The Mirror and the Cloudy Jar in the Cellar - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

The wooden rail felt cool and dusty under Lily’s palm as she went down the cellar steps. Smooth clay jars lined the first shelf, and a gray cat padded beside her, tail level. Cool air slipped through her sleeves, while a faint earthy smell rose from the stone. A single bulb hung under the low ceiling, and its thin chain tapped the metal shade once.

She aimed the bulb’s light toward a jar, the kind with thick, slightly cloudy glass. A pale spark hid behind it on the floor, like a coin under shallow water. She leaned closer, but glare on the curve blocked her view. “Look at that stripe on the bricks,” she said, and the cat paused, whiskers forward. Her remark drifted up, touched the ceiling, and came back softer. Dust made a small valley along the line where two stones met, and the bright spot rested there. Lily slid a small hand mirror from behind a ceramic bowl and tipped it until the bulb filled the glass. A white patch jumped across the wall, and the cat tracked it, one paw tapping the floor. Its dark shape climbed the jars as the spot moved. The mirror caught the edge of a tiny prism on the shelf; Bram, her mentor, had left it there last spring. Thin color opened at the rim, and faint bands crossed the bricks. Lily reached for the “coin,” fingers ready to lift it, and her fingertips met bare stone. The spot slipped away at once, and the cat’s paw followed it in a quick tap. On the wall, the cat’s long silhouette stretches and thins. Across the shelf, thin colors slide.

莉莉下樓時，手扶著木欄杆，覺得冰涼又帶點灰塵。第一層架子上排著光滑的陶罐，一隻灰貓在她身旁輕步走著，尾巴平舉。涼意鑽進她的袖子，石頭散出淡淡的土味。天花板下吊著一顆燈泡，細鍊子輕輕敲到金屬燈罩一下。

她把燈光對準一個罐子，那是種玻璃比較厚、帶點霧面的罐子。地上罐子後面躲著一點微光，像淺水裡的硬幣。她湊近，但弧面的反光擋住了視線。「看那道牆上的亮紋。」她說，貓停住，鬍鬚向前。她的這句話飄上低矮天花板，又更輕地回來。兩塊石頭的交界積了塵，形成一條淺淺的小谷地，亮點正落在那裡。莉莉從一只陶碗後面抽出小手鏡，傾斜到燈泡剛好映進鏡面。一塊白亮的斑點在牆上跳動，貓跟著它走，爪尖輕點地面。亮影沿著罐子爬過，牆上現出一條黑色的貓形。鏡面又掠到架上的一個小稜鏡邊緣；那是她的導師布拉姆去年春天放在那裡的。鏡邊漾出淡淡的色帶，細細的彩色穿過磚面。莉莉伸手去夾起那枚「硬幣」，指尖卻只碰到光滑的石頭。亮點立刻滑走，貓的爪子也快速跟上。牆上那條貓的長影正拉長又變細。沿著架子，細薄的彩色正緩緩滑行。