11 The Matron

The Matron At St Peter's the ground floor was all classrooms. The first floor was all dormitories. On the dormitory floor the Matron ruled supreme. This was her territory. Hers was the only voice of authority up here, and even the eleven-and twelve-year-old boys were terrified of this female ogre, for she ruled with a rod of steel. The Matron was a large fair-haired woman with a bosom. Her age was probably no more than twenty-eight but it made no difference whether she was twenty-eight or sixty-eight because to us a grown-up was a grown-up and all grown-ups were dangerous creatures at this school. Once you had climbed to the top of the stairs and set foot on the dormitory floor, you were in the Matron's power, and the source of this power

在圣彼得学校，一楼全是教室。 一楼全是宿舍。 在宿舍的地板上，女护士长是至高无上的。 这是她的地盘。她的声音是这里唯一权威的声音，就连十一岁和十二岁的男孩都害怕这个女食人魔，因为她用一根钢棒统治着。 护士长是个身材高大的金发女人，胸部丰满。 她的年龄可能不超过二十八岁，但她是二十八岁还是六十八岁都无所谓，因为对我们来说，大人就是大人，而在这所学校里，所有的大人都是危险的家伙。 一旦你爬上楼梯的顶端，踏上宿舍的地板，你就被护士长控制了，而且是这种力量的源泉

was the unseen but frightening figure of the Headmaster lurking down in the depths of his study below. At any time she liked, the Matron could send you down in your pyjamas and dressing-gown to report to this merciless giant, and whenever this happened you got caned on the spot. The Matron knew this and she relished the whole business. She could move along that corridor like lightning, and when you least expected it, her head and her bosom would come popping through the dormitory doorway. 'Who threw that sponge?' the dreaded voice would call out. 'It was you, Perkins, was it not? Don't lie to me, Perkins! Don't argue with me! I know perfectly well it was you! Now you can put your dressing-gown on and go downstairs and report to the Headmaster this instant!' In slow motion and with immense reluctance, little Perkins, aged eight and a half, would get into his dressing-gown and slippers and disappear down the long corridor that led to the back stairs and the Headmaster's private quarters. And the

是校长那个看不见却又很吓人的身影，他正潜伏在楼下书房的深处。 护士长随时都可以让你穿着睡衣和晨衣下楼去向这个无情的巨人报告，无论什么时候，你都会被当场鞭打。 护士长知道这一点，她很喜欢这一切。 她能像闪电一样沿着走廊移动，在你最意想不到的时候，她的头和胸部就会从宿舍门口探出头来。 “谁扔的海绵?”那个可怕的声音会喊道。 “是你，珀金斯，对不对?” 别骗我，珀金斯!不要和我争论!我很清楚是你干的!现在你可以穿上晨衣，马上下楼向校长报告了!”八岁半的小珀金斯极不情愿地穿上晨衣和拖鞋，慢慢地消失在通往后楼梯和校长私人宿舍的长长的走廊里。 和

Matron, as we all knew, would follow after him and stand at the top of the stairs listening with a funny look on her face for the crack… crack… crack of the cane that would soon be coming up from below. To me that noise always sounded as though the Headmaster was firing a pistol at the ceiling of his study. Looking back on it now, there seems little doubt that the Matron disliked small boys very much indeed. She never smiled at us or said anything nice, and when for example the lint stuck to the cut on your kneecap, you were not allowed to take it off yourself bit by bit so that it didn't hurt. She would always whip it off with a flourish, muttering, 'Don't be such a ridiculous little baby!' On one occasion during my first term, I went down to the Matron's room to have some iodine put on a grazed knee and I didn't know you had to

我们都知道，护士长会跟在他后面，站在楼梯顶上，脸上带着一种滑稽的表情，听着马上就会从下面传来的拐杖的噼啪声……噼啪声……噼啪声。 对我来说，这种声音听起来就像是校长对着书房的天花板开了一枪。 现在回想起来，护士长确实非常不喜欢小男孩，这一点似乎是毫无疑问的。 她从来没有对我们笑过，也没有对我们说过什么好话，比如说，当你膝盖骨上的伤口粘着纱布时，她不允许你一点一点地把纱布取下来，这样就不会疼了。 她总是挥舞着鞭子，嘴里嘟囔着:“别这么可笑!”在我的第一个学期里，有一次，我去护士长的房间给擦伤的膝盖涂碘酒，我不知道你必须这样做

knock before you entered. I opened the door and walked right in, and there she was in the centre of the Sick Room floor locked in some kind of an embrace with the Latin master, Mr Victor Corrado. They flew apart as I entered and both their faces went suddenly crimson. 'How dare you come in without knocking!' the Matron shouted. 'Here I am trying to get something out of Mr Corrado's eye and in you burst and disturb the whole delicate operation!' 'I'm very sorry, Matron.' 'Go away and come back in five minutes!' she cried, and I shot out of the room like a bullet. After 'lights out' the Matron would prowl the corridor like a panther trying to catch the sound of a whisper behind a dormitory door, and we soon learnt that her powers of hearing were so phenomenal that it was safer to keep quiet. Once, after lights out, a brave boy called Wragg tiptoed out of our dormitory and sprinkled castor sugar all over the linoleum floor of the corridor. When Wragg returned and told us that the corridor had been successfully sugared from one end to the

进来之前先敲门。我打开门，径直走了进去，看到她正站在医务室的中央，和拉丁文老师维克多·科拉多先生紧紧地拥抱在一起。 我一进去，他们就跑开了，两个人的脸都突然涨得通红。 “你怎么敢不敲门就进来!”护士长喊道。 “我正想从科拉多先生的眼睛里挤出点什么来，你却突然闯进来，搅乱了整个微妙的过程!”“我很抱歉，护士长。”“走开，五分钟后回来!”她叫道，我像子弹一样冲出了房间。 “熄灯”后，护士长会像豹子一样在走廊里徘徊，试图捕捉宿舍门后的窃窃私语，我们很快就知道，她的听觉是如此惊人，所以保持安静更安全。 有一次，熄灯后，一个勇敢的男孩拉格(Wragg)蹑手蹑脚地走出我们的宿舍，在走廊的油毡地板上撒满了蓖麻糖。 当勒格回来告诉我们走廊从一头到另一头都被成功地加了糖时

other, I began shivering with excitement. I lay there in the dark in my bed waiting and waiting for the Matron to go on the prowl. Nothing happened. Perhaps, I told myself, she is in her room taking another speck of dust out of Mr Victor Corrado's eye. Suddenly, from far down the corridor came a resounding crunch! Crunch crunch crunch went the footsteps. It sounded as though a giant was walking on loose gravel. Then we heard the high-pitched furious voice of the Matron in the distance. 'Who did this?' she was shrieking. 'How dare you do this!' She went crunching along the corridor flinging open all the dormitory doors and switching on all the lights. The intensity of her fury was frightening. 'Come along!' she cried out, marching with crunching steps up and down the corridor. 'Own up! I want the name of the filthy little boy who put down the sugar! Own up immediately! Step forward! Confess!' 'Don't own up,' we whispered to Wragg. 'We won't give you away!'

然后，我开始兴奋得发抖。 我躺在黑暗的床上，等啊等啊，等着护士长去巡视。 什么也没有发生。也许，我对自己说，她正在自己的房间里，从维克多·科拉多先生的眼睛里取出另一粒灰尘。 突然，从走廊远处传来一声响亮的嘎吱声!嘎吱嘎吱的脚步声传来。 听起来像是一个巨人在松散的砾石上行走。 接着，我们听到远处传来护士长尖厉的怒吼。 “谁干的?”她尖叫道。 “你怎么敢这么做!”她嘎吱嘎吱地穿过走廊，打开所有宿舍的门，打开所有的灯。 她愤怒的程度令人恐惧。 “过来!”她大声喊道，脚步嘎吱嘎吱地在走廊里走来走去。 自己的!我要知道那个放下糖的肮脏小男孩的名字!马上承认吧!一步!承认!“别招供，”我们小声对莱格说。 “我们不会出卖你的!”

Wragg kept quiet. I didn't blame him for that. Had he owned up, it was certain his fate would have been a terrible and a bloody one. Soon the Headmaster was summoned from below. The Matron, with steam coming out of her nostrils, cried out to him for help, and now the whole school was herded into the long corridor, where we stood freezing in our pyjamas and bare feet while the culprit or culprits were ordered to step forward. Nobody stepped forward. I could see that the Headmaster was getting very angry indeed. His evening had been interrupted. Red splotches were appearing all over his face and flecks of spit were shooting out of his mouth as he talked. 'Very well!' he thundered. 'Every one of you will go at once and get the key to his tuck-box! Hand the keys to Matron, who will keep them for the rest of the term! And all parcels coming from home will be confiscated from now on! I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour!'

莱格保持沉默。我不怪他。 如果他坦白了，他的命运肯定会是可怕而血腥的。 很快，校长从下面被叫来了。 护士长鼻孔里冒着蒸汽，向他大声呼救，现在全校的学生都被赶到长长的走廊里，我们穿着睡衣，光着脚站在那里，冻僵了，而一个或几个罪犯被命令上前。 没有人上前。我看得出来校长确实非常生气。 他的夜晚被打断了。 他说话的时候，脸上满是红色的斑点，嘴里吐着唾沫。 “很好!他吼道。 “你们每个人马上去拿他的储物箱的钥匙!”把钥匙交给护士长，她会保管这学期剩下的钥匙!从现在开始，所有从家里寄来的包裹都将被没收!我不能容忍这种行为!”