In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest1 of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.
Sophie Hatter was the eldest of three sisters. She was not even the child of a poor woodcutter, which might have given her some chance of success. Her parents were well to do and kept a ladies’ hat shop in the prosperous town of Market Chipping. True, her own mother died when Sophie was just two years old and her sister Lettie was one year old, and their father married his youngest shop assistant, a pretty blonde girl called Fanny. Fanny shortly gave birth to the third sister, Martha. This ought to have made Sophie and Lettie into Ugly Sisters, but in fact all three girls grew up very pretty indeed, though Lettie was the one everyone said was most beautiful. Fanny treated all three girls with the same kindness and did not favor Martha in the least.
Mr. Hatter was proud of his three daughters and sent them all to the best school in town. Sophie was the most studious. She read a great deal, and very soon realized how little chance she had of an interesting future. It was a disappointment to her, but she was still happy enough, looking after her sisters and grooming2 Martha to seek her fortune when the time came. Since Fanny was always busy in the shop, Sophie was the one who looked after the younger two. There was a certain amount of screaming and hair-pulling between those younger two. Lettie was by no means resigned to being the one who, next to Sophie, was bound to be the least successful.
“It’s not fair!” Lettie would shout. “Why should Martha have the best of it just because she was born the youngest? I shall marry a prince, so there!”
To which Martha always retorted that she would end up disgustingly rich without having to marry anybody.
Then Sophie would have to drag them apart and mend their clothes. She was very deft3 with her needle. As time went on, she made clothes for her sisters too. There was one deep rose outfit4 she made for Lettie, the May Day before this story really starts, which Fanny said looked as if it had come from the most expensive shop in Kingsbury.
About this time everyone began talking of the Witch of the Waste again. It was said that the Witch had threatened the life of the King’s daughter and that the King had commanded his personal magician, Wizard Suliman, to go into the Waste and deal with the Witch. And it seemed that Wizard Suliman had not only failed to deal with the Witch: he had got himself killed by her.
So when, a few months after that, a tall black castle suddenly appeared on the hills above Market Chipping, blowing clouds of black smoke from its four tall, thin turrets5, everybody was fairly sure that the Witch had moved out of the Waste again and was about to terrorize the country the way she used to fifty years ago. People got very scared indeed. Nobody went out alone, particularly, at night. What made it all the scarier was that the castle did not stay in the same place. Sometimes it was a tall black smudge on the moors6 to the northwest, sometimes it reared above the rocks to the east, and sometimes it came right downhill to sit in the heather only just beyond the last farm to the north. You could see it actually moving sometimes, with smoke pouring out from the turrets in dirty gray gusts7. For a while everyone was certain that the castle would come right down into the valley before long, and the Mayor talked of sending to the King for help.
But the castle stayed roving about the hills, and it was learned that it did not belong to the Witch but to Wizard Howl. Wizard Howl was bad enough. Though he did not seem to want to leave the hills, he was known to amuse himself by collecting young girls and sucking the souls from them. Or some people said he ate their hearts. He was an utterly8 cold-blooded and heartless wizard and no young girl was safe from him if he caught her on her own. Sophie, Lettie, and Martha, along with all the other girls in Market Chipping, were warned never to go out alone, which was a great annoyance9 to them. They wondered what use Wizard Howl found for all the souls he collected.
They had other things on their minds before long, however, for Mr. Hatter had died suddenly just as Sophie was old enough to leave school for good. It then appeared that Mr. Hatter had been altogether too proud of his daughters. The school fees he had been paying had left the shop with quite heavy debts. When the funeral was over, Fanny sat down in the parlor10 in the house next door to the shop and explained the situation.
“You’ll all have to leave that school, I’m afraid,” she said. “I’ve been doing sums back and front and sideways, and the only way I can see to keep the business going and take care of the three of you is to see you all settled in a promising11 apprenticeship13 somewhere. It isn’t practical to have you all in the shop. I can’t afford it. So this is what I’ve decided14. Lettie first-“
Lettie looked up, glowing with health and beauty which even sorrow and black clothes could not hide. “I want to go on learning,” she said.
“So you shall, love,” said Fanny. “I’ve arranged for you to be apprenticed15 to Cesari’s, the pastry16 cook in Market Square. They’ve a name for treating their learners like kings and queens, and you should be very happy there, as well as learning a useful trade. Mrs.Cesari’s a good customer and a good friend, and she’s agreed to squeeze you in as a favor.”
Lettie laughed in a way that showed she was not at all pleased. “Well, thank you,” she said. “Isn’t it lucky that I like cooking?”
Fanny looked relieved. Lettie could be awkwardly strong-minded at times. “Now Martha,” she said. “I know you’re full young to go out and work, so I’ve thought around for something that would give you a long, quiet apprenticeship and go on being useful to you whatever you decide to do after that. You know my old school friend Annabel Fairfax?”
Martha, who was slender and fair, fixed17 her big gray eyes on Fanny almost as strong-mindedly as Lettie. “You mean the one who talks such a lot,” she said. “Isn’t she a witch?”
“Yes, with a lovely house and clients all over the Folding Valley,” Fanny said eagerly. “She’s a good woman, Martha. She’ll introduce you to grand people she knows in Kingsbury. You’ll be all set up in life when she’s done with you.”
“She’s a nice lady,” Martha conceded. “All right.”
Sophie, listening, felt that Fanny had worked everything out just as it should be. Lettie, as the second daughter, was never likely to come to much, so Fanny had put her where she might meet a handsome young apprentice12 and live happily ever after. Martha, who was bound to strike out and make her fortune, would have witchcraft18 and rich friends to help her. As for Sophie herself, Sophie had no doubt what was coming. It did not surprise her when Fanny said, “Now, Sophie dear, it seems only right and just that you should inherit the hat shop when I retire, being the eldest as you are. So I’ve decided to take you on as an apprentice myself, to give you a chance to learn the trade. How do you feel about that?”
Sophie could hardly say that she simple felt resigned to the hat trade. She thanked Fanny gratefully.
“So that’s settled then!” Fanny said.
The next day Sophie helped Martha pack her clothes in a box, and the morning after that they all saw her off on the carrier’s cart, looking small and upright and nervous. For the way to Upper Folding, where Mrs. Fairfax lived, lay over the hills past Wizard Howl’s moving castle. Martha was understandably scared.
“ She’ll be all right,” said Lettie. Lettie refused all help with the packing. When the carrier’s cart was out of sight, Lettie crammed19 all her possessions into a pillow case and paid the neighbor’s bootboy sixpence to wheel it in a wheelbarrow to Cesari’s in Market Square. Lettie marched behind the wheelbarrow looking much more cheerful than Sophie expected. Indeed. She had the air of shaking the dust of the hat shop off her feet.
The bootboy brought back a scribbled20 note from Lettie, saying she had put her things in the girls’ dormitory and Cesari’s seemed great fun. A week later the carrier brought a letter from Martha to say that Martha had arrived safely and that Mrs. Fairfax was “a great dear and used honey with everything. She keeps bees.” That was all Sophie heard of her sisters for quite a while because she started her own apprenticeship the day Martha and Lettie left.
Sophie of course knew the hat trade quite well already. Since she was a tiny child she had run in and out of the big workshed across the yard where the hats were damped and molded on blocks, and flowers and fruit and other trimmings were made from wax and silk. She knew the people who worked there. Most of them had been there when her father was a boy. She knew Bessie, the only remaining shop assistant. She knew the customers who bought the hats and the man who drove the cart which fetched raw straw hats in from the country to be shaped on the blocks in the shed. She knew the other suppliers and how you made felt for winter hats. There was not really much that Fanny could teach her, except perhaps the best way to get a customer to buy a hat.
“You lead up to the right hat, love,” Fanny said. “Show them the ones that won’t quite do first, so they know the difference as soon as they put the right one on.”
In fact, Sophie did not sell hats very much. After a day or so observing in the workshed, and another day going round the clothier and the silk merchant’s with Fanny, Fanny set her to trimming hats. Sophie sat in a small alcove21 at the back of the shop, sewing roses to bonnets22 and veiling to velours, lining24 all of them with silk and arranging wax fruit and ribbons stylishly25 on the outsides. She was good at it. She quite liked doing it. But she felt so isolated26 and a little dull. The workshop people were too old to be much fun and, besides, they treated her as someone apart who was going to inherit the business someday. Bessie treated her the same way. Bessie’s only talk anyway was about the farmer she was going to marry the week after May Day. Sophie rather envied Fanny, who could bustle27 off to bargain with the silk merchant whenever she wanted.
The most interesting thing was the talk from the customers. Nobody can buy a hat without gossiping. Sophie sat in her alcove and stitched and heard that the Mayor never would eat green vegetables, and that Wizard Howl’s castle had moved round to the cliffs again, really that man, whisper, whisper, whisper…. The voices always dropped low when they talked of Wizard Howl, but Sophie gathered that he had caught a girl down the valley last month. “Bluebeard!” said the whispers, and then became voices again to say that Jane Farrier was a perfect disgrace the way she did her hair. That was one who would never attract even Wizard Howl, let alone a respectable man. Then there would be a fleeting28, fearful whisper about the Witch of the Waste. Sophie began to feel that Wizard Howl and the Witch of the Waste should get together.
“They seem to be made for one another. Someone ought to arrange a match,” she remarked to the hat she was trimming at that moment.
But by the end of the month the gossip in the shop was suddenly all about Lettie. Cesari’s, it seemed, was packed with gentlemen from morning to night, each one buying quantities of cakes and demanding to be served by Lettie. She had ten proposals of marriage, ranging in quality from the Mayor’s son to the lad who swept the streets, and she had refused them all, saying she was too young to make up her mind yet.
“I call that sensible of her,” Sophie said to the bonnet23 she was pleating silk into.
Fanny was pleased with this news. “I knew she’d be all right!” she said happily. It occurred to Sophie that Fanny was glad Lettie was no longer around.
“Lettie’s bad for custom,” she told the bonnet, pleating away at the mushroom-colored silk. “She would make even you look glamorous29, you dowdy30 old thing. Other ladies look at Lettie and despair.”
Sophie talked to hats more and more as weeks went by. There was no one else much to talk to. Fanny was out bargaining, or trying to whip up custom, much of the day, and Bessie was busy serving and telling everyone her wedding plans. Sophie got into the habit of putting each hat on the stand as she finished it, where it sat almost looking like a head without a body, and pausing while she told the hat what the body under it ought to be like. She flattered the hats a bit, because you should flatter customers.
“You have mysterious allure,” she told one that was all veiling with hidden twinkles. To a wide, creamy hat with roses under the brim, she said, “You are going to have to marry money!” and to a caterpillar-green straw with a curly green feather she said, “You are young as a spring leaf.” She told pink bonnets they had dimpled charm and smart hats trimmed with velvet31 that they were witty32. She told the mushroom-pleated bonnet, “You have a heart of gold and someone in a high position will see it and fall in love with you.” This was because she was sorry for that particular bonnet. It looked so fussy33 and plain.
Jane Farrier came into the shop next day and bought it. Her hair did look a little strange, Sophie thought, peeping out of her alcove, as if Jane had wound it round a row of pokers34. It seemed a pity she had chosen that bonnet. But everyone seemed to be buying hats and bonnets around then. Maybe it was Fanny’s sales talk or maybe it was spring coming on, but the hat trade was definitely picking up. Fanny began to say, a little guiltily, “I think I shouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get Martha and Lettie placed out. At this rate we might have managed.”
There was so much custom as April drew on towards May Day that Sophie had to put on a demure35 gray dress and help in the shop too. But such was the demand that she was hard at trimming hats in between customers, and every evening she took them next door to the house, where she worked by lamplight far into the night in order to have hats to sell the next day. Caterpillar-green hats like the one the Mayor’s wife had were much called for, and so were pink bonnets. Then, the week before May Day, someone came in and asked for one with mushroom pleats like the one Jane Farrier had been wearing when she ran off with the Count of Catterack.
That night, as she sewed, Sophie admitted to herself that her life was rather dull. Instead of talking to the hats, she tried each one on as she finished it and looked in the mirror. This was a mistake. The staid gray dress did not suit Sophie, particularly when her eyes were red-rimmed with sewing, and, since her hair was a reddish straw color, neither did caterpillar-green nor pink. The one with the mushroom pleats simply made her look dreary36. “Like an old maid!” said Sophie. Not that she wanted to race off with counts, like Jane Farrier, or even fancied half the town offering her marriage, like Lettie. But she wanted to do something-she was not sure what- that had a bit more interest to it than simply trimming hats. She thought she would find time next day to go and talk to Lettie.
But she did not go. Either she could not find the time, or she could not find the energy, or it seemed a great distance to Market Square, or she remembered that on her own she was in danger from Wizard Howl- anyway, every day it seemed more difficult to go and see her sister. It was very odd. Sophie had always thought she was nearly as strong-minded as Lettie. Now she was finding that there were some things she could only do when there were no excuses left. “This is absurd!” Sophie said. “Market Square is only two streets away. If I run-“ And she swore to herself she would go round to Cesari’s when the hat shop was closed for May Day.
Meanwhile a new piece of gossip came into the shop. The King had quarreled with his own brother, Prince Justin, it was said, and the Prince had gone into exile. Nobody quite knew the reason for the quarrel, but the Prince had actually come through Market Chipping in disguise a couple of months back, and nobody had known. The Count of Catterack had been sent by the King to look for the Prince, when he happened to meet Jane Farrier instead. Sophie listened and felt sad. Interesting things did seem to happen, but always to somebody else. Still, it would be nice to see Lettie.
May Day came. Merrymaking filled the streets from dawn onward37. Fanny went out early, but Sophie had a couple of hats to finish first. Sophie sang as she worked. After all, Lettie was working too. Cesari’s was open till midnight on holidays. “I shall buy one of their cream cakes,” Sophie decided. “I haven’t had one for ages.” She watched people crowding past the window in all kinds of bright clothes, people selling souvenirs, people walking on stilts38, and felt really excited.
But when she at last put a gray shawl over her gray dress and went out into the street, Sophie did not feel excited. She felt overwhelmed. There were too many people rushing past, laughing and shouting, far too much noise and jostling. Sophie felt as if the past months of sitting and sewing had turned her into an old woman or a semi-invalid. She gathered her shawl around her and crept along close to the houses, trying to avoid being trodden on my people’s best shoes or being jabbed by elbows in trailing silk sleeves. When there came a sudden volley of bangs from overhead somewhere, Sophie thought she was going to faint. She looked up and saw Wizard Howl’s castle right down on the hillside above the town, so near it seemed to be sitting on the chimneys. Blue flames were shooting out of all four of the castle’s turrets, bringing balls of blue fire with them that exploded high in the sky, quite horrendously39. Wizard Howl seemed to be offended by May Day. Or maybe he was trying to join in, in his own fashion. Sophie was too terrified to care. She would have gone home, except that she was halfway40 to Cesari’s by then. So she ran.
“What made me think I wanted life to be interesting?” she asked as she ran. “I’d be far too scared. It comes of being the eldest of three.”
When she reached Market Square, it was worse, if possible. most of the inns were in the Square. Crowds of young men swaggered beerily to and fro, trailing cloaks and long sleeves and stamping buckled41 boots they would never have dreamed of wearing on a working day, calling loud remarks and accosting43 girls. The girls strolled in fine pairs, ready to be accosted44. It was perfectly45 normal for May Day, but Sophie was scared of that too. And when a young man in a fantastical blue-and-silver costume spotted46 Sophie and decided to accost42 her as well, Sophie shrank into a shop doorway47 and tried to hide.
The young man looked at her in surprise. “It’s all right, you little gray mouse,” he said, laughing rather pityingly. “I only want to buy you a drink. Don’t look so scared.”
The pitying look made Sophie utterly ashamed. He was such a dashing specimen48 too, with a bony, sophisticated face-really quite old, well into his twenties- and elaborate blonde hair. His sleeves trailed longer than any in the Square, all scalloped edges and silver insets. “Oh, no thank you, if you please, sir,” Sophie stammered49. “I- I’m on my way to see my sister.”
“Then by all means do so,” laughed this advanced young man. “Who am I to keep a pretty lady from her sister? Would you like me to go with you, since you seem so scared?”
He meant it kindly50, which made Sophie more ashamed than ever. “No. No thank you, sir!” she gasped51 and fled away past him. He wore perfume too. The smell of hyacinths followed her as she ran. What a courtly person! Sophie thought, as she pushed her way between the little tables outside Cesari’s.
The tables were packed. Inside was packed and as noisy as the Square. Sophie located Lettie among the line of assistants at the counter because of the group of evident farmer’ sons leaning their elbows on it to shout remarks to her. Lettie, prettier than ever and perhaps a little thinner, was putting cakes into bags as fast as she could go, giving each bag a deft little twist and looking back under her own elbow with a smile and an answer for each bag she twisted. There was a great deal of laughter. Sophie had to fight her way through to the counter.
Lettie saw her. She looked shaken for a moment. Then her eyes and her smile widened and she shouted, “Sophie!”
“Can I talk to you?” Sophie yelled. “Somewhere,” she shouted, a little helplessly, as a large well-dressed elbow jostled her back from the counter.
“Just a moment!” Lettie screamed back. She turned to the girl next to her and whispered. The girl nodded, grinned, and came to take Lettie’s place.
“You’ll have to have me instead,” she said to the crowd. “Who’s next?”
“But I want to talk to you, Lettie!” one of the farmers’ sons yelled.
“Talk to Carrie,” Lettie said. “I want to talk to my sister.” Nobody really seemed to mind. They jostled Sophie along to the end of the counter where Lettie held up a flap and beckoned52, and told her not to keep Lettie all day. When Sophie had edged through the flap, Lettie seized her wrist and dragged her into the back of the shop, to a room surrounded by rack upon wooden rack, each one filled with rows of cakes. Lettie pulled forward two stools. “Sit down,” she said. She looked in the nearest rack, in an absent-minded way, and handed Sophie a cream cake out of it. “You may need this,” she said.
Sophie sank onto the stool, breathing the rich smell of cake and feeling a little tearful. “Oh, Lettie!” she said. “I am so glad to see you!”
“Yes, and I’m glad you’re sitting down,” said Lettie. “You see, I’m not Lettie, I’m Martha.”
第一章 跟帽子说话的苏菲
在印格利国里，像七里靴啦、隐形斗篷这些东西，可是确实存在的唷！但在这个国家里，当三个兄弟姐妹中的老大可是顶倒霉的一件事。每个人都认定了你会第一个失败！尤其是三个人必须一道出门奋斗时，人们更是认定了老大铁定会最没成就。
苏菲海特是三个姐妹中的老大。假如他是个伐木工的女儿，她成功的几率或许还能大些。但她的父母经济能力优渥，在繁荣的马克齐平镇上开有一家帽店。苏菲的生母在她两岁，妹妹乐蒂一岁时去世。他父亲再娶，对象是店里最年轻的助手，一个叫芬妮的美丽金发女子。婚后不久，芬妮又生了老三玛莎。照说苏菲跟乐蒂因此就会成为一般故事中的丑姐姐了，但事实上三个女孩都长得很漂亮。尤其是乐蒂，是大家公认三姐妹中最美丽的一个！芬妮对三个女孩皆疼爱有加，一点也不会对玛莎特别偏爱。
海特先生很以她的三个女儿为荣，送她们到镇上最好的学校就读，苏菲最用功，她大量地阅读，但她也很快就认识到，自己能够拥有“有趣未来”的可能性微乎其微。虽然她不免觉得失望，但她的日子一般说来仍算过得很愉快——照顾妹妹们，并且教导玛莎当机会来临时要会掌握。因为芬妮总是在店里忙着，照顾妹妹们的责任自然就落在苏菲身上。两个妹妹常会吵架，互相扯头发尖叫连连。乐蒂不甘心成为继苏菲之后较不成功的一个。
“不公平！”乐蒂总会尖叫：“凭什么只因为她最小她就可以拥有最好的？我要嫁给王子！我偏要！”
玛莎听了，总会顶她说，她单凭一己之力，无需嫁给王子，就可以有钱到不行！
接下来，苏菲就得想法子将她们拉开，并修补她们的衣裳。她很巧于针线，后来，甚至还为妹妹们裁制衣裳。其中有一件她为乐蒂参加五月节（也就是本书正式开始的那个日子）所缝制的深玫瑰色的外衣，芬妮认为那简直像在金斯别利城里最贵的店里买的高档货。
也差不多就在那个时候，人们开始谈起荒地的女巫，据说女巫威胁要取国王女儿的性命。国王派他私人的魔法师——苏利曼巫师，到荒地去对付女巫。结果似乎不仅仅没能将女巫摆平，苏利曼巫师还因此丧了命。
因此，在那件事件过后数个月，当一座高大的黑色城堡突然出现在马克齐平镇旁的山丘上，四个高高的、狭长的角楼持续地往外冒出黑烟时，每个人都认为女巫又搬出荒地了！她又要像五十年前那样，开始陷全国于恐怖之中了！人们非常害怕！没有人敢独自出门，尤其是夜里。更可怕的是，城堡并不是固定呆在同一个地方，有时是在西北方荒野上一个高高的黑色污点；有时又绕到东边的岩壁上；有时直下山岗，就坐在离镇北最后一座农场不远的石南地上；有时还真的可以看到它在移动，脏脏的灰烟由角楼里阵阵涌出。有一阵子，每个人都确信要不了多久，那城堡就会直下到山谷里来了。镇长也说要派人到国王那儿讨救兵。
但那城堡只是持续地绕着山岗转。后来人们更听说那其实不是女巫的城堡，而是豪尔巫师的。豪尔巫师也是个声名狼藉的人物。虽然看来他似乎无意离开山岗，但据说他最喜欢收集年轻女孩儿，并且汲取她们的灵魂。还有人说他喜欢吃女孩儿的心脏。总之，他是一个极端冷血、没心少肺的巫师。任何落单的女孩儿若被他捉住了，铁定完蛋！苏菲、乐蒂、玛莎跟马克齐平所有的其他的女孩们都受到警告：绝对不能单独外出。这叫她们讨厌的要命！不知豪尔巫师收集那么多灵魂到底要做什么？
但是，过不了多久，他们的心思就为别的烦心事而给占据了。就在苏菲将要完成学业时，海特先生突然去世。他死后，她们才发现他是多么宠爱他的三个女儿！因为负担了昂贵的学费，店里背负了相当沉重的债务。办完丧事后，芬妮在紧邻着店铺的自家客厅里跟三个女儿说明家里的情形。
“恐怕你们都得离开学校，去当个有工作前途的学徒之类的。”她说：“我算了又算，不知算了多少回，发现那是唯一能让店铺继续经营下去，又能养活你们三人的方法。要你们三个人全留在店里帮忙是很不实际的，我也负担不起，我现在就告诉你们我的决定。先说乐蒂……”
乐蒂闻言抬起头来，脸上散发着连忧伤与黑色都掩饰不住的健康、美丽的光彩。“我想继续学习。”她说。
“那不成问题，亲爱的，”芬妮说：“我安排你到方形市场的糕饼师傅希赛利先生的店里当学徒。他们对店里的学徒出名的好，简直跟对待国王和皇后一样。你在那儿不仅会过得很愉快，还能学到一样有用的技艺。希赛利太太是我们店里的好主顾，也是好朋友。她基于帮忙的性质，同意将你硬安排进去。”
乐蒂的笑声显露出她其实一点都不快乐。“好的，谢谢你，”她说：“多亏了我一向爱煮东西，不是吗？”
芬妮看来如释重负，因为乐蒂有时脾气很倔。“至于你呢，玛莎，”她说：“我知道你还太小，无法外出工作。所以，我一直在思索，想找一个让你做得长久且安静的学习机会。你记得我的老同学安娜贝儿。菲菲克丝吗？”
长得瘦削美丽的玛莎，大大的灰色眼珠紧盯着芬妮，倔强的神情一点也不输给乐蒂。“你是说，很爱说话的那一位？”她问道：“它不是女巫吗？”
“是的。她有个漂亮的房子，而且顾客遍及福尔丁谷。”芬妮热切地说：“玛莎，她人很好。她会将所知的一切倾囊相授，而且很可能还会介绍她所认识的金斯别利城的要人给你认识。等你学成，将可衣食无虞。”
“她是个好人，”玛莎让步了。“好吧！”
苏菲边听着，边觉得芬妮真是什么都想到了。身为次女的乐蒂，注定也成不了大气候，所以芬妮将她安排到一个可能遇到年轻英俊的见习生的地方，结婚后，快乐地过一辈子。玛莎这注定要成大功发大财，巫术及有钱的朋友将能帮助她成功。至于她自己，他可是心知肚明。因此当芬妮说：“至于里，亲爱的苏菲，既然身为长女，将来我退休后，帽子店理当由你继承。所以我决定让你来店里当学徒，好有机会学习这个行业。你觉得如何？”
不消说，对这样的命运，苏菲早就认了。她满怀感激地谢谢芬妮。
“那么，事情就这么决定？？？”芬妮说。
次日，苏菲帮玛莎将衣服打包，放到盒子里。隔日早晨，大家目送她搭着马车离去。她看来十分娇小，腰杆虽然挺得笔直，却透着紧张。因为往菲菲克丝太太居住的上福尔丁途中，必须越过豪尔巫师那座凌空城堡所盘踞的山丘，玛莎当然会感到害怕。
“她不会有事的。”乐蒂说。乐蒂打包时完全不要别人帮忙。在玛莎的车子甫离开视线，她就将所有的衣物全塞到一个枕套里，找来附近的车童，以六便士的代价，要他将东西用独轮车推到方形市场的希赛利糕饼店去。她自己则安步当车，跟在独轮车后，神情比苏菲所预期的快乐许多，仿佛帽子店里的灰尘都被她悉数抖落在地似的，愉快的不得了。
车童带回一张乐蒂潦草写的短笺，说东西都放到女生宿舍里了，希赛利糕饼店看来蛮好玩的。一个星期之后，玛莎写信来，说她已安全抵达。菲菲克丝太太“人好的没话说，什么东西都要淋上蜂蜜，养了一群蜜蜂。”接下来，有许久苏菲都没有跟她的妹妹们联络，因为玛莎和乐蒂离开当天，她自己也开始了帽店的学徒生涯。
事实上，苏菲对帽子这一行早就十分熟悉。她从小就在院子对面的帽子工厂里跑进跑出。帽子的质材如何浸泡，如何在帽墩上成型，花与水果的干燥、烘制、如何用蜡或缎带制作其他的帽饰等等，她都了然于胸。她也认得所有的工人。其中几位，从他父亲还小时就在哪儿工作了。她认得唯一留下来的店员贝希，认得来买过帽子的客人们，还有乡下运来草帽好在仓库里加工制造的车夫；她也认得其他的供应商，知道制作冬帽用的毛料如何制造。芬妮能教她的其实相当有限，唯一能学到的，或许是诱使客人买帽子的方法与诀窍吧。
“你带她们到最适合的帽之前，”芬妮说：“但是，先让他们试戴那些不怎么合适的帽子。这样一来，当他们戴上那顶适合的帽子时，就能优劣立判。”
事实上，苏菲不常卖帽子。在工厂观察实际作业一天，又陪着芬妮拜访布商和丝绸商一天后，芬妮就要她去装饰帽子。苏菲坐在帽店后头的小房间里，在无边的女帽上缝上玫瑰，为丝绒帽加上面纱，为所有的帽子缝上丝织的衬里，然后在外面以蜡制的水果和缎带设计出迷人的风采。她技艺卓越也喜欢这样的工作，但不免觉得生活太孤立，并且有些枯燥无趣。厂里的工人年纪都很大了，相处起来没啥趣味，而且他们也当她是将来要继承家业的人，言行举止间因而有份客气与拘束。贝希也一样，谈话的唯一内容是五月节过后一星期要与她结婚的那个农夫。苏菲很羡慕芬妮能不拘时刻、随心所欲地出门，去和缎带上讨价还价。
最有趣的还是来自顾客们的谈话。没有人在买帽子的同时能不说长道短的。苏菲坐在小房间里，听着市长从不吃青菜，豪尔巫师的城堡又移到峭壁上空，那个人实在是……等等等等，吱吱喳喳、吱吱喳喳……每当豪尔巫师被提及时，讨论的声量就突然变小。不过苏菲推断出他上个月在山谷抓了一个女孩。“蓝胡子！”（注：《格林童话》中的蓝胡子）说话的人悄声地说，然后声音又变大了，说珍法丽儿那个发型简直是丢脸到家了！梳那种头，连豪尔巫师都要倒胃口，何况是一般正派的男子。然后，会有那么一段短暂的、声音中透着恐惧的，关于荒地女巫的悄声谈论。苏菲开始觉得，豪尔巫师和荒地女巫这两个人还真该凑成一对才是。
“这两人似乎是天造地设的一对，应该要有人替他们撮合一下。”她跟她手头正在装饰的帽子说。
但是到了当月底，乐蒂突然成为店里所有闲话的话题。看来似乎是，希赛利糕饼店由早到晚挤满了蜂拥而至的男士。每个人都点了一大堆糕点，并指明要乐蒂当该桌的服务生。她已经接到了十起求婚，对象上至镇长的儿子下至扫街的工人，而她全部予以拒绝，理由是她还太年轻，无法作决定。
“她这么做是很聪明的。”苏菲边缝着丝带，边跟帽子说话。
这样的消息让芬妮很高兴。“我就知道他会过得好好的！”她快乐地说。但苏菲听着，突然觉得芬妮似乎很高兴乐蒂终于不在身边了。
“乐蒂在这儿会妨碍生意，”她边着褶蘑菇色的丝缎边跟帽子说：“就连你这个寒酸老气的家伙戴到她头上都会变得美不可言。别的女人一看到她，会感到人生无望的。”
随着日子一天天过去，苏菲跟帽子说话的时间越来越多，因为她没有别的谈话对象。芬妮大部分的时间都在外面跑——不是去跟人讲价，就是去推销生意。贝希则忙着接待店里的客人及谈论她的婚礼筹划的情形。苏菲开始养成一个习惯：每完成一项帽子，将它挂到帽架上后，看着这个仿佛缺少身体的人头，他会沉思一下后，告诉那顶帽子它的身体应该是什么样子。她会挑些好听的话跟它说，因为对顾客理应巴结，说说好话。
“你带着神秘的诱惑力哦，”她这么告诉一顶面纱后藏有亮片的帽子。对一顶乳白色、宽边、帽沿下缝有玫瑰的帽子，她说的是：“你会嫁给有钱人！”至于那顶嫩绿色，饰有一根卷曲绿色羽毛的草帽，她说的是：“你像春天的嫩叶般年轻！”她告诉粉红色的无边软帽，它有酒窝的风情与可爱；饰有丝绒带子、样子时髦的帽子则机敏风趣；对那顶打蘑菇色皱褶的女帽，她说的是：“你心地善良无比，一个位高权重的人将会看出这一点而爱上你。”之所以这么说，是因为那顶帽子看来实在是其貌不扬，很难取悦于人。
那顶帽子第二天被珍法丽儿买去了。苏菲由小房里偷偷探头看了一下，她的头发确实梳得有些奇怪，好像是绕着一排钳子梳出来的，会选上那顶帽子实在有些可怜，但是那阵子好像每个人都跑来买帽子。也许是芬妮促销成功，也或许是因为春天到了。总之，帽店的生意肯定是好转了。芬妮开始有点愧疚地说：“当初或许不该急着将玛莎和乐蒂送走。因为照这个情形看来，我们应该还应付得过去。”
随着五月节的接近，四月里顾客真是多到接不完，连苏菲都必须穿上一件严肃的灰色洋装跟着在店里帮忙。但生意实在太好了！因此，在接待客人的空档间，她还得忙着装饰帽子。每晚，她都得将帽子带回位于帽店隔壁的住家，就着灯光工作到深夜，以便第二天有帽子可卖，乡镇长夫人戴的那种嫩绿色草帽有许多人订购，粉红色的无边软帽也是。然后，在五月节的前一星期，有人进来订购一顶珍法丽儿和卡特拉克男爵私奔时戴的那种打有蘑菇色褶子的帽子。
当晚，苏菲缝着帽子时，首度对自己承认，她的生活实在是枯燥无趣。因此，在完成每顶帽子后，她不再跟它们说话。反而，将它们戴起来，看看自己镜里的模样。这真是一个错误！首先，那件灰衣服本就不适合她穿。尤其她的眼睛因为工作太久变得红通通的，再加上一头红发，不管是戴绿色草帽或粉红色帽子都跟它不搭调。而那顶打有蘑菇色褶子的帽子戴起来更是可怕。“像老处女一样！”苏菲叹道。她到无意向珍法丽儿一样跟男爵私奔，或想象自己会跟乐蒂一样，吸引城里一半的男士来求婚。但是她很想做一些事情，一些比纯粹修饰帽子有趣的事——虽然她还不确定是什么样的事。她想，第二天要找时间去看看乐蒂，跟她谈一谈。
但是她并没有去成。原因不外乎她太忙没时间，不然就是太累提不起劲，或者是嫌方形市场似乎蛮远的；要不嘛，就是她突然想到豪尔巫师挺危险的。总之，随着日子一天天过去，与妹妹见面一事变得越来越困难。这样的情景实在诡异。苏菲一向认为自己几乎跟乐蒂一样有主见，现在却发现自己一再找借口搪塞拖延。“这太荒谬了！”她说：“方形市场离这里不过两条街，我用跑得话……”她跟自己发誓，五月节那天，店关门后她一定要去希赛利糕饼店一趟。
这期间，店里又有了新的八卦新闻，听说国王和他的亲弟弟贾斯汀王子吵架，王子被放逐了，没人知道争吵的真正原因，但是几个月前，王子成便装经过马克齐平镇，当时没有人认出他来。卡特拉克男爵就是奉国王的命令出来找他时，遇到珍法丽儿的。苏菲听着，心里隐隐觉得悲伤。世上不乏有趣的事，偏都降临在别人身上。不过，去看看乐蒂应该是不错的。
五月节终于到了。一早，街上就充满了欢乐气息。芬妮很早就出门去了，但苏菲得先将一些帽子做好，她边做边唱歌，横竖乐蒂那天也是的工作的。希赛利糕饼店假日都开到午夜十二点。“我要每一块他们的奶油蛋糕来吃，”苏菲下了决定：“我好久没吃奶油蛋糕了。”她看着窗外熙攘的人群，每个人都穿着明亮鲜艳的服装，还有买纪念品的、踩高跷的，心情不由得跟着兴奋起来。
但是当她终于披上一件灰色披肩，走到街上时，她不仅不感到兴奋，反而觉得整个人快被淹没似的。太多人在身边跑来跑去笑着、叫着，实在是太吵杂、太拥挤了！苏菲觉得过去几个月的静坐缝纫，已经将她变成一个老女人或半残废了。她将披肩紧紧围住，沿着路旁的房子走，以免被人们的好鞋子踩到，或被穿着长长飘逸丝袖的手肘撞到。当头上突然传来一阵巨响时。她差点吓昏过去。她抬头一望，看到豪尔巫师的城堡就停在小镇上方的山坡上，离得那么近，给人它就坐在烟囱上的错觉。四个角楼全往外冒着蓝烟，随着烟喷射而出的是蓝色的火球，火球在高空中爆炸开来，乱恐怖的。五月节大概冒犯到豪尔巫师了？有或许他想以自己的方式来加入庆典？但是苏菲实在太害怕了，没心情多想。若非她已经走到半路，她早逃回家去了。她开始奔跑。
“我怎会想要把日子过得有趣呢？”她边跑边想：“真那样的话，我会非常害怕。这都是因为我是长女的缘故。”
当她抵达方形市场时，情形只有更糟，因为大部分的酒店都开在这儿，街上满是带着酒气与醉意的年轻男子，穿着长长的斗篷、飘逸的长袖，踩着工作时决不会穿着带环扣长统靴，东倒西歪地走来走去，嘴里大声地喧嚷，和女孩儿搭讪。女孩儿则两人一组慢慢走着，等男子前来搭讪。在五月节里，这是再自然不过的事了，但是苏菲连这个都感到害怕。当一位穿着非常出色的蓝银色相间戏服的年轻男子看到她，决定过来搭讪时，她退到一间店铺的门口，想躲起来。
那年轻男子惊讶地看着她。“小灰鼠，没关系的！”边说边笑着，笑声中带着怜悯：“我不过想请你喝一杯，你无需这样害怕。”
那怜悯的眼神令苏菲非常羞愧。这人还长得好帅气——脸型瘦削、线条分明，看来很有教养，颇有些年纪了……应该有二十好几了吧？一头金发显然经过刻意的梳理。她的长袖拖曳的比方形市场上任何人都长，不仅有贝型的装饰边，还镶了银线。“噢，不用了，谢谢。如果你不介意的话。”她的舌头开始打结：“我……我正要去找我妹妹。”
“那我就不耽搁你了，”这个献殷勤的年轻男子笑着说：“我怎好妨碍这样美丽的姑娘与他的姐妹见面？你看起来十分害怕，要不要我陪你去？”
他这番话纯粹出于好意，却也令苏菲更加羞愧。“不，不用了。谢谢你，先生。”她喘着气，由他身边逃开，他身上撒了香水，那风信子的香味在她奔跑时一路跟着她。“真是会献殷勤的一个人！”苏菲边挤过希塞利糕饼店外小餐桌间的人群边想着。
每张餐桌都坐满了人。里头跟外头一样吵闹。柜台处有一排女服务生，苏菲很快就看到了乐蒂，因为一群显然出身农家的年轻男子手肘正靠在柜台上，大声地跟她说话。乐蒂看来更漂亮了！可似乎稍稍瘦了点。她正尽快地装蛋糕，将蛋糕放到袋子里，袋口熟练地扭转下，然后回过头来微笑着说上一句话。柜台处笑声不断，苏菲费尽力气才挤过去。
乐蒂看到她时很明显地吓了一跳。然后她张大眼笑了开来，大叫道：“苏菲！”
“我能跟你说说话吗？”苏菲喊回去：“找个什么地方？”边喊着，旁边一只大大的、穿着入时的手肘却将她推离了柜台，令她颇有无能为力的感觉。
“等一会儿！”乐蒂喊回来，它转身跟旁边的女孩悄声说话。那女孩点点头，笑了笑，占到乐蒂的位置上。
“换我来为各位服务。”她更众人宣布后问道：“下一个是谁？”
“可是乐蒂，我想跟你说话呀！”其中一位农村青年喊道。
“跟凯莉说吧，”乐蒂回道：“我想跟我姐姐说话。”大家好像并不介意，他们将苏菲拥到柜台的边端，乐蒂开着柜台的边门等着。男士们叮咛说，别将乐蒂霸着一整天不放。苏菲挤过那道边门后，乐蒂拉过两张凳子：“坐吧。”她看着最近的木架，脸上有种心不在焉的神情，伸手拿过一块蛋糕递给苏菲。“你可能需要这个。”她说。
苏菲坐在凳子上，吸着蛋糕浓郁的香味，觉得泫然欲泣。“乐蒂，”她说：“我好高兴看到你！”
“是的。我也很高兴你现在是坐着，”乐蒂说：“因为，我并不是乐蒂，我是玛莎。”
收听单词发音 |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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grooming
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| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
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3
deft
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| adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手） | |
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4
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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5
turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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apprenticed
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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stylishly
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| adv.时髦地，新式地 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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glamorous
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| adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的 | |
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dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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pokers
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| n.拨火铁棒( poker的名词复数 )；纸牌；扑克；（通常指人）（坐或站得）直挺挺的 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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stilts
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| n.（支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的）桩子，支柱( stilt的名词复数 )；高跷 | |
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horrendously
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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accost
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| v.向人搭话，打招呼 | |
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accosting
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的现在分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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