16 Mr and Mrs Jenkins Meet Bruno

Mr and Mrs Jenkins Meet Bruno My grandmother carried me back into her own bedroom and put me on the table. She set the precious bottle down beside me. 'What time are those witches having supper in the Dining-Room?' she asked. 'Eight o'clock,' I said. She looked at her watch. 'It is now ten-past six,' she said. 'We've got until eight o'clock to work out our next move.' Suddenly, her eye fell upon Bruno. He was still in the banana bowl on the table. He had eaten three bananas and was now attacking a fourth. He had become immensely fat.

奶奶把我抱回她自己的卧室，把我放在桌子上。 她把那珍贵的瓶子放在我旁边。 “那些女巫什么时候在餐厅吃晚饭?”她问。 “八点钟，”我说。她看了看表。 “现在是六点十分，”她说。 “我们必须在八点之前想出下一步行动。”突然，她的目光落在了布鲁诺身上。 他还在桌子上的香蕉碗里。 他已经吃了三根香蕉，现在正在咬第四根。 他变得非常胖。

'That's quite enough,' my grandmother said, lifting him out of the bowl and putting him on the table-top. 'I think it's time we returned this little fellow to the bosom of his family. Don't you agree, Bruno?' Bruno scowled at her. I had never seen a mouse scowl before, but he managed it. 'My parents let me eat as much as I want,' he said. 'I'd rather be with them than with you.' 'Of course you would,' my grandmother said. 'Do you know where your parents might be at this moment?' 'They were in the Lounge not long ago,' I said. 'I saw them sitting there as we dashed through on our way up here.' 'Right,' my grandmother said. 'Let's go and see if they are still there. Do you want to come along?' she added, looking at me. 'Yes, please,' I said. 'I shall put you both in my handbag,' she said. 'Keep quiet and stay out of sight. If you must peep

“够了，”奶奶说着，把它从碗里拿出来放在桌上。 “我想是时候把这个小家伙送回他家人的怀抱了。 你不同意吗，布鲁诺?”布鲁诺怒视着她。 我以前从未见过一只老鼠皱着眉头，但他做到了。 他说，我父母让我想吃多少就吃多少。 “我宁愿和他们在一起，也不愿和你在一起。“你当然会的，”我祖母说。 “你知道你父母现在可能在哪里吗?”“他们不久前还在客厅里呢，”我说。 “我们冲过来的时候，我看见他们坐在那里。“好的，”我祖母说。 “我们去看看他们还在不在。 你想一起去吗?她看着我又说。 “是的，请。”我说。“我要把你们两个放在我的手提包里，”她说。 “保持安静，别让人看见。 如果你一定要偷看

out now and again, don't show more than your nose.' Her handbag was a large bulgy black-leather affair with a tortoise-shell clasp. She picked up Bruno and me and popped us into it. 'I shall leave the clasp undone,' she said. 'But be sure to keep out of sight.' I had no intention of keeping out of sight. I wanted to see everything. I seated myself in a little side-pocket inside the bag, near the clasp, and from there I was able to poke my head out whenever I wanted to. 'Hey!' Bruno called out. 'Give me the rest of that banana I was eating.' 'Oh all right,' my grandmother said. 'Anything to keep you quiet.' She dropped the half-eaten banana into the bag, then slung the bag over her arm and marched out of the room and went thumping along the corridor with her walkingstick. We went down in the lift to the ground floor and made our way through the Reading-Room to

偶尔出去一下，不要露出鼻子以外的地方。”她的手提包是一个又大又鼓的黑皮手提包，上面有一个玳瑁扣。 她接了我和布鲁诺，把我们塞了进去。 “我要把扣子解开，”她说。 “但一定不要让别人看见。”我并不想躲在别人的视线之外。 我想看看一切。 我坐在包里的一个小侧口袋里，靠近搭扣，从那里我可以随时把头伸出来。 “嘿!”布鲁诺喊道。“把我吃剩下的香蕉给我。“哦，好吧，”我祖母说。 “只要能让你闭嘴就行。”她把吃了一半的香蕉扔进袋子里，然后把袋子挎在胳膊上，大步走出房间，拄着拐杖在走廊里噔噔地走着。 我们乘电梯下到一楼，穿过阅览室到

the Lounge. And there, sure enough, sat Mr and Mrs Jenkins in a couple of armchairs with a low round glass-covered table between them. There were several other groups in there as well, but the Jenkinses were the only couple sitting alone. Mr Jenkins was reading a newspaper. Mrs Jenkins was knitting something large and mustardcoloured. Only my nose and eyes were above the clasp of my grandmother's handbag, but I had a super view. I could see everything. My grandmother, dressed in black lace, went thumping across the floor of the Lounge and halted in front of the Jenkinses' table. 'Are you Mr and Mrs Jenkins?' she asked. Mr Jenkins looked at her over the top of his newspaper and frowned. 'Yes,' he said. 'I am Mr Jenkins. What can I do for you, madam?' 'I'm afraid I have some rather alarming news for you,' she said. 'It's about your son, Bruno.' 'What about Bruno?' Mr Jenkins said. Mrs Jenkins looked up but went on knitting. 'What's the little blighter been up to now?' Mr

休息室。果然，詹金斯先生和夫人坐在几张扶手椅上，中间放着一张低矮的玻璃罩圆桌。 那里还有其他几组人，但詹金斯夫妇是唯一单独坐着的夫妇。 詹金斯先生正在看报纸。 詹金斯太太正在编织一件芥末色的大东西。 只有我的鼻子和眼睛在祖母的手提包的搭扣上，但我有一个超级视野。 我什么都能看见。我的祖母穿着黑色花边衣服，咚咚地走过客厅的地板，在詹金斯家的桌子前停了下来。 “你们是詹金斯先生和夫人吗?”她问。 詹金斯先生从报纸上方看了看她，皱起了眉头。 “是的，”他说。“我是詹金斯先生。 我能为您做些什么，夫人?“恐怕我有一些相当可怕的消息要告诉你，”她说。 “是关于你儿子的事，布鲁诺。“布鲁诺怎么样?”詹金斯先生说。 詹金斯太太抬起头，继续编织。 “这小家伙现在在干什么?”先生

Jenkins asked. 'Raiding the kitchen, I suppose.' 'It's a bit worse than that,' my grandmother said. 'Do you think we might go somewhere more private while I tell you about it?' 'Private?' Mr Jenkins said. 'Why do we have to be private?' 'This is not an easy thing for me to explain,' my grandmother said. 'I'd much rather we all went up to your room and sat down before I tell you any more.'

詹金斯问道。“我想是在厨房里打劫吧。“比那还糟一点，”我祖母说。 “我给你讲这件事的时候，你觉得我们可以找个更隐蔽的地方吗?”“私人吗?”詹金斯先生说。 “为什么我们一定要保密?”“这对我来说不容易解释，”祖母说。 "我倒宁愿大家都到楼上你的房间里去坐下来，免得我再跟你说下去。"

Mr Jenkins lowered his paper. Mrs Jenkins stopped knitting. 'I don't want to go up to my room, madam,' Mr Jenkins said. 'I'm quite comfortable here, thank you very much.' He was a large coarse man and he wasn't used to being pushed around by anybody. 'Kindly state your business and then leave us alone,' he added. He spoke, as though he was addressing someone who was trying to sell him a vacuum-cleaner at the back door. My poor grandmother, who had been doing her best to be as kind to them as possible, now began to bristle a bit herself. 'We really can't talk in here,' she said. 'There are too many people. This is a rather delicate and personal matter.' 'I'll talk where I dashed well want to, madam,' Mr Jenkins said. 'Come on now, out with it! If Bruno has broken a window or smashed your spectacles, then I'll pay for the damage, but I'm not budging out of this seat!' One or two other groups in the room were beginning to stare at us now.

詹金斯先生放下了报纸。 詹金斯太太停止了编织。 “我不想上楼回我的房间，夫人，”詹金斯先生说。 “我在这儿很舒服，非常感谢。”他是个粗壮的人，不习惯受人摆布。 “请把你的事说一遍，然后让我们清静一下，”他又说。 他说话的口气，好像是在对一个在后门向他推销吸尘器的人说话似的。 我可怜的祖母一直尽她最大的努力对他们好，现在她自己也开始有点生气了。 “我们真的不能在这里说话，”她说。 “人太多了。 这是一个相当微妙的私人问题。“我想说什么就说什么，夫人，”詹金斯先生说。 “来吧，说出来!”如果布鲁诺打碎了窗户或打碎了你的眼镜，我会赔偿损失，但我不会离开这个座位!”房间里还有一两组人开始盯着我们看。