01 Grandma

Grandma 'I'm going shopping in the village,' George's mother said to George on Saturday morning. 'So be a good boy and don't get up to mischief.' This was a silly thing to say to a small boy at any time. It immediately made him wonder what sort of mischief he might get up to. 'And don't forget to give Grandma her medicine at eleven o'clock,' the mother said. Then out she went, closing the back door behind her. Grandma, who was dozing in her chair by the window, opened one wicked little eye and said, 'Now you heard what your mother said, George. Don't forget my medicine.' 'No, Grandma,' George said. 'And just try to behave yourself for once while she's away.' 'Yes, Grandma,' George said.

星期六早上，乔治的妈妈对乔治说:“我要去村里买东西。” “所以要做个好孩子，别淘气了。”在任何时候对一个小男孩说这样的话都是愚蠢的。 这使他立刻怀疑自己会搞出什么恶作剧来。 “别忘了在十一点给奶奶吃药，”母亲说。 然后她走了出去，随手关上了后门。 奶奶正坐在窗边的椅子上打瞌睡，她睁开一只调皮的小眼睛说:“现在你听到你妈妈说的话了，乔治。 别忘了我的药。“不，奶奶，”乔治说。 “她不在的时候，你就试着乖一次。“是的，奶奶，”乔治说。

George was bored to tears. He didn't have a brother or a sister. His father was a farmer and the farm they lived on was miles away from anywhere, so there were never any children to play with. He was tired of staring at pigs and hens and cows and sheep. He was especially tired of having to live in the same house as that grizzly old grunion of a Grandma. Looking after her all by himself was hardly the most exciting way to spend a Saturday morning. 'You can make me a nice cup of tea for a start,' Grandma said to George. 'That'll keep you out of mischief for a few minutes.' 'Yes, Grandma,' George said. George couldn't help disliking Grandma. She was a selfish grumpy old woman. She had pale brown teeth and a small puckered-up mouth like a dog's bottom. 'How much sugar in your tea today, Grandma?' George asked her. 'One spoon,' she said. 'And no milk.' Most grandmothers are lovely, kind, helpful old ladies, but not this one. She spent all day and

乔治烦得要命。 他没有兄弟姐妹。 他的父亲是一个农民，他们住的农场离任何地方都很远，所以从来没有孩子可以玩。 他厌倦了盯着猪、鸡、牛和羊看。 他特别厌倦和那位白发苍苍的老奶奶住在同一所房子里。 独自照顾她并不是度过星期六早晨最令人兴奋的方式。 “你可以先给我泡杯好茶，”奶奶对乔治说。 “这能让你暂时远离恶作剧。“是的，奶奶，”乔治说。 乔治忍不住不喜欢奶奶。 她是个自私的坏脾气的老妇人。 她长着浅棕色的牙齿，抿着一张像狗屁股一样的小嘴。 “奶奶，你今天的茶里放了多少糖?”乔治问她。 “一勺，”她说。“没有牛奶。”大多数祖母都是可爱、善良、乐于助人的老太太，但这位却不是。 她花了一整天的时间

every day sitting in her chair by the window, and she was always complaining, grousing, grouching, grumbling, griping about something or other. Never once, even on her best days, had she smiled at George and said, 'Well, how are you this morning, George?' or 'Why don't you and I have a game of Snakes and Ladders?' or 'How was school today?' She didn't seem to care about other people, only about herself. She was a miserable old grouch. George went into the kitchen and made Grandma a cup of tea with a teabag. He put one spoon of sugar in it and no milk. He stirred the sugar well and carried the cup into the livingroom. Grandma sipped the tea. 'It's not sweet enough,' she said. 'Put more sugar in.' George took the cup back to the kitchen and added another spoonful of sugar. He stirred it again and carried it carefully in to Grandma. 'Where's the saucer?' she said. 'I won't have a cup without a saucer.' George fetched her a saucer.

她每天坐在窗边的椅子上，总是抱怨、发牢骚、发牢骚、牢骚满腹、牢骚满腹。 即使在她心情最好的时候，她也从来没有对乔治笑过，说:“乔治，你今天早上好吗?”或者“为什么我们不玩蛇梯游戏呢?”或者“今天在学校怎么样?”她似乎不关心别人，只关心她自己。 她是个可怜的老爱发牢骚的人。 乔治走进厨房，用茶包给奶奶泡了一杯茶。 他在里面放了一勺糖，没有放牛奶。 他把糖搅匀，端着杯子进了客厅。 奶奶喝了一口茶。“它不够甜，”她说。 “再放点糖进去。”乔治把杯子拿回厨房，又加了一匙糖。 他又搅拌了一遍，小心翼翼地把它拿给奶奶。 “碟子在哪儿?”她说。 “我不想要没有碟子的杯子。”乔治给她拿来一个碟子。

'And what about a teaspoon, if you please?' 'I've stirred it for you, Grandma. I stirred it well' 'I'll stir my own tea, thank you very much,' she said. 'Fetch me a teaspoon.' George fetched her a teaspoon. When George's mother or father were home, Grandma never ordered George about like this. It was only when she had him on her own that she began treating him badly. 'You know what's the matter with you?' the old woman said, staring at George over the rim of the teacup with those bright wicked little eyes.

“请给我一茶匙好吗?”“我已经给你搅好了，奶奶。” 我搅得很好。”“我自己来搅，非常感谢，”她说。 “给我拿个茶匙来。”乔治给她拿来一个茶匙。 乔治的父母在家时，奶奶从不这样命令乔治。 直到她自己有了他，她才开始对他不好。 “你知道你是怎么回事吗?”老妇人说着，用那双明亮、邪恶的小眼睛隔着茶杯边盯着乔治。

'You're growing too fast. Boys who grow too fast become stupid and lazy.' 'But I can't help it if I'm growing fast, Grandma,' George said. 'Of course you can,' she snapped. 'Growing's a nasty childish habit.' 'But we have to grow, Grandma. If we didn't grow, we'd never be grown-ups.' 'Rubbish, boy, rubbish,' she said. 'Look at me. Am I growing? Certainly not.' 'But you did once, Grandma.' 'Only very little,' the old woman answered. 'I gave up growing when I was extremely small, along with all the other nasty childish habits like laziness and disobedience and greed and sloppiness and untidiness and stupidity. You haven't given up any of these things, have you?' 'I'm still only a little boy, Grandma.' 'You're eight years old,' she snorted. 'That's old enough to know better. If you don't stop growing soon, it'll be too late.' 'Too late for what, Grandma?'

“你长得太快了。长得太快的男孩会变得又笨又懒。“可是我长得太快了，我也没办法，奶奶，”乔治说。 “你当然可以，”她厉声说。 “成长是一种令人讨厌的幼稚习惯。“但是我们必须成长，奶奶。” 如果我们不长大，我们就永远不会长大。“胡说，孩子，胡说，”她说。 “看着我。我在成长吗? 当然不是。”“但是你曾经这样做过，奶奶。“很少，”老妇人回答。 “在我很小的时候，我就放弃了成长，放弃了所有其他令人讨厌的孩子气的习惯，比如懒惰、不听话、贪婪、马虎、不整洁和愚蠢。 你还没有放弃这些东西，对吧?“奶奶，我还是个小男孩。”“你才八岁，”她哼了一声。 “她年纪大了，应该懂得多了。 如果你不尽快停止增长，那就太晚了。“什么太晚了，奶奶?”