MY grandmother hustled1 me back into my own bedroom and out on to the balcony. "Are youready?" she asked. "I'm going to put you in the sock now.""I hope I can manage this," I said. "I'm only a little mouse.""You'll manage," she said. "Good luck, my darling." She popped me into the sock and startedlowering me over the balcony. I crouched3 inside the sock and held my breath. Through the stitches Icould see out quite clearly. Miles below me, the children playing on the beach were the size ofbeetles. The sock started swinging in the breeze. I looked up and saw my grandmother's head stickingout over the railings of the balcony above. "You're nearly there!" she called out. "Here we go! Gentlydoes it. You're down!"
I felt a slight bump. "In you go!" my grandmother was shouting. "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Searchthe room!"
I jumped out of the sock and ran into The Grand High Witch's bedroom. There was the samemusty smell about the place that I had noticed in the Ballroom4. It was the stench of witches. Itreminded me of the smell inside the men's public lavatory5 at our local railway-station.
As far as I could see, the room was tidy enough. There was no sign anywhere that it wasinhabited by anyone but an ordinary person. But then there wouldn't be, would there? No witchwould be stupid enough to leave anything suspicious lying around for the hotel maid to see.
Suddenly I saw a frog jumping across the carpet and disappearing under the bed. I jumpedmyself.
"Hurry up!" came my grandmother's voice from somewhere high up outside. "Grab the stuffand get out!"
I started skittering round and trying to search the room. This wasn't so easy. I couldn't, forexample, open any of the drawers. I couldn't open the doors of the big wardrobe either. I stoppedskittering about. I sat in the middle of the floor and had a think. If The Grand High Witch wanted tohide something top secret, where would she put it? Certainly not in any ordinary drawer. Not in thewardrobe either. It was too obvious. I jumped up on to the bed to get a better view of the room. Hey, Ithought, what about under the mattress6? Very carefully, I lowered myself over the edge of the bedand wormed my way underneath7 the mattress. I had to push forward hard to make any headway, but Ikept at it. I couldn't see a thing. I was scrabbling about under the mattress when my head suddenlybumped against something hard inside the mattress above me. I reached up and felt it with my paw.
Could it be a little bottle? It was a little bottle! I could trace the shape of it through the cloth of themattress. And right alongside it, I felt another hard lump, and another and another. The Grand HighWitch must have slit8 open the mattress and put all the bottles inside and then sewn it all up again. Ibegan tearing away frantically9 at the mattress cloth above my head with my teeth. My front teethwere extremely sharp and it didn't take me long to make a small hole. I climbed into the hole andgrabbed a bottle by the neck. I pushed it down through the hole in the mattress and climbed out afterit.
Walking backwards10 and dragging the bottle behind me, I managed to reach the edge of themattress. I rolled the bottle off the bed on to the carpet. It bounced but it didn't break. I jumped downoff the bed. I examined the little bottle. It was identical to the one The Grand High Witch had had inthe Ballroom. There was a label on this one. FORMULA 86, it said. DELAYED ACTION MOUSE-MAKER. Then it said, This bottle contains five hundred doses. Eureka! I felt tremendously pleasedwith myself.
Three frogs came hopping11 out from under the bed. They crouched on the carpet, staring at mewith large black eyes. I stared back at them. Those huge eyes were the saddest things I had ever seen.
It suddenly occurred to me that almost certainly once upon a time they had been children, those frogs,before The Grand High Witch had got hold of them. I stood there clutching the bottle and staring atthe frogs. "Who are you?" I asked them. At that exact moment, I heard a key turning in the lock ofthe door and the door burst open and The Grand High Witch swept into the room. The?frogs jumpedunderneath the bed again in one quick hop2. I darted12 after them, still clutching the bottle, and I ranback against the wall and squeezed in behind one of the bedposts. I heard feet walking on the carpet.
I peeped round the bedpost. The three frogs were clustered together under the middle of the bed.
Frogs cannot hide like mice. They cannot run like mice, either. All they can do, poor things, is to hopabout rather clumsily.
Suddenly The Grand High Witch's face came into view, peering under the bed. I popped myhead back behind the bedpost. "So there you are, my little frrroggies," I heard her saying. "You canstay vhere you are until I go to bed tonight, then I shall thrrrow you out of the window and theseagulls can have you for supper."
Suddenly very loud and clear there came the sound of my grandmother's voice through theopen balcony door. "Hurry up, my darling!" it shouted. "Do hurry up! You'd better come outquickly!"
"Who is calling?" snapped The Grand High Witch. I peeped round the bedpost again and sawher walking across the carpet to the balcony door. "Who is this on my balcony?" she muttered. "Whois it? Who dares to trrrespass on my balcony?" She went through the door on to the balcony itself.
"Vot is this knitting-vool hanging down here?" I heard her saying.
"Oh, hello," came my grandmother's voice. "I just dropped my knitting over the balcony bymistake. But it's all right. I've got hold of one end of it. I can pull it up by myself, thank you all thesame." I marvelled14 at the coolness of her voice.
"Who vur you talking to just now?" snapped?????The Grand High Witch. "Who vur you tellingto hurry up and come out quickly?"
"I was talking to my little grandson," I heard my grandmother saying. "He's been in thebathroom for hours and it's time he came out. He sits in there reading books and he forgetscompletely where he is! Do you have any children, my dear?""I do not!" shouted The Grand High Witch, and she came quickly back into the bedroom,slamming the balcony door behind her.
I was cooked. My escape route was closed. I was shut up in the room with The Grand HighWitch and three terrified frogs. I was just as terrified as the frogs. I was quite sure that if I wasspotted, I would be caught and thrown out over the balcony for the seagulls.
There came a knock on the bedroom door. "Vot is it this time?" shouted The Grand HighWitch.
"It is we ancient ones," said a meek15 voice from behind the door. "It is six o'clock and we havecome to collect the bottles that you promised us, O Your Grandness."I saw her crossing the carpet towards the door. The door was opened and then I saw a wholelot of feet and shoes beginning to enter the room. They were coming in slowly and hesitantly, asthough the owners of those shoes were frightened of entering. "Come in! Come in!" snapped TheGrand High Witch. "Do not stand out there dithering in the corrri-dor! I don't have all night!"I saw my chance. I jumped out from behind the bedpost and ran like lightning towards theopen door. I jumped over several pairs of shoes on the way and in three seconds I was out in thecorridor, still clutching the precious bottle to my chest. No one had seen me. There were no shouts ofMouse! Mouse! All I could hear were the voices of the ancient witches burbling their silly sentencesabout "How kind Your Grandness is" and all the rest of it. I went scampering16 down the corridor to thestairs and up one flight. I went to the fifth floor and then along the corridor again until I came to thedoor of my own bedroom. Thank goodness there was no one in sight. Using the bottom of the littlebottle, I began tap-tap-tapping on the door. Tap tap tap rap, I went. Tap tap tap... tap tap tap...
Would my grandmother hear me? I thought that she must. The bottle made quite a loud tap each timeit struck. Tap tap tap... tap tap tap... Just so long as nobody came along the corridor.
But the door didn't open. I decided17 to take a risk. "Grandmamma!" I shouted as loudly as Ipossibly could. "Grandmamma! It's me! Let me in!"I heard her feet coming across the carpet and the door opened. I went in like an arrow. "I'vedone it!" I cried, jumping up and down. "I've got it, Grandmamma! Look, here it is! I've got a wholebottle of it!"
She closed the door. She bent18 down and picked me up and hugged me. "Oh my darling!" shecried. "Thank heavens you're safe!" She took the little bottle from me and read the label aloud. "'Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker!' " she read. " 'This bottle contains five hundred doses!'
You brilliant darling boy! You're a wonder! You're a marvel13! How on earth did you get out of herroom?"
"I nipped out when the ancient witches were coming in," I told her. "It was all a bit hairy,Grandmamma. I wouldn't want to do it again."
"I saw her too!" my grandmother said.
"I know you did, Grandmamma. I heard you talking to each other. Didn't you think she wasabsolutely foul19?"
"She's a murderer," my grandmother said. "She's the most evil woman in the entire world!""Did you see her mask?" I asked.
"It's amazing," my grandmother said. "It looks just like a real face. Even though I knew it wasa mask, I still couldn't tell. Oh, my darling!" she cried, giving me a hug. "I thought I'd nearer see youagain! I'm so happy you got away!"
老鼠小偷
我姥姥带着我赶回我的房间，再到外面的阳台上。“你准备好了吗？”她问道，“我现在要把你放进袜子里了。”
“这件事我希望我能办成。”我说，“我只是一只小老鼠。”
“你能办成的。”她说，“祝你幸运，我的宝贝。”她把我放进袜子，开始从阳台上把我放下去。我蹲在袜子里屏住气。透过袜子的缝隙我能清楚地看到外面。在我下面好远的地方，正在海滩上玩耍的孩子们和甲虫一样大小。袜子开始在微风中摇晃。我抬头看到姥姥的头从上面的阳台栏杆上伸出来。
“你快到了！”她大声说，“这就到了！我会轻轻的。你到了！”
我感到轻微的一震。“你进去吧！”我姥姥在叫唤，“快一点，快一点，快一点！把房间搜查一遍！”
我跳出袜子，奔进女巫大王的房间。这里有一股发霉的气味，和我在舞厅里闻到的一样。这是女巫的臭味。这使我想到了我们当地火车站男厕所里的气味。
就我所看到的情形来说，这个房间里十分整洁。没有一点迹象说明这里住的不是正常的人。那么药不在这里？女巫不会那么笨，把可疑的东西放在旅馆女侍能看到的地方。
忽然，我看见一只青蛙跳过地毯，钻到床底下不见了。我吓了一跳。
“快点！”外面高处传来我姥姥的声音，“拿到那东西就出来！”
我开始跑来跑去地设法搜索房间。这可不那么容易，例如我打不开抽屉，我也打不开大衣柜。我停下来不跑了，蹲在地板当中动脑筋。如果女巫大王想藏起什么绝密的东西，她会把它藏在哪里呢？当然不会藏在普通的抽屉里，也不会藏在衣柜里。那太显眼了。我跳到床上把整个房间更好地看了一遍。嘿，我想，床垫底下怎么样？我非常小心地从床边探下身去，钻到床垫底下。我得使劲用头顶着往里钻。我什么也看不出来。我在床垫底下乱摸，头忽然撞到一样硬东西，在床垫里面，就在我的头顶上。我用爪子去摸。会不会是一个小瓶子？是一个小瓶子。隔着床垫布，我能把它的形状摸出来。在它旁边我又摸到一个这种硬的东西，接着摸到了一个又一个。女巫大王一定是撕开了床垫，把所有的瓶子塞了进去，然后再缝起来。我开始用牙拼命地咬开我头顶上的床垫布。我的前齿极其尖利，很快就咬出一个小洞。我钻进洞，抓住一个瓶颈，把瓶子推出洞口，我跟着它爬了出来。
我拉着瓶子倒着身走，一直来到床垫边。我让瓶子从床边滚到下面的地毯上。它落地后弹了起来，但没有摔破。我跳下床查看那瓶子。和女巫大王在舞厅里拿出来的那个一模一样。这瓶子上有一个标签：86号配方慢性变鼠药。上面还写着：本瓶含量五百剂。我找到了！我得意极了。
三只青蛙从床底下跳出来。它们蹲在地毯上用黑色的大眼睛看着我。我也看着它们。这些大眼睛是我见过的最悲哀的眼睛。我忽然想到，几乎可以肯定，这些青蛙在女巫大王把它们变成青蛙之前也是小孩。“你们是谁？”我问它们。
就在这时候，我听见钥匙开门锁的声音，房门开了，女巫大王飞快地走进房间。三只青蛙一下子又跳到床底下。我跟着它们钻了进去，但仍旧抱着瓶子。我跑到墙边，躲在一根床腿后面。我听见脚步走过地毯。我从床腿后面向外偷看。三只青蛙在床底下正当中挨在一起。青蛙不能像老鼠那么躲藏。它们也不能像老鼠那么跑。这些可怜的东西只能不灵活地跳。
忽然露出了女巫大王的脸，她在朝床底下看。我连忙把头缩回床腿后面。“你们在这里，我的小青蛙。”我听见她说，“你们可以在那里待到今天晚上我上床睡觉。到那时我把你们从窗口扔出去，海鸥可以拿你们当晚饭吃。”
忽然，从开着的阳台门那儿传来我姥姥那又响又清楚的声音。“快一点，我的宝贝！”她叫道，“得快！你最好马上出来！”
“谁在嚷嚷？”女巫大王厉声说。我又从床腿后面朝外偷看，看见她走过地毯到了阳台门那里。“谁在我的阳台上？”她咕噜道，“是什么人？谁胆敢擅自到我的阳台上来？”她出门走到外面的阳台上。
“这毛线怎么挂在这里？”我听见她说。
“噢，你好，”传来我姥姥的声音，“我刚才不小心，把我织的东西从我的阳台落下去了。
可是不要紧，我总算抓住了这一头。我可以把它拉上来。不过我同样要谢谢你。”我听到她说得那么冷静，不禁惊叹。
“你刚才对谁说话？”女巫大王厉声问她，“你叫谁快一点，马上出来？”
“我在对我的小外孙说话。”我听见我姥姥说，“他进浴室已经好久了，该出来了。我坐在那里看书，根本忘了他是在什么地方！你有孩子吗，亲爱的？”
“我没有！”女巫大王大叫一声，很快地回到房间里，随手关上了阳台门。
我完了。我逃走的路被堵死了。我被关在房间里和女巫大王以及三只吓坏了的青蛙在一起了。我也和它们一样吓坏了。我确信，如果我被发现，我会被捉住并且被扔出阳台去喂海鸥的。
正在这时候，有人敲房门。“这一回又是谁？”女巫大王叫道。
“是我们老女巫。”门外传来怯生生的声音，“六点钟了，我们是来拿你答应给我们的药的，噢，大王。”
我看见她走过地毯到房门那儿去。门开了，我看见许多脚和鞋子开始进房间。它们走得很慢很犹豫，好像鞋子的所有者不敢进房间似的。“进来！进来！”女巫大王厉声说，“不要站在外面走廊里磨蹭。我可没有工夫等上一夜！”
我看到我的机会来了。我从床腿后面跳出来，像闪电一样直奔房门。我一路上跳过几双鞋，三秒钟工夫我已经在外面的走廊里了，仍旧抱着那个珍贵的瓶子。没有一个女巫看见我。没有人叫：“老鼠！老鼠！”我只听见那些老女巫叽里咕噜地说着她们的废话，什么“大王你多么仁慈啊”等等。我沿着走廊跑到楼梯口，上楼梯，来到五楼，沿着走廊又回到我的房间门口。谢谢老天爷帮忙，一个人也没有。我用那小瓶子的瓶底敲门。咚咚咚咚，我不断敲。
咚咚咚……咚咚咚……我姥姥会听见吗？我想她一定会听到。瓶子敲出很响的咚咚声。咚咚咚……咚咚咚……好在始终没有人沿着走廊过来。
但房门没有打开，我决定冒一次险。“姥姥！”我有多响叫多响，“姥姥！是我啊！放我进去吧！”
我听见她走过地毯，门打开了。我像支箭一样窜进去。“我拿到了！”我蹦蹦跳着叫道，“我拿到了，姥姥！瞧，这就是它！我拿到了整整一瓶！”
她关上房门，弯腰把我捧起来，拥抱我。“噢，我的宝贝！”她叫道，“谢天谢地，你平安无事！”她从我怀里接过小瓶子，读着标签上的字。“86号配方慢性变鼠药！”她说，“本瓶含量五百剂！你这小宝贝真了不起！你是一个奇迹！你是一个宝贝！你是怎么逃出她的房间的？”
“当老女巫们进房间的时候，我溜出来了。”我告诉她，“有点贼头贼脑，姥姥。我不想再干这种事了。”
“我也看到了她！”我姥姥说。
“我知道你看到了她，姥姥。我听见你们说话了。你不觉得她讨厌到极点了吗？”
“她是个杀人犯。”我姥姥说，“她是世界上最坏的女人！”
“你看见她的面具啦？”我问道。
“它真惊人，”我姥姥说，“看着就像一张真的脸。即使我知道它是一个面具，我还是不敢说它是面具。噢，我的宝贝！”她抱着我叫道，“我还以为我再也见不到你了呢！你逃出来了，我太高兴了！”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
hustled
|
|
| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
hop
|
|
| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
ballroom
|
|
| n.舞厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lavatory
|
|
| n.盥洗室，厕所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
mattress
|
|
| n.床垫，床褥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
slit
|
|
| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
hopping
|
|
| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
marvel
|
|
| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
marvelled
|
|
| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
meek
|
|
| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
scampering
|
|
| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |