Story text / 故事文字
The Clock Tower Stops
The next evening, Mia was watching a cartoon on her laptop before bed. On the screen, a little white bunny hopped across a green meadow, hop, hop, hop. Mia giggled. On the windowsill beside the desk, Bit leaned close to the laptop and listened. Tick, tock, tick, tock. "There it is again!" he whispered. "The ticking from last night. It's coming from Glowtown!" Lulu listened too. "Shall we find out what it is?" she asked. But Bit was already wiggling toward the keys.
Bit and Lulu slipped down between the keys, into Glowtown. The ticking grew louder. Tick, tock, tick, tock. They followed it along a quiet street, past little round houses, until they saw it, standing tall in the middle of the city: the crystal Clock Tower. High up, its round golden face glowed like a moon. On every tick, its long golden hand jumped forward, just a tiny bit. "Wiggle-wow," breathed Bit. "So that's what's ticking!" Lulu gazed up and up. "It's even taller than Old Byte's shelves," she said.
At the foot of the tower, lay a little golden pool, with six round stepping stones in a row. Three Sparklings stood on the stones, in a row. Tick! All three hopped to the next stone, all at once. Then they waited. Tock! They hopped again, together. Old Byte, the old glowing snail, came slowly to meet them. "Every time the tower ticks, everyone in Glowtown takes one step," she said. "Just one. Then we all wait for the next tick." Bit watched the Sparklings hop and wait, hop and wait.
"Waiting is slow," said Bit. "I'll just go!" He stretched from the edge to the first stone, then the second, then the third, as fast as he could, and bonk! He bumped right into a Sparkling. Lulu giggled, and Bit wiggled back to the edge, his cheeks pinker than ever. "If everyone went whenever they liked," said Old Byte kindly, "we would all bump and muddle. The tick keeps us together, like clapping to a song. Even up at the Window, the Sparklings change Mia's picture one little step on every tick. That's how her bunny hops."
Then the ticking began to change. Tick, tock, softer and softer, and then nothing at all. The Clock Tower was silent. The golden hands stood still. The three Sparklings stopped in the middle of a hop and hung in the air above the pool, their little arms out. Old Byte stopped with her mouth open, in the middle of a word. Nothing in Glowtown moved. Only Bit and Lulu could still wiggle and wave, because they had come in from outside. "Hello?" Lulu asked softly. Nobody answered.
Up in her room, Mia's cartoon stopped too. The little white bunny hung in the air above the meadow, in the middle of a hop, just like the Sparklings, its long ears sticking straight up. Mia tapped a key. Nothing happened. She tapped it again. "Hop, bunny!" she said. But the bunny didn't move at all. Mia rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked at the laptop. "My laptop is stuck," she sighed. "I'll wait one more minute, and then it's bedtime."
"I know what to do!" said Bit. He wiggled onto a stone, took a big breath and shouted as loud as he could, "TICK! TOCK!" Lulu shook her head kindly. "Shouting tick isn't the same as the tower ticking," she said. "The tick has to come from the tower. Something must be wrong up inside it. Let's climb up and look." Bit looked up, and up, and up. The tower was very tall.
Inside the tower, a crystal stair went round and round, up and up, all the way to the top. Lulu flew up beside it. Bit had no wings and no legs, so he wiggled up, one stair at a time. Up he went, round and round, until his tummy wobbled. Through the glowing crystal walls they could see all of Glowtown below, quiet and still, with nothing moving at all. At last, Bit flopped onto the very top stair. "Made it!" he puffed. "Now, what's wrong with you, tower?"
At the top, under the big round clock face, hung the tower's heart: a long golden pendulum with a round crystal ball at the bottom. "A pendulum should swing," said Lulu. "Swing this way, tick. Swing back, tock." But it hung quite still. Stuck under the crystal ball was a fuzzy grey ball of fluff, squashed against the floor. "Dust floats into laptops through their little air holes," said Lulu. "This fluff rubbed and rubbed on the floor, and the swings got smaller and smaller, until they stopped."
Lulu tugged at the fluff ball with all six legs, and Bit pushed it with his head. Pop! Off it came, and they rolled it into a corner. But the pendulum still hung still. "A swing needs a push to start," said Lulu. "Like a swing in the park." So Bit backed up, wiggled forward, and gave the crystal ball one gentle nudge with his head. It swung away, slowly. It swung back. Then away again, a little more. TICK! TOCK! The tower was ticking again!
Down at the pool, the three Sparklings landed on their stones, plip, plip, plip! Old Byte finished her word, "...step!" and blinked. All over Glowtown, everyone took their next step, on the tick, together. Far away, through the Window, they heard Mia laugh. Her bunny had landed in the meadow. When Bit and Lulu came down, Old Byte smiled. "Thank you," she said. "Without the tick, nobody in Glowtown can take a single step."
Bit and Lulu climbed back to the windowsill. Mia had closed her laptop and gone to bed, and Lulu was already asleep. Bit curled up in his leaf and listened. Tick, tock, tick, tock. One tick, one step, everybody together. He smiled. But something was different. After so much ticking, the keys under his tummy had felt warm, and so had the streets of Glowtown, warm like a blanket in the sun. "Why is Glowtown so warm?" Bit wondered, and he fell fast asleep.
钟楼停了
第二天晚上，米娅睡觉前在电脑上看动画片。屏幕上，一只小白兔蹦过绿绿的草地，蹦，蹦，蹦。米娅嘻嘻地笑了。书桌旁边的窗台上，比比凑到电脑跟前，竖起耳朵听。嘀嗒，嘀嗒，嘀嗒。“又响了！”他小声说，“就是昨天晚上那个嘀嗒声，是从发光城里传出来的！”露露也听了听：“我们去看看是什么吧？”可是比比早就朝键盘扭过去了。
比比和露露从键盘缝里溜下去，进了发光城。嘀嗒声越来越响了：嘀嗒，嘀嗒，嘀嗒。他们顺着声音，走过一条安静的小街，走过一座座圆圆的小房子，终于看见了它。它高高地立在城中间，那就是水晶钟楼。在高高的上面，圆圆的金色钟面像月亮一样亮着。每嘀嗒一下，长长的金色指针就往前跳一小格。“哇，”比比轻轻地说，“原来是它在嘀嗒响！”露露抬头往上看呀看：“它比老拜特的架子还要高呢。”
钟楼脚下，有一个金色的小池塘，池塘里排着一排踏脚石，一共六块，圆圆的。三个小火花站在石头上，排成一排。嘀！三个一起跳到了下一块石头上，然后停下来等着。嗒！他们又一起跳了一下。老拜特，那只会发光的老蜗牛，慢慢地迎了过来。“钟楼每嘀嗒一下，发光城里的每一个，就走一步，”她说，“只走一步。然后，大家一起等下一声嘀嗒。”比比看着小火花们，跳一下，等一等，再跳一下，再等一等。
“等来等去，太慢啦，”比比说，“我自己走！”他从池塘边伸到第一块石头上，又伸到第二块，第三块，越快越好。咚！他一头撞上了一个小火花。露露嘻嘻地笑了，比比扭回池塘边，脸更红了。“要是大家想走就走，”老拜特温和地说，“就会撞来撞去，乱成一团。嘀嗒声让大家一起走，就像跟着歌拍手一样。就连在高高的大窗户那里，小火花们也是每嘀嗒一下，把米娅的画面换一小步。小兔子就是这样蹦起来的。”
这时候，嘀嗒声变了。嘀嗒，嘀嗒，声音越来越轻，越来越轻。后来，一点声音也没有了。钟楼安静了，金色的指针也不动了。三个小火花跳到一半，停在了池塘上面的半空中，小手还张着。老拜特张着嘴，一句话才说到一半，也停住了。整个发光城，什么都不动了。只有比比和露露，因为是从外面进来的，还能扭一扭，挥一挥。“有人吗？”露露轻轻地问。没有谁回答。
在楼上的房间里，米娅的动画片也停了。小白兔跳到一半，停在了草地上面的半空中，长耳朵直直地竖着，就和小火花们一样。米娅按了一下键盘，什么也没发生。她又按了一下。“蹦呀，小兔子！”她说。可是小兔子一动也不动。米娅揉了揉困困的眼睛，看着电脑。“我的电脑卡住了，”她叹了口气，“我再等一会儿，然后就该睡觉了。”
“我知道该怎么办！”比比说。他扭到一块石头上，深深吸了一口气，用最大的声音喊：“嘀！嗒！”露露温和地摇摇头：“你喊嘀嗒，和钟楼嘀嗒，可不一样，”她说，“嘀嗒声是从钟楼里来的。一定是钟楼里面出了什么问题。我们爬上去看看吧。”比比抬头往上看呀看，看呀看。钟楼真高呀。
钟楼里面，有一道水晶楼梯，转呀转，一直往上，通到最高的地方。露露在楼梯旁边往上飞。比比没有翅膀，也没有腿，只好一级一级地往上扭。他转呀转，爬呀爬，肚子都晃晕了。透过发亮的水晶墙，他们能看见下面整个发光城，静悄悄的，什么都不动。最后，比比扑通一下，趴在了最上面的一级台阶上。“到啦！”他喘着气说，“钟楼呀，你到底怎么了？”
在最上面，大大的圆钟面下面，挂着钟楼的心：一根长长的金色钟摆，下面吊着一个圆圆的水晶球。“钟摆应该摆起来的，”露露说，“往这边一摆，嘀；往回一摆，嗒。”可是它一动不动地挂着。水晶球下面，粘着一团毛茸茸的灰色灰尘球，压在地板上。“灰尘会从电脑的小气孔里飘进来，”露露说，“这团灰尘在地板上蹭呀蹭，钟摆就摆得越来越小，越来越小，最后停住了。”
露露用六条腿使劲拉灰尘球，比比用脑袋使劲推。噗！灰尘球掉了下来，他们把它滚到了角落里。可是钟摆还是一动不动地挂着。“秋千要推一下，才会荡起来，”露露说，“就像公园里的秋千一样。”于是，比比往后退了退，往前一扭，用脑袋轻轻顶了一下水晶球。它慢慢地荡了出去，又荡了回来，然后又荡出去，荡得更远了一点。嘀！嗒！钟楼又嘀嗒响起来了！
池塘边，三个小火花落在了石头上，啪嗒，啪嗒，啪嗒！老拜特把那句话说完了：“……一步！”她眨了眨眼睛。整个发光城里，大家都跟着嘀嗒声，一起走了下一步。远远地，从大窗户那边，传来了米娅的笑声，她的小兔子落到草地上了。比比和露露从钟楼上下来，老拜特笑了。“谢谢你们，”她说，“没有嘀嗒声，发光城里谁也走不了一步。”
比比和露露爬回了窗台上。米娅已经合上电脑，睡觉去了，露露也睡着了。比比在他的叶子里蜷成一团，静静地听。嘀嗒，嘀嗒，嘀嗒。嘀嗒一下，走一步，大家一起走。他笑了。可是，有一点不一样。嘀嗒了那么久，他肚子底下的键盘暖暖的，发光城的街道也暖暖的，就像晒过太阳的被子。“发光城为什么这么暖和呢？”比比想着想着，就睡着了。