05 The Gruncher Knows You're Up Here

The Gruncher Knows You're Up Here Little Billy saw a room that was lit by a pale yellow light of some sort and it was furnished with beautifully made miniature chairs and a table. To one side was a four-poster bed. It was like one of the rooms Little Billy had once seen in the Queen's Doll's House at Windsor Castle.

小比利看见一个房间，里面有一束淡黄色的光，里面摆着几把制作精美的小椅子和一张桌子。 一边是一张四柱床。 这就像小比利曾经在温莎城堡的女王玩偶屋看到过的一间房间。

'It's beautiful,' Little Billy said. 'Are they all as lovely as this one?' 'Most are smaller,' the old Minpin said. 'This one is very grand because I am the Ruler of this tree. My name is Don Mini. What is yours?' 'Mine is Little Billy,' Little Billy said. 'Greetings, Little Billy,' Don Mini said. 'You are welcome to look into some of the other rooms if you wish. We are very proud of them.' All the other Minpin families wanted to show Little Billy their own rooms. They rushed about along the branches calling out, 'Come and see mine! Please come and see mine!' Little Billy began climbing about and peeping into the tiny windows. Through one window he saw a bathroom, just like his own at home only a thousand times

“真漂亮，”小比利说。 “它们都像这只一样可爱吗?”“大多数都比较小，”老敏品说。 “这棵树非常高大，因为我是这棵树的统治者。 我叫唐·米尼。你的是什么?“我的是小比利，”小比利说。 “你好，小比利，”唐·米尼说。 “如果您愿意的话，欢迎您到其他房间去看看。 我们为他们感到骄傲。”所有其他的敏品家庭都想让小比利看看他们自己的房间。 它们沿着树枝跑来跑去，叫着:“来看看我的!”请过来看看我的!”小比利开始爬来爬去，往小窗户里偷看。 透过一扇窗户，他看到了一间浴室，就像他自己家里的浴室一样，只有一千次

smaller. And through another he saw a classroom with lots of tiny desks and a blackboard at one end. In every room there was a stairway in one corner leading up to the room above. As Little Billy went from window to window, the Minpins followed him, clustering round and

小。透过另一扇门，他看到一间教室，里面有很多小桌子，桌子的一端有一块黑板。 每个房间的一个角落里都有一个通往上面房间的楼梯。 当小比利从一扇窗户走到另一扇窗户时，敏平一家跟着他，围着他，围着他

smiling at his exclamations of wonder. 'They're all absolutely marvellous,' he said. 'They're much nicer than our rooms at home.' When the sightseeing tour was over, Little Billy sat down again on a large branch and said to the whole company of Minpins, 'Look, I've had a lovely time with you all, but how am I ever going to get home again? My mother'll be going crazy.' 'You can never get down from this tree,' Don Mini said. 'I've told you that. If you're stupid enough to try, you'll be eaten up in five seconds.'

对他惊奇的呼喊微笑。 他说:“它们都太棒了。” “它们比我们家里的房间好多了。”观光游结束后，小比利又坐在一根大树枝上，对所有的民品说:“看，我和你们大家玩得很开心，但是我怎么才能再回家呢?” 我妈妈会发疯的。“你永远不可能从这棵树上下来，”唐·米尼说。 “我已经告诉过你了。如果你蠢到去尝试，你会在五秒钟内被吃掉。”

'Is it the Spittler?' Little Billy asked. 'Is it the Terrible Bloodsuckling Toothpluckling Stonechuckling Spittler?' 'I've never heard of any Spittler,' Don Mini said. 'The one waiting for you down there is the fearsome Gruncher, the Red-Hot Smoke-Belching Gruncher. He grunches up everything in the forest. That's why we have to live up here. He has grunched up hundreds of humans and literally millions of Minpins. What makes him so

“是那个吐痰者吗?”小比利问。 “是可怕的吸血拔牙石嘟嘟吐痰者吗?”“我从来没听说过什么泼妇，”唐·米尼说。 “在下面等着你们的是那个可怕的格伦彻，那个冒着红烟的格伦彻。 他把森林里的东西都吃光了。 所以我们才要住在这里。 他干掉了成百上千的人类和几百万的民平。 是什么使他如此?

dangerous is his amazing and magical nose. His nose can smell out a human or a Minpin or any other animal from ten miles away. Then he gallops towards it at terrific speed. He can never see anything in front of him because of all the smoke he belches out from his nose and mouth, but that doesn't bother him. His nose tells him exactly where to go.' 'Why does he blow out all that smoke?' Little Billy asked. 'Because he's got a red-hot fire in his belly,' Don Mini said. 'The Gruncher likes his meat roasted, and the fire roasts it as it goes down.' 'Look,' said Little Billy, 'Gruncher or no Gruncher, I've simply got to get home somehow. I'll have to make a dash for it.' 'Don't try it, I beg you,' Don Mini said. 'The Gruncher knows you're up here. He's down there now waiting for you. Climb down a bit lower with me and I'll show you.'

危险的是他神奇的鼻子。 他的鼻子能在十英里外嗅出人、人猿或任何其他动物的气味。 然后他以惊人的速度向它飞奔而去。 由于他的鼻子和嘴巴喷出的烟，他永远看不见前面的任何东西，但这并不困扰他。 他的鼻子能准确地告诉他该去哪里。“他为什么要吹出那么多烟?”小比利问。 “因为他肚子里有一团炽热的火，”唐·米尼说。 “Gruncher喜欢把他的肉烤熟，然后在火上烤下去。“听着，”小比利说，“不管有没有Gruncher，我总要想办法回家。” 我得冲过去了。“我求求你，不要试，”唐·米尼说。 “Gruncher知道你在上面。 他现在就在下面等你。 跟我往下爬，我指给你看。”