Fifteen

Fifteen
Outside in the garden, at that very moment, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker had just taken their places atthe front gate, each with a bunch of tickets in her hand, and the first stream of early morning sightseerswas visible in the distance climbing up the hill to view the peach.
‘We shall make a fortune today,’ Aunt Spiker was saying. ‘Just look at all those people!’
‘I wonder what became of that horrid¹ little boy of ours last night,’ Aunt Sponge said. ‘He never didcome back in, did he?’
‘He probably fell down in the dark and broke his leg,’ Aunt Spiker said.
‘Or his neck, maybe,’ Aunt Sponge said hopefully.
‘Just wait till I get my hands on him,’ Aunt Spiker said, waving her cane². ‘He’ll never want to stayout all night again by the time I‘ve finished with him. Good gracious me! What’s that awful noise?’
Both women swung round to look.
The noise, of course, had been caused by the giant peach crashing through the fence that surroundedit, and now, gathering³ speed every second, it came rolling across the garden towards the place whereAunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker were standing⁴.
They gaped⁵. They screamed. They started to run. They panicked. They both got in each other’s way.
They began pushing and jostling, and each one of them was thinking only about saving herself. AuntSponge, the fat one, tripped over a box that she’d brought along to keep the money in, and fell flat onher face. Aunt Spiker immediately tripped over Aunt Sponge and came down on top of her. They bothlay on the ground, fighting and clawing and yelling and struggling frantically⁶ to get up again, but beforethey could do this, the mighty⁷ peach was upon them.
There was a crunch⁸.
And then there was silence.
The peach rolled on. And behind it, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker lay ironed out upon the grass asflat and thin and lifeless as a couple of paper dolls cut out of a picture book.



十五
就在那时候，仙桃外面的园子里，海绵团姨妈和大头钉姨妈，一人手里攥着一沓门票，刚刚在大门前面坐定。一大早前来观看大桃奇景的人流，远远望去，正迤逦向山上爬来。“今儿个咱们要发财了。”大头钉姨妈说，“瞧瞧来的那些人吧！”
“不知道那个讨厌的小东西，昨天夜里怎么样了？”海绵团姨妈说，“他压根儿没有进屋，是吗？”
“也许，他黑灯瞎火地摔断了腿哪。”大头钉姨妈说。
“也许摔断了脖子吧。”海绵团姨妈巴不得这样。
“等我逮住他再算账！”大头钉姨妈说着，挥了挥手杖，“我把他收拾完以后，他就再也别想夜里待在外面了。老天哪！吵吵嚷嚷的，是怎么一回事儿？”
两个女人一下子转过身去。
当然啦，是那只大仙桃发出来的响声。只见桃子撞坏了周围的篱笆，正一秒一秒加快速度，穿过园子，朝海绵团姨妈和大头钉姨妈站着的地方滚过去。
于是，她们张大了嘴巴，尖叫着撒丫子就跑。惊慌之中，撞到一起，你推我搡，只想自个儿逃命。胖胖的海绵团姨妈，绊倒在带来的钱盒子上，摔得趴在地上。大头钉姨妈立刻叫海绵团姨妈绊倒了，扑在了她身上。两人双双躺在地上，拼命地撕打、尖叫，挣扎着想站起身来。然而，还没有来得及站起来，巨大的仙桃就压在了她们身上。
只听得扑哧一声。
接着便是一阵沉寂。
仙桃继续向前滚动。后面，海绵团姨妈和大头钉姨妈，已经给碾得平平的、薄薄的，毫无生气地躺在草地上面，仿佛从画书上剪下来的洋娃娃。

1 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

2 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 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。

5 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

6 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

7 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

8 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。