Feeding Time 喂食时间

Feeding Time
While the giants were being captured, a tremendous bustle¹ and hustle² was going on back home
in England. Every earth-digger and mechanical contrivance in the country had been mobilized to dig
the colossal³ hole in which the nine giants were to be permanently⁴ imprisoned⁵.
Ten thousand men and ten thousand machines worked ceaselessly through the night under
powerful arc-lights, and the massive task was completed only just in time.
The hole itself was about twice the size of a football field and five hundred feet deep. The walls
were perpendicular⁶ and engineers had calculated that there was no way a giant could escape once he
was put in. Even if all nine giants were to stand on each other’s shoulders, the topmost giant would
still be some fifty feet from the top of the hole.
The nine giant-carrying helicopters hovered⁷ over the massive pit. The giants, one by one, were
lowered to the floor. But they were still trussed up and now came the tricky⁸ business of releasing
them from their bonds. Nobody wanted to go down and do this because the moment a giant was
freed, he would be sure to turn on the wretched person who had freed him and gobble him up.
As usual, the BFG had the answer. ‘I has told you before,’ he said, ‘giants is never eating giants,
so I is going down and I shall untie⁹ them myself before you can say rack jobinson.’
With thousands of fascinated spectators, including the Queen, peering down into the pit, the
BFG was lowered on a rope. One by one, he released the giants. They stood up, stretched their
stiffened¹⁰ limbs and started leaping about in fury.
‘Why is they putting us down here in this grobsludging hole?’ they shouted at the BFG.
‘Because you is guzzling¹¹ human beans,’ the BFG answered. ‘I is always warning you not to do
it and you is never taking the titchiest bit of notice.’
‘In that case,’ the Fleshlumpeater bellowed¹², ‘I think we is guzzling you instead!’
The BFG grabbed the dangling¹³ rope and was hoisted¹⁴ out of the pit just in time.
The great bulging¹⁵ sack he had brought back with him from Giant Country lay at the top of the
pit.
‘What’s in there?’ the Queen asked him.
The BFG put an arm into the sack and pulled out a gigantic black and white striped object the
size of a man.
‘Snozzcumbers!’ he cried. ‘This is the repulsant snozzcumber, Majester, and that is all we is
going to give these disgustive giants from now on!’
‘May I taste it?’ the Queen asked.
‘Don’t, Majester, don’t!’ cried the BFG. ‘It is tasting of trogfilth and pigsquibble!’ With that he
tossed the snozzcumber down to the giants below. ‘There’s your supper!’ he shouted. ‘Have a munch¹⁶
on that!’ He fished out more snozzcumbers from the sack and threw them down. The giants below
howled and cursed. The BFG laughed. ‘It serves them right left and centre!’ he said.
‘What will we feed them on when the snozzcumbers are all used up?’ the Queen asked him.
‘They is never being used up, Majester,’ the BFG answered, smiling. ‘I is also bringing in this
sack a whole bungle¹⁷ of snozzcumber plants which I is giving, with your permission, to the royal
gardener to put in the soil. Then we is having an everlasting¹⁸ supply of this repulsant food to feed
these thirstbloody giants on.’
‘What a clever fellow you are,’ the Queen said. ‘You are not very well educated but you are
really nobody’s fool, I can see that.’


喂食时间
当那些巨人被捕的时候，英国这边正忙得不亦乐乎。国内每一个挖土工人和每一台挖土
机都被动员起来挖掘一个巨坑，要把那九个巨人永远地囚禁在里面。
一万名工人和一万台机器通宵不停地在弧光灯下工作着。这个大规模工程好不容易及时
完成了。
坑大约有足球场的两倍大，深五百英尺。坑壁是垂直的，工程师们计算好，一个巨人一
旦放了进去，他就完全没有可能逃出来。即使九个巨人一个站在一个的肩膀上叠罗汉，最上
面一个离坑顶还有五十英尺左右。
九架吊着巨人的直升机停在巨坑上空。巨人一个接一个被放到坑底。可他们仍旧被捆
着，这时候开始了给他们松绑的工作。没有人肯下去做这个工作，因为巨人一旦获得自由，
必定马上将放他自由的倒霉家伙吃掉。
好心眼儿巨人照旧有他的办法。“我已经跟你们说过，”他说，“巨人不吃巨人，因此我下
去，一转眼就可以给他们松绑了。”
几千名入迷的观众，包括女王在内，低下头来往深坑里看着，好心眼儿巨人被用一根绳
子放了下去。他到了坑底，把那些巨人一个接一个地松了绑。他们站起来，伸伸被捆僵了的
手脚，开始愤怒地蹦跳起来。
“为什么他们把我们放到这个该死的深坑下面来？”他们对好心眼儿巨人大叫着问道。
“因为你们吃人豆子，”好心眼儿巨人回答说，“我一直警告你们不要这样做，可你们一直
把我的话当耳边风。”
“既然这样，”吃人肉块巨人咆哮着，“我想我们就吃掉你抵偿！”
好心眼儿巨人一把抓住悬空的绳子，及时被拉出了深坑。
他从巨人国带回的那个胀鼓鼓的大布袋放在坑顶。
“里面是什么？”女王问他。
好心眼儿巨人把一条胳膊伸进布袋，拉出一样带黑白条纹的东西，有一个人那么大。
“大鼻子瓜！”他叫道，“这是叫人恶心的大鼻子瓜。陛下，我们从此以后就请这些叫人恶
心的巨人吃这东西！”
“我可以尝一尝吗？”女王问道。
“不要，陛下，千万不要！”好心眼儿巨人叫道，“它的味道像臭鱼，像烂肉！”说着，他
把这根大鼻子瓜扔到下面去给那些巨人。“你们的晚餐来了！”他叫道，“吃上一口吧！”他从
布袋里拿出更多的大鼻子瓜，把它们扔下去。下面的巨人又叫又骂，好心眼儿巨人哈哈大笑
着说：“他们吃这个是再合适不过了！”
“等这些大鼻子瓜都吃完，我们喂他们什么呢？”女王问他。
“这些大鼻子瓜是吃不完的，陛下。”好心眼儿巨人笑着回答说，“我还在这布袋里带来了
一大捆大鼻子瓜秧苗，如果您同意，我就把它们交给御园丁种到土里去。那么，我们就可以
永远有这种叫人恶心的食物喂这些叫人恶心的巨人了。”
“你多么聪明啊！”女王说，“你没有受过很好的教育，可你真不笨，我看得出来。”

1 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

2 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。

3 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

6 perpendicular   

adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
• The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

7 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

8 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

9 untie   

vt.解开，松开；解放

参考例句：

• It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
• Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头，好吗？

10 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

11 guzzling   

v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The kids seem to be guzzling soft drinks all day. 孩子们似乎整天都在猛喝汽水。
• He's been guzzling beer all evening. 整个晚上他都在狂饮啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bellowed   

v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• They bellowed at her to stop. 他们吼叫着让她停下。
• He bellowed with pain when the tooth was pulled out. 当牙齿被拔掉时，他痛得大叫。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

14 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

15 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。”

16 munch   

v.用力嚼，大声咀嚼

参考例句：

• We watched her munch through two packets of peanuts.我们看她津津有味地嚼了两包花生米。
• Getting them to munch on vegetable dishes was more difficult.使他们吃素菜就比较困难了。

17 bungle   

v.搞糟；n.拙劣的工作

参考例句：

• If you bungle a job,you must do it again!要是你把这件事搞糟了，你得重做！
• That last stupid bungle of his is the end.他那最后一次愚蠢的错误使我再也无法容忍了。

18 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。