driving licence.
他尴尬地拿着东西，然后把饼干袋翻过来，看到一个钱包和钥匙以及一袋饼干。 他随意地打开钱包，看看他期待什么。 果然，和以前一样，有一张神秘的身份证，上面有他的照片，这与他的好运有关。 这一次，他的脸被驾照的浅粉色框住了。
This was the third time it had happened, there was no doubt in his mind it was all to do with the stone. He tightly gripped the stone out of sight and restrained his excitement, assuming an air of gratitude and pretending to have genuinely lost these things that didn’t belong to him. He tried to give her some of the money as a reward, but she politely refused and smiled as she brushed her hair against the wind.
这是第三次发生这种情况，毫无疑问，这都与石头有关系。 他紧紧抓住石头，控制住自己的兴奋，装出一副感激之情，假装真的失去了这些不属于他的东西。 他试图给她一些钱作为奖励，但她礼貌地拒绝了，微笑着拂着头发。
As they spoke their dogs played and smelt each other. Only once Blaine noticed her smiling face crease between the eyebrows as she cottoned onto the rhyming in his sentences, and he felt the need to escape the conversation.
当他们说话时，他们的狗互相玩耍和闻气味。 只有有一次，Blaine注意到她微笑的脸在眉毛之间皱了起来，因为她对他句子中的押韵，他觉得有必要逃避谈话。
In comfortable silence he redoubled his efforts to give her some of the money. “Take it, don’t be shy. A reward as I promised.”
在舒适的沉默中，他加倍努力给她一些钱。 “拿着吧，别害羞。 正如我承诺的那样，奖励。”
She vehemently shook her head and her hand. “Honestly, I couldn’t take it! Please, it’s yours!”
她用力摇了摇头和手。 “说真的，我受不了！ 求你了，这是你的！”
“You deserve it, pet. For being so honest”, he said as he succeeded in putting half of the £100 in notes into her hand. She looked just as radiant to encounter such good luck as he had felt the first time he had experienced it.
“你活该，宠物。 如此诚实，”他说，他成功地把100英镑的纸币中的一半交到她手里。 遇到这样的好运，她看起来就像他第一次体验时感受到的那样光彩照人。
He motioned to the gate behind him, “It’s still a bit slippery, I’d mind your feet.” She was still in shock, and he absently opened his mouth gesturing with his finger ahead of him, already fearful for the next few words that were about to come out. “I’m going to go and walk… in some… peat.”
他示意身后的大门，“还是有点滑，我会介意你的脚。” 她仍然处于震惊之中，他心不在焉地张开嘴，用手指在他面前示意，已经害怕接下来的几句话即将说出来。 “我要去走走……一些……泥炭。”
“Sorry?”
“抱歉？”
“Nothing! Enjoy the money! Can’t keep talking!”, he swiftly remarked to her surprise with a wave and turned away from her. Cheeks flushed red, he said in a hushed tone to Poppy, “C’mon girl, we gotta keep walking”.
“没什么！ 享受金钱！ 不能继续说话了！”，他迅速地向她挥了挥手，然后转身离开她。 脸颊通红，他用低沉的语气对Poppy说：“来吧，女孩，我们得继续走下去。”
He arrived and rummaged around in his pocket before producing the stone, making sure nobody else was around to see where he was about to hide it. It seemed so simple earlier, so perfect in design. He knew this would be the best place, out in the wilderness where nobody else would find it, but now he had arrived he doubted his choice. He begun fretting. What if they come and move this tree? Then it will surely be dug up, and not by me!
他到了，在拿出石头之前，在口袋里翻找，确保周围没有人看到他要把它藏在哪里。 它之前看起来很简单，在设计上非常完美。 他知道这将是最好的地方，在荒野中，没有人会找到它，但现在他已经到了，他怀疑自己的选择。 他开始烦恼。 如果他们来移动这棵树呢？ 那么它肯定会被挖出来，而不是由我挖出来！
But there was something else, an inexorable gravity that drew him to the stone. The more he thought of burying and leaving its side, the tighter his fingers clasped the cold rock. A childlike jealousy overtook him just to imagine somebody else inheriting his prized luck.
但还有别的东西，一种不可阻挠的重力把他吸引到石头上。 他越是想到要埋葬并离开它，他的手指就越紧握着冰冷的岩石。 一种幼稚的嫉妒心压在他身上，只是为了想象别人继承了他宝贵的运气。
He let Poppy off the lead and stuffed his hand in his pocket. One hand rolled the rock around in its palm, the other idly flipped through the remaining pound notes that he had been given.
他让Poppy离开主角，把手塞进口袋里。 一只手在手掌中滚来滚去，另一只手不由地翻阅着他剩下的英镑纸币。
“Actually, it’s not that bad of a curse”, he said to the evergreen tree beside him, then a smile broke out on his face to imagine how he would spend today’s little windfall. “After all, this can’t possibly get any worse.”
“实际上，这并没有那么糟糕的诅咒，”他对旁边的常绿树说，然后他脸上露出了笑容，想象着他将如何度过今天的小意外之财。 “毕竟，这不可能变得更糟。”