Story text / 故事文字
One and One Make Two
The next evening, Mia was doing sums on her laptop. She pressed one, then plus, then one again, and then the big key. Then she asked the screen, "What's one and one?" and she waited.
Down in Glowtown, a bell rang, ding-dong! "A sum, a sum!" sang the Sparklings. Two of them jumped up, one for each one. "We must take the answer to the Window, quick, before Mia gets sleepy!"
"The answer's easy, it's two!" said Bit. But Old Byte shook her head slowly. "In Glowtown, every lamp is only on or off," she said. "There is no lamp for two." Lulu blinked. "Then how do we make two?"
Old Byte led them to the Adding Gates. There stood the Both Gate, yawning as usual, and beside it its cousin, the Just-One Gate. Behind the gates were two little houses, each with one lamp on its roof, the Ones house and, next door, the Twos house.
"Let's try with one Sparkling first," said Lulu. One little Sparkling ran up alone. "Just one? Come in!" sang the Just-One Gate, and the Sparkling hopped into the Ones house. Its lamp lit up. "That's one," said Old Byte.
Now both Sparklings ran up together. "Easy!" said Bit, and he pushed them both into the Ones house, squash, squeeze, pop! One Sparkling popped straight back out. "Only one fits in each house," giggled Lulu.
"Just one, not both!" sang the Just-One Gate, and it closed its doors. The Ones house lamp went dark. The two Sparklings looked at each other. Where could they go now?
Then the Both Gate opened its eyes. "Both of you? Then come with me!" It swung wide open, and the two Sparklings held hands and hopped together, next door, into the Twos house. Its lamp lit up, bright and gold.
"Look," said Old Byte. "The Ones house is dark, and the Twos house is lit. That is how Glowtown writes two!" Glitch clapped her wings. "Two lights in one house turn into one light next door!"
Now the answer had to reach the Window. The Sparklings raced along the Golden Track, and Glitch flew ahead with Bit on her back. Far above, Mia gave a big yawn. "Hurry!" cried Lulu.
On Mia's screen, the tiny lanterns lit up, and a big golden 2 appeared. Mia sat up straight. "Two!" she cheered. "One and one make two!"
That night, Bit lay in bed and thought about it. Every sum the computer does, big or small, is just Sparklings racing through little gates, very, very fast. "Goodnight, Glowtown," he yawned. "Goodnight, one and one."
一加一等于二
第二天傍晚，米娅在电脑上做算术。她按了一，又按了加号，又按了一，最后按下那个大大的键。“一加一是多少呀？”她问屏幕，然后等着。
在发光城里，一个铃铛响了，叮咚！“有算术题啦，有算术题啦！”小火花们唱着。两个小火花跳了出来，一个代表一个“一”。“我们要快点把答案送到大窗户去，米娅快要困啦！”
“答案很简单，是二！”比比说。可是老拜特慢慢摇了摇头：“在发光城里，每盏灯只会亮或者不亮，”她说，“没有一盏灯是‘二’。”露露眨眨眼睛：“那我们怎么变出‘二’呢？”
老拜特带他们来到了“加法门”。那里站着“两块都要门”，还是那样打着哈欠，旁边是它的表兄弟，“只要一个门”。门后面有两座小房子，每座房顶上都有一盏灯，一座是“一号房”，旁边那座是“二号房”。
“我们先让一个小火花试试，”露露说。一个小火花自己跑了过去。“只有一个？请进！”“只要一个门”唱着，小火花跳进了一号房，房顶的灯亮了。“这就是一，”老拜特说。
这次两个小火花一起跑了过来。“这太简单啦！”比比说着，把它们一起往一号房里推，挤呀挤，砰！一个小火花又弹了出来。“每座房子只能住一个，”露露嘻嘻地笑。
“只要一个，两个可不行！”“只要一个门”唱着，关上了门。一号房的灯灭了。两个小火花你看看我，我看看你。现在它们能去哪儿呢？
这时，“两块都要门”睁开了眼睛。“两个一起来？那跟我走吧！”它把门大大地打开，两个小火花手拉着手，一起跳到了隔壁的二号房。房顶的灯亮了，金黄金黄的。
“你们看，”老拜特说，“一号房黑着，二号房亮着。发光城就是这样写‘二’的！”小故障拍拍翅膀：“一座房子里的两盏灯，变成了隔壁的一盏灯！”
现在，答案要送到大窗户去了。小火花们沿着金色轨道飞快地跑，小故障背着比比飞在最前面。在上面，米娅打了一个大大的哈欠。“快点！”露露大喊。
米娅的屏幕上，小灯笼一个个亮了起来，出现了一个大大的、金色的“2”。米娅一下子坐直了。“二！”她高兴地喊，“一加一等于二！”
那天晚上，比比躺在床上想呀想。电脑做的每一道算术题，不管大的还是小的，都只是小火花们穿过一扇扇小门，跑得飞快飞快。“晚安，发光城，”他打了个哈欠，“晚安，一和一。”