21 Twenty-one

Twenty-one 'Why, it's absolutely brilliant!' cried the Old-Green-Grasshopper when James had explained his plan. 'The boy's a genius!' the Centipede announced. 'Now I can keep my boots on after all.' 'Oh, I shall be pecked to death!' wailed the poor Earthworm. 'Of course you won't.' 'I will, I know I will! And I won't even be able to see them coming at me because I have no eyes!' James went over and put an arm gently round the Earthworm's shoulders. 'I won't let them touch you,' he said. 'I promise I won't. But we've got to hurry! Look down there!' There were more sharks than ever now around the peach. The water was boiling with them. There must have been ninety or a hundred at least. And

“啊，真是太棒了!”老绿蚱蜢在詹姆斯解释完他的计划后叫道。 “这孩子是个天才!”蜈蚣宣布。 “现在我终于可以穿靴子了。“哦，我会被啄死的!”可怜的蚯蚓哀号道。 “你当然不会。“我会的，我知道我会的!”我甚至看不到他们向我走来，因为我没有眼睛!”詹姆斯走过去，用一只胳膊轻轻地搂住蚯蚓的肩膀。 “我不会让他们碰你的，”他说。 “我保证不会。但是我们得快点了!往下看!”桃子周围的鲨鱼比以往任何时候都多。 水和它们一起沸腾了。 至少有90个或100个。 和

to the travellers up on top, it certainly seemed as though the peach were sinking lower and lower into the water. 'Action stations!' James shouted. 'Jump to it! There's not a moment to lose!' He was the captain now, and everyone knew it. They would do whatever he told them. 'All hands below deck except Earthworm!' he ordered.

在上面的旅行者看来，桃子的确是在往水里越陷越深。 “各就各位!”詹姆斯喊道。 “跳过去!”一分钟也不能耽搁了!”他现在是船长了，大家都知道这一点。 他们会照他说的去做。 “除了蚯蚓，所有的人都到甲板下面来!”他命令道。

'Yes, yes!' they said eagerly as they scuttled into the tunnel entrance. 'Gome on! Let's hurry!' 'And you – Centipede!' James shouted. 'Hop downstairs and get that Silkworm to work at once! Tell her to spin as she's never spun before! Our lives depend upon it! And the same applies to you, Miss Spider! Hurry on down! Start spinning.'

“是的,是的!他们冲进隧道入口时急切地问。 “国美电器!让我们快点!“还有你——蜈蚣!”詹姆斯喊道。 “马上跳下楼去，叫那只蚕干活!”告诉她以她从未旋转过的方式旋转!我们的命全靠它了!你也一样，蜘蛛小姐!快下来!开始旋转。