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雙語讀電影 《灰姑娘》第11章 :瞧瞧!她居然穿著那件破爛睡著了!

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2018年10月17日

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Ella ran as fast as her glass slippers would allow. She heard Kit call out to her to wait. Turning to see his bewildered expression, she knew she had to say something.

“You’ve been awfully nice,” Ella called. “Thank you for a wonderful evening. I loved it. Every second.” Then she ran through the garden, to the terrace, and up the stone steps. She found herself standing in front of the door to the gallery where their walk had begun. Moving through the doors, she disappeared into the darkness of the gallery.

She raced past the portraits and burst into the ballroom a moment later. Ducking and weavingamong the dancers, she safely made her way across the room, but then—smack!—she ran right into King Frederick.

“Oh!” Ella exclaimed. “Your Highness!”

He nodded at the pretty girl in front of him. “Young lady.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry!” Ella said, starting to rush away. But once again, she got the feeling that she couldn’t leave it there. She turned back. “I wanted to say, Your Highness, that your son, Kit, is the most lovely person I ever met. So good and brave. I hope you know how much he loves you.” Without another word, she raced off, leaving the king with a bemused expression on his face.

Ella ran faster than she had ever run before. Finally, she found herself at the top of the staircase leading down to the palace courtyard. She spotted her carriage nearby. With a sigh of relief, she ran down the stairs. Suddenly, she felt one of her glass slippers, the one that had flown off on the swing, slide off her foot once more. She was just about to fetch it when she saw a group of guards arrive at the top of the stairs. With one last sad look at her pretty shoe, Ella ran the rest of the way down the stairs.

One of the footmen leaned against the side of the carriage, trying to catch a fly. As soon as he spotted Ella, he frantically motioned to the coachman, the fly forgotten. With a snap of the reins, the coachman started moving the carriage and Ella slipped inside. Then the carriage was off, the four noble horses racing into the night.

Letting out a deep breath, Ella finally looked back. She could just make out the prince standing on the steps. In one hand, he held her glass slipper. But it wasn’t the loss of the shoe that hurt; it was the expression on his face that broke Ella’s heart. Kit looked confused and sad. And it was all her fault.

As the carriage sped out the palace gates, Ella heard the bells tolling the midnight hour. She also heard the sound of hoofbeats and knew that the guards were in pursuit. That meant Kit didn’t want her to go. But she couldn’t let him find her. Not now, not when the magic was about to end.

The bell tolled again. Ella leaned out the window and saw the horses’ tails begin to transform back into mouse tails. Around her, the walls of the carriage started to turn orange. As the persistent bell tolled loudly, the coachman’s nose grew back into a beak, and he let out an anxious honk.

A short distance behind, unaware of any of these odd changes, the guards continued their pursuit. Among them were the Grand Duke and the Captain. They both wanted to catch the mystery princess but for different reasons. The Grand Duke wanted to expose her for the fake he thought she was, while the Captain simply wanted to make Kit happy.

Inside the carriage, Ella listened to each toll of the bell with a growing sense of dread. They were running out of time and needed to get away from the guards before it was too late.

The horses’ ears became round, and their muzzles narrowed into snouts. Then the coachman transformed completely back into a goose, his uniform falling around his webbed feet. The carriage itself began to shake and the footmen became lizards once more.

As a cloud passed over the moon, Ella’s carriage clattered over a bridge, bringing them farther from their pursuers and closer to home. But they still had a ways to go, and as the ninth bell tolled, the carriage began to resemble a pumpkin, its elegant symmetry replaced with a bulbous shape and a stub protruding from the top. At the tenth bell, the horses finally disappeared, replaced by the four mice, who let out frightened squeaks as the pumpkin carriage rolled on. The goose fell to the road, honking loudly before shaking himself off and flying the rest of the way home. And as the eleventh and twelfth bells tolled, the spell was broken.

With the sounds of the last bell fading away, Ella found herself sitting on the ground, the pumpkin cracked beside her. There was a slight whoosh as her jewels transformed back into fireflies, and then, last but not least, her beautiful gown became the torn and ragged dress from before. All that was left of the magic was a single glass slipper. Ella pushed herself to her feet and began to brush herself off.

Now she still had to get back to the house before her stepfamily returned. She ushered the mice into her remaining glass slipper so she could walk them the rest of the way.

A light rain began to fall. Ella cupped her hand over the slipper so the mice would not get wet and made her way back to the house. She heard the sound of a carriage approaching. Ducking to the side of the drive, she rushed through the pantry and into the kitchen just as she heard her stepsisters clatter through the front door. There was murmuring as the girls bickered, and then, much to Ella’s dismay, she heard their footsteps moving closer.

Acting quickly, she let her mice friends climb out of the glass slipper before putting the shoe into the hearth and covering it with ashes. Then she lay down beside the hearth and closed her eyes.

When Anastasia and Drisella entered the kitchen, they found their stepsister sleeping, covered in the ashes that had inspired her nickname.

“Look at that,” Anastasia sneered. “She fell asleep in that thing she was wearing.”

“She must be dreaming about going to the ball,” Drisella added. “Wake her up so we can tell her all about it.”

Anastasia shook her head. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“I know! That’s why I want to wake her.” Drisella leaned down and shouted into Ella’s ear. “Get up, lazybones!”

Ella opened her eyes and then stretched, as if she had been asleep for hours.

“You missed it!” Drisella crowed.

“Oh? What happened?” Ella asked.

“You can’t even imagine,” Anastasia said as her sister ordered Ella to prepare a plate of biscuits and warm some tea.

As Ella started to prepare the snack, her sisters began to recount the events of the night. They were interrupted by their mother, who entered and immediately demanded that their treats be brought to the parlor. She wasn’t going to let them start eating in the kitchen like scullery maids… or Cinderella. Once she and her daughters were settled, the girls continued talking. As usual, they were talking more at Ella than to her.

“The prince was showing me a great deal of favor,” Anastasia said.

“I thought his eye was more inclined towards me,” Drisella argued.

Ella couldn’t help herself. “What did he say to you?” she asked, knowing full well he hadn’t spoken a word.

There was a pause as the sisters looked at each other. “What do you mean, what did he say?” Anastasia finally said.

Drisella had an answer. “Don’t be so common, Cinderella,” she snapped. “We did not communicate with mere words. Our souls met.”

Lady Tremaine, who had been silent up until that point, finally seemed to lose her patience. “You didn’t speak to him, let alone dance!” she snapped.

“It was not our fault, Mother!” Anastasia whined. “It was that girl. . . .”

“The mystery princess!” Drisella added.

“That was no princess,” Lady Tremaine said, her eyes on Ella as she spoke. The girl seemed oddly lighthearted despite having been forced to stay home. It made Lady Tremaine suspicious. “It was a preening interloper who made a spectacle of herself. A vulgar young hussy marched into the ball and threw herself at the prince.”

“And he actually danced with the ugly thing,” Anastasia added.

Ella looked down, trying to hide the smile that threatened to spread across her face. Unaware that her stepmother was watching her, she hummed a few bars of the song she and Kit had danced to, lost in the memory of that perfect moment.

“Yes?” she said dreamily.

“Yes!” Drisella repeated. “It was pity. He was too polite to send her packing in front of everyone, you see. But not wanting to expose us to the presumptuous wench any further, he took her aside—”

Anastasia jumped in, interrupting her sister. “And told her off! But she refused to leave, and the palace guard had to chase her from the party.”

Ella could barely contain the laughter that bubbled up inside her. Glancing at Lady Tremaine, she saw that the woman was watching her with narrowed eyes. Ella quickly looked back at the ground, worried she might have given herself away.

“It’s no matter,” Lady Tremaine finally said. “The ball was a mere diversion. The prince is promised to Princess Chelina of Zaragosa. The Grand Duke told me as much himself.” Then she turned and spoke the next words right to Ella. “He’s not allowed to marry for love.”

Ella sat in her drafty attic room, staring at the glass slipper she held in her hand. Her mind kept replaying moments from the ball: seeing Kit for the first time; feeling his hand in hers; swinging in the wild garden. The memories flashed through her mind, each one vivid and perfect. Yet her stepmother had said the prince could not marry for love. If that was true, she and Kit could never have a future. Not that she was sure he would want a future with her, or her with him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Sighing, Ella stood up and walked to the far corner of the attic. She kneeled down and lifted up a loose floorboard. Inside was the beautiful toy butterfly her father had given to her many years earlier. She gently placed the slipper next to it and then put the board back in place. Noticing that Jacqueline, Gus, and their children were watching from nearby, Ella smiled. She hadn’t seen them since the magical transformation.

“Thank you for your help,” she said. “It really was like a dream. Better than a dream.” Then she squared her shoulders. “But now it’s done.”

Jacqueline and Gus rose on their hind legs and attempted to imitate dancing. Ella laughed, amused by her friends’ efforts. But they had made a point. The ball hadn’t been a dream. It had been real. And the way she felt when she was around Kit? That was real, too.

She thought about his spirit, his courage, his kindness. She thought about the way she had felt dancing in his arms. She loved talking to him; she loved being silent with him. He was one of those rare souls who made one feel comfortable no matter what.

And now he was promised to another. It made Ella’s heart hurt to think he did not have control over such an important decision. She wished she could do something to help him.

Sighing once more, Ella smoothed the front of her apron. At least they would forever have the fond memory of the perfect night at the ball.

雖然穿著水晶鞋,瑞拉還是拼了命往前跑。她聽見基特喊著,要她等等。她回過頭見他滿臉困惑,覺得自己總要說些什么才好。

于是她大聲說道:“你真是太好了!謝謝你給了我這樣美好的夜晚,我太高興了,每分每秒都是如此!”接著她跑過花園,跑向草坪,跑上石階,站在她和王子共同走過的長廊入口。穿過一扇扇門后,她隱沒在黑暗的長廊中。

瑞拉快跑著經(jīng)過一張張畫像,不一會(huì)兒就沖進(jìn)了舞廳,在跳舞的人們中間低著頭四處躲閃著穿行。可就在她快要走出舞廳時(shí),“砰”的一聲,她正好撞上了弗雷德里克國王。

“天哪!”瑞拉不禁喊道,“陛下!”

他對(duì)面前美麗的姑娘點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭:“你好,小姐?!?

“我……我很抱歉!”瑞拉一邊說著一邊又繼續(xù)跑著,可她再次覺得自己不能就這樣離開。她轉(zhuǎn)過身說道:“陛下,我想告訴您,您的兒子基特是我見過的最好的人,他那么善良,那么勇敢,我希望您知道他有多愛您。”話音未落她就著急跑開了,留下國王一人,滿臉迷茫。

瑞拉從未像現(xiàn)在跑得這樣快。終于她來到通向王宮大院的樓梯上,看見自己的馬車就在附近。她如釋重負(fù)地舒一口氣,跑下樓梯。忽然,她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己穿著的水晶鞋中有一只——就是她蕩秋千時(shí)飛出去的那只——又從她腳上滑了下來。她想取回鞋子,卻看到一群侍衛(wèi)站到了樓梯上。瑞拉悲傷地看了她那漂亮的鞋子最后一眼,急匆匆離開了樓梯。

她的一名侍從靠在馬車旁,正在捕捉蒼蠅,但他一看見瑞拉就興奮地向馬車夫招手,完全忘記了蒼蠅這回事。車夫猛地一拉韁繩,馬車動(dòng)起來了,瑞拉迅速鉆進(jìn)了車?yán)?。四匹高貴的馬撒開腿拉著馬車沖進(jìn)夜色中。

瑞拉長長地舒了一口氣,最后回頭望了一眼。她還能看見站在臺(tái)階上的王子,一只手上拿著她落下的水晶鞋。其實(shí),丟了鞋瑞拉并不傷心,可王子臉上的表情卻讓她心碎?;乜雌饋砘袒笥蛛y過,而這全是她的錯(cuò)。

就在馬車飛快地跑出王宮大門時(shí),瑞拉聽見午夜的鐘聲響起了。她還聽見陣陣馬蹄聲,她知道侍衛(wèi)們正在追趕她。這意味著基特不想讓她走,可她不能讓他找到自己。不,不是這個(gè)時(shí)候,不能在魔法即將消失的時(shí)候。

鐘聲又響了。瑞拉把身子探出窗外,看見馬兒的尾巴開始變回老鼠尾巴了。在她周圍,馬車的內(nèi)側(cè)也開始變?yōu)槌壬?。鐘聲還在固執(zhí)地、響亮地繼續(xù)著,馬車夫的鼻子變回了鳥喙,發(fā)出了焦慮的嘎嘎聲。

就在馬車后方不遠(yuǎn)處,侍衛(wèi)們還在堅(jiān)持不懈地追趕著,對(duì)這些異常的變化一無所知。公爵和侍衛(wèi)長也在追趕馬車的隊(duì)列里,他們都想抓住這位神秘的公主,卻是出于不同的原因:公爵打算揭發(fā)她假冒的公主身份,而侍衛(wèi)長則單純地希望基特能快樂。

馬車?yán)锏娜鹄犞宦暵曠婍?,越發(fā)害怕起來。他們沒有時(shí)間了,必須趕緊甩掉這些侍衛(wèi),否則一切都晚了。

馬兒的耳朵開始變圓,口鼻也收窄變長了。接著,車夫已經(jīng)完全變回了鵝的樣子,身上的制服耷拉下來,垂到他有蹼的腳上。馬車開始抖動(dòng)起來,侍從們也變成了蜥蜴。

一片云朵拂過月亮,瑞拉的馬車正咔嗒咔嗒跑過一座橋,他們離追趕的隊(duì)伍越來越遠(yuǎn),離家也越來越近,但前面還有一段路。這時(shí)第九次鐘聲響起,馬車開始顯現(xiàn)出南瓜的模樣,原本優(yōu)雅勻稱的外形變得滾圓,頂上還冒出了瓜蒂。第十聲鐘響時(shí),馬兒都消失了,只留下四只老鼠,看著前進(jìn)的南瓜車害怕得吱吱直叫。鵝跌到路面上,高聲叫喚了幾下后,抖抖身子,開始朝家飛去。終于,第十一聲和第十二聲鐘響起的時(shí)候,咒語徹底解除了。

隨著最后一聲鐘響慢慢消失,瑞拉跌坐在地上,南瓜在她身邊崩裂開來。伴著輕快的“嗖”的一聲,她穿戴的珠寶變回了螢火蟲,漂亮的禮服也終于變成了原來的襤褸衣裳,這場魔法留給她的只剩一只水晶鞋。瑞拉掙扎著站起來,撣了撣身上的灰塵。

現(xiàn)在她還得在繼母她們回家之前趕回去。她讓老鼠們躲進(jìn)剩下的那只水晶鞋里,這樣她走回家時(shí)就能帶著它們了。

天上下起了小雨?;丶业穆飞希鹄咽謸踉谒?,免得雨把老鼠們淋濕。這時(shí)她聽見有輛馬車的聲音,越來越近。她連忙躲到車道邊,快速跑過儲(chǔ)藏室,進(jìn)了廚房,正好聽見她的兩位姐姐嬉笑著從前門進(jìn)屋了。兩個(gè)姑娘低聲拌著嘴,瑞拉聽見她們的腳步聲越來越近,不由得驚慌失措。

她馬上行動(dòng)起來,讓老鼠朋友們先爬出水晶鞋,再把鞋子放進(jìn)灶臺(tái),用灰蓋上。然后她躺在爐邊,閉上了眼睛。

安泰西亞和崔西里亞走進(jìn)廚房時(shí),看見妹妹正在睡覺,身上落滿了灰:就是因?yàn)檫@些灰她才會(huì)有那么個(gè)綽號(hào)。

安泰西亞嗤笑著:“瞧瞧!她居然穿著那件破爛睡著了!”

崔西里亞也說道:“她一定夢見自己到舞會(huì)上去了吧。把她叫醒,咱們把舞會(huì)上的事都告訴她?!?

安泰西亞搖搖頭:“她不知道的話反而不會(huì)難受?!?

“我知道!所以我才要叫醒她。”崔西里亞俯身對(duì)著瑞拉的耳朵大喊:“起來,懶骨頭!”

瑞拉睜開眼睛伸了伸懶腰,好像已經(jīng)睡了很長時(shí)間。

崔西里亞得意地叫嚷著:“你錯(cuò)過了很多!”

瑞拉問:“噢?發(fā)生了什么事情?”

“你想都想不到?!卑蔡┪鱽喺f。崔西里亞命令瑞拉去準(zhǔn)備一盤餅干,上些熱茶。

瑞拉準(zhǔn)備點(diǎn)心時(shí),姐姐們開始說起當(dāng)晚發(fā)生的事。這時(shí)她們的母親走進(jìn)來,打斷了她們的談話,要求瑞拉把點(diǎn)心端到起居室里。她可不能讓自己的女兒們像幫廚的女仆或灰姑娘那樣在廚房里吃東西。大家一坐好,女兒們又接著說開了。和往常一樣,她們不直接和瑞拉說話,卻句句都說給她聽。

安泰西亞說:“王子可是非常喜歡我呢!”

崔西里亞卻不服:“我覺得他的眼神落到我身上更多一些!”

瑞拉再也忍不住了?!八麑?duì)你們說了些什么?”她問道,雖然她心知王子什么也沒說。

姐妹倆面面相覷,好一會(huì)兒沒說話。“你是什么意思?什么叫他說了什么?” 安泰西亞終于發(fā)話了。

崔西里亞卻有了答案?!盎夜媚?,你也太庸俗了?!彼龥]好氣地說,“我們可不只是用言語交流,我們心意相通。”

一直保持沉默的特曼妮夫人直到這一刻好像終于失去了耐心,她厲聲說道:“你們和王子連話都沒說上,更別說跳舞了!”

“那不是我們的錯(cuò),媽媽!”安泰西亞嘀咕著,“都是那個(gè)女孩……”

“那位神秘的公主!”崔西里亞補(bǔ)了一句。

“她不是什么公主?!碧芈莘蛉诉呎f邊看著瑞拉。雖然她們逼著這孩子留在家里,她看起來卻完全無所謂,這可不尋常,特曼妮夫人疑竇頓生。“一個(gè)靠打扮吸引眼球的不速之客,簡直出盡洋相。那個(gè)無恥輕佻的女人,居然直接沖進(jìn)舞會(huì)對(duì)王子投懷送抱?!?

“可王子還真和那個(gè)丑女人跳舞了。”安泰西亞說。

瑞拉低著頭,竭力掩飾著臉上想要蕩漾開來的笑意,全然不知她的繼母正注視著她,她哼著和基特跳舞時(shí)的那首曲子,完全沉浸在對(duì)那段美妙時(shí)光的回憶中。

她如墜夢境地說了句:“是嗎?”

“怎么不是!”崔西里亞也說道。“太遺憾了,王子是出于客氣才沒忍心在眾目睽睽之下打發(fā)她走,可他也不想讓這個(gè)放肆的丫頭再出洋相,只得把她帶到一邊去……”

安泰西亞急不可耐地打斷了妹妹:“然后王子攆她走!可她就是不肯,于是王宮里的侍衛(wèi)只好把她從舞會(huì)上轟了出去。”

瑞拉在心里大笑不止,簡直快要忍不住了。她一眼瞥見特曼妮夫人正瞇起眼睛看著自己,連忙垂下眼望向地面,擔(dān)心她可能已經(jīng)泄露了自己的秘密。

“沒關(guān)系?!碧芈莘蛉私K于開口說道,“這場舞會(huì)不過是個(gè)幌子,王子早就和薩拉戈薩王國的賽琳娜公主訂下了婚約,公爵親口告訴我的。”她轉(zhuǎn)過身,正對(duì)著瑞拉說道:“他是不可以和他所愛的人結(jié)婚的?!?

瑞拉坐在四面透風(fēng)的閣樓里,呆呆地看著手上的水晶鞋,腦海里重復(fù)播放著舞會(huì)上的畫面:初遇基特,拉著他的手,在花園里蕩秋千。一幕幕回憶在她腦中閃過,每一幕都真實(shí)而甜蜜。可是她的繼母剛剛說了,王子不可以和所愛的人結(jié)婚。果真如此的話,她和基特是不會(huì)有將來的。不過,她倒也不確定他是否想和她有將來,也不確定他的將來里一定會(huì)有她。她搖搖頭,讓自己別再去想這些。

瑞拉嘆了口氣,起身走向閣樓最遠(yuǎn)的那個(gè)角落。她跪下來,抬起一塊松動(dòng)的地板,里面是她父親多年前送給她的漂亮的玩具蝴蝶。她輕輕地把水晶鞋放到蝴蝶旁邊,把地板放回原處??匆娊芸铡⒏鹚购退鼈兊暮⒆觽冋诓贿h(yuǎn)處看著她,瑞拉笑了。自從那次魔法變身后,她還是第一次見到它們。

“謝謝你們的幫助?!比鹄f,“那真像一場夢,比夢還美?!苯又χ奔绨颍骸安贿^一切都結(jié)束了?!?

杰奎琳和葛斯抬起后腿,試著模仿跳舞的樣子。瑞拉被朋友們努力的表演逗笑了。不過它們也提醒了她:那場舞會(huì)是真實(shí)的,不是夢;而基特在她身邊的那種感覺,也是真實(shí)的。

她想起了他的氣概、他的勇敢、他的善良;她也想起了在他懷中跳舞的感覺。她喜歡和他說話,也喜歡和他安靜地待在一起。世界上很少有人在任何時(shí)候都讓人覺得安心,而王子就是其中之一。

可現(xiàn)在,他已經(jīng)和另一個(gè)人立下婚約了。這樣重要的決定,他卻完全不能左右,想到這里瑞拉就覺得心痛,她真希望自己能做些什么幫幫他。

瑞拉又嘆了口氣,撫了撫身前的圍裙。至少,他們能永遠(yuǎn)保留舞會(huì)當(dāng)晚美好的回憶。

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