Mr Jenkins had not gone more than a few paces towards The Grand High Witch's table whena piercing scream rose high above all the other noises in the room, and at the same moment I saw TheGrand High Witch go shooting up into the air!
Now she was standing1 on her chair, still screaming...
Now she was on the table-top, waving her arms...
"What on earth's happening, Grandmamma?"
"Wait!" my grandmother said. "Keep quiet and watch."Suddenly all the other witches, more than eighty of them, were beginning to scream and jumpup out of their seats as though spikes2 were being stuck into their bottoms. Some were standing onchairs, some were up on the tables and all of them were wiggling about and waving their arms in themost extraordinary manner.
Then, all at once, they became quiet.
Then they stiffened3. Every single witch stood there as stiff and silent as a corpse4.
The whole room became deathly still.
"They're shrinking, Grandmamma!" I said. "They're shrinking just like I did!""I know they are," my grandmother said.
"It's the Mouse-Maker!" I cried. "Look! Some of them are growing fur on their faces! Why isit??????????????????????????????????????????????????????working so quickly, Grandmamma?""I'll tell you why," my grandmother said. "Because all of them have had massive overdoses,just like you. It's thrown the alarm-clock right out of whack5!"Everyone in the Dining-Room was standing up now to get a better view. People were movingcloser. They were beginning to crowd round the two long tables. My grandmother lifted Bruno andme up so that we wouldn't miss any of the fun. In her excitement, she jumped up on to her chair sothat she could see over the heads of the crowd.
In another few seconds, all the witches had completely disappeared and the tops of the twolong tables were swarming6 with small brown mice.
All over the Dining-Room women were screaming and strong men were turning white in theface and shouting, "It's crazy! This can't happen! Let's get the heck out of here quick!" Waiters wereattacking the mice with chairs and wine-bottles and anything else that came to hand. I saw a chef in atall white hat rushing out from the kitchen brandishing7 a frying-pan, and another one just behind himwas wielding8 a carving-knife above his head, and everyone was yelling, "Mice! Mice! Mice! Wemust get rid of the mice!" Only the children in the room were really enjoying it. They all seemed toknow instinctively9 that something good was going on right there in front of them, and they wereclapping and cheering and laughing like mad.
"It's time to go," my grandmother said. "Our work is done." She got down off her chair andpicked up her handbag and slung10 it over her arm.
She had me in her right hand and Bruno in her left.
"Bruno," she said, "the time has come to restore you to the famous bosom11 of your family.""My mum's not very crazy about mice," Bruno said.
"So I noticed," my grandmother said. "She'll just have to get used to you, won't she?"It was not difficult to find Mr and Mrs Jenkins. You could hear Mrs Jenkins's shrill12 voice allover the room. "Herbert!" it was screaming. "Herbert, get me out of here! There's mice everywhere!
They'll go up my skirts!" She had her arms high up around her husband and from where I was sheseemed to be swinging from his neck.
My grandmother advanced upon them and thrust Bruno into Mr Jenkins's hand. "Here's yourlittle boy," she said. "He needs to go on a diet.""Hi, Dad!" Bruno said. "Hi, Mum!"
Mrs Jenkins screamed even louder. My grandmother, with me in her hand, turned andmarched out of the room. She went straight across the hotel lobby and out through the front entranceinto the open air.
Outside it was a lovely warm evening and I could hear the waves breaking on the beach justacross the road from the hotel.
"Is there a taxi here?" my grandmother said to the tall doorman in his green uniform.
"Certainly, madam," he said, and he put two fingers into his mouth and blew a long shrillwhistle. I watched him with envy. For weeks I had been trying to whistle like that but I hadn'tsucceeded once. Now I never would.
The taxi came. The driver was an oldish man with a thick black drooping13 moustache. Themoustache hung over his mouth like the roots of some plant. "Where to, madam?" he asked.
Suddenly, he caught sight of me, a little mouse, nestling in my grandmother's hand. "Blimey!" hesaid. "What's that?"
"It's my grandson," my grandmother said. "Drive us to the station, please.""I always liked mice," the old taxi-driver said. "I used to keep 'undreds of 'em when I was aboy.?Mice is the fastest breeders in the world, did you know that, ma'am? So if 'ee's your grandson,then I reckon you'll be having a few great grandsons to go with 'im in a couple of weeks' time!""Drive us to the station, please," my grandmother said, looking prim14.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "Right away."
My grandmother got into the back of the taxi, and sat down and put me on her lap.
"Are we going home?" I asked her.
"Yes," she answered. "Back to Norway."
"Hooray!" I cried. "Oh, hooray, hooray, hooray!""I thought you'd like that," she said.
"But what about our luggage?"
"Who cares about luggage?" she said.
The taxi was driving through the streets of Bournemouth and this was the time of day whenthe pavements were crowded with holiday-makers all wandering about aimlessly with nothing to do.
"How are you feeling, my darling?" my grandmother said.
"Fine," I said. "Quite marvellous."
She began stroking the fur on the back of my neck with one finger. "We have accomplishedgreat feats15 today," she said.
"It's been terrific," I said. "Absolutely terrific."
胜利
可是詹金斯先生朝女巫大王的桌子还没走上几步，一阵刺耳的尖叫声压倒了餐厅里所有的喧闹声。就在这时候，我看见女巫大王蹦上了半空！
现在她站在她的椅子上面，还在尖叫……
现在她站在桌子上面，挥动双臂……
“出什么事啦，姥姥？”
“等一等！”我姥姥说，“别响，看着。”
忽然，所有八十多个女巫都开始尖叫，从座位上跳起来，好像屁股给钉子刺了。她们有一些站在椅子上面，有一些站在桌子上面，全都扭动身体，挥舞双臂，那样子古怪到了极点。
接着，忽然一下子，她们安静下来。
接着，她们僵住不动了。一个个女巫站在那里一动不动，一声不响，犹如一具具死尸。
整个餐厅里一片死寂。
“她们在缩小，姥姥！”我说，“她们就像我原先那样在缩小！”
“我知道。”我姥姥说。
“是变鼠药在起作用！”我叫道，“瞧！她们有些人的脸上在长毛了！为什么这么快就起作用啊，姥姥？”
“我来告诉你为什么，”我姥姥说，“因为她们全都吃了很大的剂量，就像你一样。这样闹钟就失灵了。”
现在餐厅里人人都站起来要看清楚些。人们越挤越近，开始围住那两张长桌。我姥姥把布鲁诺和我举起来，让我们不错过任何一点观看这有趣情景的机会。她太兴奋了，跳到了椅子上，好从大家的头顶上看过去。
在几秒钟内，所有的女巫完全不见了，在两张长桌上聚集着许多小棕鼠。
整个餐厅的女人在尖叫，强壮的男人脸色发白，也叫道：“真疯了！这是不可能的！我们快出去吧！”侍者们用椅子、酒瓶和任何拿得到的东西打老鼠。我看见戴白色高帽的厨师长拿着一个长柄煎锅从厨房里跑出来，后面跟着一个厨师高举着菜刀。大家大叫：“老鼠！老鼠！
老鼠！我们要消灭老鼠！”只有房间里的孩子们的确是兴高采烈。他们好像本能地知道，就在他们面前正在发生一件好事，于是鼓掌欢呼，哈哈大笑，像是疯了似的。
“该走了，”我姥姥说，“我们已经成功了。”她从椅子上下来，拿起她的手提包，挂在手臂上。她右手拿着我，左手拿着布鲁诺。“布鲁诺，”她说，“现在该把你送回去，让你全家团聚了。”
“我妈妈不太喜欢老鼠。”布鲁诺说。
“这个我注意到了，”我姥姥说，“但她还是得习惯和你相处，对吗？”
找到詹金斯先生和太太并不难。你们可以听到詹金斯太太的尖叫声响彻整个餐厅。“赫伯特！”她叫道，“赫伯特，把我带出去！这里到处是老鼠！它们会爬上我的裙子的！”她高举双臂抱着丈夫。从我的地方看过去，她好像要抱着她丈夫的脖子旋转似的。
我姥姥向他们走过去，把布鲁诺塞到詹金斯先生的手里。“你的儿子在这里，”她说，“他需要节节食。”
“你好，爸爸！”布鲁诺说，“你好，妈妈！”
詹金斯太太叫得更响了。我姥姥捧着我转身走出餐厅。她径直穿过旅馆前厅，出了大门来到外面。
外面是宜人的温暖的夜晚，我听到马路对面海浪冲击海滩的声音。
“这里有出租汽车吗？”我姥姥对穿绿色制服的高个看门人说。
“当然有，太太。”他说着把两个指头放到嘴里吹了长长的一声口哨。我很羡慕地看着他吹口哨。我曾经花了好几个星期想学会像他那样吹口哨，但一次也没有吹成功。现在我不可能吹了。
出租汽车来了。司机是个上了年纪的人，嘴唇上面挂着浓浓的两撇黑色八字胡，像是什么植物的根。“上哪儿去呀，太太？”他问道。忽然他看见了我—一只小老鼠—蜷伏在我姥姥的手上。“哎呀！”他说，“那是什么？”
“是我的小外孙。”我姥姥说，“请送我们到火车站。”
“我一向喜欢老鼠，”老出租汽车司机说，“我小时候常常一弄就是几百只。老鼠在世界上是繁殖最快的，你知道吗，太太？因此，如果它是你的外孙，那么我可以断定，两个星期你就可以有好几个曾外孙了！”
“请送我们上火车站。”我姥姥板着脸说。
“好的，太太，”他说，“这就去。”
我姥姥上了出租汽车后座，坐下来把我放在膝盖上。
“我们回家吗？”我问她。
“是的，”她回答说，“回挪威。”
“万岁！”我叫道，“噢，万岁！万岁！万岁！”
“我早知道你会喜欢回挪威去的。”她说。
“可是我们的行李怎么办？”
“谁在乎那些行李！”她说。
出租汽车穿过伯恩默思的街道。这个时候街上满是无所事事、漫无目的地闲逛着想要寻欢作乐的人。
“你觉得怎么样，我的宝贝？”我姥姥说。
“很好，”我说，“好极了。”
她开始用一个指头抚摸我后颈的毛。“我们今天完成了一项伟大的业绩。”她说。
“那真可怕，”我说，“可怕极了。”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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2
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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6
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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8
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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10
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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11
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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12
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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13
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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14
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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15
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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