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地下室沒有時鐘，一老一小身上也沒有這種高級裝備，他倆毫無意識到這一天時間已流逝了大半。等到圖書洞穴裡所有吸附在薄如蟬翼紙張上的文字都被他們的眼睛捕撈起來再放下後，高塔鐘樓正好敲了三聲，再過一會兒，那些下課的可怕好學生就會來了，其他學生們也會充斥在街道上。
「我們該走了」老人說
「要借哪幾本書？」小孩問
作家先生指了四本，庫庫抱了起來，準備上樓辦理借閱。走到大鐵門前，庫庫回頭望了一眼昏暗的閱覽室，瞥見最下層有一本紅色的書，是她剛剛沒發現的。她好奇的跑到書架旁拿起它，才跑回作家先生的身邊。
「這是什麼？」老人問。
「《小鎮姑娘實錄》」小孩回答。
「你想找什麼？」老人狐疑拋出這句。
庫庫聳聳肩代替回答。一老一小旋即關上大鐵門，踏上峻陡的老舊鐵梯，把黑暗與寂靜還給地下室。

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「那…我們來翻翻舊報紙吧！」老人說
風吹進地底小室的通風口，把弔燈燈泡吹得搖搖晃晃。他們兩人翻動著比灰塵還輕的老紙張，褐色的報紙上掛著泛灰的鉛字印刷，兩人動作都小心翼翼。
埋首的庫庫突然抬起頭來說：「圖書館裡有你寫的書嗎？」
「…」老人搔搔腦袋瓜停了半响
「噢，你一定想不起來了」庫庫自己接了話。
那一剎那老人內心感到一點失落，但隨即看見一則斗大的標題。「你看！新聞頭條寫著「流蘇殺人事件」！ 「安寧的小鎮上發生了恐怖的謀殺案，嬰兒喝下摻了黑流蘇的母奶而噎死、丈夫半夜被人發現裸體死在馬廄，嘴裡塞滿了黑流蘇、學校老師因沒聽到喇叭聲被車撞死，耳朵竟被黑流蘇堵住了！還有… 鎮上身價最高的貴賓狗不停拉出黑流蘇…」

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「有了！你看！《小鎮地理》山丘篇」庫庫的驚呼把作家先生招到桌邊。
「原本山丘上…沒有流蘇」庫庫囁聲說出。
「那有什麼？」作家先生揉揉眼睛往書本裡探。
「嗯…是一片草地」
「草地呀？長的草還是短的草？」地下室昏黃的燈泡光讓視力似乎不太好的老人瞧得很吃力。
「圖片看起來是短的！」
「後來呢？」作家先生放棄看書，乾脆直接用問的。
「後來…在一個秋天滿月過後，山丘的中央出現了一圈黑色長草，高度到成年男子下巴，跨越山丘送牛奶的婦人是第一個目擊證人。當時她雙手提的牛奶瓶重重拖住身子，互相碰撞出煩人的叮叮噹噹聲響，她盯著自己的腳尖走路一刻也沒抬起頭來，所以等她一臉撞上黑色的草牆時，已經來不及了！驚訝的婦人，不小心打翻了一地的牛奶，黑色長草伸頭過來，把地上的牛奶吸個精光。然後婦人尖叫著跑掉…」老人眼睛瞪得大大的聽著。
「接下來呢？」
「接下來黑暗長草肆無忌憚的擴充地盤，那年天空飄下第一場雪的時候，黑暗長草已經爬滿整座小山丘，濃密地遮蔽了山丘上的天空。」
「嗯…」
「那年冬天最寒冷的那幾天，鎮上一連發生好幾起怪異事件，推測與黑暗長草有關。數起謀殺案或不幸傷亡都找不到兇手。」庫庫和老人對眼相視。
「到底發生了什麼怪異事件？」
「沒寫」庫庫搖搖頭，淡色髮絲在昏暗小室內閃閃發亮。

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庫庫很快的掃描一遍架上書籍，其實不多，頂多一百本而已。而且書架上有的角落已經被蜘蛛網佔據了。一路瀏覽過架上的《小鎮飲食史》、《小鎮居民服裝史》、《小鎮人民職業演變》、《小鎮婦女對廚房的喜好》…等等，最後庫庫喵見《小鎮地理》！

她輕輕的將它捧到小桌上，打開這一本二十公分見方大小蓋滿灰塵的《小鎮地理》，飛揚起一陣漫天粉塵，作家先生站在桌邊臉部扭曲，一臉強忍打噴嚏的樣子。

「哈！！揪！！！！」超大的噴嚏像火箭一樣飛噴出老人的鼻孔。整間小室都內爆成灰塵炸彈，庫庫趕緊雙手捂臉。等待煙霧消散後，她盯著老人的臉覺得哪裡怪怪的，他臉上的皺紋好像少了一點，但只維持了一下下，黑稠皺紋線又再度緊抓住它們原來佔據的位置。

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「鎮上的歷史記載都藏在地下室的閱覽室裡。你也知道，這類書籍並不受歡迎！除了學校的歷史老師之外，幾乎沒人感興趣！」圖書館員老小姐隔著厚厚的眼鏡說著。
這兩位訪客在她看起來只不過是兩團黑影，事實上，任何人在她眼裡都一樣，因為她的眼鏡太厚了！不過正巧給庫庫和作家先生恰當的偽裝，這樣一來他們一丁點也不會被起疑。

老小姐說畢，從懷裡掏出一大串鑰匙，用她又老又細的手指頭一根根數著，直到她摸著了最小的、生鏽得最嚴重的那一只鑰匙之後，她踩著小碎步領著兩位訪客下樓去。

地下閱覽室的大鐵門和小鑰匙生鏽的程度一樣嚴重。打開門後，一陣溼氣和灰塵瀰漫開來。老小姐自個兒連忙掩住口鼻，咕噥著：「我對灰塵過敏，你們慢慢看好以後再到櫃檯辦理借閱手續吧！」接著她就蹬著階梯一步一步消失了。庫庫和作家先生不免擔心這裡面的書籍太久沒曬到太陽，該不會都被溼氣侵蝕化作一灘污水了吧…

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鎮上有一座非常古老的小圖書館。

牆壁載浮著黃褐色的深深水漬，彷彿這座圖書館曾經像海盜的寶藏船般深深的淹沒在海底，以致於到現在圖書館聞起來還有一絲潮濕味道。館裡的甬道四處連通，潮濕味因此四處奔流，走到哪裡都躲不掉！又大又重的硬裝書塞滿每一層書架，走在通道上時，那些大大的書本就從架上盯著你。

庫庫的爸爸常常到圖書館借各式各樣的書籍來閱讀消磨時間，像是《中國草藥學》、《布偶戲》、還有《淑女畫報》等等。同時，他也會順便幫庫庫借一些給小孩子看的妖魔鬼怪故事書，像《西遊記》、《威尼斯水怪》和《噴火龍的歷史》等。庫庫最愛在床上抱著大書啃到睡著，然後作一堆亂七八糟的夢！或許，作家先生還沒失去記憶以前時常來圖書館找尋寫作的題材和資料吧。不論是或不是，也不重要了，因為他想不起來了呀。

這一天，為了找尋關於黑流蘇之丘的歷史記載，是作家先生第一次以老人樣貌出現在圖書館；也是庫庫長久以來第一次現身在人來人往的圖書館。

他們特意挑了一個冷清的早上。但還是有點緊張…

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突然之間，庫庫想起自己還沒自我介紹，實在非常失禮！就算作家先生沒有失去記憶，也不會認識自己，因為她是被括號起來的小鎮成員。當初，作家先生計數小鎮人口時的確少算了一個臉上有黑斑、乘著鳥籠、住在閣樓、窺探黑流蘇之丘秘密的小女孩，第37位成員。

「你好！作家先生，我叫庫庫。我住在鎮上最遠的那棟房子。」
「庫庫」作家先生思索這名字，果然沒有任何記憶。
「你在黑流蘇之丘上發生了什麼事？真的有怪物嗎？它對你做了什麼？」庫庫拋出一連串問題。老人只是坐著，沉默地搖頭。庫庫拿出綠色筆記本，跟作家先生分享她的觀察，可惜老人並沒有在山丘上遇見抹香鯨、蟒蛇、紅頂鶴或烏龜。接著又是一陣沉默籠罩著斗室，壁鐘的秒針滴答滴答地繞著圈子。
「作家先生，你本來不是老人的！」庫庫猛然衝出一句，她深深覺得有義務提醒眼前這位老先生。
「是嗎？」老人終於有了反應。
「對呀！一定是黑流蘇之丘上的怪物把你害的，你一定得變回來！」她繼續慫恿著老傢伙。接下來，小女孩把作家先生自願參加馬拉松的事情敘述了一次，還有搜索隊和可憐的太太們被衛生官抓走的事。老人終於感受到這整件事，不只是為了自己，還有關係到鎮上好多人。應該要找出真相，對自己和大家有個交代！

外頭起風了，將小破窗戶輕輕吹開。天上厚厚的雲層開始滴下一大點一大點灰色的雨珠，庫庫披上斗篷向作家先生告辭後往雨中奔去。
小孩與老人，已經達成共識要一起解開山丘怪物之謎！

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到現在問不出具體的事情，又牽扯了這麼些怪異的事，小訪客不免猜忌起眼前這位老先生起來…
「不好意思！你要如何證明你是作家先生？」小訪客努力的吐出這個嚴肅的句子。
「證明？我並不需要證明任何事。」老人說。
「這……」小女孩一時不知道該怎麼回答。
「我是不是作家先生，很重要嗎？」老人反問。
「如果你不是作家先生，就不應該待在別人的屋子裡！」小女孩吱唔出一句辯證。
「噢，我只知道打從黑流蘇之丘出來那晚，我摸黑靠著耳朵傾聽每一間屋子，直到找到這間屋子，它沒有聲響，所以我進來了！」老人急著一口氣說了這麼長的話，連呼吸都亂了節拍。
「黑流蘇之丘！？」小女孩驚呼。
「是呀！」老人自己也嚇了一跳，原來老腦袋瓜子裡還有麼一件記憶沒有被抹去。於是他再度伸手摸摸臉龐，彷彿皺紋會因為他回憶起這條線索，而少去幾根。

「嗯…書架上的書是圖書館借來的，妳可以看看！」老人繼續說道。
小女孩走過去書架，取出《大山妖》，抽出粉紅色的借閱證，上面確確實實登記著借閱者──作家先生。

「嗯…所以，您真的是作家先生？」
「我想，是吧。」

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他轉動被皺紋緊緊箍住的腦袋瓜兒裡頭的深處記憶片段，命令手指握筆在紙上滑動、畫著，努力寫下扭曲的文字。每寫完一個句子，那字兒的筆劃就活了起來，在白紙上扭動翻騰，一陣風吹來，竟把黑色筆劃條兒帶向空中，像極了黑色浦公英的孢子一根根飛舞著，再也看不出文字的蹤跡。正在此時，有人敲門。

隨後，門咿呀一聲敞開，站著一個戴斗篷的…老…女人。噢，不！是那些飛舞在空氣中的黑色筆劃，它們在剎那間隔空佔據那訪客的臉龐，下一秒，風的手再度將黑色絲線飄往高處，皺紋離開她的雙頰，恰好她褪下帽子，露出一張被刺眼黑色斑點緊抓的稚嫩臉龐。

「噢！對不起！我敲錯門了」小女孩訪客驚慌地說。
「不要緊。」老人回答
一陣沉默。那孩子盯著老人，老人回望著孩子，終於老人打破沉默。
「請問，你要找誰？」
「對不起，我以為這是作家先生的住所，所以…」
「作家先生」老人反覆咀嚼這個稱號。
「是的！請問你知道他在哪裡嗎？」
「我想…他就在這裡，這間屋子裡」老人緩慢吐出這幾個字，小訪客露出疑惑的眼神，張望這間比她閣樓大不了多少的斗室。

「我沒瞧見半個人呀，先生」
「我」
「可是你…你…看起來好老」作家先生第一次伸手撫摸自己的臉，感受密密麻麻的皺紋線，彷彿在摸索一幅用針線縫製而成的圖畫，然後他緩慢地說道
「妳剛才看起來…也好老」
「哦？真的嗎？為什麼？」小女孩惶恐地伸手碰臉，企圖摸索皺紋的痕跡。
「因為我的句子飄在空中，剛好爬滿妳的臉。」
「句子？在哪裡？」
「飄走了！被風帶走了！樑柱上吧，也許，或是隔壁家的窗台上…」
「噢！你寫了什麼句子？」
「我不記得了！我每寫完一個句子，我還來不及用眼睛看它一遍，還來不及在心裡複誦它一遍，它的每一筆劃就飛走了。」

28

淡淡的陽光從窗戶射進來，灰塵在光線中飛揚，老人醒了。
他坐在床鋪上搜尋整個房間，他看見書桌椅，桌上一盞檯燈、一疊白紙和一隻墨水筆，旁邊一座小書架上零零散落幾本書。他起身走到書架前，拿起其中一本硬裝書《大山妖》翻了翻，發現書本最後黏了圖書館紙套，如嬰兒腳掌般漂亮粉紅色的借閱證從紙套露出頭來，老人抽出借閱証，目光落在它上頭最後一個名字“作家先生”。

「借閱證…姓名…作家先生……」老人喃喃自語。
放下書本，他坐在書桌前，試著回想過去幾天發生的事，以及他是誰。但是思緒像沒有形體的朦朧煙霧一樣，冷不防飄出來，當試著捕捉它的形狀時，它又消散而去！老先生打算非得寫下來不可。

27

作家先生熟睡的第三天早晨，小鎮的天空鋪滿一層厚厚的雲，陽光穿不透，風也吹不進，雲層的暗影濃濃的蓋在路面上，一切看起來是全然的灰色調。庫庫索然無味地放下手中的望遠鏡，納悶著山丘接下來會做什麼？爸爸和媽媽在樓下喊著：「庫庫！我們去市場了，門窗關好呀」小孩回應一聲「知道了！」
鎮上，庫庫心想，說不定作家先生已經回到鎮上了。雖然沒有證據，只是一個直覺，但她相信這個直覺！

匆忙披上斗篷，從書架上取出那本記滿秘密的綠色筆記本，她跳上大鳥籠，滑下地面，往鎮上去查證作家先生的下落。記憶中，作家先生住在美髮店和拳擊先生家中間的夾縫。沿途上庫庫躲在屋簷的影子裡、攤販大媽裙擺底下、男人的身軀後頭，一路天色和陰影掩護著她抵達作家先生的門口。她把耳朵湊上門板，傳來墨水筆劃在紙上的聲音，她舉起手，敲門。

26

老人把耳朵湊上門板傾聽，裡頭毫無聲響，像一具空棺材般安靜，裡面只有空氣，除此之外什麼都沒有！老人推開門，因為他已經萎縮到跟一個十歲孩子差不多程度的瘦弱了，因此無需側身也能順利進入。他跨過地上的門檻，進到屋內，摸黑找到了床鋪，他把自己安置上去後便立刻無聲的睡著了。

隨著鼻子一呼一吸，胸膛一上一下起伏，老人意識散去，進入睡眠；但是他臉頰上的皺紋悄悄的復活了！它們開始滑動、改變位置、生出更多細微的黑色綢線，貪婪地抓緊他臉上每一處毛孔，佔據肌肉的每一處凹陷，令他變得更老更老。就這樣，老人睡了三天三夜，把他的記憶睡掉了，把他是誰睡掉了，把時間睡掉了，
他的靈魂將如一張白紙地清醒過來。

25

黑暗中他扶著房子的外牆，步伐蹣跚地經過熟睡的男人、女人、小孩和狗。每座房舍都充滿了聲音，女人的酣聲、男人的磨牙聲、小孩子的夢話和狗狗的呼吸聲。讓這些房舍有了生命的氣味，而老人要尋找的正好與之相反，是一個沒有生命味道的死寂之屋。雖然老人不知道到底在坐落在何處，但好在黑暗皺紋沒有爬滿他的耳朵，尚未掩蓋住他聽取世界聲響的工具，他就有把握找得到。

當老人經過一間窗戶微開的房舍時，有隻失眠的小狗嗅到從老人身上散發出來的流蘇氣味，它冷不防打了個哆嗦，連忙將臉埋入毯子裡。沿著廣場一路觸摸和傾聽，老人終於在一扇非常窄的木門前停下腳步，門的寬度恰好可容納一個十歲孩子的肩膀，成人必須側身才能進入，因此老人差一點點就錯過它了！

He carefully walked through those noisy houses where filled with women's snoring, men's teeth-grinding, kid's dream-talking, and pets'breathing. Opposite to those vivid residences, what he was looking for was a dead house without a sound. It wasn't hard to find, as long as the black wrinkles didn't cover up the ears of the old man, didn't keep him from hearing the world, he could figure out the correct location of his own house.

While passing by an open window, the tassel smelling from Mr. writer flew into a house and drew a sleepless puppy back under its blanket. Finally, he stopped in front of a narrow wooden door, it was so narrow that adults had to turn aside to get through, but it was perfect size for 10-year-old child to get in easily. Therefore, the old man nearly missed it!

24

其實，作家先生已經出了黑流蘇之丘！
什麼時候？讓我們把時間推回到搜索隊撤退的那個半夜。
黑暗中，流蘇叢沙沙沙的晃動，把一個小老頭吐了出來，落在土地上
起碼有一百條皺紋，深深地綁住他的臉頰，還有手和腳，令他看起來好老好老。
他靜靜的在地上坐了一陣子，疲倦的轉動四肢，輕微的擺動腦袋瓜子，好像辛苦的憑著回憶思索出該往那個方向走。然後，他緩緩站了起來，開始往酣聲大做的鎮上走去。

As a matter of fact, Mr. writer had have left Black Tassel Hill already.
When did he…? Let's back to the midnight where search team withdrew from the hill. In darkness, the tassels shook with the sound “za~za~za~” and split out a little old man on earth. There were at least one hundred wrinkles deeply tied up on his face, hands and legs, making him incredible old. Sitting on the ground for a while, he moved limbs and head slightly, like he was making sure that he was back to living world and tried very hard to remember where shall he return. And then, he slowly stood up walking toward the snoring village houses.

23

「阿呦呦！搜索員太太實在太可憐了。」庫庫的媽媽舀了一匙豆子湯說。
「對呀！」爸爸回應道。
「太可怕了！而且竟然還被衛生官帶走，不知道什麼時候才能回來呦～」
「衛生官…為什麼要帶走她們？」餐桌上庫庫問。
「哼！為了國王的大柱子」爸爸嗤之以鼻。
「柱子怎麼了？」
「柱子髒了，需要又黑又硬的流蘇去刷乾淨！還好你老爸沒妄想去加入什麼搜索隊！不然他就完啦！」媽媽忿忿說道
「是呀，好險」剛才很有氣勢的爸爸變得很小聲
「什麼，你還真的有想過加入搜索隊呀？」
「沒有呀，沒有呀」
庫庫忍不住想像長大以後，萬一自己丈夫是搜索隊員，自己被黑流蘇怪物詛咒長出長長腋毛的樣子…

“Oh…those wives, they are so pathetic…”said KuKu's mom.
“Exactly…”responded her dad.
“And the entire thing is just terrifying! They were even caught away by the cruel government minister. God knows when would they be sent back?”
“The government took them away?” asked KuKu.
“Um huh! All about the pillars.” dad sniffed.
“What?”
“They need something really tough to clean the dirty palace pillars. Unfortunately, the tassels do strong enough. Thank god your father isn't that stupid getting involved with it, or he would be dead meat.”
“Yeah…That was close.”
“Oh. No! You did think about that.”
“Nope. Of course not! Come on.”
At the moment, KuKu started wondering what kind of cursed tassel would she get under arms if she were one of the poor ladies.

22

號角聲響起，宣示著政府大官的駕到！隨扈駕馬在前，加長型轎車尾隨在後。車門打開，走出穿著華麗的高大衛生官，他掃視過廣場上禁聲的毛毛婦女們，然後一手把鎮長招來，勉強彎著腰讓鎮長在他耳邊傾吐來龍去脈。接著，他走向那一排可憐的婦女，挑起幾根婦女腋下的黑流蘇低頭檢視。
「很好！不錯！」衛生官一邊檢查，一邊對鎮長滿意的點頭。他檢查完後，手下吹了一聲號角，宣佈道：「婦女們將加入衛生部皇宮清潔工作計畫！」
「那是什麼計劃？」
「清潔皇宮？」
「我們這身黑流蘇怎麼辦呀？」婦女們緊張的嘰嘰喳喳起來。
「這身黑流蘇用來刷宮廷長年汙垢的大柱子，正合適！」衛生官冷酷地說了這麼一句。到時候，這些太太會被塞進頂端有圓環的鐵棒子，由地面上的僕役揣住鐵棒，奮力地上下左右移動，而太太們必須雙手高舉，徹徹底底裸露出堅硬的黑流蘇，讓黑流蘇磨蹭去牆上、柱上、天花板上的髒垢。等到她們腋下的流蘇被磨到平以後，問題解決了，才是她們可以離開皇宮返家的時候。做丈夫的也只能勉強安慰太太，這是最好的的辦法了…

21

太太要求丈夫拿剪子來剪掉這可怕的黑流蘇，怎知一剪掉，立刻又長出來。換另一邊胳子窩試試看，也是一樣！請別鎮醫生來看診，醫生只是搖搖頭說：「很抱歉，我束手無策！」丈夫們除了接受責難別無他法，最後他們前往高塔，向鎮長求助。鎮長皺著眉聽完陳述後，跑進房裡打了一通長途電話，才再度回到他們面前。

「嗯嗯，各位先生們，政府掌管衛生的部門，會替我們解決這件事」鎮長說。
「他們打算怎麼解決？」
「這他們沒有吐露…」
「這樣呀…那什麼時候會來處理呢？」丈夫們追問。
「今天下午就會派人來了！」
「那好吧…」丈夫們只能半信半疑的打道回府。


The wives asked their husbands to cut off the horrible underarm tassels, but once they were cut off, immediately growing up lots of new ones instead. They even fetch a doctor to check these hairy patients, but the doctor said “Sorry, there is nothing I can do.” The husbands could do nothing, either, but accepting the harsh blames, then finally they went to Mayor’s tower for seeking help. Knitting his brows through the whole story, Mayor made a long-distance call in the room, then went back to them with an announcement
”Gentlemen, government’s department of health will take charge of this …disaster. ”
”How they gonna do?”
”Um…they did not mention on the phone.”
”Oh… when they gonna take action?”
”Person in charge will be sent here this afternoon.”
”Okey….”the husbands remained in doubt and headed home.

20

隔天早晨，一聲長長的尖叫劃破寧靜，把沉睡的小鎮從夢中喚醒。
那是女人的叫聲。
接著，又一聲尖叫傳出。接著，又一聲、又一聲、又一聲、又一聲、又一聲！

這下所有人、所有狗、所有金魚，全清醒了！人們往尖叫聲找尋，很快的發現，全是搜索隊員的家裡傳出來的。七位搜索隊太太們腋下的流蘇在半夜偷偷摸摸的變長了！她們站在床邊捂著臉尖叫啜泣，埋怨都是丈夫的錯。她們胳子窩底下的黑流蘇一路流瀉到地上，就像穿著尺寸過大的黑色蓬蓬袖，隨著肩膀上上下下地顫抖，流蘇也起伏不停地抖動好像在竊笑。

Next morning, a long loud scream rent the silence, waking up the town from its dream.
It was a shout of a woman. And it was followed by another scream. Then the second scream was followed by the third, the forth, the fifth, the sixth, and the final seventh.

All the town people and dogs and goldfishes woke up now! They followed the sound and found it coming from the houses of seven search team members. To everyone's surprise, it was the tassels under their wives' arms overgrowing in the midnight that resulted in the breathtaking screams. Those ladies stood on bedside, buried tearful faces in hands, and blamed their husbands for offending the hill evil. The bushy tassels of each of them went all way down to the floor shivering up and down as if they were laughing when the ladies sobbed in grief.

19

巨大黑絲絨布準確的在七點整掩蓋了天空，此刻在黑流蘇之丘上一點天光也沒得仰賴了，手電筒的光也降到了只能照亮前面人屁股的地步，搜索隊努力了兩個小時準備撤退，他們累壞了，結果卻是什麼也沒找到！擺頭擺腦黑流蘇們，像壁虎斷尾巴一樣，紛紛自斷一截黑色碎屑滑入大漢的衣領、飄進大漢的背包、黏住大漢的發汗的手心，等搜索隊員的太太們在山丘外領取一個接著一個出來的丈夫時，它們已經作好了記號。

等夜深，在他們安然入睡的時候，黑流蘇才要展開報復…

A piece of huge dark velvet covered the sky precisely in seven of the evening, no more daylight could they depend on then, even the flashlight so reduced that it could only light up the bu tt of the person going in front of you!
Anyway, the exhausted team prepared to head back after two-hour searching.
Meanwhile, the tassels were aware of this, and then they cut off their own tip parts like geckos cut off their tails for survival. The tiny black ends drifted into men’s collars, bags, and stuck upon their sweaty palms as marks. because they would like to wait until midnight to take revenge.

18

強壯的腳步踏在濕濕濃濃的黑色土地上，發出悶悶的聲響，突然一股龐大的臭味籠罩而來，包圍搜索隊七位大漢，大家立刻掩住口鼻，說時遲剎時快，其中一人被手電筒的帶子纏住了，來不及掩鼻而吸入了臭氣，他忍耐憋氣漲紅了臉「噗～嗑！嗑！嗑！」還是咳了出來，嚇得其他人轉頭衝過來摀住他的嘴，領頭人皺起眉頭把食指比在嘴巴前，警告不要再發出聲音了。

隨著他們每一步前進，黑流蘇們都以肉眼無法辨識的些微角度輕輕的回頭，彷彿流蘇末端長了眼直定定勾住他們的身影。剛才嗆到的大漢比其他人更敏銳地觀察四周，他懷疑流蘇在看人，但每次回頭，流蘇們又一動也不動，他在心裡盤算，要是能佯裝倒著走路，就能證實這一點。但還是算了，因為兄弟們一定會說「別傻了！那只是風吹動了流蘇而已。」時間一分一秒的過去，沒有傳出任何歡喜的喊叫聲，或悲悽的哀號聲，只有七顆心臟穩定地傳出頻率不一的砰砰心跳聲。當然，沒有人聽得到，除了隱身在黑流蘇叢深處的怪物。

Walking on the dark damp ground made their footsteps sound muffled. Without preparation, they were enveloped in a stinky mist which smelled exactly like human armpit! Seven men covered their noses with hands immediately, but one’s hand trapped by flashlight stripe and he breathed in the air. His cheeks plumped and face turned red. Although trying very hard to hold the breath, he coughed out eventually. The others turned back toward him and put hands over his mouth in a hurry. The chief placed his first finger upon lips with a frowned face to warn them against making noises.

As the search team moved on, the tassels turned with hardly-noticed angles to follow them as if there were eyes on their pointed ends. The one who had just choked earlier paid more attention than others on environment and he suspected the tassels were staring behind their back. But when turning back, he found them stayed untouched.
“I can confirm this if I walk backwards in disguise.” he thought to himself but gave up soon, because he could imagine what they might say ”Don’t be silly! It’s just wind blowing. ” As time went by, neither cheers nor wails burst out, only seven hearts beat in different frequency. Of course, no one could hear the heartbeats bumping against their chests, except the monster.

17

天色漸暗，馬拉松大賽這一天就快結束了，作家先生還沒從黑流蘇之丘出來。鎮上的人們開始擔心起來，終於鎮上的七名壯丁決定組成搜索隊前往山丘找尋作家先生。他們帶了大量的武器，手電筒和電池在山丘前──也就是庫庫家的後方，集結成隊。

庫庫的爸爸在客廳來回踱步、摩擦雙掌、大眼鏡不停滑下鼻樑，他非常猶豫到底要不要加入搜索隊！庫庫的媽媽在房裡打盹，突然一聲雷般的打呼聲，嚇到了爸爸，害他把手電筒摔到地上，滾出門去，剛好滾到搜索隊領頭人的腳邊，他順勢撿起手電筒，庫庫的爸爸紅了臉說：「這…這個…應該幫得上忙…」對方爽朗的咧嘴一笑，拍拍爸爸的肩膀說道：「謝了！老爹」庫庫的爸爸非常開心地微笑進門，因為他幫上了忙，太好了！

「兄弟們！現在是下午五點整，大家對時，我們必須在七點整離開山丘！不然到時候就太暗了，連手電筒的光也會被吃掉的！」領頭人說畢，七個大漢低頭扭轉手錶上的小發條。接著，領頭人率先踏上地表的黑色隆起，這一次黑流蘇完全沒有鼓譟，靜靜的被撥開，整支搜索隊帶著忐忑的心情進入了黑流蘇之丘。

It's getting dark, and the day was passing, while Mr. writer still didn't run out of the hill. People were becoming increasingly worried about him. Finally, seven strongest men in town took determination to seek after Mr. writer. With homemade weapons, flashlights, and batteries, they assembled in front of the hill, where also the back yard of house of KuKu's family.

KuKu's father, who hesitated about joining the search team, kept walking back and forth, rubbing his hands, and pushing his slipped glasses back to where it should stay. KuKu's mother, who took her nap, suddenly made a thunder-like snore, which totally frightened her husband and made him drop a flashlight to the floor. It rolled outside the door until one of the seven men's feet stopped it, and he picked it up.
“It…it might help.” said KuKu's father embarrassedly.
“Thanks! Pal.” The man smiled and tapped the old man on the shoulder.
Old daddy went home with delight of being helpful.

“Guys! It's five now. Let's make sure our watches are on the same time! Cause we gotta out of the hill exactly by seven. Or it would be too dark to search, even the light of flashlights would be eaten by darkness. ” said the chief of the team. Then all of them stared down at their own watches and wound up the tiny clockworks.The chief took his first step upon the black bump on earth, but the tassels stayed quiet this time, without shacking at all. Therefore, seven men, one by one, fearfully and silently went into the hill.

16

眼看一步一步就要逼近黑流蘇之丘了，距離30公尺，黑流蘇有了動靜，它們開始鼓譟起來。距離10公尺，黑流蘇們搖動的更大力了！彷彿再山丘上有一股龍捲風在晃動。整座山丘反映在作家先生的眼睛裡，像一頭揮舞著千萬隻魔手的野獸。

作家先生卻沒有停下來的意思，最後只差一步，就要踏上黑流蘇之丘了！這時，黑流蘇全都馴服了，像自動門一樣安安靜靜的打開屏幕，作家先生緊張的閉上眼睛，跨出他的右腳，最後一步，上去了！左腳一離開地面，黑流蘇們安安靜靜的關上了簾幕，像慢動作般把作家先生吸進黑洞裡了。

趁大家還在驚嚇的沉默中，庫庫飛奔回家，爬上鳥籠跳上二樓，抓起望遠鏡對黑流蘇之丘搜索作家先生的身影。望遠鏡裡作家先生的頭在黑流蘇上面，載浮載沉像一顆掉到墨水裡的包子。

While his way remained 30 meters to the hill, the tassels came alive.
In 10 meters, they started to shake, as if there was a tornado was forming inside. As he ran, the reflection of hill on Mr. writer's eyes came bigger and bigger, like a huge beast waving thousands of hands toward him.

Strangely, Mr. writer had no intention to slow down or stop. He's getting closer and closer until one step away, and at the very moment, tassels were all tamed down and opened an entrance for him. Mr. writer was too nervous to keep eyes open and stepped his right foot upon it, then the other. Almost in the same time, the tassels quietly closed again, brought him deep inside……Not a sound was heard by anyone.

KuKu rushed home when others were still in shock. She jumped up the cage to her attic, and grabbed a telescope looking into it to search Mr. writer. Sinking in the tassels, only Mr. writer's head was visible on the lens, which looked like a dumpling floating upon black ink.

15

「你準備好了嗎？作家先生」鎮長從高台上向下叫。
「應該吧！」
「您看見遠方有個紅色旗子了嗎？」
「欸，看見了。」
「嗯，你跑進黑流蘇之丘後，記得要緊盯著它，往它的方向跑就對了，出口就在那裡！」
「好的。」
「正常估計從這裡跑到出口，加入坡度的阻力計算，大約要5個小時！現在是七點三十分，預計正午十二點半抵達出口…沒有意外的話。欸，為了您的人身安全，希望您準時跑出山丘！畢竟出了山丘，您還有10公里的賽程要繼續，而且您是鎮上唯一的作家先生，我們可不希望失去您這樣尊貴的人…」一陣停頓，鎮長彷彿忘了演講稿的下一句，猛然想起似的才接口「屆時，大家都會在出口迎接您的！」

「那我就放心了！」作家先生微微點點頭。
「等你跑完以後，我們一定會為你舉辦慶祝派對！」鎮長再補一句。
「謝謝！」
「到時候，你一定有很了不起的故事可以寫，對吧！」
「也許吧。」
「太棒了！」鎮長兀自鼓起掌來。
「三、二、砰！」鎮長冷不防對空鳴槍，作家先生身子抖了一下踉踉蹌蹌地起跑了。眾人看著他的背影以穩定的速度朝宇宙黑洞前進。


“Get yourself ready? Mr. writer!” Mayor yelled from stage.
“I think so.”
“Do you see the red flag over there?”
“Yes.”
“Good! After you get into the…hill, remember to keep your eyes on it! Just run to the direction, where is the exit.”
“Okay.”
“According to calculation, five hours are necessary to go through the hill. Now is seven o'clock, for your personal safety's sake, I highly recommend you get out by twelve at noon since there remain 10 km to finish the whole run. Um…besides, you are our only one writer, we surely don't want to lose a noble man like you… ” captured by horrible thoughts, mayor was speechless for couple minutes then said “Oh! Don't you worry! We all will greet you on the exit then!”
“That's comforting.” Mr. writer nodded.
“After this, we would like to throw a party for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I'm sure you will have a great story to tell by then, uh?”
“Maybe.”
“Excellent!”“Three, Two, Bang!” All of a sudden, Mayor shot the gun. Mr. writer shivered by shock then stumbled along to the hill. Everyone stared at his back heading into the black hole of universe.

14

馬拉松大賽當天終於來了。
早上七點鐘，作家先生非常準時出現在起跑點。他穿著背號１的白色運動背心、運動短褲和慢跑鞋，看起來不特別精神抖擻，卻也不特別無精打采，跟平常沒兩樣。

馬拉松大賽的旗幟隨風飄揚，鎮上居民聚集在起跑線周圍，作家先生像表演特技的動物園猴子般，在人牆圈圈中央一邊神色哀傷地一邊做暖身操，彷彿待會要跑進宇宙黑洞般複雜的表情。「一、二、一、二」他提起左腳，再提起右腳，吸氣、吐氣、吸氣、吐氣…從不出門的庫庫也瞞著大人偷跑出來，躲在人群中凝望作家先生。

Finally came the Marathon day run!
Flags waved in the sky, and people gathered around the starting line, even KuKu sneaked in the crowd to watch and wait.
Wearing all sporty suits, Mr. writer arrived on time. He looked neither spirited nor listless, just as usual.
To warm up his body, he began doing some exercise. But surrounded by the whole village residents, he's more like a circus monkey performing a trick than a hero preparing for a task.

Right, left, right, left! Mr. writer lifted both legs alternately.
Inhale, exhale, Inhale, exhale…at the same time, a complicated expression showed on his face like he's about to run into the black hole in universe in a very short future.

13

庫庫再次乘著大鳥籠回到閣樓。閣樓的窗子是全鎮離黑流蘇之丘最近的一扇窗。每天，她都會從窗子觀察山丘的動靜，因此，她知道一些沒人知道的事情。
等等！你問這小女孩不用上學嗎？整天在做黑流蘇的田野調查是吧？沒法子！人們就是不歡迎不一樣的東西，舉例來說：大黑斑就是一個不一樣的東西。這顆過大的痣讓庫庫的學校生活很不順利，爸爸媽媽只好讓她在家自學。每學期爸爸會買新的課本和一些綠色筆記本回來，一整疊綠色筆記本中，大部分都寫滿了課本內容，只有打開對的那一本，你才會讀到一些只有她才知道的秘密：

五月誰上了黑流蘇之丘
5/5烏龜　　
5/15 蟒蛇　　
5/19抹香鯨　
5/25大紅鶴　　
5/26海報？

自從中午目睹飄在半空的馬拉松海報被黑流蘇抓下來後，庫庫就感受到一股不尋常的氣氛。因為，向來都是動物們自動走上山丘，但卻沒瞧過黑流蘇主動把人家抓進去過，倒是抓了一張紙，怪了！甚至現在連作家先生都要上山丘…
搖搖頭，彷彿要抖落這可怕想法，她在筆記本上再添一筆：

5/31 *馬拉松日　作家先生


Riding on the birdcage, KuKu was back to her garret which had the nearest window to the Black Tassel Hill.
Everyday, she opened the window and looked through a telescope at the hill. Therefore, she knew something really secret which no one ever had chance to know.
Wait! You want to know why this little girl didn’t go to school but spend all day spying on the hill? The answer is easy to guess! People do not appreciate difference, the over-sized mole on cheek did frustrated KuKu’s school days.
Thus parents let her do self-study at home. In the beginning of every semester, Dad was responsible for bringing back new textbooks and notebooks.
To pick up the right notebook, you could discover the secrets.

Visitors to the hill in May
5/5　a turtle
5/15 a python
5/19 a sperm whale
5/25 a flamingo
5/26 a poster?

An unusual feeling had hit her mind as witnessing the tassels grab down the poster. According to KuKu’s personal report, Black Tassel Hill never attack anything, but they did today. What’s more awful was Mr. writer, a human being, was going run into it! KuKu shook head as to get rid of this thought and dropped a line on the notebook.

5/31 (Marathon Day) Mr. writer

12

「妳今天練習數學了沒有？」媽媽邊喝豆子湯邊問
「嗯，有阿。鎮長剛剛找大家發生了什麼事啊？」
「小孩子管那麼多！」
「小孩子也是人啊。」
「哈哈哈哈」爸爸笑得老臉綻放。接著說「作家先生要上黑流蘇之丘。」
「什麼！？」庫庫瞪大了眼
「馬拉松大賽更改路線啦，會經過山丘，大家都不敢跑啊，只有作家先生當場答應要跑！」爸爸繼續報告。
「天哪！他會發生什麼事我不敢想像。」
「我們也不敢想像勒！」
「從來沒有人上去過黑流蘇之丘耶，我是指人類，動物倒是有。」庫庫講這句話時，媽媽起身舀湯，爸爸倒是聽見了。
「動物？真的嗎？我以為沒有任何生物敢靠近那裏呢。」推了推下滑的眼鏡。
「有啊，昨天是一隻紅頂鶴，下午的時候。」
「沒搞錯吧！我們這裡沒有紅頂鶴，地理課本不是有教嗎，那是熱帶國家才有！」
「但是我真的看見了！」
「小孩子不能亂說話。」
「我說的是真的，不騙人。」
「吃飽上樓去吧，一樓好擠！」媽媽不耐煩的下達命令。她的耐心就像湯鍋裡的豆子一樣少。

"Did you practice math today?" the mother asked at the dining table.
"Sure! Hey what happened? Why mayor assembled everyone? "KuKu asked.
"It's not children's business!"
"We children have right to know." KuKu wouldn't give up.
"Okey, Mr. writer is going to run across Black Tassel Hill." the father followed up the subject.
"What? "the little girl cried out.
"They rearranged the running length of Marathon, it'll go straight to the hill. No one dare to run by now, only Mr. writer! You know he's out of mind! " the father keep saying.
"God! I can't imagine what would he encounter."
"Neither do us! "
"No human being have ever entered the hill, but animals have." KuKu made this statement while her mom leaved, but her dad heard it.

"Animals? Really? I've thought no living creature would get close to there!"
"Some of them would! A flamingo flew into it yesterday afternoon."
"No kidding? We have no flamingo here! Those birds live in the tropics. I don't think you study very hard on geography ! " old daddy said.
"No, I did see it!"
"Children are not allowed to lie. "
"I'm not lying!"
"Go upstairs as soon as you finish your food!" The mother, whose patience was as less as the beans in the soup, finally ended the coversation by giving an order!

11

瘦丈夫拉動繩子，鳥籠緩緩上升到閣樓，再次落下地面時，裡面多了一個小女孩。
大鳥籠，顯然是這小房子唯一能容下的升降梯。一頭淡色頭髮的小女孩，身手俐落地爬出鳥籠，像隻聰明的小狐狸一溜煙就鑽上了餐桌，坐得好好的。

桌燈光暈灑在三人臉上，胖太太擁有一張發光的大餅臉，她丈夫擁有一張倒三角形的老臉，鼻樑上掛著黑色方框眼鏡，至於庫庫，那個乘著鳥籠下來的女兒，像被人揮灑墨汁噴濺到似的，稚嫩小臉上有一大片粗暴的黑色斑點，看起來非常刺眼。

The empty birdcage slowly went up as the husband pulled a rope, few minutes later it landed the ground within a little girl. Obviously, the cage was a replacement of stair in this narrow house! A light-haired girl came out off it as fast as a fox jump up to her usual place at the dining table.

Lamp lighted up three faces. Mother had a moon face, Father had an old face, and KuKu, the daughter, had a pale face with a harsh spot, like someone had have splashed her face with black ink.

10

這對夫妻打開全鎮最破爛的一道門，進入全鎮最破爛的一間屋子。同時，那也是距離鎮中心最邊緣、最接近黑流蘇之丘的一間屋子。那屋子非常的狹小，客廳只有一張扶手椅和一個老舊的儲物櫃，牆上沒有掛任何東西，轉身就是簡陋的廚房和餐桌，藏在一片布簾後面的是胖太太和丈夫睡覺的地方。一個角落有一只大鳥籠，裡面…沒有鳥。


After a while, they opened the most ragged door in town, and entered the most ragged house, which was also the nearest one to black tassel hill.
The house was very tiny. In the living room, there were just one armchair and one chest, nothing on the wall for decoration. Turning around you could see the simple kitchen with a dinning table, and what's hidden behind a curtain aside was where the couple got their sleep.
Lying in the corner was a big birdcage, which was…empty.

9

噹噹噹～集會解散鈴聲響起，敲碎了36場精采的謀殺幻想。大家紛紛動身回家，一對胖瘦夫妻往鎮上最遠一棟破屋走去。
「他可能會被抓到地底下活埋！」丈夫說
「是嗎？我覺得黑流蘇會勒死他！」太太說
「阿！」他大叫一聲
「幹什麼鬼！你要嚇死我啊」她不高興咕噥
「那個老太婆…」
「什麼老太婆？」
「傳說中那個阿！黑流蘇之丘上住了一個邪惡的魔鬼老太婆，她控制了那些草，作家先生就要被抓進老太婆的老黑房，永不見天日囉，可憐哪！」
「好了！這麼恐怖的事情你別再說了！我們快到家了」太太下達命令。

The ringing bell smashed thirty-six fabulous murder imaginations, and people started going home. A couple of fat wife and thin husband headed the shabbiest house in town, which was also the nearest one to black tassel hill.
“He maybe caught underground and buried alive!” said the husband.
“Is it? I think the tassels will tie his neck to death.” Said the wife.
“AHHHHHHHH~” he shouted.
“What's the matter? You frightened me! ”she said with displease.
“The old woman!”
“What old woman?”
“You remember the legend? The rumor is that an old evil woman lived in the hill, the tassels listen to her order! Ohmigod, poor Mr. writer is going to be jailed in the dark old mansion never has chance to see the sun! ”
“Enough! That's it! Stop saying such terrified things, we are almost home!”the commander gave the order.

8

人群自動分開讓出一條路給作家先生，人們看他的眼神彷彿在和一位烈士道別；一個小傢伙拉拉媽媽的衣角問：「怪物會吃掉他嗎？」大人沒坑聲。在場的人們全都忍不住開始想像作家先生的各種死法。
總共有36種死法。
你知道的， 25個人 + 8隻狗 + 3隻金魚= 36



People parted like the Red Sea for Mr. writer, gave him the space to go to the stage, and cast him a sad look like saying farewell to a tragic hero.
A little child pulled his mother’s cloth and whispered ”Will the monster eat him? ” the adult was speechless.
All people couldn’t help to thinking of various ways to die for Mr. writer.
There are thirty-six ways to die.You know, twenty-five (person) plus eight (dogs) plus three (goldfishes) equaled thirty-six!

7

傍晚，鎮長站在中心廣場的紅白高台上，扯著嗓門說話。

其實他大可不必喊叫，反正全鎮的人口也不過25個人，8隻狗，3隻金魚。鎮上唯一的作家先生心想…
「很抱歉！各位先生女士，一年一度的馬拉松大賽出了一點問題」鎮長說。
「怎麼回事兒？」眾人鼓譟
「唉…這大會規定路線得符合50公里，所以必須更改路線！」鎮長說。
「改什麼？改什麼？」「汪汪！」連狗狗也鼓譟了
「唉…這恐怕得經過黑流蘇之丘」最後這幾個字，一個字比一個字小聲。

一聽見這個山丘的名字，大家面色鐵青，狗狗垂下耳朵，金魚都低頭掩面。為了鼓舞士氣，鎮長勉強開口發言「別這樣呀！大家！一年一度的馬拉松可是咱們鎮上最重大的盛事」一片寂靜黑壓壓的人群中，一隻手舉起來「我跑！」是作家先生。鎮長恢復鎮定，裝模作樣的說：「很好，作家先生！我很高興我們鎮上還有這麼一位勇敢的人，不畏艱難為了鎮上的光榮而跑。來吧！年輕人，請上前一步，領取你的跑步背心。吶～1號」


Evening, Mayor was trying all effort to make a statement on stage.

“There's no need for him to yell at all. Anyway, there are only twenty-five person, eight dogs, and three goldfishes in town…” Mr. writer thought.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, something was wrong with Marathon…”
“What's going on?” the crowd raised an uproar.
“Um…there's a mistake about the running length, so we have to change the route across…”
“Across what? Across what?” “Bow-wow! ” even dogs were getting nervous.
“Um…the thing is…we have to across the Black Tassel Hill…” last four words were fading out.

Everyone's face became pale, dogs lopped ears, and goldfishes put faces in their fins when hearing the scary name.
“Come on! Everyone! It is the annual Marathon! The most important thing in town! You got to be brave!” he tried hard to encourage the frightened public.

Among the silent crowd, a hand raised up with a sentence “I'll go!” That's the voice of Mr. writer. Mayor seemed to be very happy to hear that!
“Wonderful! Mr. writer! It's very decent of you to make such a brave decision, not afraid of obstacles, and to run for hometown honor!” he said it in an affected way.“Come on up! Young man, take the running suit from my hand. You are definitely deserved the number one!”

6

黑流蘇之丘是什麼？
它位於小鎮北方，民宅聚落和鎮長的高塔之間。這座小山丘長滿了歷史上沒人記載，如今世人也不知道名字的黑暗長草。黑草的幼苗在一天之內可以長到成年男子的下巴！要是你有膽子踏上這黑色的地球腫塊，後腳跟一離地，黑長草如簾幕立即拉上，遮住了你的身影，淹沒了你的去向，阻斷了你和外邊一切關聯。

噢，我忘了提醒你另外一件事，關於這些黑長草。它散發著一種味道，
正因為它如此的濃密、黑暗和頑強，並且還散發著濃烈無法形容的氣息，就像人類腋下的黑流蘇一樣。
所以，大家稱之為黑流蘇之丘。

What the hell is Black Tassel Hill ?
It located on the north side of town, between village houses and Mayor's tower.
It was full of dark black long grass which never had a name in history and not a living person in the world know its origin. They only knew its offspring could grow up to men's chin in a day!

If you dare to take a step upon this black bump of earth, better know once your foot leaving the ground, grass would close behind you like curtains, totally parted you away from the world.

Oh…one more thing to warn you…about the grass…they got a odd smell!
It were the darkness, bushiness, and stubbornness that the grass are so similar to human's under arm tassel, so it gained the name of BLACK TASSEL HILL.

5

完成了這場無聲綁架，風還不滿足！它繼續往小鎮北方走，目的地是鎮長的高塔官邸。
鎮長埋首閱讀著《年度馬拉松大賽籌辦事項規則》，沒有注意到風的靠近。
風偷偷接近書房，趁一個不注意，撥掉了書桌上的地圖。
鎮長連忙撿起，一抬頭就看見目前路線規劃總長59公里，足足比大會規定的多了9公里！

「哎哎哎，這下糟了，怎麼會多出9公里呢…」
「咦」
「啊…要是穿過黑流蘇之丘就剛剛好了」
「但是…」
「但是…」
「這樣好嗎…」

一陣咕噥，煩惱的鎮長毅然決然拿起紅蠟筆，筆直地畫過地圖上的黑流蘇之丘。
風走了，房間回覆平靜。


After this silent kidnap, the wind didn't satisfied yet.
It passed through the Hill arriving mayor's tower.
Mayor was occupied by ”Annual Marathon Guide Book” not noticing the wind.

To get mayor's attention, wind dropped the Marathon map on the floor.
By picking up the map, Mayor finally notice a fatal mistake
that current length of running was 9 km longer then regular!

“Ooooooops….How come the length gets wrong here?”
“Ohmigod”
“It would be fixed just alright if it…… ”
“pass...”
“the...”
“Hill...”
“But…”
“People were afraid of the Hill…”

Murmuring for a while, Mayor made up his mind changing the route across the Hill.
It was the result that the wind expected for!

4

風的隱形之手把海報一路往北拉，拉出了小鎮，

把它丟鉛球似的甩上了黑流蘇之丘。

黑流蘇張牙舞爪地捕捉漂浮的馬拉松海報。

海報躲過一條黑流蘇、二條黑流蘇、三條、四條、五、六、七，終於還是被抓住，可憐的海報被窸窸窣窣地吞進流蘇叢裡去。

The invisible thief grabbed the poster
running out of town and threw it onto a HILL.

The scary BLACK TASSEL HILL.

The TASSELS haunted the paper!

Poor little thing…couldn't fight the tragic destiny.

3

小鎮中心的佈告欄前，站著兩名正在替海報上膠的工人，那是馬拉松大賽的宣傳海報。在這個灰樸樸小鎮，一年一度的馬拉松大賽是比小孩子讀書更重要的事。

風趁著工人不注意，躡手躡腳地吹走了一張海報。

While two men had to keep eyes open and worked on the posters!

Those were posters for Marathon.

You have no idea that in this little gray town,

annual Marathon was more important then children's studies.

The wind sneaked up hehind them, and stole a poster!

2

風好像要確認著什麼似的，一邊走一邊拂過小鎮上的一切；
它拂弄過花瓣上的絨毛，路上的雜草，小狗的濕鼻子，女人們的裙擺。

大風分散成無數隱形的支流從袖口灌進腋下，輕柔地撫弄每個男人和
女人、濃密或稀疏的流蘇叢，這股涼爽的解放讓大家深深吸了一口氣，
舒服地閉上了眼睛。


Seemed to examine something,
the wind touched everything on the street as it took every step,
including petals, grass, dogs' wet noses, and women's skirt edge.

Surely, it wouldn't forget to pass its hands into people's sleeves

and stroked the TASSELS under their arms.

It was so comfortable that people couldn't help closing eyes

to enjoy coolness!

1

正午，太陽烘烤著小鎮。
突來的大風從南邊吹進鎮上，溶化了悶熱。

Noon, the sun was toasting a village.
Suddenly, a big wind walked into the town and relieved the heat.