2 Mr Willy Wonka’s Factory

2 Mr Willy Wonka's Factory In the evenings, after he had finished his supper of watery cabbage soup, Charlie always went into the room of his four grandparents to listen to their stories, and then afterwards to say good night. Every one of these old people was over ninety. They were as shrivelled as prunes, and as bony as skeletons, and throughout the day, until Charlie made his appearance, they lay huddled in their one bed, two at either end, with nightcaps on to keep their heads warm, dozing the time away with nothing to do. But as soon as they heard the door opening, and heard Charlie's voice saying, 'Good evening, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine, and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina,' then all four of them would suddenly sit up, and their old wrinkled faces would light up with smiles of pleasure – and the talking would begin. For they loved this little boy. He was the only bright thing in their lives, and his evening visits were something that they looked forward to all day long. Often, Charlie's mother and father would come in as well, and stand by the door, listening to the stories that the old people told; and thus, for

晚上，查理吃完水汪汪的卷心菜汤晚饭后，总是走进他四位祖父母的房间，听他们讲故事，然后跟他们道晚安。 这些老人都超过90岁了。 他们像梅干一样干瘪，像骷髅一样骨瘦如柴，整整一天，直到查理出现之前，他们都挤在一张床上，两头各躺两张，戴着睡帽让他们的头保持温暖，在无事可做的情况下打瞌睡。 但只要他们听到门开了，听到查理的声音说:“晚上好，乔爷爷和约瑟芬奶奶，乔治爷爷和乔治娜奶奶。”他们四个人就会突然坐起来，他们那张布满皱纹的老脸露出愉快的微笑——谈话就开始了。 因为他们爱这个小男孩。 他是他们生活中唯一的亮点，他晚上的来访是他们整天盼望的事情。 查理的父母也经常进来，站在门边，听老人讲故事;因此，对于

perhaps half an hour every night, this room would become a happy place, and the whole family would forget that it was hungry and poor. One evening, when Charlie went in to see his grandparents, he said to them, 'Is it really true that Wonka's Chocolate Factory is the biggest in the world?' 'True?' cried all four of them at once. 'Of course it's true! Good heavens, didn't you know that? It's about fifty times as big as any other!' 'And is Mr Willy Wonka really the cleverest chocolate maker in the world?' 'My dear boy,' said Grandpa Joe, raising himself up a little higher on his pillow, 'Mr Willy Wonka is the most amazing, the most fantastic, the most extraordinary chocolate maker the world has ever seen! I thought everybody knew that!' 'I knew he was famous, Grandpa Joe, and I knew he was very clever…'

也许每晚有半个小时，这个房间就会变成一个快乐的地方，全家人就会忘记饥饿和贫穷。 一天晚上，当查理去看他的祖父母时，他对他们说:“旺卡巧克力工厂真的是世界上最大的吗?“真的吗?他们四个人同时喊道。 “当然是真的!”天哪，你不知道吗? 它大约是其他任何一个的50倍大!“威利·旺卡先生真的是世界上最聪明的巧克力制造商吗?”“我亲爱的孩子，”乔爷爷说，把自己在枕头上抬得更高一点，“威利·旺卡先生是世界上有史以来最了不起、最奇妙、最非凡的巧克力制造商!”我以为每个人都知道!“我知道他很有名，乔爷爷，我也知道他很聪明……”

'Clever!' cried the old man. 'He's more than that! He's a magician with chocolate! He can make anything – anything he wants! Isn't that a fact, my dears?' The other three old people nodded their heads slowly up and down, and said, 'Absolutely true. Just as true as can be.' And Grandpa Joe said, 'You mean to say I've never told you about Mr Willy Wonka and his factory?' 'Never,' answered little Charlie. 'Good heavens above! I don't know what's the matter with me!' 'Will you tell me now, Grandpa Joe, please?' 'I certainly will. Sit down beside me on the bed, my dear, and listen carefully.' Grandpa Joe was the oldest of the four grandparents. He was ninety-six and a half, and that is just about as old as anybody can be. Like all extremely old people, he was delicate and weak, and throughout the day he spoke very little. But in the evenings, when Charlie, his beloved

“聪明!老人叫道。 “他不止是这样!”他是一个巧克力魔术师!他可以做任何他想要的东西!这不是事实吗，亲爱的?”另外三个老人慢慢地上下点头，说:“完全正确。 这是千真万确的。”乔爷爷说:“你是说我从来没有告诉过你威利·旺卡先生和他的工厂的事?”“从来没有，”小查理回答。 “天哪!”我不知道我是怎么了!“乔爷爷，请你现在告诉我好吗?””“我当然愿意。 在床上坐在我身边，亲爱的，仔细听着。”乔爷爷是四位祖父母中年龄最大的。 他已经九十六岁半了，这是任何人都能达到的最高年龄了。 像所有年事已高的老人一样，他身体虚弱，一整天都很少说话。 但到了晚上，当查理，他心爱的人

grandson, was in the room, he seemed in some marvellous way to grow quite young again. All his tiredness fell away from him, and he became as eager and excited as a young boy. 'Oh, what a man he is, this Mr Willy Wonka!' cried Grandpa Joe. 'Did you know, for example, that he has himself invented more than two hundred new kinds of chocolate bars, each with a different centre, each far sweeter and creamier and more delicious than anything the other chocolate factories can make!' 'Perfectly true!' cried Grandma Josephine. 'And he sends them to all the four corners of the earth! Isn't that so, Grandpa Joe?' 'It is, my dear, it is. And to all the kings and presidents of the world as well. But it isn't only chocolate bars that he makes. Oh, dear me, no! He has some really fantastic inventions up his sleeve, Mr Willy Wonka has! Did you know that he's invented a way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours and hours without being in the refrigerator? You can even leave it lying in the sun all morning on a hot day and it won't go runny!' 'But that's impossible!' said little Charlie, staring at his grandfather. 'Of course it's impossible!' cried Grandpa Joe. 'It's completely absurd! But Mr Willy Wonka has done it!' 'Quite right!' the others agreed, nodding their heads. 'Mr Wonka has done it.'

孙子在房间里，他似乎以某种神奇的方式又恢复了年轻。 他所有的疲劳都消失了，他变得像一个小男孩一样渴望和兴奋。 “哦，这个威利·旺卡先生真是个了不起的人!”乔爷爷叫道。 “例如，你知道吗，他自己发明了两百多种新的巧克力棒，每一种都有不同的中心，每一种都比其他巧克力工厂生产的更甜、更滑、更美味!”“完全正确!”约瑟芬奶奶叫道。 “他把他们送到世界的各个角落!”不是吗，乔爷爷?“是的，亲爱的，是的。” 也向世界上所有的国王和总统致敬。 但他做的不仅仅是巧克力棒。 哦，天哪，不!威利·旺卡先生有一些了不起的发明!你知道吗，他发明了一种制作巧克力冰淇淋的方法，这样它就可以在冰箱里保存好几个小时。 你甚至可以在大热天把它放在太阳下一早上，它也不会变湿!“但那是不可能的!”小查理盯着爷爷说。 “当然不可能!”乔爷爷叫道。 “这太荒唐了!”但威利·旺卡先生做到了!“完全正确!”其他人点头表示同意。 “旺卡先生做到了。”

'And then again,' Grandpa Joe went on speaking very slowly now so that Charlie wouldn't miss a word, 'Mr Willy Wonka can make marshmallows that taste of violets, and rich caramels that change colour every ten seconds as you suck them, and little feathery sweets that melt away deliriously the moment you put them between your lips. He can make chewing-gum that never loses its taste, and sugar balloons that you can blow up to enormous sizes before you pop them with a pin and gobble them up. And, by a most secret method, he can make lovely blue birds' eggs with black spots on them, and when you put one of these in your mouth, it gradually gets smaller and smaller until suddenly there is nothing left except a tiny little pink sugary baby bird sitting on the tip of your tongue.' Grandpa Joe paused and ran the point of his tongue slowly over his lips. 'It makes my mouth water just thinking about it,' he said. 'Mine, too,' said little Charlie. 'But please go on.' While they were talking, Mr and Mrs Bucket, Charlie's mother and father, had come quietly into the room, and now both were standing just inside the door, listening. 'Tell Charlie about that crazy Indian prince,' said Grandma Josephine. 'He'd like to hear that.' 'You mean Prince Pondicherry?' said Grandpa Joe, and he began chuckling with laughter. 'Completely dotty!' said Grandpa George. 'But very rich,' said Grandma Georgina.

“还有，”乔爷爷说得非常慢，这样查理就不会漏掉一个字，“威利·旺卡先生能做出紫罗兰味的棉花糖，能做出吸起来每十秒钟就变色的浓郁焦糖，还能做出羽毛状的小糖果，只要你把它们放在唇间，它们就会疯狂地融化。 他能做味道永远不会变差的口香糖，还有糖气球，你可以把它吹到很大，然后用别针把它们戳破，然后把它们吞下去。 而且，他用一种最秘密的方法，他可以做出可爱的蓝鸟蛋，上面有黑色的斑点，当你把其中一个放进嘴里时，它会逐渐变得越来越小，直到突然什么都不剩下，只剩下一只小小的粉红色的甜小鸟坐在你的舌尖上。”乔爷爷停了下来，用舌尖慢慢地舔了舔嘴唇。 他说，一想到这个我就流口水。 “我的也是，”小查理说。 “但是请继续说下去。”当他们谈话的时候，巴克特先生和夫人，查理的父母，已经悄悄地走进了房间，现在他们俩都站在门里面，听着。 “告诉查理那个疯狂的印度王子，”约瑟芬奶奶说。 “他很想听到这些。“您是说本地治里王子吗?”乔爷爷说着，开始咯咯地笑起来。 “完全疯狂!乔治爷爷说。 “但是很富有，”乔治娜奶奶说。

'What did he do?' asked Charlie eagerly. 'Listen,' said Grandpa Joe, 'and I'll tell you.'

“他做了什么?”查理急切地问。 “听着，”乔爷爷说，“我会告诉你的。”