05 Five

The next moment, James was running back towards the house as fast as he could go. He would do it all in the kitchen, he told himself – if only he could get in there without Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker seeing him. He was terribly excited. He flew through the long grass and the stinging-nettles, not caring whether he got stung or not on his bare knees, and in the distance he could see Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker sitting in their chairs with their backs towards him. He swerved away from them so as to go round the other side of the house, but then suddenly, just as he was passing underneath the old peach tree that stood in the middle of the garden, his foot slipped and he fell flat on his face in the grass. The paper bag burst open as it hit the ground and the thousands of tiny green things were scattered in all directions.

下一刻，詹姆斯以最快的速度向房子跑去。 他对自己说，他要在厨房里做这一切——只要他能不被海绵姑妈和斯派克姑妈看见就好了。 他非常兴奋。他光着膝盖，飞过长长的草丛和带刺的荨麻，不在乎自己会不会被蜇到。他远远地看见海绵姨妈和斯派克姨妈坐在椅子上，背对着他。 他转身离开他们，想绕过房子的另一边，但突然，就在他从花园中央那棵老桃树下走过的时候，他的脚滑了一跤，脸朝地摔在草地上。 纸袋一落地就炸开了，成千上万的绿色小东西散落在四面八方。

James immediately picked himself up on to his hands and knees and started searching around for his precious treasures. But what was this? They were all sinking into the soil! He could actually see them wriggling and twisting as they burrowed their way downward into the hard earth, and at once he reached out a hand to pick some of them up before it was too late, but they disappeared right under his fingers. He went after some others,

詹姆斯立刻用手和膝盖爬起来，开始四处寻找他的宝贝。 但这是什么?他们全都陷进了土里!他真的可以看到它们在往坚硬的泥土里钻洞，扭动着身子。他立刻伸出一只手，想趁还来得及把它们捡起来，但它们就在他的指缝间消失了。 他去找了其他人，

and the same thing happened! He began scrabbling around frantically in an effort to catch hold of those that were left, but they were too quick for him. Each time the tips of his fingers were just about to touch them, they vanished into the earth! And soon, in the space of only a few seconds, every single one of them had gone! James felt like crying. He would never get them back now – they were lost, lost, lost for ever. But where had they gone to? And why in the world had they been so eager to push down into the earth like that? What were they after? There was nothing down there. Nothing except the roots of the old peach tree… and a whole lot of earthworms and centipedes and insects living in the soil. But what was it that the old man had said? Whoever they meet first, be it bug, insect, animal, or tree, that will be the one who gets the full power of their magic! Good heavens, thought James. What is going to happen in that case if they do meet an earthworm?

同样的事情发生了!他开始疯狂地四处乱抓，想抓住剩下的那些，但它们跑得太快了。 每次他的指尖刚要碰到它们，它们就消失在土里了!很快，就在几秒钟的时间里，他们每个人都走了!詹姆斯想哭。 现在他再也拿不回来了——他们已经失去了，失去了，永远失去了。 但是他们去哪儿了呢? 他们究竟为什么那么急切地要像那样往地下钻呢? 他们想要什么?下面什么也没有。 除了老桃树的根，什么也没有……还有一大堆蚯蚓、蜈蚣和昆虫生活在土壤里。 那老人说了些什么呢? 不管是虫子、昆虫、动物还是树，谁先遇到谁，谁就能得到全部的魔力!天哪，詹姆斯想。 在这种情况下，如果它们遇到蚯蚓会发生什么?

Or a centipede? Or a spider? And what if they do go into the roots of the peach tree? 'Get up at once, you lazy little beast!' a voice was suddenly shouting in James's ear. James glanced up and saw Aunt Spiker standing over him, grim and tall and bony, glaring at him through her steel-rimmed spectacles. 'Get back over there immediately and finish chopping up those logs!' she ordered. Aunt Sponge, fat and pulpy as a jellyfish, came waddling up behind her sister to see what was going on. 'Why don't we just lower the boy down the well in a bucket and leave him there for the night?' she suggested. 'That ought to teach him not to laze around like this the whole day long.' 'That's a very good wheeze, my dear Sponge. But let's make him finish chopping up the wood first. Be off with you at once, you hideous brat, and do some work!' Slowly, sadly, poor James got up off the ground and went back to the woodpile. Oh, if only he hadn't slipped and fallen and dropped that precious bag. All hope of a happier life had gone

或者蜈蚣?还是蜘蛛? 如果它们真的进入了桃树的根部呢? “马上起来，你这个懒惰的小东西!”一个声音突然在詹姆斯耳边喊道。 詹姆斯抬头一看，看见斯派克姨妈站在他身边，阴沉、高大、骨瘦如柴，正透过钢框眼镜瞪着他。 “马上回去，把那些木头砍完!”她命令道。 海绵阿姨像水母一样胖乎乎的，摇摇摆摆地走到妹妹身后，想看看发生了什么事。 “我们为什么不干脆把孩子放在桶里，放到井里过夜呢?”她建议道。 “这应该给他一个教训，不要整天这样闲荡。“这口气很好，我亲爱的海绵。” 但我们得让他先把木头劈好。 马上滚吧，你这个可恶的小鬼，干点活去!”可怜的詹姆斯慢慢地、悲伤地从地上站起来，回到柴堆旁。 噢，要是他没有滑倒，把那只珍贵的袋子掉在地上就好了。 过上幸福生活的所有希望都破灭了

completely now. Today and tomorrow and the next day and all the other days as well would be nothing but punishment and pain, unhappiness and despair. He picked up the chopper and was just about to start chopping away again when he heard a shout behind him that made him stop and turn.

现在完全。今天、明天、后天以及以后所有的日子里，除了惩罚、痛苦、不幸和绝望，什么也没有。 他拿起斧子，正要开始砍，突然听到身后传来一声喊叫，他停下来转过身来。