“Let me see,” said Peggy. “Yes—I think I wish to go as a Fairy, in pink. What would you like to be?”
“The wishes do work well now!” said the Giant in a gratified voice, for Peggy stood before him glittering in a rosy1 spangled frock and gleaming silver wings, with a star on her forehead and a wand in her hand all complete. “Well, if you’ll really be so kind as to use up another wish on me, I think I’d rather like to go as Little Boy Blue.”
“Certainly!” said Peggy, and the next instant the Giant, a good deal smaller than usual, and dressed all in blue, with a golden horn in his hand, stood on the plain. Unfortunately, however, his seven-leagued boots still remained their usual size, and his beard was as long and curly as ever, which gave him rather a strange appearance.
“Not quite so successful,” he remarked, glancing down at himself. “However, I shall pass in a crowd, I daresay. And now we must start. The Pixies will go under the hills, which takes a quarter of the time, but I daren’t take you[50] that way for fear of spoiling our clothes. Come along—fly on to my shoulder. That’s right! Shut your eyes and it won’t seem so far.” And off he walked at a great pace over the hills.
Peggy didn’t mean to do another picture of the fifth Adventure, but Mother particularly wanted one of the Pixies, so she had to do this, as the Ball-room one was too difficult to do. The Pixies are just shouting out, “This is Mazing2, this is!” and Peggy is trying to catch two of them. You can see how tired and giddy the Giant must have got with wandering about amongst so many Snowmen. He is just wiping his face with his red handkerchief. Peggy made herself so very ugly by mistake, and didn’t know how to change it.
“Do try to remember as we go what ‘Mazing’ means,” said Peggy. “I wish I knew. It’s such a funny word!”
“I can’t talk or think of anything at present,” said the Giant. “I’ve got to try and find my way, and it’s no easy matter, I can assure you.” And a long silence ensued.
“Aren’t we there yet?” asked Peggy at last, after they had been travelling for over a quarter of an hour. She opened her eyes as she spoke3, and then nearly fell off the Giant’s shoulder with astonishment4.
For the brown hills had quite disappeared, and in their place a dazzling white country spread around. And a country filled with—could it be? Peggy rubbed her eyes, and stared again. Yes. Filled with snowmen! Snowmen towering up in all directions, one behind the other, hundreds and hundreds of them, and all exactly like the one Mother and Peggy had made in the garden last winter, with coals for eyes, and pipes in their mouths!
“Yes, I thought you’d be surprised!” said the Giant, stopping wearily. “I was. We’ve missed our way somehow, I believe, and it would really have been better if we had gone under the hills after all. This white country gets on my nerves. I must have a rest!”
He propped5 himself up against one of the snowmen as he spoke, and mopped his face with his red pocket-handkerchief. “Do fly up fairly high and see if there’s any way out of this,” he implored6 in an exhausted7 voice. “I’ve been walking in and out between the wretched things for ages. There seems no end to them!”
Peggy fluttered up and looked North, South, East and[51] West, but alas8, there was nothing but hosts and hosts of snowmen in all directions.
“I believe it’s a trick of those nasty Pixies!” said the Giant angrily when she returned. “There—look! Wasn’t that one of them?” and he pointed9 behind her.
Peggy wheeled round, just in time to see a mischievous10 Pixie face peeping from behind a snowman.
“Catch him!” cried the Giant, making a grab and missing. “Oh, now he’s over there!” as another face peeped at them from quite another direction.
“This is Mazing, this is,” said a tiny, chuckling11 voice, and a third Pixie appeared round another snowman, and disappeared again just as Peggy thought she had really got him.
“Oh dear!” said the Giant, stopping in dismay. “Don’t you remember you said you wished you knew what Mazing was? I never took in that it was a wish till this moment!”
“Why, so I did!” said Peggy. “Gracious me, what a silly game! and that makes four wishes gone, too. There, now I’ve got him!” and she made a wild dash to the right, but only succeeded in catching12 a pointed cap, and falling full length in the wet snow.
“This is Mazing, this is!” cried out about twenty giggling13 voices at once, and heads poked14 out from behind the snowmen in all directions.
“Oh, I can’t stand this any longer,” said Peggy. “I wish we were at that party! Any of the other amusements would be better than this one!”
At once the snowmen all toppled over and melted in a trice, and Peggy and the Giant found themselves standing15 in a great Purple Cave full of rosy light.
All around them danced a multitude of Gnomes,[52] Brownies, Sprites, and every other kind of unusual creature; and a large company of Pixies in fancy dress, who had been playing leap-frog in a corner, came pushing their way through the crowd.
“Oh, you are late!” they cried. “You’ve been Mazing, haven’t you?” and they all burst into a great roar of laughter.
“You’re not being a bit funny,” said the Giant, turning his back on them, and “Here come the Naiads!” he whispered to Peggy. “They only attend the best parties,” and he pointed towards some beautiful tall ladies in green and blue with water lilies in their hair, who were walking up the cave towards them, followed by a crowd of handsome Dryads in brown and yellow.
“Come and play at Flitting,” said one of them, taking Peggy’s and the Giant’s hands. “Those bad-mannered creatures will improve if you take no notice of them. We’ll show you how to play,” and up to the ceiling they all went, and everyone else after them.
Peggy never forgot that wonderful night. When she was tired with darting16 round the cavern17 walls, or hunting for diamonds in the dark, she skated with a company of very polite Trolls in a beautiful inner cavern, whose walls were a gleaming mass of rubies18. And then the Pixies, who by this time had remembered their manners, crowned her Queen of the Revels19 with great pomp, and led her off to partake of light refreshments20.
These were set out in a great black and yellow cavern which was entirely21 lighted by glow-worms, cleverly concealed22 in full-blown yellow roses hung from the roof. Peggy was put at the head of the table with the Giant by her side, and big sugar sweets of every shape and kind were piled upon their plates.
[53]But no sooner had they finished half their helpings23 than a sudden shout of “Back to work!” “Back to work!” sounded from all sides.
The Naiads and Dryads immediately disappeared in a pale green mist, the Sprites changed into blue smoke, and the next instant Peggy found herself, with hundreds of silent, hardworking Pixies, digging with pickaxes in the sides of a cold dark rock, by the light of a solitary25 glow-worm!
The Giant, with his blue sleeves rolled up, was working diligently26 by her side.
“Over,” said the Giant without stopping; and at every blow of his axe24 great pieces of gold fell out of the rock. “Now we’ve got to work!”
“Oh, but this is dull,” said Peggy. “And I know Nannie wouldn’t like me to get hot with my bad cold,” she went on primly28, quite forgetting that she had not thought of that at all, during the games just now. Then seeing the Giant was busily knocking some emeralds out of the rock without taking any notice of what she said, “Oh, I hate the horrid29 place; I wish I was back in bed!” she went on crossly, just to see whether he’d answer that or not, and throwing her pickaxe down with a crash....
“But you are, Miss Peggy,” said Nurse’s voice soothingly30, and Peggy found herself once more in the nursery, with the blankets and sheets all tumbling off in a most uncomfortable way. “There, that’s better! Now you must try and go to sleep again. The hot-water bottle’s just tumbled out. I expect that’s what woke you.”
“Why, Nannie, I didn’t really mean to come back so[54] soon!” said Peggy. “I never thanked them for my nice time, or anything!”
“You’ve been dreaming you were at the party next door,” said Nurse. “That’s because you heard the music, I expect. Now you mustn’t talk any longer. To-morrow night Mother will be home!”
“Why, so she will! Good-night, Giant dear,” said Peggy, and turning over fell sound asleep at once.
“She must be feverish31, I’m afraid, yet she looks quite well,” said Nurse rather uneasily, stealing softly from the room.
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1
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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mazing
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| 使困惑（maze的现在分词形式） | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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helpings
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| n.（食物）的一份( helping的名词复数 )；帮助，支持 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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primly
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| adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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