While the secret garden was returning to life, a man with high, crooked shoulders was wandering round the most beautiful places in Europe. For ten years he had lived this lonely life, his heart full of sadness and his head full of dark dreams. Everywhere he went, he carried his unhappiness with him like a black cloud. Other travellers thought he was half mad or a man who could not forget some terrible crime. His name was Archibald Craven.
当秘密花园里一片生机盎然时，一个高高的驼背男子正徒步在欧洲最漂亮的地方。他一个人生活了十多年，总是郁郁寡欢，人也噩梦连连。不论走到哪，都开心不起来，就好像头顶有朵乌云。其他的游客想他要么是个疯子，要么就是陷在过去痛苦的回忆里无法自拔。这人就是阿奇博尔德·克莱文。
But one day,as he sat by a mountain stream, he actually looked at a flower, and for the first time in ten years he realized how beautiful something living could be. The valley seemed very quiet as he sat there, staring at the flower. He felt strangely calm.
一天，他坐在溪旁赏花时，让他在这十年里，第一次感受到生命有多奇妙！当他坐在那赏花时，整个山谷都像是安静了下来，让他觉得无比平静。
'What's happening to me?' he whispered. 'I feel different - i almost feel i'm alive again.'
“我是怎么了？”他喃喃细语。“我感觉不一样了…感觉我又活过来了。”
At that moment, hundreds of miles away in Yorkshire, Colin was seeing the secret garden for the first time and saying,'I'm going to live for ever and ever and ever!' But Mr Craven did not know this.
在同一时间里，相距数百里外的约克郡，柯林第一次到秘密花园里，正说着：“我会活很久很久很久。”但克莱文先生听不到。
That night, in his hotel room, he slept better than usual. As the weeks passed, he even began to think a little about his home and his son. One evening in late summer, as he was sitting quietly beside a lake, he felt the strange calmness again. He feel asleep, and had a dream that seemed very real. He heard a voice calling him. It was sweet and clear and happy, the voice of his young wife.
当晚，克莱文先生在酒店睡得比以往都要好。再过几个星期，他竟然有点想家和想他儿子。某个夏末的晚上，他坐在湖边时，他又有了那种平静感。他有些犯困，还做了个梦，就像真的发生了一样的梦。他听到有人在叫他 ，声音很轻很温柔，那是他妻子的声音。
'Archie! Archie! Archie!'
“阿奇！阿奇！阿奇”
'My Dear,' He jumped up. 'Where are you?'
“亲爱的”他一下子就站了起来，“你在哪里？”
'In the garden,' called the beautiful voice.
“我在花园里。”那个声音说。
And then the dream ended. In the morning, when he woke, he remembered the dream.
梦就这么完了。第二天早上，他醒来时，还记得这个梦。
'She says she's in the garden.' he thought. 'But the door's locked and the key's buried.'
“她说她在花园里”他想，“但门锁了，钥匙都埋了！”
That morning he received a letter from Susan Sowerby. In it she asked him to come home, but she did not give a reason. Mr Craven thought of his dream, and decided to return to England immediately. On the long journey back to Yorkshire, he was thinking about Colin.
那天早上他收到苏珊·索比尔的来信。她在信中让他回家，但没说原因。克莱文先生想到他做的梦，当即打算赶回英国。在回约克郡的路上，他都在想柯林。
'I wonder how he is! I wanted to forget him, because he makes me think of his mother. He lived and she died. But perhaps i've been wrong. Susan Sowerby says i should go home, so perhaps she thinks i can help him.'
“他现在怎么样了？真想把他忘了，因为他总是让我想起他妈妈，他活了下来，可她却死了，但也可能是我想多了。苏珊·索比尔让我回家，或许是有什么事需要我帮忙。”
When he arrived home, he found the housekeeper very confused about Colin's health.
他到家时，发现管家对柯林的健康束手无策。
'He's very strange, sir,' said Mrs Medlock. 'He looks better, it's true. but some days he eats nothing at all, and other days he eats just like a healthy boy. He used to scream even at the idea of fresh air, but now he spends all his time outside in his wheelchair, with Miss Mary and Dickon Sowerby. He's in the garden at the moment.'
“先生，柯林很奇怪。”梅得洛克夫人说。“他看上去好多了，但他有时都不吃东西，有时又跟健健康康的孩子一样会吃。他以前听到要到户外去，就闹个不停；但他现在大多数都呆在室外，坐在轮椅上和玛丽、迪肯·索比尔呆一块儿。他现在就在花园里。”
'In the garden,' repeated Mr Craven. Those were the words of the dream! He hurried out of the house and towards the place which he had not visited for so long. He found the door with the climbing plant over it, and stood outside, listening, for a moment.
“在花园里”克莱文先生说。跟他做梦时听到的一样。他匆忙出了房间，朝那个许久不曾到的花园走去。他看到藤蔓植物遮住了门，就站在那，静静听了一会。
'Surely i can hear voices inside the garden?' he thought. 'Aren't there children whispering, laughing, running in there? or am i going mad?'
“我真能听到花园里有人在说话。”他想。“是孩子们在吵在闹在说话，还是我疯了？”
And then the moment came, when the children could not stay quiet. There was wild laughing and shouting, and the door was thrown open. A boy ran out, a tall, healthy, handsome boy, straight into the man's arms. Mr Craven stared into the boy's laughing eyes.
此时，孩子们吵闹得根本停不下来。他们正大声地笑着，吵着，还一把推开了门。一个高大帅气的健康男孩撞到克莱文先生的怀里。克莱文先生盯着那笑得很开心的男孩看。
'Who - What? Who?' he cried.
“你…你…你是谁？”他问。
Colin had not planned to meet his father like this. But perhaps this was the best way, to come running out with his cousin and his friend.
柯林没想过会在这样的情况下看到他父亲，但这也很好，接着跑出来的是他堂姐玛丽和朋友迪肯。
'Father' he said, 'I'm Colin. you can't believe it! I can't believe it myself! It was the garden, and Mary and Dickon and the magic, that made me well. We've kept it a secret up to now.
Aren't you happy, Father? I'm going to live for ever and ever and ever!'
“父亲”他喊，“我是柯林，你一定不相信是我，我自己都不相信。花园、玛丽、迪肯以及魔法，让我好起来的。我们一直都没告诉你，父亲，这惹你不开心了吗？我会活很久很久的。”
Mr Craven put his hands on the boy's shoulder. For a moment he could not speak. 'Take me into the garden, my boy,' he said at last, 'and tell me all about it.'
克莱文先生将手放在男孩的肩上。好一会都没说话。“带我到花园里去，孩子”最后他说，“把事情都跟我说说。”
And in the secret garden, where the roses were at their best, and butterflies were flying from flower to flower in the summer sunshine, they told Colin's father their story. Sometimes he laughed, and sometimes he cried, but most of the time he just looked, unbelievable, into the handsome face of the son that he had almost forgotten.
夏日里，花园里的玫瑰开得正艳，玫瑰花上有许多蝴蝶在飞，孩子们正和柯林父亲说着花园里的事。他时笑时哭，但大多数时都是不可置信地看着那个快要被他忘了的健康的儿子。
'Now,' said Colin at the end. 'It isn't a secret any more. I'll never use the wheelchair again. I'm going to walk back with you, Father - to the house.'
“现在”柯林最后说，“这里将不再是秘密花园了。我也不用继续坐轮椅了。父亲，我要和你一起走回家。”
And so, that afternoon, Mrs Medlock, Martha and the other servants had the greatest shock of their lives. Through the gardens towards the house came Mr Craven, looking happier than they had ever seen him. And by his side, with his shoulder straight, his head held high and a smile on his lips, walked young Colin.
这天下午，梅得洛克夫人、玛莎和其他的仆人都大吃一惊。因为从花园走回来的克莱文先生看着特别开心，还有他身边是腰板挺直走路带风的柯林。
全书完
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PS:本书为牛津系列简易读物，由英国作家克莱尔·韦斯特根据美国女作家弗朗西斯·霍奇森·伯内特的同名小说改写。
英文选自书虫原著，译文笔者仅个人兴趣而翻译。故本文谢绝转载和各种商业用途，并承诺出现任何责任由作者承担，必要时简书可删除文章。
