My grandmother carried me back into her own bedroom and put me on the table. She set theprecious bottle down beside me. "What time are those witches having supper in the Dining Room?"she asked.
"Eight o'clock," I said.
She looked at her watch. "It is now ten-past six," she said. "We've got until eight o'clock towork out our next move." Suddenly, her eye fell upon Bruno. He was still in the banana bowl on thetable. He had eaten three bananas and was now attacking a fourth. He had become immensely fat.
"That's quite enough," my grandmother said, lifting him out of the bowl and putting him onthe table-top. "I think it's time we returned this little fellow to the bosom1 of his family. Don't youagree, Bruno?"
Bruno scowled3 at her. I had never seen a mouse scowl2 before, but he managed it. "My parentslet me eat as much as I want," he said. "I'd rather be with them than with you.""Of course you would," my grandmother said. "Do you know where your parents might be atthis moment?"
"They were in the Lounge not long ago," I said "I saw them sitting there as we dashed throughon our way up here."
"Right," my grandmother said. "Let's go and see if they are still there. Do you want to comealong?" she added, looking at me.
"Yes, please," I said.
"I shall put you both in my handbag," she said "Keep quiet and stay out of sight. If you mustpeep out now and again, don't show more than your nose."Her handbag was a large bulgy4 black-leather affair with a tortoise-shell clasp. She picked upBruno and me and popped us into it. "I shall leave the clasp undone," she said. "But be sure to keepout of sight."
I had no intention of keeping out of sight. I wanted to see everything. I seated myself in alittle side-pocket inside the bag, near the clasp, and from there I was able to poke5 my head outwhenever I wanted to.
"Hey!" Bruno called out. "Give me the rest of that banana I was eating.""Oh all right," my grandmother said. "Anything to keep you quiet." She dropped the half-eaten banana into the bag, then slung6 the bag over her arm and marched out of the room and wentthumping along the corridor with her walking stick.
We went down in the lift to the ground floor and made our way through the Reading-Room tothe Lounge. And there, sure enough, sat Mr and Mrs Jenkins in a couple of armchairs with a lowround glass-covered table between them. There were several other groups in there as well, but theJenkinses were the only couple sitting alone. Mr Jenkins was reading a newspaper. Mrs Jenkins wasknitting something large and mustard-coloured. Only my nose and eyes were above the clasp of mygrandmother's handbag, but I had a super view. I could see everything.
My grandmother, dressed in black lace, went thumping7 across the floor of the Lounge andhalted in front of the Jenkins's table. "Are you Mr and Mrs Jenkins? " she asked.
Mr Jenkins looked at her over the top of his newspaper and frowned. "Yes," he said. "I am MrJenkins. What can I do for you, madam?"
"I'm afraid I have some rather alarming news for you," she said. "It's about your son, Bruno.""What about Bruno?" Mr Jenkins said.??????????????????
Mrs Jenkins looked up but went on knitting.
"What's the little blighter been up to now?" Mr Jenkins asked. "Raiding the kitchen, Isuppose."
"It's a bit worse than that," my grandmother said. "Do you think we might go somewheremore private while I tell you about it?"
"Private?" Mr Jenkins said. "Why do we have to be private?""This is not an easy thing for me to explain," my grandmother said. "I'd much rather we allwent up to your room and sat down before I tell you any more."Mr Jenkins lowered his paper. Mrs Jenkins stopped knitting. "I don't want to go up to myroom, madam," Mr Jenkins said. "I'm quite comfortable here, thank you very much." He was a largecoarse man and he wasn't used to being pushed around by anybody. "Kindly8 state your business andthen leave us alone," he added. He spoke9 as though he was addressing someone who was trying tosell him a vacuum-cleaner at the back door.
My poor grandmother, who had been doing her best to be as kind to them as possible, nowbegan to bristle10 a bit herself. "We really can't talk in here," she said. "There are too many people.
This is a rather delicate and personal matter.""I'll talk where I dashed well want to, madam," Mr Jenkins said. "Come on now, out with it!
If Bruno has broken a window or smashed your spectacles, then I'll pay for the damage, but I'm notbudging out of this seat!"
One or two other groups in the room were beginning to stare at us now.
"Where is Bruno anyway?" Mr Jenkins said. "Tell him to come here and see me.""He's here already," my grandmother said. "He's in my handbag." She patted the big floppyleather bag with her walking-stick.
"What the heck d'you mean he's in your handbag?" Mr Jenkins shouted.
"Are you trying to be funny?" Mrs Jenkins said, very prim11.
"There's nothing funny about this," my grandmother said. "Your son has suffered a ratherunfortunate mishap12."
"He's always suffering mishaps," Mr Jenkins said. "He suffers from overeating and then hesuffers from wind. You should hear him after supper. He sounds like a brass13 band! But a good doseof castor-oil soon puts him right again. Where is the little beggar?""I've already told you," my grandmother said. "He's in my handbag. But I do think it might bebetter if we went somewhere private before you meet him in his present state.""This woman's mad," Mrs Jenkins said. "Tell her to go away."'"The plain fact is", my grandmother said, "that your son Bruno has been rather drasticallyaltered."
"Altered!" shouted Mr Jenkins. "What the devil d'you mean altered?""Go away!" Mrs Jenkins said. "You're a silly old woman!""I am trying to tell you as gently as I possibly can that Bruno really is in my handbag," mygrandmother said. "My own grandson actually saw them doing it to him.""Saw who doing what to him, for heaven's sake?" shouted Mr Jenkins. He had a blackmoustache which jumped up and down when he shouted.
"Saw the witches turning him into a mouse," my grandmother said.
"Call the Manager, dear," Mrs Jenkins said to her husband. "Have this mad woman thrownout of the hotel."
At this point, my grandmother's patience came to an end. She fished around in her handbagand found Bruno. She lifted him out and dumped him on the glass-topped table. Mrs Jerkins took onelook at the fat little brown mouse who was still chewing a bit of banana and she let out a shriek14 thatrattled the crystals on the chandelier. She sprang out of her chair yelling, "It's a mouse! Take it away!
I can't stand the things!"
"It's Bruno," my grandmother said.
"You nasty cheeky old woman!" shouted Mr Jerkins. He started flapping his newspaper atBruno, trying to sweep him off the table. My grandmother rushed forward and managed to grab holdof him before he was swept away. Mrs Jerkins was still screaming her head off and Mr Jerkins wastowering over us and shouting, "Get out of here! How dare you frighten my wife like that! Take yourfilthy mouse away this instant!"
"Help!" screamed Mrs Jerkins. Her face had gone the colour of the underside of a fish.
"Well, I did my best," my grandmother said, and with that she turned and sailed out of theroom, carrying Bruno with her.
金斯夫妇和布鲁诺相会
我姥姥把我带回她的房间，放在桌子上。她把那个贵重的瓶子放在我旁边。“那些女巫几点在餐厅吃晚饭？”她问。
“八点。”我说。
她看看手表。“现在是六点十分，”她说，“八点钟才能进行下一步。”她的眼睛忽然落到布鲁诺身上。他还在那个盛着香蕉的玻璃碗里。他已经吃掉了三个香蕉，正在开始吃第四个。他的肚子吃得胀鼓鼓的。
“已经吃够了，”我姥姥说着把他从玻璃碗里抓起来，放在桌子上，“我想该把这小家伙送还给他家了。你同意吗，布鲁诺？”
布鲁诺怒视着她。我以前还没有见过老鼠怒视过，但他会怒视。“我的爸爸妈妈向来听任我吃，”他说，“我情愿和他们在一起也不和你在一起。”
“当然是这样，”我姥姥说，“你知道这会儿他们在哪里吗？”
“他们不久前在休息室里，”我说，“我们飞奔到这儿来的时候，我见过他们。”
“好，”我姥姥说，“我们去看看他们是不是还在那里。你要跟我们去吗？”她看看我加上一句。
“是的。”我说。
“我把你们两个放在手提包里。”她说， “不要出声，不要让人看见。万一有时要看看外面，顶多只能露出眼睛。”
她的黑色手提皮包很大，胀鼓鼓的，有个玳瑁扣子。她把布鲁诺和我放进去。“我把扣子开着，”她说，“但千万别让人看见你们。”
可我想看东西，什么都想看。我坐在手提包靠近扣子的边袋里，从那里只要我高兴就可以把头伸出去。
“喂！”布鲁诺叫道，“把我没吃完的香蕉给我。”
“好吧，”我姥姥说，“只要你不出声就行。”她把他没吃完的香蕉扔进手提包，接着把手提包挂在胳臂肘上，走出房间，咚咚咚地拄着手杖沿走廊走向电梯。
我们乘电梯来到底层，穿过阅览室走到休息室。詹金斯先生和太太的确在那里，正坐在一对扶手椅上，中间是一张矮矮的玻璃面圆桌。休息室里还有别的几伙人，但他们两个是单独坐在一起的。詹金斯先生在看报。詹金斯太太在织很大的一件芥末色的什么东西。我在我姥姥的手提包扣子上只露出鼻子和眼睛，但我眼力好，什么都看得见。
我的穿着黑色花边长裙的姥姥走过休息室，停在詹金斯夫妇桌前。“你们是詹金斯先生和太太吗？”她问。
詹金斯先生从报纸的上端看着她，皱起眉头。“是的，”他说，“我是詹金斯先生。我能为你做什么事吗，太太？”
“恐怕我有件事会使你们吃惊，”她说，“是关于你们的儿子布鲁诺的。”
“布鲁诺怎么啦？”詹金斯先生说。
詹金斯太太抬起头来，但手上继续在织东西。“这小家伙这会儿上哪儿去啦？”詹金斯先生问道，“我想是去厨房了。”
“比这更糟，”我姥姥说，“我们到没有人的地方去，我把这件事情告诉你们好吗？”
“没有人的地方？”詹金斯先生说，“我们为什么要到没有人的地方？”
“我不好解释，”我姥姥说，“我们最好上你们的房间，坐下来我再给你们说。”
詹金斯先生放下报纸。詹金斯太太也不再编织了。“我不愿上楼到我的房间去，太太，”詹金斯先生说，“我在这里很舒服，谢谢你了。”他是个粗鲁的大人物，不习惯被人指挥。“有什么事请你说出来，然后走开，别打搅我们了。”他又说，好像对在后门兜售吸尘器的人说话一样。
我可怜的姥姥，她已经尽可能对他们客气了，这时也开始有点被激怒了。“我们的确不能在这里说，”她说，“这里人太多。这是一件十分棘手的私下的事。”
“我想在哪里谈就在哪里谈，太太，”詹金斯先生说，“现在说吧，说出来！如果布鲁诺打破了玻璃窗或者你的眼镜，我负责赔偿损失，但是我不离开这个座位！”
这时候房间里有一两张桌子跟前的人开始看我们。
“布鲁诺到底在哪里？”詹金斯先生说，“叫他到这儿来看我。”
“他已经在这里了，”我姥姥说，“他在我的手提包里。”她用她的手杖拍拍软软的大皮包。
“他在你的手提包里，你这话是什么意思？”詹金斯先生大叫。
“你想闹着玩吗？”詹金斯太太一本正经地说。
“这件事一点儿也不好玩，”我姥姥说，“你们的儿子遭到了不幸。”
“他一直都在遭到不幸。”詹金斯先生说，“他吃苦头是因为吃得过多，然后放屁。你该听听他吃完饭后的声音，像个铜管乐队！但是一剂蓖麻油就把他治好了。那小瘪三在哪里？”
“我已经告诉你了，”我姥姥说，“他在我的手提包里。不过我的确认为，在你看到他现在的样子以前，我们最好去个没有人的地方。”
“这个女人疯了，”詹金斯太太说，“叫她走开。”
“事实是，”我姥姥说，“你们的儿子布鲁诺已经完全变样了。”
“变样了！”詹金斯先生叫道，“你说变样了是什么鬼意思？”
“走吧！”詹金斯太太说，“你是个傻老太婆！”
“我是在尽可能客气地告诉你们，布鲁诺的确在我的手提包里，”我姥姥说，“我的外孙当真看到她们把他变了。”
“天啊，看到谁把他怎么样了？”詹金斯先生叫起来。他有一小撮黑胡子，一叫小胡子就上下跳动。
“看到女巫把他变成了一只老鼠。”我姥姥说。
“快叫经理，亲爱的，”詹金斯太太对她丈夫说，“把这个疯女人赶出旅馆。”
这时候我姥姥的耐心到了头，忍无可忍了。她把手伸到手提包里找到了布鲁诺。她把他拿出来放在玻璃桌面上。詹金斯太太对那还在嚼着最后一点香蕉的胖乎乎的小棕鼠看了一眼，马上一声急叫，震得枝形吊灯的水晶片叮叮响。她从椅子上跳起来叫道：“是只老鼠！把它拿走！我怕老鼠！”
“他是布鲁诺。”我姥姥说。
“你这不要脸的该死的老太婆！”詹金斯先生叫道。他用他的报纸去拍打布鲁诺，想把他从桌子上扫走。我姥姥扑上去，在他把布鲁诺扫下去之前总算把他捧走了。詹金斯太太还在拼命大叫。詹金斯先生耸立在我们面前叫道：“滚开！你怎么敢这样吓唬我的妻子！马上把你这只肮脏的老鼠拿走！”
“救命啊！”詹金斯太太叫道，脸色变得像鱼肚。
“好吧，我已经尽心了。”我姥姥说着转身离开房间，带走了布鲁诺。
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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2
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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3
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
bulgy
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| a.膨胀的；凸出的 | |
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5
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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6
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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7
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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8
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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9
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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10
bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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11
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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12
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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13
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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14
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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