我继续写道:“Haha, just kidding. I'm your daddy.”(哈哈,开个玩笑,其实我是你爹)
很快,所有字迹都消失了,纸面中央缓缓浮现出一串省略号。
见它似乎没有更多反应,加上我贩剑也犯够了,我在省略号下写道:“Sorry, I can't help messing around. What is your name?”(不好意思,忍不住贩剑。你叫什么)
半晌,它才很不情愿地回答道:“My name is Tom.”(我叫汤姆)
我写道:“Hello, Tom! Nice to meet you!”(你好!汤姆!很高兴认识你!)
它很含蓄地回答:“Nice to meet you too.”(也很高兴认识你)
顿了顿,可能觉得我不是无药可救,汤姆继续补充道:“May I ask your name?”(可以问一下你的名字吗?)
我当即决定自己贩剑没有够,写道:“Of course! My name is Jerry!”(当然了!我叫杰瑞!)
很可惜,汤姆没有懂我的梗,它真的以为我叫杰瑞,纸面上浮现出他欢快的字迹:“Okay, Jerry. How did you come by this notebook?”(好的,杰瑞。你是怎么拿到这本笔记本的呢?)
“It's a long story.”我写道。(说来话长)
汤姆没有回复,可能还在等我讲这个长长的故事。
我可不想用英语给你写故事。
我蘸了蘸墨水,用中文写道:“你会说中文吗?”
汤姆过了半天才回道:“What is that you wrote?”(你写的是什么?)
所以这是纯英文的吗?
我想了想,还是决定先搞清楚这是什么东西。
“What are you?”我写道。(你是什么?)
“I was a student at Hogwarts. I got this notebook when I was in fifth grade, and I recorded myself in it with something more lasting than ink.”(我是霍格沃兹的一名学生,我在五年级的时候得到了这本笔记本。我在这里用比墨水更加持久的东西记录下了我自己。)
迫于词汇量的贫乏,我写了一句:“Cool!”(酷!)
想了想,我又补充道:“I'm also a student at Hogwarts. I'm in the third grade.”(我也是霍格沃兹的学生,我三年级。)
我很顺手地继续写道:“Have you taken Professor Binns' Magic History? Did you record his third final exam?”(你上过宾斯教授的魔法史不,有记录他的期末考试吗?)
字迹没有显示多久就消失了,一会儿,汤姆工整的笔迹出现了:“Sorry, I didn't record anything about exams."(报意思,我不记录考试。)
我顿时失去了和他聊天的热情。
太久没有得到回应,页面上浮现出了汤姆的话:“Hey, are you still there?”(嘿,你还在吗?)
我写道:“Yes. What's up?”(是的,咋啦)
“I haven't talked to people for fifty years. What's Hogwarts like now? Who's the headmaster?”(我五十年没和人说过话了。现在学校是什么样?谁是现在的校长?)
我顿时感觉十分不爽——这家伙没有回答我的问题,还反过来问我一堆问题。
“I don't know what's school like fifty years ago, so I can't tell any difference, but the headmaster now is D”(我不知道学校五十年前是什么样,所以我也说不出有啥变化,不过现在的校长是邓)