墙壁中的房子

第三天早上，波莉在悬崖上看到了奇怪的东西。在峡谷底高高的上方，岩壁上有一个大大的弧形凹洞，洞里竟然有一间间小小的方形房间，门口黑漆漆的。有人把房子建在了岩壁本身里面。

On the third morning, Polly saw something strange in the cliff. High above the canyon floor, inside a big curved hollow in the rock, there were small square rooms with dark doorways. Someone had built houses inside the wall itself.

一只岩松鼠坐在一块晒得暖暖的石头上，开口解释起来。普韦布洛人的祖先用石头和泥巴盖了这些房间，距今已有好几百年了。他们选中这个凹洞，是因为它干燥、难以到达，而且冬天很暖和。其中一间房子被漆成了浅色，所以人们把这个地方叫做白房子。

A rock squirrel sat on a warm stone and explained. Ancestral Puebloan families built those rooms from stone and mud, many hundreds of years ago. They chose the hollow because it was dry, hard to reach, and warm in winter. One room is painted pale, so people call the place the White House.

波莉问，在他们之前有人住在这里吗？松鼠说，这条峡谷从来都不是空的。四千多年来，农民和旅人一直沿着这条河道往来。如今在这里耕种的迪内族人，只是最新来的一批罢了。

Did anyone live here before them, Polly asked. This canyon has never been empty, said the squirrel. Farmers and travellers have followed this wash for more than four thousand years. The Diné families who farm here today are just the newest ones.

在她下方，一条狭窄的小路从崖顶蜿蜒而下，拐了好几个弯。它一直下降约六百英尺，直到沙地上。这是游客唯一可以独自行走的小路。波莉几秒钟就能飞完全程，但她却静静地坐着，看着阴影慢慢爬过那些古老的房间。

Below her, one narrow path came down from the top in long turns. It drops about six hundred feet to the sand. It is the only path a visitor may walk alone. Polly could fly it in a few seconds. She sat still instead and watched the shadow move across the old rooms.