一个关于盒子的故事 A Story of Boxes

印象里她是个沉默又严厉的老太太，永远在摆弄她那些灰扑扑的、上锁的盒子。她在忙些什么，我不曾问，她也不曾说。“那个老巫婆”，我小时候这样在心里暗暗称呼她。
From my memory, she was a quiet and serious old lady, who was always fiddling with her rather plain looking boxes with locks on. What’re those, I never asked, and she never said anything about them.“That old witch”，I called her.

她消失得很突然，在一个普通的傍晚，留下了钥匙，我知道她去了很远的地方，永远不会再回来。
On an ordinary night, she left her keys and disappeared. I guess she has travelled somewhere far away and not coming back.

好奇心诱使着我，用桌上的钥匙打开她上锁的衣柜、上锁的盒子。那时我并没有料到会再一次认识她。
Curiosity led me to open the cabinets that’s full of those boxes with the keys she left on the table. I didn’t realise that I would get to know her again.

第一个盒子里放着她和朋友的来信、各种旅行纪念品。不知道是不是纪念品的香水瓶熏得我微微恍惚，像魔法一样，那个年轻时的她铺展开在我眼前。
The first box contains the letters from her friends and souvenirs from her travels. Perhaps it might be the fume from the souvenirs or the perfume bottle, I dazed. Like magic, her younger self appeared in front of me.

“…现在是伦敦的雨季，空气微凉。”雨打湿过的信纸缘微微发皱。
“It’s rainy season in London, the air is bit chilly”. The edges of the letter slightly creased, seemed like it was wetted before.
“今夜狮子座的流星雨，愿望是永远与你联系…”信的末尾画着简笔画。
“I made a wish at the leonids meteor shower tonight, I wished to be in touch with you forever…”with a sketch at the end of the letter.
……

第二个盒子是男孩的来信：“想你万千，今夜无眠。”玫瑰花瓣的印迹叠在字上像泛黄的吻痕。
The second box contains letters from a boy. “I miss you so much, on this sleepless night.” Roses petals laid on the words like a lip print.

第三个盒子是彩色的插画，朦胧的颜色和笔触模糊了现实，“看我的画，”她说，“我不善言辞，但想说的都在画里。”
In the third box, there are some colourful illustrations. Hazy colours and brushstrokes blurred in front of me. “Look at my drawings! ”she said, “I am bad with words, but all I want to say are in the drawings.”

第四个盒子是手作的陶瓷雕塑，我看见她制作它们时的笑容，那个笑容和我一样年轻，陌生又熟悉。此时太阳已经下山了，房间里却莫名围绕着温暖的光线。
Handmade ceramic sculptures in the four box. I could see her smile from the time she was sculpting them. The smile is as young as me, familiar but distant. The sun has just set, but the room is filled with warm rays for some strange reasons.

“要看到事情的背面，生活的可能性是无穷的。” 从暧昧的昏暗中，我突然听到奶奶的声音。“我好像从未认识你！”我冲那个声音喊。“因为成年人总以为能不言而喻。”她回答我。
“There is always a flip-side of everything. There are endless possibilities in life.” In the hazy dimed light, she said. “I never really know you!” I yelled back. “Adults always think they can get by without explaining everything.”

“我希望你过得快乐。”她抚摸着我的背。“可是很难一直快乐…”我拥抱着那温暖的幻影。“是的，所以要去创造和发现，或者，与自己和解。”
“I hope you will be happy”, she gently strokes my back. “But we cannot be happy all the time…”I try to hug the warm phantom. “Of course! That’s why we need to keep creating and discovering. You may settle with yourself.”

“我爱你。”她说。“嗯，我也是”
“I love you. ”she said, “Hmm, me too.”

我打开了所有的盒子，最后一个却空空如也，她还没来得及填充它。让盒子的故事继续吧，我这样想着，将自己的宝贝藏了进去。
I found the last box empty. She probably hasn’t got the time to fill it. Maybe I should continue with it, I thought. So I filled it with my precious things.

在太阳熄灭的梦里，那个盒子变成一小束金色小老鼠一样的光住进了我的心里。我们不能言说，但表达的方式是无穷的。
这个关于盒子的故事就是这样。
In the dream of the extinguishing sun, the box turned into a beam of light like a little golden mouse and resides in my heart afterwards. We don't speak, but there are other ways of expression.
This is a story of boxes.