07 Call Up the Swan

Call Up the Swan While the children were practising on the robins, Little Billy said to Don Mini, 'Is there no way in the world to get rid of that disgusting Red-Hot Smoke-Belching Gruncher down below?' 'The only time a Gruncher dies,' Don Mini said, 'is if he falls into deep water. The water puts out the fire inside him and then he's dead. The fire to a Gruncher is like your heart is to you. Stop your heart and you die at once. Put out the fire and the Gruncher dies in five seconds. That's the only way to kill a Gruncher.'

当孩子们在知更鸟上练习时，小比利对唐·米尼说:“难道世界上就没有办法摆脱下面那只令人作呕的冒着红烟的Gruncher吗?”“格伦彻唯一的死法，”唐·米尼说，“就是掉进深水里。” 水扑灭了他体内的火焰，然后他就死了。 火之于Gruncher就像你的心之于你。 心脏停止跳动，你就会立刻死亡。 把火扑灭，Gruncher就会在五秒钟内死掉。 这是杀死Gruncher的唯一方法。”

'Now hang on a minute,' Little Billy said. 'Is there by any chance a pond or something around here?' 'There's a big lake on the far side of the forest,' Don Mini said. 'But who's going to entice the Gruncher into that? Not us. And certainly not you. He'd be on you before you got within ten yards of him.' 'But you did say the Gruncher can't see in front of him because of all the clouds of smoke he blows,' Little Billy said. 'Quite true,' Don Mini said. 'But how is that going to help us? I don't think the Gruncher is ever going to fall into the lake. He never goes out of the forest.' 'I think I know how to make him fall in,' Little Billy said. 'What I want,' Little Billy went on, 'is a bird that is big enough to carry me.' Don Mini thought about this for a while, then he said, 'You are a very small boy and because of that I think a swan could carry you quite easily.' 'Call up a swan,' Little Billy said. Suddenly there was a new authority in his voice.

“现在等一下，”小比利说。 “这附近有没有池塘之类的东西?”“在森林的另一边有一个大湖，”唐·米尼说。 “但谁会去引诱Gruncher这么做呢?” 不是我们。当然也不是你。 你离他不到十码，他就会追上你。“但你确实说过格伦彻不能看到他前面的东西，因为他吹出了一团烟雾，”小比利说。 “完全正确，”唐·米尼说。 “但这对我们有什么帮助呢?” 我不认为Gruncher会掉进湖里。 他从不走出森林。“我想我知道怎么让他掉进去，”小比利说。 “我想要的，”小比利接着说，“是一只足够大的鸟，能载得起我。”唐·米尼想了一会儿，然后说:“你是一个很小的男孩，正因为如此，我想一只天鹅可以很容易地把你抱起来。”“叫一只天鹅来，”小比利说。 突然，他的声音里有了一种新的权威。

'But … but I hope you're not going to do anything dangerous,' Don Mini cried. 'Listen carefully,' Little Billy said, 'because you must tell the swan exactly what he has to do. With me on his back he must fly down to the Gruncher. The Gruncher will smell me and know that I am very close. But he won't see me through all the steam and the smoke. He'll go mad trying to get at me. The swan will tantalize him by flying back and forth right in front of him. Is that possible?'

“但是……但是我希望你不要做任何危险的事，”唐·米尼叫道。 “仔细听着，”小比利说，“因为你必须确切地告诉天鹅它必须做什么。 他必须背着我飞到格伦彻那里去。 Gruncher会闻到我的味道，知道我就在附近。 但他不会看到我穿过所有的蒸汽和烟雾。 他要找我麻烦会发疯的。 天鹅会在他面前飞来飞去，挑逗他。 这可能吗?”

'Quite possible,' Don Mini said, 'except that you might easily fall off. You've had no flying practice at all.' 'I'll hang on somehow,' Little Billy said. 'Then the swan, keeping very low, will fly off through the forest with the ravenous Gruncher hotfoot in pursuit. The swan will keep just ahead of the Gruncher all the time, driving him crazy with my smell, and in the end the swan will fly straight over the big deep lake and the Gruncher, now travelling at terrific speed, will follow right behind. Presto, he's in the lake!'

“很有可能，”唐·米尼说，“除非你很容易掉下来。 你根本没有练习过飞行。“不管怎样，我会坚持下去的，”小比利说。 “然后，天鹅会保持很低的高度，飞过森林，贪婪的格伦彻热脚鸟在后面追。 天鹅会一直走在格伦彻的前面，让我的气味把他逼疯。最后，天鹅会径直飞过又大又深的湖，而格伦彻正以极快的速度在后面跟着。 转眼间，他就在湖里了!”

'My boy!' Don Mini cried. 'You are a genius! Will you do it?' 'Call up the swan,' Little Billy ordered. Don Mini turned to one of the robins which had just come back from a practice flight with a child Minpin on its back. Little Billy heard him talking to the robin in a kind of curious twitter. He couldn't understand a word of it. The robin nodded its head and flew off.

“我的孩子!”唐·米尼哭了。“你真是个天才!”你会这么做吗?“把天鹅叫来，”小比利命令道。 唐·米尼转向一只知更鸟，这只知更鸟刚从练习飞行中回来，背上骑着一个叫敏品的孩子。 小比利听到他在用一种奇怪的叽叽喳喳的声音和知更鸟说话。 他一个字也听不懂。 知更鸟点了点头，飞走了。

Two minutes later, a truly magnificent swan, as white as snow, came swooping in and landed on a branch nearby. Don Mini walked over to it and once again a curious twittery conversation took place, a much longer one this time, with Don Mini doing nearly all the twittering and the swan nodding and nodding. Then Don Mini turned to Little Billy and said, 'Swan thinks it's a great idea. He says he can do it. But he's just a bit anxious because you have never

两分钟后，一只真正美丽的天鹅，像雪一样白，俯冲下来，落在附近的树枝上。 唐·米尼走到它跟前，又发生了一场奇怪的叽叽喳喳的谈话，这次的谈话要长得多，唐·米尼几乎做了所有的叽叽喳喳，天鹅不停地点头。 然后唐·米尼转向小比利说:“天鹅认为这是个好主意。 他说他能做到。但他只是有点担心，因为你从来没有