書單君祝冬至快樂咕噠鎮
快聖誕了，
要一起坐快車去北極看聖誕老人嗎？
精選英文書單 | NO.24——《極地特快》
書 名：The Polar Express
作 者：【美】Chris Van Allsburg
中文譯者：孟 祥 欣
豆瓣評分：8.6（10分）
Goodreads評分：4.31（5分）
「 簡介 」
繪本書《極地特快(The Polar Express)》是送給所有擁有一顆赤子之心的人的故事。
本書首版於1985年，被廣泛認為是關於聖誕節的最不可逾越的經典繪本。畫風溫暖，想像綺麗，亦真亦幻，文字優美，故事動人。本書於1986年獲得美國繪本書界最重要的獎項「凱迪克大獎(Caldecott Medal)」。
在一個平安夜，一個正在等待聖誕老人的小男孩發現家門口停了一輛駛往北極的列車，他登了上去。一路上的經歷如夢如幻，並且收到最心愛的聖誕禮物——不過，真正能見識到它美妙的人卻少之又少。
作者用充滿溫情的語調敘述了一個關於「相信」的故事：相信美好，相信奇蹟……相信會產生力量，讓孩子的心靈飽滿充實。全書採用筆觸細膩的粉彩畫，營造出朦朧、神秘的夢幻感。細細閱讀，無論是大人還是孩子，都會沉醉於那一份純真美好的童心。現在，就讓我們一起踏上極地特快，去追尋那些也許已經被遺忘了的夢吧……
文章內容
The Polar Express
極地特快
Written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg.
文字及插畫作者：克裡斯·范·奧爾斯伯格。
On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed.
那是很多年前的一個平安夜，我在床上靜靜地躺著。
I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently.
我不讓被褥發出一絲聲響，連呼吸都緩慢輕柔。
I was listening for a sound—a sound a friend had told me I'd never hear—the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh.
我在等待一個聲音——聖誕老人的雪橇鈴聲——一個小夥伴說那是我永遠都不可能聽到的聲音。
"There's no Santa," my friend insisted, but I knew he was wrong.
「沒有聖誕老人的。」小夥伴很肯定，但我知道他是錯的。
Late that night I did hear the sounds, though not of ringing bells.
那天深夜，我真的聽到了聲音，但不是鈴聲。
From outside came the sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal.
外面傳來了蒸汽機發出的「嗤嗤」和金屬摩擦的「吱吱」聲。
I looked through my window and saw a train standing perfectly still in front of my house.
我從窗口向外望去，看到一列火車穩穩地停在了我家門口。
It was wrapped in an apron of steam. Snowflakes fell lightly around it.
火車被包裹在一團蒸汽裡，在它的四周，雪花輕輕飄落。
A conductor stood at the open door of one of the cars.
一名列車長站在一節車廂敞開的門口。
He took large pocket watch from his vest, then looked up at my window.
他從馬甲裡掏出一隻大懷表，然後抬頭看著我的窗口。
I put on my slippers and robe.
我穿上拖鞋，披上袍子。
I tiptoed downstairs and out the door.
我躡手躡腳地下了樓，走出家門。
"All aboard!" the conductor cried out.
「上車啦！」列車長大聲喊。
I ran up to him.
我向他跑去。
"Well," he said, "Are you coming?"
「嗯，」他說，「你要上車嗎？」
"Where?"
「去哪的？」
"Why, to the North Pole, of course," was his answer, "This is the Polar Express."
「哎，當然是去北極嘍！」他回答道，「這是極地特快。」
I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me aboard.
我抓住他伸出的手，他把我拉上了車。
The train was filled with other children, all in their pajamas and nightgowns.
車上到處都是小孩，全都穿著睡衣睡袍。
We sang Christmas carols and ate candies with nougat centers as white as snow.
我們一邊高唱聖誕頌歌，一邊吃像雪花一樣潔白的夾心牛軋糖。
We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars.
我們喝的熱可可香濃可口，像融化了的巧克力塊。
Outside the lights of towns and villages flickered in the distance as the Polar Express raced northward.
極地特快一路向北飛馳。在車窗外面，遠處城鎮和鄉村的燈光閃爍不定。
Soon there were no more lights to be seen.
很快所有的燈光都消失不見了。
We traveled through cold，dark forests where lean wolves roamed and white-tailed rabbits hid from our train as it thundered through the quiet wilderness.
我們在冰冷漆黑的森林裡奔馳。當火車隆隆響著穿越這片寂靜荒野時，瘦骨嶙峋的狼東遊西蕩，長著白尾巴的兔子四處躲藏。
We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we could scrape the moon.
我們翻過山越過嶺。那些山真高啊，好像我們伸出手就可以摩挲月亮。
But the Polar Express never slowed down.
但極地特快一路都沒有減速。
Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster.
我們越跑越快，攀過高峰，穿過山谷，像坐過山車一樣。
The mountains turned into hills, the hills to snow covered plains.
崇山峻岭變成了低矮山丘，山丘又變成白雪皚皚的平原。
We crossed a barren desert of ice—the Great Polar Ice Cap.
接著我們穿過一片荒無人煙的冰原——北極大冰蓋。
Lights appeared in the distance. They looked like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea.
遠處燈光閃閃，像是在冰封的海上航行的奇異客輪發出的光亮。
"There," said the conductor, "Is the North Pole."
「那裡，」列車長說，「就是北極了。」
The North Pole.
北極。
It was a huge city standing alone at the top of the world, filled with factories where every Christmas toy was made.
它是座巨型的城市，孤單地佇立在地球的頂端。城裡工廠林立，每一件聖誕禮物都是在這裡生產。
At first we saw no elves.
一開始，我們沒看到精靈。
"They are gathering at the center of the city", the conductor told us, "That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas."
「他們都在市中心集合呢，」列車長告訴我們，「聖誕老人將在那裡送出第一份聖誕禮物。」
"Who receives the first gift?" we all asked.
「誰會收到第一份禮物呢？」我們問。
The conductor answered, "He will choose one of you."
列車長回答：「他會從你們當中選一個。」
"Look," shouted one of the children, "The elves."
「快看，」有個孩子大叫起來，「一群精靈！」
Outside we saw hundreds of elves.
我們看到外面有成百上千個精靈。
As our train drew closed to the center of the North Pole we slowed to a crawl, so crowded were the streets with Santa's helpers.
當我們快要抵達北極市中心的時候，列車越開越慢，簡直像爬行——因為街上擠滿了聖誕老人的精靈助手們。
When the Polar Express could go no farther, we stopped and the conductor led us outside.
當極地特快再也無法前進時，我們停了下來，列車長帶著我們下了車。
We pressed through the crowd to the edge of a large, open circle.
我們在人群中擠著，來到了一個巨大而開闊的圓形廣場的邊上。
In front of us stood Santa's sleigh.
聖誕老人的雪橇就在我們前面停著。
The reindeer were excited.They pranced and paced, ringing the silver bells that hung from their harnesses.
馴鹿們精神抖擻，歡蹦亂跳，來回踱步，挽具上掛著的銀鈴叮噹作響。
It was a magical sound, like nothing I'd ever heard.
鈴聲充滿魔力，那是我第一次聽到如此美妙的聲音。
Across the circle, the elves moved apart and Santa Claus appeared.
廣場的對面，精靈們向兩旁避讓，聖誕老人出場了。
The elves cheered wildly.
精靈們熱烈歡呼起來。
He marched over to us and, pointing to me, said, "Let's have this fellow here."
聖誕老人向我們走來，指著我說：「有請這位小夥子。」
He jumped into his sleigh. The conductor handed me up.
他跳上雪橇。列車長把我舉了上去。
I sat on Santa's knee and he asked, "Now, what would you like for Christmas?"
我坐在聖誕老人的腿上，他問我：「那麼，你想要什麼聖誕禮物呢？」
I knew that I could have any gift I could imagine.
我知道我能得到我想擁有的任意禮物。
But the thing I wanted most for Christmas was not inside Santa's giant bag.
但我最想要的東西並不在聖誕老人的巨型袋子裡。
What I wanted more than anything was one silver bell from Santa's sleigh.
我最想要的，是聖誕老人雪橇上的一個銀鈴。
When I asked, Santa smiled.
當我開口要時，聖誕老人笑了。
Then he gave me a hug and told an elf to cut a bell from a reindeer's harness.
他給了我一個擁抱，讓一個精靈從馴鹿的挽具上剪下來一個銀鈴。
The elf tossed it up to Santa.
精靈把銀鈴拋向聖誕老人。
He stood, holding the bell high above him and called out, "The first gift of Christmas!"
他站了起來，把銀鈴高高舉過頭頂，大聲喊道：「第一份聖誕禮物已送出！」
A clock struck midnight as the elves roared their approval.
精靈們高聲回應著，這時，午夜的鐘聲敲響了。
Santa handed the bell to me, and I put it in my bathrobe pocket.
聖誕老人把銀鈴送給了我，我把它放進浴袍口袋裡。
The conductor helped me down from the sleigh.
列車長扶著我下了雪橇。
Santa shouted out the the reindeer's names and cracked his whip.
聖誕老人高喊每隻馴鹿的名字，抽響了他的鞭子。
His team charged forward and climbed into the air.
他的座駕向前衝去，飛升到空中。
Santa circled once above us then disappeared in the cold, dark polar sky.
聖誕老人在我們上方盤旋了一圈，隨即消失在冰冷漆黑的北極天空。
As soon as we were back inside the Polar Express, the other children asked to see the bell.
一回到極地特快的車廂，其他小朋友就跟我要銀鈴看。
I reached into my pocket, but the only thing I felt was a hole.
我把手伸進口袋，可是，只能摸到了一個洞。
I had lost the silver bell from Santa Claus’s sleigh.
我弄丟了聖誕老人雪橇上的銀鈴！
"Let's hurry outside and look for it," one of the children said.
「我們快去外面找找吧。」一個孩子說道。
But the train gave a sudden lurch and started moving.
但這時火車突然抖動了一下,列車發動了。
We were on our way home.
我們走在了回家的路上。
It broke my heart to lose the bell.
銀鈴丟了，我的心也碎了。
When the train reached my house, I sadly left the other children.
火車開到我家的時候，我難過地離開了其他的小夥伴。
I stood at my doorway and waved good-bye.
我站在家門口，跟他們揮手告別。
The conductor said something from the moving train but I couldn't hear him.
列車長站在開動的火車上說了句什麼，但是我沒有聽到。
"What?" I yelled out.
「說什麼？」我大聲喊。
He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Merry Christmas!", he shouted.
他把手攏在嘴邊。「聖誕快樂！」他喊道。
The Polar Express let out a loud blast from its whistle and sped away.
極地特快拉響了一聲嘹亮的汽笛，疾馳而去。
On Christmas morning my little sister Sarah and I opened our presents.
聖誕節一早，我和妹妹薩拉開始拆禮物。
When it looked as if everything had been unwrapped, Sarah found one last small box behind the tree.
當我們以為所有的禮物都拆完時，薩拉看見聖誕樹後面還有一個小盒子。
It had my name on it.
盒子上有我的名字。
Inside was the silver bell!
裡面是那隻銀鈴！
There was a note, "Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Fix that hole in your pocket."
還有一張字條：「我在雪橇的座上看到的這隻銀鈴。把你口袋裡的洞補好哦。」
Signed: "Mr. C."
署名：「聖先生」。
I shook the bell.
我搖了搖鈴鐺。
It made the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard.
它的聲音宛若天籟，是我和妹妹聽過最美妙的聲音。
But my mother said, "Oh, that's too bad."
但媽媽卻說：「哎，可惜了。」
"Yes," said my father, "It's broken."
「對啊，」爸爸也說，「是個壞的。」
When I'd shaken the bell, my parents had not heard a sound.
當我搖動銀鈴時，爸媽什麼都沒有聽到。
At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them.
曾經，我大多數朋友也能聽到這鈴聲。但一年年過去了，它已不再為他們奏響。
Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.
甚至薩拉也一樣，從某一年的聖誕節開始，她也再未聽到過那美妙的鈴聲。
Through I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.
儘管我年歲已長，那銀鈴卻依舊為我歌唱，一如它對待那些真正懂得「相信」的人們那樣。
「 作者簡介 」
作者克裡斯·范·奧斯伯格(Chris Van Allsburg, 1949.6.18 - )，美國最有才華的插畫及童書作家之一，《極地特快》書中的插畫工作也是親力親為。
1985年《極地特快》一書出版，根據《極地快車》改編的電影於2004年上映，主要演員包括湯姆·漢克斯等等，被提名三項「奧斯卡獎」。
曾憑藉本書及《勇敢者的遊戲(Jumanji)》兩度獲得「凱迪克大獎」，同時又都被成功改編為動畫電影。
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