18 The Palace

The Palace 'By gumdrops!' whispered the Big Friendly Giant. 'Is this really it?' 'There's the Palace,' Sophie whispered back. Not more than a hundred yards away, through the tall trees in the garden, across the mown lawns and the tidy flower-beds, the massive shape of the Palace itself loomed through the darkness. It was made of whitish stone. The sheer size of it staggered the BFG. 'But this place is having a hundred bedrooms at least!' he said. 'Easily, I should think,' Sophie whispered. 'Then I is boggled,' the BFG said. 'How is I possibly finding the one where the Queen is sleeping?' 'Let's go a bit closer and have a look,' Sophie whispered. The BFG glided forward among the trees. Suddenly he stopped dead. The great ear in which

“用口香糖!”友善的大巨人低声说。 “真的是这样吗?”"宫殿在那儿。"索菲小声回答。 在不到一百码远的地方，穿过花园里的参天大树，穿过修剪过的草坪和整洁的花坛，黑暗中隐约出现了宫殿的巨大轮廓。 它是用白色的石头做的。 它的巨大使好心眼巨人摇摇晃晃。 “可这地方至少有一百间卧室!”他说。 "我想很容易。"索菲小声说。 “那我就懵了。”好心眼巨人说。 “我怎么可能找到王后睡觉的地方呢?”“我们走近一点看一看。”索菲小声说。 好心眼巨人在树林中滑行前进。 突然，他停了下来。伟大的耳朵

Sophie was sitting began to swivel round. 'Hey!' Sophie whispered. 'You're going to tip me out!' 'Ssshh!' the BFG whispered back. 'I is hearing something!' He stopped behind a clump of bushes. He waited. The ear was till swinging this way and that. Sophie had to hang on tight to the side of it to save herself from tumbling out. The BFG pointed through a gap in the bushes, and there, not more than fifty yards away, she saw a man padding softly across the lawn. He had a guard-dog with him on a leash. The BFG stayed as still as a stone. So did Sophie. The man and the dog walked on and disappeared into the darkness. 'You was telling me they has no soldiers in the back garden,' the BFG whispered. 'He wasn't a soldier,' Sophie whispered. 'He was some sort of a watchman. We'll have to be careful!' 'I is not too worried,' the BFG said. 'These wacksey big ears of mine is picking up even the noise of a man breathing the other side of this garden.' 'How much longer before it begins to get light?' Sophie whispered.

索菲正坐着，开始转过身来。 “嘿!”索菲娅低声说。“你要给我小费!”“Ssshh !好心眼巨人小声回答。 “我听到了什么声音!”他在一丛灌木后面停了下来。 他等待着。那只耳朵还在晃来晃去。 索菲不得不紧紧抓住它的一边，以免自己掉下去。 好心眼巨人指着灌木丛中的一个缺口，在不到五十码远的地方，她看见一个男人轻轻地走过草坪。 他带着一条拴着皮带的看门狗。 好心眼巨人像石头一样一动不动。 苏菲也一样。那人和狗继续往前走，消失在黑暗中。 “你跟我说后花园没有士兵。”好心眼巨人低声说。 "他不是军人。"索菲小声说。 “他是一个守夜人。 我们得小心点!“我不太担心，”好心眼巨人说。 “我这双古怪的大耳朵甚至能听到花园另一边一个人呼吸的声音。“还要多久天才会亮?”索菲娅低声说。

'Very short,' the BFG said. 'We must go pellmell for leather now!' He glided forward through the vast garden, and once again Sophie noticed how he seemed to melt into the shadows wherever he went. His feet made no sound at all, even when he was walking on gravel. Suddenly, they were right up close against the back wall of the great Palace. The BFG's head was level with the upper windows one flight up, and Sophie, sitting in his ear, had the same view. In all the windows on that floor the curtains seemed to be drawn. There were no lights showing anywhere. In the distance they could hear the muted sound of traffic going round Hyde Park Corner. The BFG stopped and put his other ear, the one Sophie wasn't sitting in, close to the first window. 'No,' he whispered. 'What are you listening for?' Sophie whispered back. 'For breathing,' the BFG whispered. 'I is able to tell if it is a man human bean or a lady by the

“很短，”好心眼巨人说。 “我们现在必须赶紧去找皮革!”他轻盈地穿过广阔的花园，索菲又一次注意到，无论他走到哪里，他似乎都融入了阴影之中。 他的脚一点声音也没有，即使他走在砾石上。 突然，他们紧贴着大宫殿的后墙走了过来。 好心眼巨人的头和上面一层楼的窗户齐平，索菲坐在他耳边，也能看到同样的景色。 那层楼所有的窗户似乎都拉着窗帘。 到处都没有灯光。 他们可以听到远处海德公园拐角处传来的微弱的车辆声。 好心眼巨人停了下来，把他的另一只耳朵，也就是索菲没有坐的那只耳朵，凑近第一扇窗户。 “不，”他低声说。“你在听什么?”索菲小声回答。 “为了呼吸。”好心眼巨人低声说。 “我能通过眼睛分辨出是男人还是女人。

breathing-voice. We has a man in there. Snortling a little bit, too.' He glided on, flattening his tall, thin, blackcloaked body against the side of the building. He came to the next window. He listened. 'No,' he whispered. He moved on. 'This room is empty,' he whispered. He listened in at several more windows, but at each one he shook his head and moved on. When he came to the window in the very centre of the Palace, he listened but did not move on. 'Ho-ho,' he whispered. 'We has a lady sleeping in there.' Sophie felt a little quiver go running down her spine. 'But who?' she whispered back. The BFG put a finger to his lips for silence. He reached up through the open window and parted the curtains every so slightly. The orange glow from the night-sky over London crept into the room and cast a glimmer of light on to its walls. It was a large room. A lovely room. A rich carpet. Gilded chairs. A dressingtable. A bed. And on the pillow of the bed lay the head of a sleeping woman.

breathing-voice。里面有个人。 还喷了点鼻息。”他继续滑行，把他那又高又瘦、披着黑斗篷的身体贴在大楼的侧面。 他来到下一个窗口。 他听着。“不，”他低声说。 他继续前进。“这个房间是空的，”他低声说。 他又从几扇窗户往里听，但每隔一扇他都摇摇头，继续往前走。 当他走到宫殿正中央的窗口时，他倾听着，但没有往前走。 “嗬嗬，”他低声说。“有一位女士睡在里面。”索菲感到脊背上一阵颤动。 “但谁?她小声回答。 好心眼巨人把一根手指放在嘴唇上示意安静。 他把手伸进开着的窗户，轻轻地拉开窗帘。 伦敦上空的橘黄色微光悄悄溜进房间，在墙壁上投下一抹微光。 这是一个大房间。一个可爱的房间。 华丽的地毯。镀金的椅子。 dressingtable。一张床。在床的枕头上躺着一个睡觉的女人的头。

Sophie suddenly found herself looking at a face she had seen on stamps and coins and in the newspapers all her life. For a few seconds she was speechless. 'Is that her?' the BFG whispered. 'Yes,' Sophie whispered back. The BFG wasted no time. First, and very carefully, he started to raise the lower half of the large window. The BFG was an expert on windows. He had opened thousands of them over the years to blow his dreams into children's bedrooms. Some windows got stuck. Some were wobbly. Some creaked. He was pleased to find that the Queen's window slid upward like silk. He pushed up the lower half as far as it would go so as to leave a place on the sill for Sophie to sit. Next, he closed the crack in the curtains. Then, with finger and thumb, he lifted Sophie out of his ear and placed her on the window-ledge with her legs dangling just inside the room, but behind the curtains. 'Now don't you go tip-toppling backwards,' the BFG whispered. 'You must always be holding on tight with both hands to the inside of the window-sill.'

索菲突然发现自己看到了一张她一辈子都在邮票、硬币和报纸上见过的脸。 有几秒钟她说不出话来。 “是她吗?”好心眼巨人低声说。 “是的。”索菲小声回答。 好心眼巨人没有浪费时间。首先，他小心翼翼地打开了大窗户的下半部分。 好心眼巨人是窗户方面的专家。 多年来，他打开了数千个这样的盒子，把他的梦想吹进孩子们的卧室。 有些窗户卡住了。有些摇摇晃晃。 一些吱吱嘎嘎作响。他高兴地发现王后的窗户像丝绸一样向上滑动。 他尽量把下半部分往上推，以便在窗台上留出地方让索菲坐下。 接着，他把窗帘上的裂缝合上。 然后，他用手指和拇指把索菲从耳朵里拿出来，把她放在窗台上，她的腿悬在房间里，但在窗帘后面。 “好了，你不要向后倒。”好心眼巨人小声说。 “你必须一直用双手紧紧抓住窗台内侧。”

Sophie did as he said. It was summertime in London and the night was not cold, but don't forget that Sophie was wearing only her thin nightie. She would have given anything for a dressing-gown, not just to keep her warm but to hide the whiteness of her nightie from watchful eyes in the garden below. The BFG was taking the glass jar from the pocket of his cloak. He unscrewed the lid. Now, very cautiously, he poured the precious dream into the wide end of his trumpet. He steered the trumpet through the curtains, far into the room, aiming it at the place where he knew the bed to be. He took a deep breath. He puffed out his cheeks and pooff, he blew.

索菲照他说的做了。这是伦敦的夏季，夜晚并不冷，但别忘了苏菲只穿着她那件薄薄的睡衣。 她愿意付出任何代价换一件晨衣，不仅是为了保暖，也是为了把她那雪白的睡衣藏起来，不让楼下花园里的人看到。 好心眼巨人正从斗篷口袋里拿出玻璃罐。 他拧开了盖子。现在，他小心翼翼地把这个珍贵的梦想倒进了他的小号宽口。 他操纵着小号穿过窗帘，深入房间，对准他知道的床所在的地方。 他深吸了一口气。他鼓起了脸颊，吹了起来。