《歌德宾馆的夜与雾》 Evening Ember at the Goethe Hotel

某位以写爱情故事闻名的编剧，以歌德宾馆的历史为原型写下的小说，可惜现存的只有残本。 A novel written by a playwright famous for their romance stories. It is loosely based on the history of the Goethe Hotel, but only parts of it survived.

作者：艾米

Author: Amy

【前言】

Foreword

感谢歌德宾馆的老歌德提供的故事原型，还有你热腾腾的茶，伴我度过了灵感枯竭的夜。

Thank you, Old Goethe from the Goethe Hotel, for providing the origin of this story. Your steaming hot tea had accompanied me through nights when inspiration ran dry.

谨以此书献给老歌德、托尼和凯瑞。

For Old Goethe, Tony, and Kerry.

「我点燃了宾馆里所有的壁炉，第二天，整座城市都起了雾。」

"I lit up all the fireplaces in the hotel. On the next day, the entire city was covered in fog."

【一】

One

歌德走的那天是夏夜，繁星如水，天上却飘着雪。有人告诉莱斯丽，他可能还有未了的心愿。她知道是什么，但她做不到。

Goethe left on a summer night. The stars glittered like water, but snow fell from the sky. He had told Lesley that he might still have unfulfilled wishes. She knew what it was, but she couldn't manage it.

莱斯丽记得她第一次见到歌德，是在歌德宾馆。衣着得体的绅士眼带笑意看着自己，她在他焦糖色的眼眸中清晰地看见了自己的倒影。但自己在逃亡的路上风尘仆仆的，实在是见不得人。莱斯丽慌乱地移开视线，但柜台前那位五官深邃的绅士却并不嫌弃，反而为她倒上了一杯热茶。

Lesley remembered that the first time she saw Goethe was at the Goethe Hotel. The well-dressed gentleman looked at her with a smile, and she saw her own reflection clearly in the caramel depths of his eyes. However, she was disheveled from her escape and was not presentable. Lesley hurriedly shifted her eyes away but the gentleman with the chiseled features did not despise her, instead offering her a cup of hot tea.

「这位美丽的女士，有什么可以帮到你？」那是歌德对莱斯丽说的第一句话。

"Beautiful lady, how can I be of assistance?" That was the first sentence Goethe said to Lesley.

【二】

Two

歌德宾馆果然和传言中的一样，是这个纷乱世界中的庇护所。在从矿场一路逃过来的路上，瘸了一条腿的好心老爷爷告诉莱斯丽，「歌德宾馆是道上唯一的庇护所，因为这里的规矩是与其他地方格外不一样的。」

Goethe Hotel was indeed as the rumors said, a shelter in this world full of strife. A kind older man with a bad leg had told Lesley as she escaped here from the mines: "Goethe Hotel is the only shelter in the entire road, because the rules here are a lot more different from everywhere else."

事实也的确如此，宾馆附近的所有人都知道，歌德老板虽然看起来为人和气，但他年轻的时候却曾名震一时。在宾馆里不问出身高低贵贱，任谁都要给老板几分薄面，绝不能在宾馆里惹事。这条规则虽然没有被写出来挂在宾馆墙壁上，但是十几年来它已经成为这座边陲小镇里无人不从的铁律了。

And that was indeed true. Everyone in the hotel knows that while Mr Goethe appears kind, he was very famous when he was young. No matter who you are, everyone has to respect the boss and do not cause a fight in the hotel. Even though this was not a rule written out and displayed on the hotel walls, it was a hard rule obeyed by all in this border town for the past decade or so.

「歌德先生，是个仗义人。」懂行的人对宾馆的主人赞不绝口。看上去总是很和气的歌德先生经营着这座豪华宾馆，谁也不知道他的资金是从何而来。但大家都知道，他对真正有需要的住客收费其实极其低廉，多年来，他就这样默默庇护着那些无路可逃的可怜人。

"Mr Goethe is an honorable man." People in the know found it hard to stop praising the owner of the hotel. Mr Goethe, the manager of this luxury hotel, always seemed very kind. Nobody knew where his funds came from, but everyone knew he actually charged very little with guests who are in need. For years, he had silently sheltered the poor with nowhere to go.

——比如莱斯丽。

People like Lesley.

【三】

Three

莱斯丽本来在某个以矿业闻名的地方工作，那附近到处都是矿场，谁也不知道到底还有多少条矿脉没被人发现。那里总是流传着某某人发现矿脉然后一夜暴富的传言，莱斯丽曾听自己打工时的工友说过，这家矿场的老板当年就是这么一位幸运儿。依靠大大小小的矿场的支撑，城市里有不少工作机会，莱斯丽在这里打了几年工，倒也攒了一小笔钱。她托人将这笔积蓄带给家里，但在连日等待后，迎接她的却是母亲病逝的噩耗。

Lesley was originally working at a place famous for its mining industry. There were mines everywhere, and nobody knew just how many veins were still undiscovered. There were always rumors about someone discovering a vein and becoming rich overnight. Lesley had heard her work colleagues say that the owner of their mine was one such lucky soul. Thanks to the support of the various mines, the city also offered plenty of job opportunities. Lesley worked there for a few years and managed to save up some money. She sent the money home, only to receive the terrible news of her mother's death from illness a few days later.

莱斯丽想不明白，母亲为什么会突然病倒。但莱斯丽更想不明白的是，为什么自己只是想回一趟家，路上却总是被面相凶狠的人一路追打。很奇怪，自幼生长的家，庇护着她的家，给她带来无数温暖的家，倏忽之间却成了某种禁地，莱斯丽想去母亲的坟前献上她最爱的花束，而现在，却连回家都做不到。

Lesley couldn't understand how her mother could suddenly become so ill. She was even more confused with how she was hunted down by a tough-looking thug when she was heading home. It was so strange. The home she grew up in, the home that sheltered her, the home that gave her so many memories — it was suddenly a forbidden place. Lesley had wanted to offer a bouquet of flowers loved by her mother at her grave, but now she couldn't even get home.

除了风雪，没有人迎接她回家。

The only thing that welcomed her home was the blizzard.

*后续书页似乎是被人用力撕扯而去，仅存的纸页上留着某个人愤怒的书评：

*The following pages seem to have been forcibly torn off. The remaining paper scraps contained some angry comments:

「没有天赋就不要学人家写东西！」

"Don't try to copy others' writing if you haven't got the talent!"

「净写点酸不拉几的东西，不会真有人看吧？」

"You're writing all sorts of pitiful stuff. You think anyone's gonna read it?"