I worked in the basement of a Caltech campus building that had been periodically haunted by the specter of the upper half of a roofer who had fallen from the six story roof twenty years earlier.

On the day of the 6.0 Whittier earthquakes of 1987 I arrived at the building an hour earlier than usual and took the elevator to the top floor where the snack bar was located. After buying a cup of coffee from the dispenser I strolled out of the snack room onto the penthouse balcony to gaze over the lovely campus. Just as I was about to take a sip of coffee the whole building jolted upwards and nearly knocked me off balance. Thinking the short earthquake could be a precursor to an even bigger earthquake, I turned to find my way to the stairwell. However, as I turned I was slammed to the tarmac so violently and swiftly that I had no time to break my fall with my hands.

我在加利福尼亚理工大学校内的一个地下室里工作。20年前，有个盖屋顶的工人从这栋六层楼的房顶摔了下去，从此，这楼就闹鬼，那个工人的上半身总在这楼里游荡。

1987年惠蒂尔发生6级地震的那天，我比平常早到了一个小时。坐着电梯到了顶楼的快餐店，从自动售货机买了一杯咖啡后，我踱出小吃店，走到有遮阳雨篷的阳台边，欣赏这可爱的校园景色。正当我要嘬口咖啡时，突然整个建筑向上晃动起来，我差点失去平衡。我想这个轻微的地震之后肯定还会有场剧烈的地震发生，便转身想下楼去。但我一转过身，我就被狠狠地甩倒在停机坪上，速度之快让我都没时间用手撑着不至于跌倒。

As I struggled to crawl towards the stairwell I felt a sharp jabbing pain of my left ankle. I descended the stairs to the lobby and observed huge cracks in the corners and stumbled over chucks of plaster that had fallen onto the stairs. As I stumbled and limped through the lobby I encountered marble wall panels that had fallen and broken.

我挣扎着向电梯间爬去，忽然左脚踝传来一阵剧烈的刺痛。我下楼来到大厅，听到角落里传出很大的墙壁裂缝的声音，我一瘸一拐得跨过楼梯上散落的一堆堆的石灰，穿过大厅，中途看见大理石的墙壁嵌板也掉下来,摔碎了。

A few employees were huddled right outside of the building afraid to enter. When they saw me emerge from the building they called security and soon I was taken to the campus clinic. By the time I arrived I my left ankle was swollen and discolored and I could not put any weight on it. As I described the accident to the attending physician I could not account for the way I was injured since I was out in the open and completely removed from any objects.

一些员工聚在楼外不敢进去。看到我出来，他们叫了保安，接着我便被送到了学校诊所。到诊所的时候，我的左脚踝已经水肿，都变色了，完全不能支撑身体重量。我向主治医师描述事故经过的时候，没办法说清我受伤的原因，因为我是站在开阔的空地的，周围没有任何东西。

Later as I drove myself home to Whittier I began to see more damage along the streets. It turned out that the epicenter of the earthquake had been in Whittier and my neighborhood looked like a war zone. Since aftershocks follow the larger earthquakes I decided to drive to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit a friend for a few days.

晚些时候，我开车回惠蒂尔，沿途看到了更多的地震造成的破坏。原来地震的震中就在惠蒂尔，我家附近看起来简直就像个战场。因为地震之后会有余震，所以我决定开车到内华达州的拉斯韦加斯，到我朋友那住几天。

In the early morning darkness of my first night the doorbell rang, waking my hostess and me. As she turned on the porch light neither she nor I could see anyone from the front window. We then shrugged and went off to bed. A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang again. This time we repeated our steps much more quickly in order to see if a prankster might be lurking about. Again we returned to our rooms only to hear the ringing repeated.

我在朋友家住的第一晚，天还没亮的时候门铃就响了，把我和女主人都吵醒了。她把手电打开，我俩从前边窗口望出去，没看见外边有人。我们觉得莫名其妙，便耸耸肩膀又上床睡觉了。几分钟之后，门铃又响了。这次，我和朋友迅速走到窗边想看看是不是有人在恶作剧，仍旧一无所获。但当我们回到卧室后，门铃再次响起。

Thinking the fuse box may be faulty; we determined which fuse to turn off to snuff the doorbell. As we settled back in our rooms the doorbell rang again in an oddly hollow ring. At that moment I began to realize that something must have been trying to get our attention.

我俩认为一定是闸盒坏了，便把控制门铃的那个闸关掉。但我们回到卧室后，门铃又发出了一种奇怪的空洞的声音。那一刻，我意识到是有什么东西想引起我们的注意。

That morning I called one of the local spiritual practitioners to discuss this phenomenon. She suggested that I come for an "entity healing" as soon as possible. Later that morning several practitioners came to sit in on the healing session. One of the practitioners picked up on a male who seemed lost and in need of direction. The group took turns directing their prayers of healing and lifting to this entity. One of them mentioned that lost souls often seek out those who are sensitive and spiritually aware.

那天早晨，我去见了当地的一位通灵者，和她讨论了这件事情。她建议我尽快作个“实体复原”。那天早晨晚些时候，好几个通灵者都来参加了复原仪式。其中一位通灵者揪出了一个貌似迷失方向，急需人指点迷津的男人。通灵者们轮番给这个男人进行复原，让他离开实体。一位通灵者说，迷失的灵魂通常会找那些敏感的或者在精神上有感应的人。

When I returned to my basement office I was told by one of the long time employees that shortly before the building was completed one of the roofers had taken a fatal fall from the exact spot I was standing when his left ankle was caught in a coiled rope. His ghost had been seen by several of the employees over the years.

当我回到我的地下工作室后，一个已经在那工作了很长时间的员工告诉我，就在这栋楼完工不久前，有一个负责盖屋顶的工人就站在我当时站的那个地方，因为左脚踝被卷绳套住，从楼下摔下来死掉了。这几年，好几个员工见过他的鬼魂。

Could I have attracted the roofer while standing in the exact spot he died at the completion of the building during a major trauma to the building?

是不是因为我站在楼房完工前那名屋顶工人死前站的地方，所以在地震时才会招引了他的魂魄?