外國恐怖鬼故事
在如今日益千篇一律的生活裡，人們的生活節奏越來越快，人們需要感官上的刺激，於是便有了鬼故事這種文學消遣。下面小編為大家帶來兩篇，歡迎大家閱讀!
：我的阿姨是條蛇
The old man longed for children. But he and his young wife had none, so he invited his nephew to live with them. This infuriated his wife, who had a vile temper. When her husband welcomed the young man with great affection, she turned pale with jealousy. Her eyes narrowed and her head flattened. And when she licked her lips, her nephew saw that her tongue was forked. From that day on, the young man spent as much time as possible with his uncle and tried to avoid his aunt. But she seemed to enjoy startling him, suddenly appearing when he least expected her.
老人很想能有個孩子，但是他和年輕的妻子膝下無兒無女，於是就叫了自己的侄子來一起住。老人妻子的脾氣很暴躁，但這樣卻把脾氣暴躁的妻子給惹怒了。當她丈夫熱情歡迎年輕人到來的時候，她卻嫉妒得連臉都白了。她的眼睛很小，腦袋又扁又平，當她***嘴脣的時候，侄子發現她的舌頭是分叉的。從他發現這些的那天開始，年輕人就儘可能多的陪著叔叔，同時儘量避免與嬸嬸碰面。但是嬸嬸似乎很喜歡嚇唬他，總是在年輕人最不想見她的時候突然出現在他面前。
One evening, the nephew returned to the house quite late. He lit a candle and started up the stairs. Halfway up, he tripped on what seemed to be a coiled rope. Imagine his horror when that rope uncoiled and slithered up the steps in front of him! Then he saw it glide across the hall and under the door of his uncle's bedroom.
一天晚上，年輕人很晚才回來。他點了根蠟燭拿著往樓上走去，上了一半的時候被一卷類似繩子的東西絆了一跤。當時繩子自己展開並且就從他眼皮底下上樓去了，見到這一切他簡直嚇壞了。隨後就見那股繩子穿過大廳從門底下鑽進了叔叔的臥室。
"Wake up! Wake up" the young man shouted, and he knocked on the door until his knuckles hurt. But when his sleepy uncle finally let him in the bedroom, there was no snake in sight.
“快醒醒!快醒醒!”年輕人大聲喊著，同時用力敲著叔叔的房門，直到把手都敲疼了。但是過了很久，那他睡眼惺忪的叔叔才讓他進去，而這時蛇已經不見了。
His aunt seemed to be sleeping, so the young man whispered in his uncle's ear. "I saw a snake." But his uncle was too groggy to respond, and he slid back under the covers. The young man searched the room quietly, looking into drawers and cupboards and corners. He peered under the bed and behind chairs. He was beginning to think he was going mad when suddenly his aunt sat up in bed, narrowed her eyes, and gave him an evil look that made his flesh creep.
見嬸嬸像是睡著了，年青人就小聲在叔叔耳邊說：“我看見一條蛇。”但他叔叔此時睡得迷迷糊糊的根本反應不過來，開了門以後就回到床上鑽進被子裡去了。年青人悄悄地開始在房間裡面找，抽屜裡，碗櫥裡，牆角處，連床底下和椅子底下都看了。突然嬸嬸在床上坐起來，眯著眼睛惡狠狠的瞪著他，他被看得汗毛都豎了起來，也覺得自己有點魯莽了。
"I'm sorry to bother you," he cried, racing to his bedroom and firmly shutting the door.
“很抱歉打擾您睡覺了!”他大叫著，飛快地跑回自己的房間並使勁關上了房門。
When he awoke the next morning, he noticed that the bottom of his bedroom door was arched up in the center, leaving just enough space for a snake to slither through. He bolted out of bed trembling. When he went downstairs, he was shocked to see that every door in the house had a snake-sized arch beneath it.
第二天早上他醒來的時候，發現房門下面正中央有個弧形的小缺口，剛好夠一條蛇溜進來。他渾身哆嗦著下了床，走下樓來以後發現每間屋子的房門下方都有這麼一個小洞，他簡直驚呆了。
His aunt was sitting at the table, eating. "Your uncle left for the day," she said, licking her lips with her forked tongue. The young man was too terrified to speak, but his silence only made matters worse.
嬸嬸正坐在餐桌前吃早飯，“你叔叔今天出去了，”她說道，同時用自己分叉的舌頭***嘴脣。他被嚇得連話都說不出來了，然而，他不說話，事情反而更糟糕。
"I don't like the way you treat me," she said and grabbed his arm. Then she pressed her fingernails so deeply into his skin that he felt as if he were being bitten. He rushed outdoors and saw his arm was swelling. His hand and fingers were beginning to throb.
“我不喜歡你那樣對待我,”她一邊說著一邊抓住他的胳膊，然後指甲深深的摳進面板裡去，年輕人覺得自己像是被咬了一樣。他趕忙跑出去，見到胳膊已經腫了起來，手掌和手指也隱隱作痛。
He knew he must seek help, so he ran into the forest to find the wise old hermit who lived there. The old man examined him carefully and handed him some leaves. "These are best for snakebite," he said "Bind them around your arm and keep them wet."
他知道自己必須要找人幫忙，於是跑進森林去了，那有位聰明的老隱士。老人仔細檢查了他的傷口然後給他幾片樹葉。“這是治蛇咬傷最好的藥了，”他說，“包紮在胳膊上並且保持溼潤。”
"But I wasn't bitten by a snake," said the young man. "Those marks were made by my aunt's fingernails."
“但是我並不是被蛇咬傷的啊，”他說道，“傷口是被我嬸嬸用指甲摳的。”
The old hermit shook his head in despair. "The touch of a snake-woman is even worse," he said, "but try these leaves. They should help"
老人絕望的搖搖頭，“如果是蛇女那就更糟糕了，但是也先試試這些葉子吧，會有幫助的。”
The young man was appalled. "Is my aunt really a snake- woman?" he asked.
年輕人覺得不寒而慄，“我嬸嬸真是個蛇女?”他問道。
"If you want to find out," the hermit replied, "stay awake tonight, and if a snake enters you room, cut off the tip of its tail."
“如果你想知道答案，”老隱士說，“今晚別睡覺，要是有條蛇進了你的房間，把它的尾巴尖割下來。”
The young man wasn't sure how this would help, but he thanked the hermit for his advice and returned to his uncle's house. By afternoon, he was happy to see that the wet leaves had reduced the swelling.
他並不知道這些會有什麼用，但還是謝過了老人給他的建議，隨後回到了叔叔家。到了下午那樹葉起作用了，傷口腫得已經沒有那麼利害了，年青人很高興。
He watched his aunt closely that evening, but he didn't notice anything strange until she tasted her soup. She said it needed more "ssssseasoning" and lingered on the "s" as if she were hissing. Her nephew felt gooseflesh rise from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He excused himself from the table and went up to his bedroom, but not to sleep.
晚上他仔細打量嬸嬸，但是並沒發現什麼異常。直到她喝湯的時候才有點不對勁，她說湯有點淡並且把“嘶”的音節拉得很長，就好像是蛇嘶嘶叫著的聲音。聽到這個聲音，年輕人就覺得雞皮疙瘩從腳底一直長到了頭頂，於是找個藉口離開飯桌回屋去了，但是並沒有睡覺。
He planned to watch for the snake all night long.
他打算在夜裡等著那條蛇。
There was just enough moonlight for him to see the bottom of his door, so he blew out his candle and unsheathed his sword. Then he stood waiting.
月光剛好能讓他看清房門底下的地方，於是他吹滅了蠟燭，拔出劍來站在那等著。
He watched for hours wondering what the snake might do. What if it slithered through the window instead, crept up behind him, and struck him with its venomous fangs? What if it slithered to the top of the wardrobe and dropped down from above? He was thinking of fleeing for his life, when he finally saw the snake glide under the door-first its head, then its body, then its tail.
一連幾個小時他都盯著那，腦袋裡想著那條蛇可能會做些什麼。如果它從窗戶進來，在身後爬到自己身上用毒牙攻擊自己那該怎麼辦呢?或者，那條蛇要是先爬到衣櫃上然後再從上面下來呢?他正琢磨著是不是要先逃命，這時終於看見了蛇從房門下面悄悄的爬進來，先是腦袋，然後是身子，最後是尾巴。
Slash! He swung the sword so quickly that the snake had no warning. And the tip of its tail began writhing, all by itself, there on the floor. The snake raised its head as if to strike, but then it hissed viciously and slithered out of the room. And when he looked down the hall, he saw it disappear under his uncle's door.
咔嚓!他迅速揮舞著手中的劍，蛇還沒有警覺到的時候尾巴尖就被削斷了，掉到地上以後還在扭動著。它抬起頭，似乎是要展開攻擊，但只是惡狠狠的嘶嘶叫了幾聲然後就爬出去了。他向樓下的客廳看去，只見蛇消失在了叔叔臥室的房門下。
The young man couldn't stand looking at that quivering tail, so he scooped it up with his sword and flung it in a drawer. He hardly slept all that night, and when he did snakes chased him through his dreams.
看著那截還在扭動的尾巴，年青人心裡直發毛，於是就用劍把尾巴挑了起來，甩到抽屜裡去了。那晚上，他基本上沒怎麼睡，因為，只要他一睡著，他就會夢見那條蛇在追他。
The next morning, he opened the drawer a crack to look at the snake's tail and was amazed to see that it had turned into human toes.
第二天早晨，當他把抽屜拉開一條縫去看那段尾巴，然而驚奇的發現尾巴變成了人的腳趾。
He raced back to the forest to tell the hermit what had happened. "And now my aunt is staying in bed, but do you know what my aunt said? She told him she hurt her foot while sleepwalking!"
他趕忙跑回森林與老隱士講了事情的經過，“嬸嬸正在床上休息，但是您知道她是怎麼和我叔叔說的嗎?她說自己是在夢遊的時候把腳弄傷的。”
"Either she will fear you now," said the old man. "Or she will try to get rid of you. Listen carefully. If you think you are in danger, you must search her bedroom for her snakeskin, and when you find it, burn it."
“要麼她會怕了你，”老人說道，“要麼她就會想辦法徹底除掉你。仔細聽著，如果你覺得自己有危險了，那就必須去她的房間找到蛇皮然後燒掉。”
The young man thanked the hermit, but he was concerned. What would happen if he burned the snakeskin? He decided to give his aunt one last chance.
年輕人謝過了老隱士，但是他也在琢磨著，燒了蛇皮以後會怎麼樣呢?他決定還是再給嬸嬸最後一個機會。
While she was recovering, she caused no trouble, but as soon as her wound healed, she resumed her nightly slithering about the house.
嬸嬸養傷期間什麼異常情況都沒有了，但是傷口剛剛痊癒以後她就繼續和以前一樣每晚在房子裡面到處遊走。
Sometimes, when the young man was lying in bed, he saw the snake slip in and out of his empty boots or up the sleeve of a coat he had worn. One dreadful night, he felt the snake wiggling under his pillow, and he jumped out of bed in a cold sweat.
有的時候，年輕人正躺在床上，就看見蛇爬進他的靴子裡面然後又爬出來，或者爬到他的大衣袖子上。在一個可怕的夜晚, 他感覺到蛇在枕頭下面蠕動著，嚇得他出了一身冷汗，馬上跳下床。
His dreams grew worse. He had a terrifying nightmare in which his aunt was trying to choke him. He awoke gasping for breath and realized that something was coiled tightly around his neck.
他的噩夢越來越嚇人。有一天晚上，他甚至夢見嬸嬸想要勒死他，真是太可怕了。他馬上就驚醒了，大口喘著氣，這時意識到有東西緊緊地繞在脖子上。
It was the snake.
正是那條蛇。
：死亡照片
It was vacationing on the Greek island of Corfu for about a month in August of 1992. I rent a motorcycle and head into the interior of the island in search of isolated trails and sleepy villages. I rode for hours along dirt trails flanked by bright yellow wildflowers, over steep and rugged hills, and past wide fields where farmers struggled to grow anything that would take root in the barren, rocky soil. I had to keep a close watch on the gas tank because there were no gas stations anywhere except at the village where I had rented the motorcycle. At half a tank, I had no choice but to turn back.
1992年8月，我去希臘的科孚島度了一個月假。我在那租了輛摩托車，騎著進了島的深處，探索那些與世隔絕很久的遺蹟和沉睡的小村莊。我在爛泥路上一騎就是幾個小時，翻過一座座陡峭的小山，穿過了一大片貧瘠的沙土地，可以看得出來，農民們費盡了心思把所有可能在這種地上紮根的東西都種過了。我必須得時刻留神油表，因為除了在我租摩托車的村子以外是沒有加油站的。一旦用完了半箱油，我就不得不返回了。
The needle had just hit halfway and I was turning around to head back when I noticed an old cemetery in the distance, far away from any village or other sign of habitation. I decided to stretch my legs before beginning the long trip home. I rode to the gate, killed the engine and laid the bike down. As I passed through the creaky, wrought iron gate, I couldn't help but notice how silent the place was. I had to whistle to reassure myself that I hadn't gone deaf. There were only a few hours of daylight left and a strong wind was blowing, stirring the overgrown grass which partially obscured the scattered tombstones.
隨後，指標指向了油表的中央，我掉頭正準備回去，這時候發現遠處有座古墓，距離這些村子和民居有很遠的一段距離。我決定在往回趕之前走一走，放鬆一下我的雙條腿，於是我騎車到了墓室的大門口，關上引擎然後把車倒放在地上。我走過那扇曾經是很精緻但是現在已經搖搖欲墜的大鐵門，裡面竟然安靜得連一點聲音都沒有，以至於我不得不吹了個口哨來提醒自己並沒變成了聾子。再有一兩個小時太陽就要下山了，一股勁風颳來，吹得叢生的已經蔓延到了墓碑上的雜草來回搖搖晃晃的。
In Greece, people aren't always buried. The bodies of the deceased are usually laid to rest inside marble tombs above ground with lids that can be easily lifted or slid aside. This tugged at my heart more than anything else - to see the faces of the people buried there as they were in life; their warm smiles and the kindness in their eyes. I spent a long time wandering around, kneeling in the grass next to the graves, talking to the people lying there and wondering how their lives had been.
在希臘，並不是所有死去的人都會被埋葬的。有時候放著屍體的石棺就放在地面上，人們可以很輕易的就把蓋子抬起來或者推到一邊去。以前還從沒有其他任何事情能讓我如此的震撼——看著這些去世的人的臉龐，還展現著熱情的笑容和慈祥的眼神，就和他們在生活中所表現出來的一樣。我徘徊了良久，在墳墓旁邊的草叢裡跪下來，與長埋地下的人們交談，想知道他們當初的生活狀況。
When I walked to the rear edge of the cemetery, an unusual sight caught my eye - a tomb that was twice as large as any of the others. When I looked inside the cabinet, I found out why. There was a photograph of a young couple with their arms around each other, laughing. The date of their deaths, etched in the stone, were identical. Apparently, they were married and had died together in some kind of an accident. They had been laid in each other's arms inside the tomb. I can't relate all the feelings I had while looking at that picture of them together, bursting with youthful energy, their eager smiles full of excitement and anticipation of their lives together.
我信步走到古墓的最後方，不尋常的一幕場景映入眼簾——有一座墳的大小是其它墳的兩倍那麼大。我向放照片的相框裡看去，知道了原因。那是一對年輕夫婦的照片，他們挎著胳膊開懷大笑。石碑上刻著他們去世的時間，是相同的，顯然兩個人是在一次事故里雙雙去世的。此刻他們一定是互相依偎著躺在地下的，看著這張洋溢著年輕人青春活力的照片，我百感交集，他們熱情的笑容裡面，充滿了幸福與對未來生活的展望。
A line from a poem by Andrew Marvell crossed my mind -"The grave is a fine and private place but none, I think, do there embrace."I hoped it wasn't true.
安德魯.馬維爾的一句詩浮現在我的腦海裡，“墳墓是個隱密的好地方，但沒人會在那裡擁抱吧，我想。”但願這不是真的。
A white marble cross that marked their graves had been broken off at the base, perhaps by vandals or a lightning bolt, and had fallen on the ground at the head of the tomb. Small, orange wildflowers were growing up around it. This might not have been so unusual except for the fact that they were the only flowers growing anywhere in the cemetery. The contrast of these symbols of life and springtime next to a symbol of death was so striking, I decided to take a photograph of it.
墳墓上立著的白色大理石十字架從底部斷開了，掉到了前面的地上，可能是盜墓人破壞得吧，要麼就是被閃電擊到了。橘黃色的小花從四周長出來，野花生長在墓地的任何地方，本都不是希奇的***補：但問題是，整個墓地，只有這個地方長著花***。在這裡生命與春天萬物復甦的氣息與死亡的象徵形成了強烈的對比，我決定要拍張照片，永遠留住這幅畫面。
I took my camera out of my backpack and started looking for a good angle for the photograph but couldn't find one. I decided that the best angle would be from the top of the tomb looking straight down at the cross, but I felt that standing on it would be disrespectful so I took a few shots from other angles. Unsatisfied, I said to the young couple buried there, "Excuse me. I don't mean any disrespect but I'd just like to stand on your tomb for a second to take a picture of your flowers. I hope you don't mind."
我從揹包裡拿出照相機，想要找一個合適的角度拍照但是怎麼也選不好。我最後發現最好的角度應該是從墳墓上立著十字架的位置朝下照，但是我覺得站到上面去可能會褻瀆亡靈，因此只是從其它的角度拍了幾張。但是這些我都不大滿意，於是我就對下面的年輕夫婦說，“請原諒，我沒有任何冒犯的意思，我只是到你們的墳墓上面幾秒鐘去給你們的花兒拍張照片。希望你們不會介意。”
Hoping I had won their approval, I stood on the lid and took the photo from the angle I wanted. I can't recall feeling any cold sensations or chills other than the ones I was already riddled with due to my overactive imagination. I stepped down from the tomb and said thank you. Before I left, I picked up their cross and put it back in place on their tomb. The break was clean so it fit like a puzzle piece.
但願我是得到了他們的同意，我站了上去從恰當的角度拍了照片。其實由於我那過分活躍的想象力，我的大腦裡面剛才一直充斥著恐懼與不安，但是此刻我並沒有因為又踩踏了他們的墳墓而感到膽戰心驚。我從上面走下來，對他們說了謝謝。離開之前，我撿起他們的十字架重新放回去，斷裂的痕跡一目瞭然，因此看上去就像是個拼圖一樣。
The sun was setting quickly and I was worried about finding my way back in the dark, so I decided to head home. I walked through the creaky, old gate again and kick-started the motorcycle. After being immersed in such profound silence for so long, the noise of the engine seemed louder than ever.
太陽已經轉到了西邊，馬上就要落下去了，我恐怕天黑後找不到路所以決定趕緊回去。我又一次走過那扇古老的晃晃悠悠的大門，發動了摩托車。在那個安靜至極的地方呆了這麼長時間以後，馬達的聲音真有點震耳欲聾。