The Slant That Would Not Fall- 適合中級的英語短篇故事

Three narrow shelves ran above the work table, each two hand-spans apart. Between the lowest shelf and the floor, a small gray mouse slipped from shadow to light. The table held a thin ruler balanced on an eraser like a tiny seesaw. Near it lay a bright glass bead that caught the light like a jewel, a curled leaf, and a shallow cup filled with paper waste from old sketches. A faded photograph of a smiling mentor leaned against a jar of pins, its frame slightly dusty.

The mouse nosed the curled leaf first and dragged it onto one end of the ruler. The plank tipped a little, then stilled. Next, the mouse pushed the bead across the smooth surface; the bead rolled, stopped at the meeting point between wood and air, and gave the ruler a sharper tilt. Light winked on the bead’s delicate edges while the opposite end of the plank rose. The mouse paused, whiskers twitching, then collected a shred of paper waste from the cup. It placed the scrap beside the leaf, but the weight hardly changed the balance, and the ruler held its steep angle. Searching again, the mouse found a dried seed husk under a slide box and added it. The objects shifted, wobbling together, yet the small tower refused to topple. The unexpected stillness left the ruler frozen in a slant, one side high, one side low. A loose corner of the photograph slipped forward and tapped the table once. The ruler stayed tilted; the glass bead glimmered under the shelf light.

三條窄窄的層架掛在工作桌上方，每層相距兩個手掌寬。最低層與地面之間，一隻灰色小老鼠在陰影與光線間穿梭。桌面上，一把薄薄的尺子橫搭在橡皮擦上，像迷你蹺蹺板。旁邊放著一顆在燈下閃亮如寶石的玻璃珠、一片卷曲的葉子，以及盛有舊素描紙屑的小杯。相片框微帶灰塵，裡面是一位微笑導師的褪色照片，斜靠在別針罐旁。

老鼠先用鼻尖頂著葉子，把它拖到尺子一端。木片稍微傾斜，隨後停住。接著牠把玻璃珠推過光滑桌面；珠子滾到木片與空氣接觸的交會處，令尺子斜度變大。光線在珠子細緻的邊緣閃爍，尺子的另一端抬高。老鼠停下，鬚毛抖動，然後從杯裡叼出一小片紙屑放到葉子旁，但重量幾乎沒有改變平衡，尺子依舊高高低低。牠再次搜尋，從載玻片盒下找到一個乾燥種殼並加上去。物件一起晃動，卻始終沒有倒塌。出乎意料的靜止讓尺子以陡角保持不動，一邊高、一邊低。照片的一角鬆開前傾，輕碰桌面一下。尺子依然傾斜，玻璃珠在層架燈光下閃閃發亮。