11 Eleven

Eleven James's large frightened eyes travelled slowly round the room. The creatures, some sitting on chairs, others reclining on a sofa, were all watching him intently. Creatures? Or were they insects? An insect is usually something rather small, is it not? A grasshopper, for example, is an insect. So what would you call it if you saw a grasshopper as large as a dog? As large as a large dog. You could hardly call that an insect, could you? There was an Old-Green-Grasshopper as large as a large dog sitting directly across the room from James now. And next to the Old-Green-Grasshopper, there was an enormous Spider.

11詹姆斯惊恐的大眼睛慢慢地扫视着房间。 动物们，有的坐在椅子上，有的斜倚在沙发上，都聚精会神地看着他。 生物吗?或者它们是昆虫? 昆虫通常是相当小的东西，不是吗? 例如，蚱蜢是一种昆虫。 如果你看到一只和狗一样大的蚱蜢，你会怎么称呼它? 和大狗一样大。你不能把它叫做昆虫，对吧? 一只像大狗一样大的老绿蚱蜢现在正坐在詹姆斯对面的房间里。 在老绿蚱蜢的旁边，有一只巨大的蜘蛛。

And next to the Spider, there was a giant Ladybird with nine black spots on her scarlet shell. Each of these three was squatting upon a magnificent chair. On a sofa near by, reclining comfortably in curled-up positions, there were a Centipede and an Earthworm. On the floor over in the far corner, there was something thick and white that looked as though it might be a Silkworm. But it was sleeping soundly and nobody was paying any attention to it.

在蜘蛛的旁边，有一只巨大的瓢虫，鲜红色的壳上有九个黑点。 这三个人都蹲在一把华丽的椅子上。 在旁边的沙发上，有一条蜈蚣和一条蚯蚓，舒舒服服地蜷曲着。 在远处角落的地板上，有一个又厚又白的东西，看起来好像是一只蚕。 但是它睡得很香，没有人注意到它。

Every one of these 'creatures' was at least as big as James himself, and in the strange greenish light that shone down from somewhere in the ceiling, they were absolutely terrifying to behold. 'I'm hungry!' the Spider announced suddenly, staring hard at James. 'I'm famished!' the Old-Green-Grasshopper said. 'So am I!' the Ladybird cried. The Centipede sat up a little straighter on the sofa. 'Everyone's famished!' he said. 'We need food!' Four pairs of round black glassy eyes were all fixed upon James.

这些“生物”中的每一个都至少和詹姆本人一样大，在天花板上某个地方照下来的奇怪的绿光下，它们看起来绝对是可怕的。 “我饿了!蜘蛛突然宣布，眼睛紧盯着詹姆斯。 “我快要饿死了!老绿蚱蜢说。 “我也是!”瓢虫叫道。 蜈蚣在沙发上坐直了一些。 “每个人都快要饿死的!他说。 “我们需要食物!”四双黑色的圆眼睛呆滞地盯着詹姆斯。

The Centipede made a wriggling movement with his body as though he were about to glide off the sofa – but he didn't. There was a long pause – and a long silence. The Spider (who happened to be a female spider) opened her mouth and ran a long black tongue delicately over her lips. 'Aren't you hungry?' she asked suddenly, leaning forward and addressing herself to James. Poor James was backed up against the far wall, shivering with fright and much too terrified to answer. 'What's the matter with you?' the Old-Green-Grasshopper asked. 'You look positively ill!' 'He looks as though he's going to faint any second,' the Centipede said. 'Oh, my goodness, the poor thing!' the Ladybird cried. 'I do believe he thinks it's him that we are wanting to eat!' There was a roar of laughter from all sides. 'Oh dear, oh dear!' they said. 'What an awful thought!'

蜈蚣扭动着身子，好像要从沙发上滑下来似的——但他没有。 一阵长时间的沉默——又是一阵长时间的沉默。 蜘蛛(碰巧是一只雌蜘蛛)张开嘴，用黑色的长舌头轻轻地舔了舔嘴唇。 “你不饿吗?”她突然问，身体前倾，对詹姆斯说。 可怜的詹姆斯背靠着远处的墙，吓得瑟瑟发抖，不敢回答。 “你怎么啦?”老绿蚱蜢问。 “你看上去肯定病了!”“他看起来好像随时都要晕倒。”蜈蚣说。 “噢，我的天哪，这可怜的东西!”瓢虫叫道。 “我相信他认为我们要吃的是他!”从四面八方传来一阵哄堂大笑。 “天哪，天哪!”他们说。 “多么可怕的想法!”

'You mustn't be frightened,' the Ladybird said kindly. 'We wouldn't dream of hurting you. You are one of us now, didn't you know that? You are one of the crew. We're all in the same boat.' 'We've been waiting for you all day long,' the Old-Green-Grasshopper said. 'We thought you were never going to turn up. I'm glad you made it.' 'So cheer up, my boy, cheer up!' the Centipede said. 'And meanwhile I wish you'd come over here and give me a hand with these boots. It takes me hours to get them all off by myself.'

“你不要害怕，”瓢虫和蔼地说。 “我们做梦也不想伤害你。 你现在是我们的一员了，你不知道吗? 你是船员之一。我们都在同一条船上。“我们已经等了你一整天了，”老绿蚱蜢说。 “我们以为你永远不会出现了。 我很高兴你来了。“所以，振作起来，我的孩子，振作起来!”蜈蚣说。 “同时，我希望你能过来帮我把这双靴子穿上。 我一个人要花好几个小时才能把它们都脱下来。”