29 Twenty-nine

Twenty-nine It seemed like a long time before the seagulls were able to pull the peach away from that horrible rainbow-cloud. But they managed it at last, and then everybody gathered around the wretched Centipede and began arguing about the best way to get the paint off his body. He really did look a sight. He was purple all over, and now that the paint was beginning to dry and harden, he was forced to sit very stiff and upright, as though he were encased in cement. And all forty-two of his legs were sticking out straight in front of him, like rods. He tried to say something, but his lips wouldn't move. All he could do now was to make gurgling noises in his throat. The Old-Green-Grasshopper reached out and touched him carefully on the stomach. 'But how could it possibly have dried so quickly?' he asked.

海鸥们似乎过了好长时间才把桃子从可怕的彩虹云中叼走。 但是他们最后还是成功了，然后大家围在可怜的蜈蚣周围，开始讨论怎样才能把身上的油漆去掉。 他确实看起来很壮观。 他全身都是紫色的，现在油漆开始变干变硬，他不得不坐得很僵硬，笔直，好像他被水泥包裹着一样。 他的42条腿像杆子一样笔直地伸在身前。 他想说点什么，但嘴唇不动。 他现在所能做的就是在喉咙里发出咯咯的声音。 老绿蚱蜢伸出手，小心地摸了摸他的肚子。 “可是它怎么可能干得这么快呢?”他问。

'It's rainbow-paint,' James answered. 'Rainbow-paint dries very quick and very hard.' 'I detest paint,' Miss Spider announced. 'It frightens me. It reminds me of Aunt Spiker – the late Aunt Spiker, I mean – because the last time she painted her kitchen ceiling my poor darling grandmother stepped into it by mistake when it was still wet, and there she stuck. And all through the night we could hear her calling to us, saying "Help! help! help!" and it was heartbreaking to listen to her. But what could we do? Not a thing until the next day when the paint had dried, and then of course we all rushed over to her and calmed her down and gave her some food. Believe it or not, she lived for six months like that, upside

“是彩虹色的。”詹姆斯回答。 “彩虹漆干得又快又硬。“我讨厌油漆，”蜘蛛小姐宣布。 “这让我害怕。这让我想起了斯派克姑妈——已故的斯派克姑妈，我是说——因为上次她给厨房的天花板刷漆时，我可怜的亲爱的祖母不小心踩到了天花板，当时天花板还是湿的，她被卡住了。 整晚我们都能听到她在呼唤我们，“救命!的帮助!救命!”听她这么说真让人心碎。 但是我们能做什么呢?直到第二天油漆干了，我们都冲到她身边，让她平静下来，给她一些食物。 信不信由你，她就这样活了六个月

down on the ceiling with her legs stuck permanently in the paint. She really did. We fed her every day. We brought her fresh flies straight from the web. But then on the twenty-sixth of April last, Aunt Sponge – the late Aunt Sponge, I mean – happened to glance up at the ceiling, and she spotted her. "A spider!" she cried. "A disgusting spider! Quick! Fetch me the mop with the long handle!" And then – Oh, it was so awful I can't bear to think of it…' Miss Spider wiped away a tear and looked sadly at the Centipede. 'You poor thing,' she murmured. 'I do feel sorry for you.' 'It'll never come off,' the Earthworm said brightly. 'Our Centipede will never move again. He will turn into a statue and we shall be able to put him in the middle of the lawn with a bird-bath on the top of his head.' 'We could try peeling him like a banana,' the Old-Green-Grasshopper suggested. 'Or rubbing him with sandpaper,' the Ladybird said.

倒在天花板上，她的腿永远陷在了油漆里。 她真的做到了。我们每天都喂她。 我们直接从网上给她带来新鲜的苍蝇。 可是在四月二十六日那天，海绵姨妈——我指的是已故的海绵姨妈——碰巧抬头看了一眼天花板，发现了她。 “蜘蛛!”她叫道。“一只恶心的蜘蛛!”快!把那个长柄的拖把拿来!”然后——哦，那太可怕了，我想起来都不忍……”蜘蛛小姐擦了擦眼泪，伤心地看着蜈蚣。 “你这个可怜的家伙，”她喃喃地说。 “我确实为你感到难过。“它永远不会掉下来的。”蚯蚓欢快地说。 “我们的蜈蚣再也动不了了。 他会变成一尊雕像，我们可以把他放在草坪中央，在他的头顶上放一个鸟浴盆。“我们可以试着像剥香蕉一样剥他的皮，”老绿蚱蜢建议道。 “或者用砂纸给他擦，”瓢虫说。

'Now if he stuck out his tongue,' the Earthworm said, smiling a little for perhaps the first time in his life, 'if he stuck it out really far, then we could all catch hold of it and start pulling. And if we pulled hard enough, we could turn him inside out and he would have a new skin!' There was a pause while the others considered this interesting proposal. 'I think,' James said slowly, 'I think that the best thing to do…' Then he stopped. 'What was that?' he asked quickly. 'I heard a voice! I heard someone shouting!'

“现在，如果他把舌头伸出来，”蚯蚓说，也许这是他有生以来第一次露出一丝微笑，“如果他把舌头伸得很远，我们就可以抓住它，开始拉。 如果我们用力拉，我们可以把他的内脏翻出来，他就会有一个新的皮肤!”其他人在考虑这个有趣的建议时，停顿了一下。 “我认为，”詹姆斯慢慢地说，“我认为最好的办法是……” “那是什么?”他急忙问。 “我听到一个声音!”我听到有人在喊!”