英語靈異故事：房頂工人

I worked in the basement of a Caltech campus building that had been periodically haunted by the specter of the upper half of a roofer who had fallen from the six story roof twenty years earlier.

On the day of the 6.0 Whittier earthquakes of 1987 I arrived at the building an hour earlier than usual and took the elevator to the top floor where the snack bar was located. After buying a cup of coffee from the dispenser I strolled out of the snack room onto the penthouse balcony to gaze over the lovely campus. Just as I was about to take a sip of coffee the whole building jolted upwards and nearly knocked me off balance. Thinking the short earthquake could be a precursor to an even bigger earthquake, I turned to find my way to the stairwell. However, as I turned I was slammed to the tarmac so violently and swiftly that I had no time to break my fall with my hands.

我在加利福尼亞理工大學校內的一個地下室裏工作。20年前，有個蓋屋頂的工人從這棟六層樓的房頂摔了下去，從此，這樓就鬧鬼，那個工人的上半身總在這樓裏遊蕩。

1987年惠蒂爾發生6級地震的那天，我比平常早到了一個小時。坐着電梯到了頂樓的快餐店，從自動售貨機買了一杯咖啡後，我踱出小吃店，走到有遮陽雨篷的陽臺邊，欣賞這可愛的校園景色。正當我要嘬口咖啡時，突然整個建築向上晃動起來，我差點失去平衡。我想這個輕微的地震之後肯定還會有場劇烈的地震發生，便轉身想下樓去。但我一轉過身，我就被狠狠地甩倒在停機坪上，速度之快讓我都沒時間用手撐着不至於跌倒。

As I struggled to crawl towards the stairwell I felt a sharp jabbing pain of my left ankle. I descended the stairs to the lobby and observed huge cracks in the corners and stumbled over chucks of plaster that had fallen onto the stairs. As I stumbled and limped through the lobby I encountered marble wall panels that had fallen and broken.

我掙扎着向電梯間爬去，忽然左腳踝傳來一陣劇烈的刺痛。我下樓來到大廳，聽到角落裏傳出很大的牆壁裂縫的聲音，我一瘸一拐得跨過樓梯上散落的一堆堆的石灰，穿過大廳，中途看見大理石的牆壁嵌板也掉下來,摔碎了。

A few employees were huddled right outside of the building afraid to enter. When they saw me emerge from the building they called security and soon I was taken to the campus clinic. By the time I arrived I my left ankle was swollen and discolored and I could not put any weight on it. As I described the accident to the attending physician I could not account for the way I was injured since I was out in the open and completely removed from any objects.

一些員工聚在樓外不敢進去。看到我出來，他們叫了保安，接着我便被送到了學校診所。到診所的時候，我的左腳踝已經水腫，都變色了，完全不能支撐身體重量。我向主治醫師描述事故經過的時候，沒辦法說清我受傷的原因，因爲我是站在開闊的空地的，周圍沒有任何東西。

Later as I drove myself home to Whittier I began to see more damage along the streets. It turned out that the epicenter of the earthquake had been in Whittier and my neighborhood looked like a war zone. Since aftershocks follow the larger earthquakes I decided to drive to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit a friend for a few days.

晚些時候，我開車回惠蒂爾，沿途看到了更多的地震造成的破壞。原來地震的震中就在惠蒂爾，我家附近看起來簡直就像個戰場。因爲地震之後會有餘震，所以我決定開車到內華達州的拉斯韋加斯，到我朋友那住幾天。

In the early morning darkness of my first night the doorbell rang, waking my hostess and me. As she turned on the porch light neither she nor I could see anyone from the front window. We then shrugged and went off to bed. A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang again. This time we repeated our steps much more quickly in order to see if a prankster might be lurking about. Again we returned to our rooms only to hear the ringing repeated.

我在朋友家住的第一晚，天還沒亮的時候門鈴就響了，把我和女主人都吵醒了。她把手電打開，我倆從前邊窗口望出去，沒看見外邊有人。我們覺得莫名其妙，便聳聳肩膀又上牀睡覺了。幾分鐘之後，門鈴又響了。這次，我和朋友迅速走到窗邊想看看是不是有人在惡作劇，仍舊一無所獲。但當我們回到臥室後，門鈴再次響起。

Thinking the fuse box may be faulty; we determined which fuse to turn off to snuff the doorbell. As we settled back in our rooms the doorbell rang again in an oddly hollow ring. At that moment I began to realize that something must have been trying to get our attention.

我倆認爲一定是閘盒壞了，便把控制門鈴的那個閘關掉。但我們回到臥室後，門鈴又發出了一種奇怪的空洞的聲音。那一刻，我意識到是有什麼東西想引起我們的注意。

That morning I called one of the local spiritual practitioners to discuss this phenomenon. She suggested that I come for an "entity healing" as soon as possible. Later that morning several practitioners came to sit in on the healing session. One of the practitioners picked up on a male who seemed lost and in need of direction. The group took turns directing their prayers of healing and lifting to this entity. One of them mentioned that lost souls often seek out those who are sensitive and spiritually aware.

那天早晨，我去見了當地的一位通靈者，和她討論了這件事情。她建議我儘快作個“實體復原”。那天早晨晚些時候，好幾個通靈者都來參加了復原儀式。其中一位通靈者揪出了一個貌似迷失方向，急需人指點迷津的男人。通靈者們輪番給這個男人進行復原，讓他離開實體。一位通靈者說，迷失的靈魂通常會找那些敏感的或者在精神上有感應的人。

When I returned to my basement office I was told by one of the long time employees that shortly before the building was completed one of the roofers had taken a fatal fall from the exact spot I was standing when his left ankle was caught in a coiled rope. His ghost had been seen by several of the employees over the years.

當我回到我的地下工作室後，一個已經在那工作了很長時間的員工告訴我，就在這棟樓完工不久前，有一個負責蓋屋頂的工人就站在我當時站的那個地方，因爲左腳踝被卷繩套住，從樓下摔下來死掉了。這幾年，好幾個員工見過他的鬼魂。

Could I have attracted the roofer while standing in the exact spot he died at the completion of the building during a major trauma to the building?

是不是因爲我站在樓房完工前那名屋頂工人死前站的地方，所以在地震時纔會招引了他的魂魄?