Well, I used to know a whole lot of pretty interesting ones.

好吧，我曾經知道許許多多有趣的故事

Some of them so funny you'd laugh yourself unconscious,

其中有幾個有趣到會讓你情不自禁的笑出來

Others so terrible you'd never want to repeat them.

而有一些卻糟糕到讓你不會想再多講一遍

But now I can't remember any of those.

但現在我一個都記不住了

So maybe I'll just tell you about the time I found the lost thing.

所以我就跟你講講我找到了一個走失的東西的那次吧

This all happened many summers ago,

這一切發生在很多個夏天以前

down on the beach

就在下面的這片沙灘

I was as usual, working tirelessly on my bottle top collections,

我就像平常一樣不知疲倦的專注於蒐集著瓶蓋

at least until I saw the thing.

直到我看到了那個東西

I was sure I wasn't doing much,

我確定我當時也沒有做什麼

it just sat there,

而它就只是坐在那裡

with a really weird look about it.

有著一個很奇怪的模樣

You know, a sad, lost sort of look.

就是，一種傷心、迷網的樣子

Nobody else seemed to notice it was there.

似乎沒有其他人注意到它的存在

They're all too busy doing other stuff I guess.

他們大概都在忙著做其他的事情吧，我猜。

Hello?

哈囉？

It turned out to be really friendly,

結果，這東西十分的友善

and I played with the thing almost of the afternoon.

我和這個東西玩了將近一整個下午

It was quite fun.

真是快樂！

Yet, the whole time, I couldn't help feeling that something wasn't quite right...

雖然，我總是覺得好像有哪裡不太對勁

As the hours slouched by,

隨著時間漸漸得過去

it seemed less and less likely that anyone was coming to take the thing home.

會有人來將這個東西帶回去的希望似乎也越來越渺茫

Soon, there was no denying the unhappy truth;

很快的，一個不用懷疑卻令人難過的事實擺在眼前

it was lost.

它走失了。

I asked a few people if they knew anything about it...

我問了一些人，看看他們知不知道這個東西

I took the lost thing over to Pete's place,

我把這個走失的東西帶去了Pete家

Pete has an opinion on just about everything.

Pete對幾乎所有東西都有他自己的見解

cool.

酷

he said.

他說

Pete didn't know what the thing was exactly;

Pete並不知道這確切是個什麼東西

but he said "well, it always does,

但他說「好吧，萬物都是這樣的，

that all physical manifestations, could be identified empirically

所有的物理現象都可以經由實驗來判定

though careful observation, calibrated measurement,

用仔細的觀察和精確的測量

and controlled experimentation.

和可控制的的試驗來得出個答案

In the end, Pete just shrugged.

最後，Pete只是聳肩

he didn't think the lost thing came from anywhere, and didn't belong anywhere either.

他不認為這個走失的東西從哪裡來，也不屬於任何一個地方

" Some things are like that..." He said.

「有些東西就是這樣。。。」他說

" They are just plain lost."

「他們只是走失了。」

It was nothing left to do but take this thing home with me.

除了帶他回家我沒有其他辦法了

As for my parents...

至於我的父母親

Well, I already knew that mom would be concerned about how filthy his feet were.

好吧，我早就知道我媽會注意這東西的腳有多髒

And dad would worried about all sorts of strange diseases.

而我爸則是會擔心各種奇怪的疾病

They both just wanted me to take it back to where I found it.

他們只想要我把它帶回我發現它的地方

" But it's lost."

「但它只是走失了。」

I said.

我說

Not that made any difference.

這又有什麼區別呢？

I decided to hide the thing in the back shed,

我決定把這個東西藏在後院的倉庫裡，

at least until I could figure out what to do next.

至少藏到等我想出來下一步該怎麼做

I mean I couldn't just leave it wandering around the streets.

我的意思是說我不能扔它自己一個在街上遊蕩

The lost thing seemed happy then,

這走失的東西看起來滿開心的

but I'm sure I couldn't keep it in the shed forever.

但我知道我不能把它永遠藏在這倉庫裡

Mom and Dad will eventually notice when they came out looking for a hammer or something.

當爸媽要來找槌子或是其他東西的時候，終究會發現它的

It was a real dilemma.

這真的是進退兩難

"Are you finding that the order of day to day life is unexpectedly disrupted?"

你是否發現了每天固定的生活步調在毫無預警之下被打亂了呢？

" Do you suffer from unclaimed property?"

你是否因留著無人認領的物品而感到煎熬困擾？

Object without name?

沒有名字的物品？

Troublesome artifacts of unknown origin?

不知來源又令人困擾的人工製品？

Things that just don't belong?

不屬於任何人的那些東西？

" DON'T PANIC!"

不要恐慌！

" We've got a pigeon hole to stick it in."

我們提供了一個箱子讓你把它塞進去

" The Federal Department of Odds and Ends."

聯邦稀奇古怪事務辦公室

The next morning, we caught a tram all the way into the city...

隔天早上，我們搭了直達城裡的電車

We arrived at a tall gray building with no windows.

到了一個沒有窗戶的灰色高樓

It smelled like disinfectant.

它聞起來有一股消毒水的味道

" I have a lost thing..."

「我有一個走失的東西。。。」

I called to the receptionist.

我朝接待員喊

" Fill in the forms."

「把這些表格填了」

She said.

她說

I was looking around for a desk,

在我到處找桌子的時候

and I suddenly felt something touch my elbow.

突然感覺到有什麼東西在碰我的手肘

And then there was a tiny voice,

接著有個很細小的聲音說

" If you really care about that thing,

「如果你真的在乎那個東西，

you shouldn't leave it here.

你就不應該把它留在這裡。」

" This is a place for forgetting, leaving behind.

這是一個給被遺忘、被丟掉的東西的地方

here, take this."

來，拿著這個。」

" Cheers."

「謝了。」

I said.

我說

" You shouldn't leave it here..."

「你不該把它留在這裡」

It was some kind of sign, I guess,

我猜那應該是某種暗號

not very important looking.

看起來不太重要

but it did seem to point somewhere.

但它似乎指出了某一個地方

I still think about the lost thing from time to time,

我偶爾還是會想起那個走失的東西

especially when I see something out of the corner of my eye that doesn't quite fit.

特別是當我看到與四周不太搭的東西的時候

You know, something with a wired, sad, lost sort of look.

你知道，就是那些有著奇怪、悲傷和迷網的樣子的東西

I see that kind of things less and less these days.

這幾天我越來越少見到那樣的東西了

Maybe there aren't many lost things around anymore.

或許是因為已經沒有那麼多走失的東西了

or maybe......

又或許是…

maybe I've just stopped noticing them.

或許只是我不再注意到他們了

too busy doing other stuff, I guess.

我猜是太忙著做其他的事情了吧