09 Nine

Hungry and trembling, James stood alone out in the open, wondering what to do. The night was all around him now, and high overhead a wild white moon was riding in the sky. There was not a sound, not a movement anywhere. Most people – and especially small children – are often quite scared of being out of doors alone in the moonlight. Everything is so deadly quiet, and the shadows are so long and black, and they keep turning into strange shapes that seem to move as you look at them, and the slightest little snap of a twig makes you jump.

詹姆斯又饿又发抖，独自站在户外，不知道该怎么办。 现在他四周已经是黑夜了，一轮狂野的白月亮在头顶高悬。 没有一点声音，没有一点动静。 大多数人，尤其是小孩子，通常都很害怕独自一人在月光下出门。 一切都是那么死气沉沉的安静，影子又长又黑，它们不断变成奇怪的形状，当你看着它们时，它们似乎在移动，一根小树枝轻轻折断，你就会跳起来。

James felt exactly like that now. He stared straight ahead with large frightened eyes, hardly daring to breathe. Not far away, in the middle of the garden, he could see the giant peach towering over everything else. Surely it was even bigger tonight than ever before? And what a dazzling sight it was! The moonlight was shining and glinting on its great curving sides, turning them to crystal and silver. It looked like a tremendous silver ball lying there in the grass, silent, mysterious, and wonderful. And then all at once, little shivers of excitement started running over the skin on James's back. Something else, he told himself, something stranger than ever this time, is about to happen to me again soon. He was sure of it. He could feel it coming. He looked around him, wondering what on earth it was going to be. The garden lay soft and silver in the moonlight. The grass was wet with dew and a million dewdrops were sparkling and twinkling like diamonds around his feet. And now

詹姆斯现在也有同样的感觉。 他用惊恐的大眼睛直盯着前方，几乎不敢呼吸。 不远处，在花园的中央，他可以看到那颗巨大的桃子，高耸在一切之上。 今晚肯定比以前更大了吧? 这是多么令人眼花缭乱的景象啊!月光照在它巨大的弯曲的侧面，把它们变成了水晶和银色。 它看起来像一个巨大的银球躺在草地上，沉默，神秘，奇妙。 突然，一阵兴奋的寒颤开始在詹姆斯的背上蔓延开来。 另一件事，他告诉自己，这一次比以往任何时候都更奇怪的事，很快又要发生在我身上了。 他对此很有把握。他能感觉到它要来了。 他环顾四周，不知道会是什么样子。 花园在月光下显得柔软而银白。 草地被露水打湿了，无数的露珠像钻石一样在他的脚边闪闪发光。 现在

suddenly, the whole place, the whole garden seemed to be alive with magic. Almost without knowing what he was doing, as though drawn by some powerful magnet, James Henry Trotter started walking slowly towards the giant peach. He climbed over the fence that surrounded it, and stood directly beneath it, staring up at its great bulging sides. He put out a hand and touched it gently with the tip of one finger. It felt soft and warm and slightly furry, like the skin of a baby mouse. He moved a step closer and rubbed his cheek lightly against the soft skin. And then suddenly, while he was doing this, he happened to notice that right beside him and below him, close to the ground, there was a hole in the side of the peach.

突然间，整个地方，整个花园似乎都充满了魔力。 詹姆斯·亨利·特罗特几乎不知道自己在做什么，好像被某种强大的磁铁吸引着，他开始慢慢地走向那个巨大的桃子。 他爬过围绕着它的栅栏，站在它正下方，抬头望着它那鼓鼓囊鼓的巨大侧面。 他伸出一只手，用一个指尖轻轻地碰了碰。 它摸起来又软又暖和，有点毛绒绒的，就像小老鼠的皮肤。 他走近一步，用脸颊轻轻摩擦着柔软的皮肤。 突然，当他这么做的时候，他碰巧注意到就在他的旁边和下面，靠近地面的地方，桃子的侧面有一个洞。