‘By gumdrops!’ whispered the Big Friendly Giant. ‘Is this really it?’
‘There’s the Palace,’ Sophie whispered back.
Not more than a hundred yards away, through the tall trees in the garden, across the mown
lawns and the tidy flower-beds, the massive shape of the Palace itself loomed1 through the darkness. It
was made of whitish stone. The sheer size of it staggered the BFG.
‘But this place is having a hundred bedrooms at least!’ he said.
‘Easily, I should think,’ Sophie whispered.
‘Then I is boggled,’ the BFG said. ‘How is I possibly finding the one where the Queen is
sleeping?’
‘Let’s go a bit closer and have a look,’ Sophie whispered.
The BFG glided2 forward among the trees. Suddenly he stopped dead. The great ear in which
Sophie was sitting began to swivel round. ‘Hey!’ Sophie whispered. ‘You’re going to tip me out!’
‘Ssshh!’ the BFG whispered back. ‘I is hearing something!’ He stopped behind a clump3 of
bushes. He waited. The ear was till swinging this way and that. Sophie had to hang on tight to the
side of it to save herself from tumbling out. The BFG pointed4 through a gap in the bushes, and there,
not more than fifty yards away, she saw a man padding softly across the lawn. He had a guard-dog
with him on a leash5.
The BFG stayed as still as a stone. So did Sophie. The man and the dog walked on and
disappeared into the darkness.
‘You was telling me they has no soldiers in the back garden,’ the BFG whispered.
‘He wasn’t a soldier,’ Sophie whispered. ‘He was some sort of a watchman. We’ll have to be
careful!’
‘I is not too worried,’ the BFG said. ‘These wacksey big ears of mine is picking up even the
noise of a man breathing the other side of this garden.’
‘How much longer before it begins to get light?’ Sophie whispered.
‘Very short,’ the BFG said. ‘We must go pell-mell for leather now!’
He glided forward through the vast garden, and once again Sophie noticed how he seemed to
melt into the shadows wherever he went. His feet made no sound at all, even when he was walking
on gravel6.
Suddenly, they were right up close against the back wall of the great Palace. The BFG’s head
was level with the upper windows one flight up, and Sophie, sitting in his ear, had the same view. In
all the windows on that floor the curtains seemed to be drawn7. There were no lights showing
anywhere. In the distance they could hear the muted sound of traffic going round Hyde Park Corner.
The BFG stopped and put his other ear, the one Sophie wasn’t sitting in, close to the first
window.
‘No,’ he whispered.
‘What are you listening for?’ Sophie whispered back.
‘For breathing,’ the BFG whispered. ‘I is able to tell if it is a man human bean or a lady by the
breathing-voice. We has a man in there. Snortling a little bit, too.’
He glided on, flattening8 his tall, thin, black-cloaked body against the side of the building. He
came to the next window. He listened.
‘No,’ he whispered.
He moved on.
‘This room is empty,’ he whispered.
He listened in at several more windows, but at each one he shook his head and moved on.
When he came to the window in the very centre of the Palace, he listened but did not move on.
‘Ho-ho,’ he whispered. ‘We has a lady sleeping in there.’
Sophie felt a little quiver go running down her spine9. ‘But who?’ she whispered back.
The BFG put a finger to his lips for silence. He reached up through the open window and parted
the curtains every so slightly.
The orange glow from the night-sky over London crept into the room and cast a glimmer10 of light
on to its walls. It was a large room. A lovely room. A rich carpet. Gilded11 chairs. A dressing-table. A
bed. And on the pillow of the bed lay the head of a sleeping woman.
Sophie suddenly found herself looking at a face she had seen on stamps and coins and in the
newspapers all her life.
For a few seconds she was speechless.
‘Is that her?’ the BFG whispered.
‘Yes,’ Sophie whispered back.
The BFG wasted no time. First, and very carefully, he started to raise the lower half of the large
window. The BFG was an expert on windows. He had opened thousands of them over the years to
blow his dreams into children’s bedrooms. Some windows got stuck. Some were wobbly. Some
creaked. He was pleased to find that the Queen’s window slid upward like silk. He pushed up the
lower half as far as it would go so as to leave a place on the sill for Sophie to sit.
Next, he closed the crack in the curtains.
Then, with finger and thumb, he lifted Sophie out of his ear and placed her on the window-ledge
with her legs dangling12 just inside the room, but behind the curtains.
‘Now don’t you go tip-toppling backwards,’ the BFG whispered. ‘You must always be holding
on tight with both hands to the inside of the window-sill.’
Sophie did as he said.
It was summertime in London and the night was not cold, but don’t forget that Sophie was
wearing only her thin nightie. She would have given anything for a dressing-gown, not just to keep
her warm but to hide the whiteness of her nightie from watchful13 eyes in the garden below.
The BFG was taking the glass jar from the pocket of his cloak. He unscrewed the lid. Now, very
cautiously, he poured the precious dream into the wide end of his trumpet14. He steered15 the trumpet
through the curtains, far into the room, aiming it at the place where he knew the bed to be. He took a
deep breath. He puffed16 out his cheeks and pooff, he blew.
Now he was withdrawing the trumpet, sliding it out very very carefully, like a thermometer.
‘Is you all right sitting there?’ he whispered.
‘Yes,’ Sophie murmured. She was quite terrified, but determined17 not to show it. She looked
down over her shoulder. The ground seemed miles away. It was a nasty drop.
‘How long will the dream take to work?’ Sophie whispered.
‘Some takes an hour,’ the BFG whispered back. ‘Some is quicker. Some is slower still. But it is
sure to find her in the end.’
Sophie said nothing.
‘I is going off to wait in the garden,’ the BFG whispered. ‘When you is wanting me, just call out
my name and I is coming very quick.’
‘Will you hear me?’ Sophie whispered.
‘You is forgetting these,’ the BFG whispered, smiling and pointing to his great ears.
‘Goodbye,’ Sophie whispered.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, the BFG leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek.
Sophie felt like crying.
When she turned to look at him, he was already gone. He had simply melted away into the dark
garden.
王宫
“我的口香糖啊！”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地叫了一声，“这真的是它？”
“这就是王宫。”索菲悄悄地回答。
离开不到一百码，隔着花园里高大的树木，隔着修剪得平平整整的草地和一些小花坛，
在黑暗中耸立起王宫的巨大轮廓。它是白色的石头建造的。它大得让好心眼儿巨人深感吃
惊。
“这地方至少有一百个卧室！”他说。
“那还用说，我想是这样。”索菲悄悄地说。
“那我就糟了。”好心眼儿巨人说，“我怎么才能找到女王睡觉的那一个卧室呢？”
“我们走近一点儿去看看吧。”索菲悄悄地说。
好心眼儿巨人在树木间向前滑过去。他忽然停下一动不动了。里面正坐着索菲的那只大
耳朵开始转动起来。“喂！”索菲悄悄地说，“你要把我翻出去了！”
“嘘嘘嘘！”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地回答她，“我听到了什么声音！”他停在一丛矮树后面悄
悄地等着，耳朵转来转去，索菲得抓紧它的边不让自己翻身跌出去。好心眼儿巨人指着矮树
丛间的一道缝，离开不到五十码，她看见一个人很轻地走过草地，他用皮带牵着一条警犬。
好心眼儿巨人一动不动，像块石头。索菲也一样。那人牵着狗朝前走去，在黑暗中不见
了。
“你说过后花园里没有卫兵。”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地说。
“他不是卫兵，”索菲悄悄地回答他，“他是个看守人什么的，不过我们得加倍小心。”
“不用太担心，”好心眼儿巨人说，“我这双大耳朵连花园另一边有人呼吸都能听见。”
“天还有多久就亮了？”索菲悄悄问道。
“很快，”好心眼儿巨人说，“我们现在得赶紧！”
他向前滑过这广阔的花园。索菲又一次注意到，他像是融入了所到之处的阴影里。他的
脚不发出一点儿声音，哪怕是走在小石子上面。
转眼间他们已经靠近王宫的后墙了。好心眼儿巨人的头平着二楼的窗子，索菲坐在他的
耳朵里，也能看到那么高。这一层所有窗子的窗帘都放下了，哪里也没有灯光。他们能听到
远处海德公园角车辆的轻微响声。
好心眼儿巨人停下来，用他的另一只耳朵，就是里面没坐着索菲的耳朵，贴近第一扇窗
子。
“不对。”他悄悄地说。
“你在听什么？”索菲悄悄地问。
“听呼吸。”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地说，“我听呼吸就知道那是个男人豆子还是个女人豆子。
里面是个男人豆子，还发出点呼噜声。”
他滑过去，把穿着黑色大氅的瘦长身体贴着房屋。他来到第二扇窗子前面仔细地听着。
“这个房间是空的。”他悄悄地说。
他又听了几个房间，但每次都摇摇头继续滑过去。
等他来到王宫靠当中的那扇窗子，他仔细听听，没有再往前走。“嗬嗬，”他悄悄地
说，“里面睡着一个女人。”
索菲只觉得脊梁骨从上到下有点哆嗦。“不过她是谁呢？”她悄悄地问他。
好心眼儿巨人把一根手指头放在嘴唇上叫她不要响。他把手伸进打开的窗口，轻轻地撩
开一点窗帘。
伦敦夜空的橙黄色光线投进房间，在墙上投下一点儿亮光。这是一个大房间，一个漂亮
的大房间，有华丽的地毯、镀金的椅子和一张梳妆台。床上的枕头上睡着一个女人。
索菲忽然发现，她正盯着曾在邮票上、硬币上、报纸上看到的那张脸。
有好几秒钟她说不出话来。
“这是她吗？”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地问。
“是她。”索菲悄悄地回答。
好心眼儿巨人不再耽搁。首先，他极其小心地开始托起这大窗子的下半扇。对于窗子他
是内行了，多少年来，他打开过千万扇窗子，好把梦吹进孩子们的卧室。有些窗子很紧，有
些窗子摇摇晃晃，有些窗子嘎吱嘎吱响。他很高兴女王的窗子托上去像丝绸一样光滑。他把
下半扇窗子托起，这样可以让索菲坐到窗台上。
接着，他把窗帘缝合上。
然后他用大拇指和另一根手指头把索菲从自己的耳朵里夹出来，放到窗台上坐着，让她
的腿耷拉在房间里，可人在窗帘外面。
“现在你千万别向后倒，以防跌到外面去，”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地叮嘱她，“你必须一直用
双手牢牢地抓住窗台里面的边。”
索菲照他说的做。
这是伦敦的夏天，夜虽然不冷，可是索菲只穿着一件薄薄的睡袍，还是觉出了凉意。假
使能给她一件梳妆袍，她真是什么都愿意拿出来交换，这不仅是为了让身体暖和些，更重要
的是不要让下面的看守人看到她白晃晃的睡袍。
好心眼儿巨人这时从他的大氅口袋里拿出那只玻璃瓶。他旋开瓶盖。现在，他非常小心
地把那宝贵的梦倒进小号宽的一头。他把小号穿过窗帘缝一直伸进房间，对准床所在的地
方。他深深地吸了口气，鼓起他的腮帮，噗——
现在他把小号抽出来，抽得非常小心，像抽出一个体温表那样。
“你坐在这里没事吧？”他悄悄地问。
“是的，没事。”索菲喃喃地说。她实在是吓坏了，可她决定不让人看出来。她回过头看
看，离地面好像有好多英尺，掉下去就完了。
“梦要多久才起作用呢？”索菲悄悄地问。
“有一些要一小时，”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地回答，“有一些比这快，有一些比这还要慢。不
过毫无疑问，梦最后会找到她的。”
索菲什么也没说。
“我这就到花园去等着。”好心眼儿巨人悄悄地说，“你要找我，只要叫一声我的名字，我
马上就来。”
“你听得见我的声音吗？”索菲悄悄地问。
“你忘记这个了？”好心眼儿巨人微笑着指指他的大耳朵说。
“再见。”索菲悄悄地说。
忽然，好心眼儿巨人俯向前，轻轻地亲了亲索菲的脸蛋。
索菲觉得想哭。
等她回过脸去看他时，他已经融入了黑暗的花园里。
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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2
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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3
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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4
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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5
leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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6
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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7
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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8
flattening
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| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
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9
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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10
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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11
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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12
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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13
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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14
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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15
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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16
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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17
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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