11 The Miracle

11 The Miracle
Charlie entered the shop and laid the damp fifty pence on the counter.
‘One Wonka’s Whipple- Scrumptious Fudge- mallow Delight,’ he said, remembering
how much he had loved the one he had on his birthday.
The man behind the counter looked fat and well-fed. He had big lips and fat cheeks
and a very fat neck. The fat around his neck bulged¹ out all around the top of his collar
like a rubber ring. He turned and reached behind him for the chocolate bar, then he
turned back again and handed it to Charlie. Charlie grabbed it and quickly tore off the
wrapper and took an enormous bite. Then he took another… and another… and oh, the
joy of being able to cram² large pieces of something sweet and solid into one’s mouth!
The sheer blissful joy of being able to fill one’s mouth with rich solid food!
‘You look like you wanted that one, sonny,’ the shopkeeper said pleasantly.
Charlie nodded, his mouth bulging³ with chocolate.
The shopkeeper put Charlie’s change on the counter. ‘Take it easy,’ he said. ‘It’ll give
you a tummy-ache if you swallow it like that without chewing.’
Charlie went on wolfing the chocolate. He couldn’t stop. And in less than half a
minute, the whole thing had disappeared down his throat. He was quite out of breath,
but he felt marvellously, extraordinarily⁴ happy. He reached out a hand to take the
change. Then he paused. His eyes were just above the level of the counter. They were
staring at the silver coins lying there. The coins were all five-penny pieces. There were
nine of them altogether. Surely it wouldn’t matter if he spent just one more…
‘I think,’ he said quietly, ‘I think… I’ll have just one more of those chocolate bars. The
same kind as before, please.’
‘Why not?’ the fat shopkeeper said, reaching behind him again and taking another
Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight from the shelf. He laid it on the counter.
Charlie picked it up and tore off the wrapper… and suddenly… from underneath⁵ the
wrapper… there came a brilliant flash of gold.
Charlie’s heart stood still.
‘It’s a Golden Ticket!’ screamed the shopkeeper, leaping about a foot in the air.
‘You’ve got a Golden Ticket! You’ve found the last Golden Ticket! Hey, would you
believe it! Come and look at this, everybody! The kid’s found Wonka’s last Golden
Ticket! There it is! It’s right here in his hands!’
It seemed as though the shopkeeper might be going to have a fit. ‘In my shop, too!’ he
yelled. ‘He found it right here in my own little shop! Somebody call the newspapers
quick and let them know! Watch out now, sonny! Don’t tear it as you unwrap it! That
thing’s precious!’
In a few seconds, there was a crowd of about twenty people clustering around Charlie,
and many more were pushing their way in from the street. Everybody wanted to get a
look at the Golden Ticket and at the lucky finder.
‘Where is it?’ somebody shouted. ‘Hold it up so all of us can see it!’
‘There it is, there!’ someone else shouted. ‘He’s holding it in his hands! See the gold
shining!’
‘How did he manage to find it, I’d like to know?’ a large boy shouted angrily. ‘Twenty
bars a day I’ve been buying for weeks and weeks!’
‘Think of all the free stuff he’ll be getting too!’ another boy said enviously⁶. ‘A lifetime
supply!’
‘He’ll need it, the skinny little shrimp⁷!’ a girl said, laughing.
Charlie hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even unwrapped the Golden Ticket from around the
chocolate. He was standing⁸ very still, holding it tightly with both hands while the crowd
pushed and shouted all around him. He felt quite dizzy. There was a peculiar⁹ floating
sensation coming over him, as though he were floating up in the air like a balloon. His
feet didn’t seem to be touching¹⁰ the ground at all. He could hear his heart thumping¹¹
away loudly somewhere in his throat.
At that point, he became aware of a hand resting lightly on his shoulder, and when he
looked up, he saw a tall man standing over him. ‘Listen,’ the man whispered. ‘I’ll buy it
from you. I’ll give you fifty pounds. How about it, eh? And I’ll give you a new bicycle as
well. Okay?’
‘Are you crazy?’ shouted a woman who was standing equally close. ‘Why, I’d give him
two hundred pounds for that ticket! You want to sell that ticket for two hundred pounds,
young man?’
‘That’s quite enough of that!’ the fat shopkeeper shouted, pushing his way through the
crowd and taking Charlie firmly by the arm. ‘Leave the kid alone, will you! Make way
there! Let him out!’ And to Charlie, as he led him to the door, he whispered, ‘Don’t you
let anybody have it! Take it straight home, quickly, before you lose it! Run all the way
and don’t stop till you get there, you understand?’
Charlie nodded.
‘You know something,’ the fat shopkeeper said, pausing a moment and smiling at
Charlie, ‘I have a feeling you needed a break like this. I’m awfully¹² glad you got it. Good
luck to you, sonny.’
‘Thank you,’ Charlie said, and off he went, running through the snow as fast as his
legs would go. And as he flew past Mr Willy Wonka’s factory, he turned and waved at it
and sang out, ‘I’ll be seeing you! I’ll be seeing you soon!’ And five minutes later he
arrived at his own home.

1 bulged   

凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物）

参考例句：

• His pockets bulged with apples and candy. 他的口袋鼓鼓地装满了苹果和糖。
• The oranges bulged his pocket. 桔子使得他的衣袋胀得鼓鼓的。

2 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

3 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

4 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

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 enviously   

adv.满怀嫉妒地

参考例句：

• Yet again, they were looking for their way home blindly, enviously. 然而，它们又一次盲目地、忌妒地寻找着归途。 来自辞典例句
• Tanya thought enviously, he must go a long way south. 坦妮亚歆羡不置，心里在想，他准是去那遥远的南方的。 来自辞典例句

7 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

11 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。