笔友马杰富（Jeff Mahoney), 在Tellwell上发表了他的第一部科幻小说《星球》（The Planet) 之后，正在创作第二部小说The Wolf Advocate。为了保持创作的活力和锐气，他还尝试创作短篇小说。
下面请读者们欣赏马杰富短篇小说《莫莉的鬼屋》的中间部分。为了方便非英语学习者阅读，我附上中文译文。英文好的读者可以跳过中文部分，直接阅读英文原文。
Please enjoy this short story that I wrote. I enjoy writing in various genres, in order to stay creative and sharp. I hope you dig it!!
Molly’s House
---- by Jeff Mahoney 2018
"I barely knew her at all, but I do remember her as a child. I remember being slightly afraid of her and this house." The man listened, as the sound of gravel crunched beneath their feet. "Well, I can assure you that she really loved you. She spoke of you all of the time and even though I pressed her to donate her estate to charities and such, she was determined to leave everything to you. You may not fully understand the depth of the inheritance. The home and these gardens are not everything that you have inherited. She left you 3.6 million dollars and a tiny antique metal box, that has not been opened in years. I have pressed her many times to tell what was inside this box, but she never would. She claimed that something very special lay within this box and only you could be trusted with the contents of it."
我几乎根本不认识她，但是在我孩提时代的记忆里的确有她。我记得，我那个时候有点怕她，也不敢进她的那座别墅。那个人听着我说话，脚下的砾石被踩得吱嘎吱嘎作响。“哦，我敢向你保证，她真的很爱你。她经常提到你，即使在我催促她将房产捐献给慈善机构的时候，她仍然下定决心，要将所有家业留给你。你也许不能完全理解你姨妈让你继承这份遗产的良苦用心。这幢别墅和这些花园还不是你已经继承的全部财富。她还给你留了三百六十万加元的现金和一个小小的古董金属盒，这个古董金属盒好多年都没有打开过。我好几次催促她讲出来，盒子里面是什么，但是她总是三缄其口。她宣称，盒子里藏有很特别的东西，只有你才是值得信赖的人，可以查看盒子里装着什么。“
The man paused for a moment and presented the small ornate box to Molly and along with it, an old iron key. The box was ordained with angels on the side and Molly admired the beauty of the object in her hands。She understood that this was indeed an antique. "They say it was made in the early 1700's by a man in Italy that was somehow connected to your Family tree. He was an estate owner, just as your ancestors, but there is not much known or understood about him. It is really quite fascinating. Your Aunt has left a set of instructions of when she would like you to open this box and how to proceed with the contents of it. It is part of the terms of accepting this inheritance."
那个人稍作停顿，随即将那个带有装饰的小盒和一把旧的铁钥匙递给莫莉。盒子的侧面装饰着几位天使，莫莉欣赏着她手上这个精美的小物件。她明白，这确实是古董。“他们说，这个盒子是一个意大利人在十八世纪早期制作的，这位意大利工匠跟你的家族有些联系。像你的祖先一样，他也曾是这幢别墅的拥有者，但是，人们对这个意大利人的底细知之甚少。这一切的确非常有趣。你姨妈留给你开盒的指导说明，告诉你该如何打开，如何处理盒中的物品，这是继承遗产条款的一个部分。
Molly smiled, as she loved a mystery and kindly nodded her head in approval. Arriving at the front doors of the mansion, she gasped at the sheer size and beauty of this home. Pushing the door open, the man allowed Molly to enter the foyer and he followed in. Standing there, she gazed up at the large oaken staircase that climbed up to the first landing. Everything in the home was covered in sheets and the smell was musty, as the place needed a good airing. "Let us proceed to the kitchen and go over the paper-work. I am sure you are excited to get all of this out of the way, so that you can enjoy your new life." A surge of excitement filled her chest as they meandered through the home to the large kitchen in the rear quarters of the home. Sitting at the table, she placed the small box and key upon the wooden table and the man presented some official looking documents. "All you need to do is sign all of these and I will be out of your hair. It is all pretty straight-forward, but you can take the time to read through everything if you wish first."
莫莉笑了笑，友善地点头表示赞同，因为她本人倒喜欢带点神秘的事情。来到别墅的前门，她发现，这幢别墅竟然如此之大，如此之美，完全出乎她的预料之外，她倒吸了一口气。推开门，那人让莫莉走进前厅, 他自己也跟着走了进来。站在前厅，莫莉向上盯着巨大的橡树楼梯瞧了瞧，然后，迎着楼梯爬上了第一级平台。房间的所有物件都用床单罩着，里面可以闻到一股霉味，房间需要好好地通风。“让我们继续吧，去看一看厨房，然后办理文件手续。我确信，等你办完所有手续，你会很兴奋，因为从此以后，你可以享受你的新生活了。” 当他们两人从房间漫步走进后面宽敞的厨房的时候，一股兴奋的暖流涌动而升，充满了莫莉的胸腔。莫莉在桌旁坐了下来，她将小盒和钥匙放在木桌上。那人将官方正式文件模样的材料呈给她看。“你所要做的只需在这些文件上签字，我会为你办理好后面的手续。这些手续都很直截了当，但是，如果你愿意，可以花时间先读完这些文件。”
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