It was green.
它是绿色的。
Marvin stared up at it. He didn’t know what it was. He was lying on his back, in a sleeping bag, in Nick Tuffle’s backyard.
马文仰头看着它。他不知道那是什么。他仰面躺着，在睡袋里，在尼克·塔弗家的后院。
It glowed as it moved across the night sky.
它移动着穿过夜空，发着光。
Nick and Stuart were in sleeping bags beside him. They were asleep.
尼克和斯图尔特躺在他旁边的睡袋里。他们睡着了。
Today was Nick’s birthday. Or maybe that was yesterday. Marvin didn’t know if it was after midnight yet.
今天是尼克的生日。也许那是昨天了。马文不知道现在过没过午夜。
Seven kids had come to Nick’s party, although only Stuart and Marvin got to sleep over.
有七个孩子来参加尼克的派对，不过只有斯图尔特和马文留下来过夜。
But Marvin couldn’t sleep. He had eaten too much cake. He had drunk too much punch. The ground was too hard.
但马文睡不着。他蛋糕吃太多，果汁喝太多。地面太硬。
He heard a low humming noise. The glowing green thing hovered directly above him. He felt the ground shake beneath him.
他听见一阵低沉的嗡嗡声。那个发光的绿色东西正悬在他头顶。他感觉到身下的地面在抖。
He wondered if he was dreaming. It had to be a dream. Maybe he really had fallen asleep and didn’t know it.
他怀疑自己在做梦。那一定是个梦。也许他真的已经睡着了，自己不知道。
There was a bright flash, then the thing zoomed away. Marvin could no longer see it, hear it, or feel it.
一道亮光闪过，那东西呼啸着飞走了。马文再也看不见它、听不见它、感觉不到它了。
Marvin couldn’t fall asleep after that. He stayed up all night, staring at the sky.
那之后马文就睡不着了。他整夜没睡，一直盯着天空。
At least, he thought he stayed up all night. In the morning, he woke up, so he must have fallen asleep sometime. Maybe he was really asleep the whole time.
至少他是这么以为的。早上他醒来，所以他一定什么时候睡着过。也许他其实一直都睡着。
He remembered that Nick’s birthday cake was covered with green icing.
他想起尼克的生日蛋糕上盖着一层绿色的糖霜。
He must have been dreaming, he decided. Now that he thought about it, the green thing had looked like a flying birthday cake. The candles made it glow …
他一定是做梦了，他下了结论。现在回想起来，那个绿色的东西看起来就像一个会飞的生日蛋糕。蜡烛让它发光……