16 The Woman 那个女人

16 The Woman
‘Quick!’ said Mr Fox. ‘Hide!’ He and Badger¹ and the Smallest Fox jumped up on to a shelf andcrouched behind a row of big cider jars. Peering around the jars, they saw a huge woman comingdown into the cellar. At the foot of the steps, the woman paused, looking to right and left. Then sheturned and headed straight for the place where Mr Fox and Badger and the Smallest Fox were hiding.
She stopped right in front of them. The only thing between her and them was a row of cider jars. Shewas so close, Mr Fox could hear the sound of her breathing. Peeping through the crack between twobottles, he noticed that she carried a big rolling-pin in one hand.
‘How many will he want this time, Mrs Bean?’ the woman shouted. And from the top of the stepsthe other voice called back, ‘Bring up two or three jars.’
‘He drank four yesterday, Mrs Bean.’
‘Yes, but he won’t want that many today because he’s not going to be up there more than a fewhours longer. He says the fox is bound to make a run for it this morning. It can’t possibly stay downthat hole another day without food.’
The woman in the cellar reached out and lifted a jar of cider from the shelf. The jar she took wasnext but one to the jar behind which Mr Fox was crouching².
‘I’ll be glad when the rotten brute³ is killed and strung up on the front porch,’ she called out. ‘Andby the way, Mrs Bean, your husband promised I could have the tail as a souvenir.’
‘The tail’s been all shot to pieces,’ said the voice from upstairs. ‘Didn’t you know that?’
‘You mean it’s ruined?’
‘Of course it’s ruined. They shot the tail but missed the fox.’
‘Oh heck!’ said the big woman. ‘I did so want that tail!’
‘You can have the head instead, Mabel. You can get it stuffed and hang it on your bedroom wall.
Hurry up now with that cider!’
‘Yes, Ma’am, I’m coming,’ said the big woman, and she took a second jar from the shelf.
If she takes one more, she’ll see us , thought Mr Fox. He could feel the Smallest Fox’s bodypressed tightly against his own, quivering with excitement.
‘Will two be enough, Mrs Bean, or shall I take three?’
‘My goodness, Mabel, I don’t care so long as you get a move on!’
‘Then two it is,’ said the huge woman, speaking to herself now. ‘He drinks too much anyway.’
Carrying a jar in each hand and with the rolling-pin tucked under one arm, she walked awayacross the cellar. At the foot of the steps she paused and looked around, sniffing⁴ the air. ‘There’s ratsdown here again, Mrs Bean. I can smell ’em.’
‘Then poison them, woman, poison them! You know where the poison’s kept.’
‘Yes, Ma’am,’ Mabel said. She climbed slowly out of sight up the steps. The door slammed.
‘Quick!’ said Mr Fox. ‘Grab a jar each and run for it!’
Rat stood on his high shelf and shrieked⁵. ‘What did I tell you! You nearly got nabbed, didn’t you?
You nearly gave the game away! You keep out of here from now on! I don’t want you around! Thisis my place!’
‘You,’ said Mr Fox, ‘are going to be poisoned.’
‘Poppycock!’ said Rat. ‘I sit up here and watch her putting the stuff down. She’ll never get me.’
Mr Fox and Badger and the Smallest Fox ran across the cellar clutching a gallon jar each.
‘Goodbye, Rat!’ they called out as they disappeared through the hole in the wall. ‘Thanks for thelovely cider!’
Thieves!’ shrieked Rat. ‘Robbers! Bandits! Burglars!’


16　那个女人
“快啊！”狐狸先生说，“躲起来！”他和獾以及最小的狐狸跳上一个货架，蹲在一排盛苹果酒的大罐子后面。他们绕过罐子窥视着，看到一个大块头的女人来到了地下室里。在走到最后一级台阶的时候，那个女人迟疑了一下，向左右看了看。然后她便直奔狐狸先生和獾以及最小的狐狸藏身的地方。她就在他们的前面停了下来。她和他们之间仅仅隔了一排苹果酒罐子。她离他们是那么近，以至狐狸先生都可以听得见她喘息的声音。他从瓶子之间的空隙里悄悄地看去，注意到她手里正拿着一根大擀面杖。
“比恩太太，他这次想要多少啊？”那女人喊道。于是从楼梯的顶端传来另外一个声音：“拿上来两三罐。”
“他昨天喝了四罐，比恩太太。”
“是的，可是他今天要不了那么多，因为他在那上面待不了几小时了。他说那狐狸今天早晨一定会跑出来，它不可能再在洞里饿一天了。”
地下室里的那个女人伸手从架子上拿了一罐苹果酒。她拿的那罐酒与狐狸先生藏身的地方仅隔着一个罐子。
“要是把那个讨厌的畜生杀死吊在走廊里我才高兴呢，”她大声说，“顺便说一下，比恩太太，你丈夫答应过要把尾巴当纪念品送给我的。”
“那条尾巴已经被打烂了，”楼上的那个声音说，“你还不知道吗？”
“你是说那尾巴已经给毁了吗？”
“当然给毁了啊。他们打中了那条尾巴，可是没打中那只狐狸。”
“噢，真见鬼！”大块头女人说道，“我还真是很想要那条尾巴呢！”
“梅布尔，你可以要那个头来代替尾巴呀。你可以让人给你把它填充起来，挂在你卧室的墙上。现在快点把苹果酒拿上来吧！”
“好的，夫人，来了。”大块头女人说着，从架子上拿下了第二个罐子。
狐狸先生暗想，要是她再拿一罐，她就会看见我们。他可以感觉到，最小的狐狸那紧紧地贴着他的身体正由于激动而颤抖着。
“两罐够吗，比恩太太？要么我拿三罐？”
“我的老天，梅布尔，我不管那些，只要你动作快点就行！”
“那就拿两罐吧，”大块头女人说道，现在她是在自言自语，“反正他喝得也太多了。”
她一手提一只酒罐，把那根擀面杖夹在一只胳膊下面，向地下室的另一端走去。她在楼梯跟前停了一下，一边向四周打量着，一边嗅了嗅空气中的气味。“这儿又有老鼠了，比恩太太。我闻得出它们的气味。”
“那就毒死它们，妇人，毒死它们！你知道毒药在哪里放着。”
“是的，太太。”梅布尔说。她缓缓地爬上楼梯，在台阶上隐去了身影。门被“砰”的一声关上了。
“快！”狐狸先生说，“各自拿一罐酒快跑！”
老鼠站在高高的架子上，尖声叫着：“我给你们说什么来着！你们差一点儿被抓住，不是吗？你们把这件事搞砸了！从现在起你们不许再到这儿来！我不准你们接近这里！这是我的地方！”
狐狸先生说：“你会被毒死的。”
“胡说！”老鼠说道，“我坐在这上面看着她下毒药。她永远也别想逮住我。”
狐狸先生、獾和最小的狐狸各自抓着一罐一加仑重的苹果酒，从地下室的一端跑向另一端。“再见，老鼠！为这美妙的苹果酒谢谢你！”他们一边大声喊着，一边钻进墙上的那个洞里，不见了踪影。
“贼！”老鼠尖叫道，“强盗！土匪！窃贼！”

1 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

2 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

3 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城