12 Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis I remember thinking to myself, There is no escape for me now! Even if I make a run for it and manage to dodge the lot of them, I still won't get out because the doors are chained and locked! I'm finished! I'm done for! Oh, Grandmamma, what are they going to do to me? I looked round and I saw a hideous painted and powdered witch's face staring down at me, and the face opened its mouth and yelled triumphantly, 'It's here! It's behind the screen! Come and get it!' The witch reached out a gloved hand and grabbed me by the hair but I twisted free and jumped away. I ran, oh how I ran! The sheer terror of it all put wings on my feet! I flew around the outside of the great Ballroom and not one of them had a chance of catching me. As I came level with the doors, I paused and tried to open them but the big chain was on them and they didn't even rattle.

我记得我对自己说，现在我已经无处可逃了!即使我跑出去，设法躲开他们，我还是出不去，因为门是锁着的!我完成了!我受够了!噢，奶奶，他们要把我怎么样? 我扭头一看，只见一张涂了脂粉、面目狰狞的女巫脸正盯着我，那张脸张开嘴巴，得意洋洋地喊道:“它来了!它在屏幕后面!快来拿!”女巫伸出一只戴着手套的手，抓住我的头发，但我挣脱了，跳开了。 我跑啊，我跑啊!这一切的恐惧使我的脚长了翅膀!我在大舞厅外面飞来飞去，没有一个人有机会抓住我。 当我走到门边时，我停了下来，想打开门，但是大链子锁在门上，门甚至没有发出响声。

The witches were not bothering to chase me. They simply stood there in small groups, watching me and knowing for certain that there was no way I could escape. Several of them were holding their noses with gloved fingers and there were cries of, 'Poo! What a stink! We can't stand this much longer!' 'Catch it then, you idiots!' screamed The Grand High Witch from up on the platform. 'Sprrread out in a line across the room and close in on it and grab it! Corner this filthy little gumboil and seize it and bring it up here to me!' The witches spread out as they were told. They advanced towards me, some from one end, some from the other, and some came down the middle between the rows of empty chairs. They were bound to get me now. They had me cornered. From sheer and absolute terror, I began to scream. 'Help!' I screamed, turning my head towards the doors in the hope that somebody outside might hear me. 'Help! Help! Hel-l-l-lp!' 'Get it!' shouted The Grand High Witch. 'Grrrab hold of it! Stop it yelling!'

女巫们都懒得追我。 他们只是三五成群地站在那里，看着我，确信我是逃不掉的。 他们中有几个人用戴着手套的手指捏着鼻子，有人叫道:“噗!”真臭!我们不能再忍受了!“抓住它，你们这些白痴!”高台上的大女巫尖叫道。 “在房间里排成一排，靠近它，抓住它!”把这个肮脏的小流氓抓起来，带到我这儿来!”女巫们按照命令散开了。 他们朝我走来，有的从这边来，有的从那边来，有的从一排排空椅子中间走下来。 他们现在一定会抓到我的。 他们逼得我走投无路。由于极度的恐惧，我开始尖叫起来。 “救命!”我尖叫着，把头转向门口，希望外面有人能听到我的声音。 “帮助!的帮助!Hel-l-l-lp !“抓住它!”大女巫喊道。 “抓住它!”别叫了!”

They rushed at me then, and about five of them grabbed me by the arms and legs and lifted me clear off the ground. I went on screaming, but one of them clapped a gloved hand over my mouth and that stopped me. 'Brrring it here!' shouted The Grand High Witch. 'Brrring the spying little vurm up here to me!' I was carried on to the platform with my arms and legs held tight by many hands, and I lay there suspended in the air, facing the ceiling. I saw The Grand High Witch standing over me, grinning at me in the most horrible way. She held up the small blue bottle of Mouse-Maker and she said, 'Now for a little medicine! Hold his nose to make him open his mouth!' Strong fingers pinched my nose. I kept my mouth closed tight and held my breath. But I couldn't do it for long. My chest was bursting. I opened my mouth to get one big quick breath of air and as I did so, The Grand High Witch poured the entire contents of the little bottle down my throat!

然后他们向我冲过来，其中大约有五个人抓住我的胳膊和腿，把我从地上抬起来。 我继续尖叫，但其中一人用戴着手套的手捂住了我的嘴，这才止住了我。 “把它带到这儿来!”大女巫喊道。 “把那个偷窥的小混蛋带到我这儿来!”我的胳膊和腿被许多只手紧紧抓住，抬上了平台，我面朝天花板，悬在空中躺着。 我看见大女巫站在我身边，用最可怕的方式对我咧嘴笑着。 她举起那只蓝色的小瓶造鼠剂，说:“现在来点药吧!捏住他的鼻子，让他张开嘴!”强壮的手指捏着我的鼻子。 我紧闭嘴巴，屏住呼吸。 但我坚持不了多久。 我的胸脯快要撑破了。我张开嘴想吸一口气，就在我这么做的时候，大女巫把小瓶子里的东西都灌进了我的喉咙!

Oh, the pain and the fire! It felt as though a kettleful of boiling water had been poured into my mouth. My throat was going up in flames! Then very quickly the frightful burning searing scorching feeling started spreading down into my chest and into my tummy and on and on into my arms and legs and all over my body! I screamed and screamed but once again the gloved hand was clapped over my lips. The next thing I felt was my skin beginning to tighten. How else can I describe it? It was quite literally a tightening and a

哦，痛苦和火焰!感觉好像一壶开水倒进了我的嘴里。 我的喉咙都要被火烧着了!然后很快，可怕的灼热灼热的感觉开始蔓延到我的胸部和腹部，然后蔓延到我的手臂和腿，遍及我的身体!我不停地尖叫，但那只戴着手套的手又一次捂住了我的嘴唇。 接下来我觉得我的皮肤开始紧绷。 我还能怎么形容呢? 这确实是一种紧缩和

shrinking of the skin all over my body from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers to the ends of my toes! I felt as though I was a balloon and somebody was twisting the top of the balloon and twisting and twisting and the balloon was getting smaller and smaller and the skin was getting tighter and tighter and soon it was going to burst. Then the squeezing began. This time I was inside a suit of iron and somebody was turning a screw, and with each turn of the screw the iron suit became smaller and smaller so that I was squeezed like an orange into a pulpy mess with the juice running out of my sides. After that there came a fierce prickling sensation all over my skin (or what was left of my skin) as though tiny needles were forcing their way out through the surface of the skin from the inside, and this, I realize now, was the growing of the mouse-fur. Far away in the distance, I heard the voice of The Grand High Witch yelling, 'Five hundred doses! This stinking little carbuncle has had five

全身的皮肤都在萎缩从头顶到指尖再到脚趾头!我觉得我好像是一个气球，有人在扭曲气球的顶部，扭曲，扭曲，气球变得越来越小，皮肤越来越紧，很快就会破裂。 然后挤压开始了。这一次，我在一套铁衣服里，有人在拧螺丝钉，螺丝钉每拧一次，铁衣服就变得越来越小，我就像一个橘子被挤成了一团浆糊，果汁从我的两侧流出来。 在那之后，我的皮肤(或者我的皮肤剩下的部分)都有一种强烈的刺痛感，好像有小针从里面穿过皮肤的表面，我现在意识到，这就是老鼠毛的生长。 远处，我听到大女巫的声音喊道:“五百剂!这个讨厌的小东西有五次了

hundred doses and the alarm-clock has been smashed and now vee are having instantaneous action!' I heard clapping and cheering and I remember thinking: I am not myself any longer! I have gone clear out of my own skin! I noticed that the floor was only an inch from my nose. I noticed also a pair of little furry front paws resting on the floor. I was able to move those paws. They were mine! At that moment, I realized that I was not a little boy any longer. I was A MOUSE. 'Now for the mouse-trrrap!' I heard The Grand High Witch yelling. 'I've got it right here! And here's a piece of cheese!'

一百剂药和闹钟都被打碎了，现在我们正在进行即时行动!”我听到掌声和欢呼声，我记得我想:我不再是我自己了!我已经完全脱离了我自己的皮肤!我注意到地板离我的鼻子只有一英寸。 我还注意到地板上有一对毛茸茸的小前爪。 我的爪子还能动。 它们是我的!那一刻，我意识到我不再是一个小男孩了。 我是一只老鼠。“现在该拿捕鼠器了!”我听到大女巫在喊。 “就在我这儿!”这里有一块奶酪!”