The Town Hall

The big hall of Hollin Bridge town hall had been built in 1887 for a population that had believed, with Victorian confidence, that it would go on growing for ever. It had a high ceiling painted with faded gold stars, tall windows, and a little stage at one end where brass bands had played and couples had been married. It also had a smell of floor polish and old radiators that Ana had come to associate with the winter fair and three hundred rolls.

霍林布里奇市政厅的大厅建于1887年，当时的人们怀着维多利亚时代的自信，坚信这里的人口会永远增长下去。大厅天花板很高，上面绘着褪色的金星，有高大的窗户，一端还有一个小小的舞台，管乐队曾在这里演奏，新人们曾在这里结为夫妻。大厅里还弥漫着地板蜡和旧暖气片的味道，在安娜的心目中，这种气味已经和冬日集市以及三百个小圆面包联系在了一起。

Tonight it held more people than it had held, Priya said, since the night the mill closed. They filled every one of the two hundred folding chairs the caretaker had set out in rows. Then they stood along the walls, and then they stood in the doorway at the back, coats still on, because it had begun to rain and nobody wanted to go home and miss it. Ana recognised half of them from the queue at ten to five. She did not recognise the other half at all.

普里亚说，今晚大厅里聚的人，比当年工厂关闭那一夜还要多。看门人排出的两百张折叠椅坐得满满当当。接着人们靠墙站着，再后来又挤在后面的门口，身上的大衣都没脱，因为外面下起雨来，谁也不想回家错过这一幕。安娜认出了其中一半的人，都是差十分五点排队的老面孔。而另一半，她完全不认识。

On the stage, at a long table covered with green cloth, sat the five members of the planning committee, with name cards in front of them and the faintly hunted look of people who had expected an evening about car parks. In the middle sat the chair, a small, precise woman in her sixties called Councillor Hale, with silver half-moon glasses and a gavel she clearly intended to use.

在铺着绿布的长桌旁，规划委员会的五名委员坐在台上，面前摆著名牌，脸上带着隐隐被围困的神情，仿佛他们原本以为今晚讨论的不过是停车场的问题。坐在正当中的是主席，一位六十多岁、举止严谨的女士，名叫黑尔议员，戴着一副银色半月形眼镜，拿着一把她显然打算派上用场的小木槌。