7 Charlie’s Birthday

7 Charlie’s Birthday
‘Happy birthday!’ cried the four old grandparents, as Charlie came into their room early
the next morning.
Charlie smiled nervously¹ and sat down on the edge of the bed. He was holding his
present, his only present, very carefully in his two hands. WONKA’S WHIPPLE-
SCRUMPTIOUS FUDGEMALLOW DELIGHT, it said on the wrapper.
The four old people, two at either end of the bed, propped² themselves up on their
pillows and stared with anxious eyes at the bar of chocolate in Charlie’s hands.
Mr and Mrs Bucket came in and stood at the foot of the bed, watching Charlie.
The room became silent. Everybody was waiting now for Charlie to start opening his
present. Charlie looked down at the bar of chocolate. He ran his fingers slowly back and
forth³ along the length of it, stroking⁴ it lovingly, and the shiny paper wrapper made little
sharp crackly noises in the quiet room.
Then Mrs Bucket said gently, ‘You mustn’t be too disappointed, my darling, if you
don’t find what you’re looking for underneath⁵ that wrapper. You really can’t expect to
be as lucky as all that.’
‘She’s quite right,’ Mr Bucket said.
Charlie didn’t say anything.
‘After all,’ Grandma Josephine said, ‘in the whole wide world there are only three
tickets left to be found.’
‘The thing to remember,’ Grandma Georgina said, ‘is that whatever happens, you’ll
still have the bar of chocolate.’
‘Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight!’ cried Grandpa George. ‘It’s the
best of them all! You’ll just love it!’
‘Yes,’ Charlie whispered. ‘I know.’
‘Just forget all about those Golden Tickets and enjoy the chocolate,’ Grandpa Joe said.
‘Why don’t you do that?’
They all knew it was ridiculous to expect this one poor little bar of chocolate to have
a magic ticket inside it, and they were trying as gently and as kindly⁶ as they could to
prepare Charlie for the disappointment. But there was one other thing that the grown-
ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking⁷ lucky,
the chance was there.
The chance had to be there.
This particular bar of chocolate had as much chance as any other of having a Golden
Ticket.
And that was why all the grandparents and parents in the room were actually just as
tense and excited as Charlie was, although they were pretending to be very calm.
‘You’d better go ahead and open it up, or you’ll be late for school,’ Grandpa Joe said.
‘You might as well get it over with,’ Grandpa George said.
‘Open it, my dear,’ Grandma Georgina said. ‘Please open it. You’re making me jumpy.’
Very slowly, Charlie’s fingers began to tear open one small corner of the wrapping
paper.
The old people in the bed all leaned forward, craning⁸ their scraggy necks.
Then suddenly, as though he couldn’t bear the suspense⁹ any longer, Charlie tore the
wrapper right down the middle… and on to his lap, there fell… a light-brown creamy-
coloured bar of chocolate.
There was no sign of a Golden Ticket anywhere.
‘Well – that’s that!’ said Grandpa Joe brightly. ‘It’s just what we expected.’
Charlie looked up. Four kind old faces were watching him intently¹⁰ from the bed. He
smiled at them, a small sad smile, and then he shrugged¹¹ his shoulders and picked up the
chocolate bar and held it out to his mother, and said, ‘Here, Mother, have a bit. We’ll
share it. I want everybody to taste it.’
‘Certainly not!’ his mother said.
And the others all cried, ‘No, no! We wouldn’t dream of it! It’s all yours!’
‘Please,’ begged Charlie, turning round and offering it to Grandpa Joe.
But neither he nor anyone else would take even a tiny bit.
‘It’s time to go to school, my darling,’ Mrs Bucket said, putting an arm around
Charlie’s skinny shoulders. ‘Come on, or you’ll be late.’

1 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

2 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 stroking   

按抚法

参考例句：

• No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. 谁都不能抚摸一只老虎就使它驯服得像一只小猫。 来自演讲部分
• He was still fairly calm, except that he kept stroking his chin. 他依然很镇静，不过时时用手摸着下巴。 来自子夜部分

5 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

7 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

8 craning   

vt.& vi.伸长，探头（crane的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• People were craning out of the windows and waving. 人们把头探出窗外挥手致意。
• He stood there dumbly, craning his neck and swallowing noisily. 他呆呆的立在那里，直着脖子咽吐沫。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

9 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

10 intently   

adv.专心致志地，注意力集中地

参考例句：

• He watched her face intently to catch every nuance of expression. 他认真地注视着她的脸，捕捉每一丝细微的表情变化。
• He was looking at her intently but she stared him out. 他专注地看着她，可她盯得他移开了目光。

11 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》