看到这篇文章，小编不禁联想到日本电影《入殓师》。当初听到这个名字的时候非常担心影片的内容会很晦涩阴暗，看过之后却感触良多，发现它处处流露着对生命的尊重和人生的思考。本文是一篇凄美的作品，是美国国家公共电台（NPR）“三分钟小说”写作比赛的获奖文章。也许大多数人没有想过一篇以“some people swore that the house was haunted”开头的文章却没有任何恐怖内容。就如电影《落叶归根》，无论是人类还是动物，都希望死后能有一个安稳的归处。
Some people swore that the house was 1)haunted. Almost every day for three weeks, we'd find a dead one inside of it.
有些人发誓说，那间鸟屋闹鬼。在长达三个星期的时间里，我们几乎每天都会在里面发现一具尸体。
Bill wanted to chop it down, but Mother said no. “They need somewhere safe to die. Someplace warm and maybe a little dry. It stays.”
比尔想把它砍倒，但母亲说不行。“它们也需要一个安全的葬身之地。一个温暖、或许还有点干燥的地方。就让它留着吧。”
The first one we found was a 2)hoot owl. It lay inside the painted blue 3)plywood walls, its face pressed firmly into the floor like it had been dropped from some great height.
我们发现的第一具尸体是一只森鸮。它躺在被漆成蓝色的夹板墙里，脸紧紧地压在地板上，好像被谁从极高的地方扔下来一样。
Bill buried it behind his woodshed and we all 4)said grace.
比尔把它埋在柴房的后面，我们所有人都做了祷告。
That night I saw the owl on a branch outside of my window. It was pale white and almost completely see-through like milk in an owl-shaped glass. It shifted from leg to leg and kept 5)looking over its shoulder. I couldn't see what it was looking for. It was cloudy and the woods were dark.
那天晚上，我看到这只森鸮站在我窗外的一根树枝上。它浑身苍白，几乎完全透明，就像是一个猫头鹰形状的玻璃杯里装着的牛奶。它从一只脚换到另一只脚地站着，不停地回头看看。我看不见它在找什么。那晚乌云密布，树林里一片漆黑。
The next one was a 6)falcon of some kind. Shelby pulled an old bird book from the shelf and we all watched as he turned the pages until we found it.
第二只是某种猎鹰。谢尔比从书架上拽出一本关于鸟类的旧书，我们都在旁边看着他翻动书页，直到在书中找到它。
“7)Peregrine,” he said softly and looked up.
“游隼，”他轻轻地说道，抬起了头。
Bill looked closer. That bird shouldn't be around here.
比尔仔细地看了看。这种鸟儿不应该在这附近出现。
We buried it and said grace, and that night it was on the branch outside of my window. The owl shifted and the falcon 8)ruffled its feathers.
我们把它埋了，并做了祷告。那天晚上它也出现在我窗外的树枝上。那只森鸮还在换脚，而那只猎鹰则竖起它的羽毛。
The next day we found three 9)mockingbirds, and that night they were all there on the branch, facing my window.
第二天，我们发现了三只知更鸟，那天晚上，它们全都站在那根树枝上，面朝着我的窗户。
“Shelby, come see.” Shelby woke up, 10)bleary, and blinked against the 11)windowpane. “Trees,” he said.
“谢尔比，快来看啊。”谢尔比醒了，睡眼朦胧，对着窗玻璃眨了眨眼。“只是树啊，”他说。
I looked, but the white birds were there. They were shining like moons and the dead leaves curled away from them.
我看了看，但那些白色的鸟儿还在那里。它们就像月亮一样银光闪闪，干枯的树叶从它们身边蜷曲开来。