The Giant ran on and on. But now a curious change took place in his way of running. He seemed
suddenly to go into a higher gear. Faster and faster he went and soon he was travelling at such a
speed that the landscape became blurred1. The wind stung Sophie’s cheeks. It made her eyes water. It
whipped her head back and whistled in her ears. She could no longer feel the Giant’s feet touching2
the ground. She had a weird3 sensation they were flying. It was impossible to tell whether they were
over land or sea. This Giant had some sort of magic in his legs. The wind rushing against Sophie’s
face became so strong that she had to duck down again into the blanket to prevent her head from
being blown away.
Was it really possible that they were crossing oceans? It certainly felt that way to Sophie. She
crouched4 in the blanket and listened to the howling of the wind. It went on for what seemed like
hours.
Then all at once the wind stopped its howling. The pace began to slow down. Sophie could feel
the Giant’s feet pounding once again over the earth. She poked5 her head up out of the blanket to have
a look. They were in a country of thick forests and rushing rivers. The Giant had definitely slowed
down and was now running more normally, although normal was a silly word to use to describe a
galloping6 giant. He leaped over a dozen rivers. He went rattling7 through a great forest, then down
into a valley and up over a range of hills as bare as concrete, and soon he was galloping over a
desolate8 wasteland that was not quite of this earth. The ground was flat and pale yellow. Great lumps
of blue rock were scattered9 around, and dead trees stood everywhere like skeletons. The moon had
long since disappeared and now the dawn was breaking.
Sophie, still peering out from the blanket, saw suddenly ahead of her a great craggy mountain.
The mountain was dark blue and all around it the sky was gushing10 and glistening11 with light. Bits of
pale gold were flying among delicate frosty-white flakes12 of cloud, and over to one side the rim13 of the
morning sun was coming up red as blood.
Right beneath the mountain, the Giant stopped. He was puffing14 mightily15. His great chest was
heaving in and out. He paused to catch his breath.
Directly in front of them, lying against the side of the mountain, Sophie could see a massive
round stone. It was as big as a house. The Giant reached out and rolled the stone to one side as easily
as if it had been a football, and now, where the stone had been, there appeared a vast black hole. The
hole was so large the Giant didn’t even have to duck his head as he went in. He strode into the black
hole still carrying Sophie in one hand, the trumpet16 and the suitcase in the other.
As soon as he was inside, he stopped and turned and rolled the great stone back into place so
that the entrance to his secret cave was completely hidden from outside.
Now that the entrance had been sealed up, there was not a glint of light inside the cave. All was
black.
Sophie felt herself being lowered to the ground. Then the Giant let go the blanket completely.
His footsteps moved away. Sophie sat there in the dark, shivering with fear.
He is getting ready to eat me, she told herself. He will probably eat me raw, just as I am.
Or perhaps he will boil me first.
Or he will have me fried. He will drop me like a rasher of bacon into some gigantic frying-pan
sizzling with fat.
A blaze of light suddenly lit up the whole place. Sophie blinked and stared.
She saw an enormous cavern17 with a high rocky roof.
The walls on either side were lined with shelves, and on the shelves there stood row upon row of
glass jars. There were jars everywhere. They were piled up in the corners. They filled every nook and
cranny of the cave.
In the middle of the floor there was a table twelve feet high and a chair to match.
The Giant took off his black cloak and hung it against the wall. Sophie saw that under the cloak
he was wearing a sort of collarless shirt and a dirty old leather waistcoat that didn’t seem to have any
buttons. His trousers were faded green and were far too short in the legs. On his bare feet he was
wearing a pair of ridiculous sandals that for some reason had holes cut along each side, with a large
hole at the end where his toes stuck out. Sophie, crouching18 on the floor of the cave in her nightie,
gazed back at him through thick steel-rimmed glasses. She was trembling like a leaf in the wind, and
a finger of ice was running up and down the length of her spine19.
‘Ha!’ shouted the Giant, walking forward and rubbing his hands together. ‘What has us got
here?’ His booming voice rolled around the walls of the cave like a burst of thunder.
山洞
巨人跑啊跑啊，现在他的跑法有了一种古怪的变化。他像是忽然加速。他跑得越来越
快，越来越快，一下子快得四周的景色都看不清楚了。风刺痛了索菲的脸，风吹得她眼泪直
流。风在她的耳朵里呼呼地响。她再也感觉不到巨人的脚碰到地面。她有一种奇怪的感觉，
他们是在飞。说不出他们是飞过地面还是飞过大海。巨人的两条腿像有什么魔法。风在索菲
的脸上吹刮得那么厉害，她只好重新缩到毯子里面，免得她的头给吹掉。
他们真有可能是飞过海洋吗？索菲的确感到是那样。她蜷缩在毯子里倾听着怒吼的风
声。就这样过了好几个钟头。
突然，风一下子停止了怒吼。巨人的脚步开始慢下来。索菲能感觉到巨人的脚又重新大
踏步地走在地面上。她把头抬起来钻出毯子去看。他们正在浓密的树林和奔腾的河流之间的
乡野上。巨人的确慢了下来，这会儿跑得更正常了，虽然正常这个字眼用来形容一个快速奔
跑着的巨人是挺傻的。他跳过了十几条河。他沙沙沙穿过一座大树林，然后下到一个山谷，
又登上一排光秃秃的山峦，然后飞快地跑过一片荒凉的不毛之地，他真不像是这个世界上
的。灰黄色的地面很平坦，到处散布着一大堆一大堆蓝色的大石头，一棵一棵枯树活像一个
个骷髅。月亮早就不见了，现在天快亮了。索菲依旧从毯子里向外面窥探着，忽然看见前面
是一座陡峭的大山。这大山深蓝色，周围的天空亮光闪闪。好看的灰白色云彩闪烁着淡淡的
金星，在一边，早晨太阳的边缘正在升上来，红得像血。
就在山下，巨人停了下来。他使劲儿地喘着气，巨大的胸口一起一伏。他慢慢地缓过气
来。
就在他们前面，索菲看到山边有一块圆形的巨石。这块巨石有一座房子那么大。巨人伸
出手去推这石头，让它滚到一旁，就像在推一只足球。现在，在石头原来的地方出现了一个
黑色的大山洞。这个山洞非常大，巨人根本不用低下头就能走进去。他大踏步走进了这个黑
山洞，依然一只手提溜着索菲，另一只手拿着小号和手提箱。
他一进去就停下来，把外面那块大石头转动着让它重新滚回到原来的地方，把这个秘密
山洞的进口完完全全封住，让人从外面看不见。
现在进口封好了，山洞里一点儿亮光也没有，一片漆黑。
索菲觉得自己被放到了地上。接着巨人把毯子完全放掉，他的脚步声远去了。索菲待在
黑暗里，吓得直发抖。
她想：巨人一定是准备吃我了，他大概要把我就这样生吃掉。
或者他先把我煮熟。
或者他把我油炸来吃。他将把我像一片熏肉那样扔到一只猪油吱吱响的大平底锅里。
一道亮光忽然照亮了整个地方。索菲眨眨眼，睁大了眼睛看。
她看到的是一个巨大的洞穴，在高高的岩石顶上。
两边的墙是一排排架子，架子上是一排又一排的玻璃瓶。四面八方全是玻璃瓶。墙角里
也堆着玻璃瓶。玻璃瓶塞满了山洞的每一个角落。
地板当中有一张桌子，十二英尺高，还有一把椅子，大小和桌子配对。
巨人脱下他的黑色大氅，挂在墙上。索菲看到，脱掉大氅以后，他穿的是一件没有领圈
的衬衫、一件很脏的旧皮背心，上面似乎连纽扣也没有。他的长裤是绿色的，已经褪色，而
且穿在腿上太短了。他的光脚上穿的是一双怪里怪气的凉鞋，特地在每边开了一些洞，鞋头
有一个大洞，脚趾从那里伸了出来。索菲穿着她的睡袍蜷缩在山洞的地板上，透过她那副钢
丝边厚眼镜看着巨人。她哆嗦得像风中的一片树叶，背脊上像有一根冰凉的手指从上面戳下
来。
“哈！”巨人叫了一声，向她走来，搓着双手，“我们这里有了个什么啊？”轰轰响的声音
像打雷一样在山洞的墙上滚动起来。
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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2
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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3
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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4
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
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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6
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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7
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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8
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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9
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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10
gushing
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| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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11
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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12
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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13
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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14
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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15
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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16
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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17
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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18
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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19
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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