【E01】Prologue 序章：海怪出没请注意！

PROLOGUE 序章

“Listen, Tommaso—do we really need to fish near the island?”

Giacomo studied the old map spread out on a table in the cabin of the smallfishing boat. It was night, the sky dark as could be. As the boat made its wayout to sea, the tiny coastal town of Portorosso grew smaller and smaller.

“Eh, you worry too much,” Tommaso replied, steering them farther into thenight. He was much older than Giacomo, and much less prone to concern than theyounger man. Aside from the men’s voices and pop music playing from their portablegramophone, it was quiet on the water.

“听着，托马索，我们真的有必要去小岛附近钓鱼吗？”

贾科莫仔细研究了摊在小渔船船舱桌子上的旧地图。夜色已深，外面一片漆黑。随着渔船驶向大海，波托罗索海边小镇看上去越来越小。

“呃，你多虑了。”托马索应声说着，掌起船舵朝夜色深处驶去。他比贾科莫年纪大好多，但不像年轻的贾科莫一样总是担心这担心那。此时，海面上一片寂静，只有这两个男人的声音和便携式留声机里播放的流行音乐。

Giacomopeered closer at the illustrated map of the Ligurian Sea and western Italy. Henoted the ghastly drawings of sea monsters and other horrifying beasts. Therewas a fearsome kraken, with its deadly tentacles and cold, unfeeling eyes.

Hepointed at a spot on the map labeled ISOLA DEL MARE that showed a sea serpenttearing right through the hull of an old ship as a siren watched from anoutcropping of rocks.

“Idunno,” Giacomo said, uncertain. “What if the old stories are true?”

“Oh,come on, Giacomo!” Tommaso scoffed. “You really believe in sea monsters?”

贾科莫眯缝起眼睛凑近看了看利古里亚海和意大利西部地图。他注意到海怪和另一些恐怖的野兽图案。有一只海怪很是吓人，长着致命的触须，一双眼睛冷酷无情。

贾科莫指着地图上一个标着“马雷岛”的地方，那处画着一条海蛇正穿过一艘旧船的船体，有一个海妖正站在露出水面的岩石上凝神观望。

“我不知道，”贾科莫不确定地说，“如果那些古老的故事是真的呢？”

“哦，得了吧，贾科莫！”托马索嘲笑道，“你真的相信有海怪？”

Giacomoshrugged. “Too many strange things have been seen in these waters... ” Hisvoice trailed off.

Tommasowrinkled his brow. “They’re all just stories. Tall tales to keep us away from agreat fishing spot,” the older man insisted.

“But, Tommaso—”

“We’re fine. Non preoccupare, Giacomo,” Tommaso interrupted.

Thenthe older fisherman cut the engine and the boat began to drift, until at lastit came to a stop in the dark water. Ready to start fishing, Tommaso took thepop record off the gramophone and replaced it with an opera record.

贾科莫耸耸肩说：“这一带水域里的怪事太多了……”他的声音越来越弱。

托马索皱起眉头。“它们都不过是传说而已。那些荒诞的故事就是让我们远离一个钓鱼的好地方。”他坚持说。

“可是，托马索—”
“我们会没事的。不用担心，贾科莫。”托马索打断了他。

年长一点的渔夫托马索随即关掉了引擎，任渔船开始在漆黑的水中漂流，直至最终停了下来。流行唱片被他从留声机上取下来，换上了歌剧唱片，他准备开始钓鱼。

“Ah,that’s more like it,” Tommaso said. He loved listening to opera—the soaringarias, the intricate orchestrations. To him, that was the only kind of musicfor an evening on the water.

Theirboat approached a buoy bobbing in the water with a fishing net attached.

But they weren’t the only ones nearing the buoy.

Unnoticed by either man, something was moving through the water—silent andquick.
A fin broke the water’s surface, but only for a moment, and then it went backunder.

“啊哈，这才像样。”托马索说道。他喜欢听歌剧—高亢激昂的咏叹调、编曲复杂的管弦乐。对他来说，这才是在夜晚的海上陪伴他的独一无二的音乐。

他们的船靠近一个在水面上上下浮动的浮标，浮标与渔网缠在一起。

但接近浮标的并不只有他们。

他们两人都没有注意到，有个东西正在水里游来游去—悄然无声却移动迅速。

一片鱼鳍划出水面，但一转眼就没入了水中。

Tommaso continued listening to his beloved opera, unaware of the shadowy armthat reached from the water on the other side of their fishing boat, slicingthe rope from the buoy that hung from its hull. The arm took the buoy and disappearedbeneath the sea.

As the men focused on the net before them, the mysterious creature grabbed evenmore items from the boat: a wrench, a drinking glass—even a deck of playingcards.

Giacomothought he heard something, and turned his head. He could have sworn he saw asea monster in the shadows, peeking over the water’s surface! And it wasreaching for the gramophone!

“AHHHHH!”Giacomo shouted. “What is that?”

托马索继续听着他钟爱的歌剧，没有注意到渔船另一边的水中隐约有一条手臂伸过来，一把扯断挂在船边浮标上的绳索，然后抓过浮标，消失在海里。

就在船上的两人还在专注于他们面前的渔网的时候，这个神秘的怪物从船上拿走了更多的东西：一把扳手、一个饮水的玻璃杯，还有一副扑克牌。

贾科莫感觉到有什么东西在发出声响，忙转过头看。他确定他看见在阴暗处有一只海怪在水面上张望！它竟然在伸手够留声机！

“啊—”贾科莫喊道，“那是什么？”

“Oh!Per mille sardine,” Tommaso said dismissively.

Thenthe shadowy figure dove back into the water and swam right into the fishermen’sline. Whatever it was, it was becoming tangled.

The fishermen took notice and began to pull the line in.

“Tira, tira!” Tommaso urged.

The boat tipped to one side, and suddenly, a sea monster breached the surface,eyes glowing, as both Giacomo and Tommaso screamed.

Thefishing line was cut and the fishermen stumbled backward, knocking thegramophone off the boat and into the dark water.

“哦！千分率沙丁鱼。”托马索不假思索地说。

话音刚落，那个模糊的影子已跳回水中，径直游向了两位渔夫的钓鱼线。不管它是什么东西，它都被钓鱼线缠住了。

见此情景，船上的这两位渔夫连忙收拉鱼线。

“提拉，提拉！”托马索催促着。

钓鱼线被扯断，两位渔夫向后踉跄，船上的留声机被撞到了黑暗的海水中。

Shaking,Giacomo reached for a harpoon and threw it toward the water’s surface.

“Youmissed!” Tommaso said. “Let’s go—before it comes back for us!”

“Itold you they were real!” Giacomo insisted.

“Oh,what a monster,” Tommaso said, adrift in a sea of fear. “Horrifying... ”

Theysat in silence, watching the gramophone slowly sink into the sea.

船向着一边倾斜。突然，一只海怪钻出水面，眼睛闪闪发光，贾科莫和托马索都尖叫起来。

贾科莫哆哆嗦嗦地伸手拿起鱼叉，朝水面扔去。

“你没击中！”托马索说，“我们走吧—在它回头找我们之前！”

“我跟你说过真有海怪！”贾科莫坚持道。

“哦，真是可怕的海怪，”托马索心有余悸地说道，“太可怕了……”

他们一言不发地坐了下来，眼睁睁地看着留声机慢慢沉入大海。