Chapter 1: The Race to the Corner第 1 章：街角的賽跑

Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen are racing home through their Copenhagen neighborhood when two German soldiers order them to stop. Denmark has been under German occupation for three years, and soldiers stand on almost every corner. The taller soldier, whom the girls secretly call the Giraffe, pokes Annemarie's schoolbag with his rifle and asks questions. Annemarie answers politely but feels contempt for soldiers who still cannot speak Danish. Her obstinate five-year-old sister, Kirsti, slaps away the soldier's hand when he touches her hair, and he laughs. At home, Kirsti tells everything to Mama and Mrs. Rosen, who become alarmed. The mothers mention news from an illegal newspaper about the Resistance, Danes who secretly damage German factories and railways. Mrs. Rosen tells the girls to take a different route to school and never to be remembered by the soldiers. Food is scarce; Kirsti dreams of cupcakes that no one has been able to bake for a long time.安瑪莉·約翰森和好友艾倫·羅森在哥本哈根住家附近賽跑，兩名德國士兵喝令她們停下。丹麥已經被德國占領三年，幾乎每個街角都站著士兵。其中較高的那個（女孩們私下叫他「長頸鹿」）用步槍戳了戳安瑪莉的書包，並盤問她們。安瑪莉禮貌地回答，心裡卻瞧不起這些來了三年還不會說丹麥話的士兵。她五歲的妹妹柯絲蒂很倔強，士兵摸她頭髮時，她把士兵的手拍開，士兵卻笑了。回家後，柯絲蒂把事情全說給媽媽和羅森太太聽，兩人都很緊張。兩位媽媽提到一份地下報紙上關於反抗軍的消息：反抗軍是祕密破壞德軍工廠和鐵路的丹麥人。羅森太太要女孩們換一條路上學，絕對不要讓士兵記住她們的臉。食物很缺乏；柯絲蒂想吃杯子蛋糕，但已經很久沒人能做了。

Lowry begins with a carefree race that is suddenly stopped by a command, so the reader feels the shock along with Annemarie. The story is told in the third person but stays close to Annemarie's thoughts, so we understand the war through a child's eyes. Small details, like fish-skin shoes later or the missing butter here, show hardship without long explanations.勞里以一場無憂無慮的賽跑開頭，再被一聲命令突然打斷，讓讀者和安瑪莉一起受到驚嚇。故事用第三人稱，但緊貼安瑪莉的想法，所以我們透過孩子的眼睛認識戰爭。像這裡缺少的奶油這類小細節，不需長篇解釋就呈現了生活的艱難。