17 The Plan

The Plan When we got back to the bedroom, my grandmother took both me and Bruno out of her handbag and put us on the table. 'Why on earth didn't you speak up and tell your father who you were?' she said to Bruno. 'Because I had my mouth full,' Bruno said. He jumped straight back into the bowl of bananas and went on with his eating. 'What a very disagreeable little boy you are,' my grandmother said to him. 'Not boy,' I said. 'Mouse.' 'Quite right, my darling. But we don't have time to worry about him at this moment. We have plans to make. In about an hour and a half's time, all the witches will be going down to supper in the Dining-Room. Right?' 'Right,' I said.

当我们回到卧室时，祖母把我和布鲁诺从手提包里拿出来放在桌子上。 “你究竟为什么不大声说出来，告诉你父亲你是谁?”她对布鲁诺说。 “因为我嘴里塞满了东西。”布鲁诺说。 他直接跳到那碗香蕉里继续吃。 “你真是个讨厌的小男孩，”祖母对他说。 “不是孩子，”我说。的鼠标。“对极了，亲爱的。” 但是我们现在没有时间担心他。 我们有计划要做。大约一个半小时后，所有的女巫都会下楼到餐厅去吃晚饭。 对吧?“好的，”我说。

'And every one of them has got to be given a dose of Mouse-Maker,' she said. 'How on earth are we going to do that?' 'Grandmamma,' I said. 'I think you are forgetting that a mouse can go places where human beings can't.' 'That's quite right,' she said. 'But even a mouse can't go creeping around on the table-top carrying a bottle and sprinkling Mouse-Maker all over the witches' roast beef without being spotted.' 'I wasn't thinking of doing it in the Dining- Room,' I said. 'Then where?' she asked. 'In the kitchen,' I said, 'while their food is being got ready.' My grandmother stared at me. 'My darling child,' she said slowly, 'I do believe that turning you into a mouse has doubled your brain-power!' 'A little mouse,' I said, 'can go scuttling round the kitchen among the pots and pans, and if he's very careful no one will ever see him.'

“他们每个人都得吃一剂老鼠药，”她说。 “我们到底要怎么做呢?”“奶奶，”我说。 “我想你忘记了，老鼠可以去人类不能去的地方。“对极了，”她说。 “但即使是一只老鼠，也不可能拿着瓶子在桌上爬来爬去，把老鼠精洒在女巫们的烤牛肉上而不被发现。“我没打算在饭厅里做这件事，”我说。 然后在哪里?她问。“在厨房里，”我说，“他们正在准备食物。”我的祖母盯着我。 “我亲爱的孩子，”她慢慢地说，“我相信把你变成一只老鼠使你的脑力增加了一倍!“一只小老鼠，”我说，“可以在厨房的锅碗瓢盆间跑来跑去，如果它非常小心的话，没有人会看到它的。”

'Brilliant!' my grandmother cried out. 'By golly, I think you've got it!' 'The only thing is,' I said, 'how will I know which food is theirs? I don't want to put it in the wrong saucepan. It would be disastrous if I turned all the other guests into mice by mistake, and especially you, Grandmamma.' 'Then you'll just have to creep into the kitchen and find a good hiding-place and wait… and listen. Just lie there in some dark cranny listening and listening to what the cooks are saying… and then, with a bit of luck, somebody's going to give you a clue. Whenever they have a very big party to cook for, the food is always prepared separately.' 'Right,' I said. 'That's what I'll have to do. I shall wait there and I shall listen and I shall hope for a bit of luck.' 'It's going to be very dangerous,' my grandmother said. 'Nobody welcomes a mouse in the kitchen. If they see you, they'll squash you to death.'

“辉煌!我祖母叫道。 “天哪，我想你已经猜到了!”“唯一的问题是，”我说，“我怎么知道哪些食物是他们的?” 我可不想把它放错锅里。 如果我不小心把其他客人都变成了老鼠，那就太糟糕了，尤其是你，奶奶。“那你就得溜进厨房，找个好地方躲起来，等着……听着。” 只要躺在黑暗的裂缝里，听着厨师们在说什么，然后，运气好的话，有人会给你线索。 每当他们要为一个非常大的聚会做饭时，食物总是分开准备的。“好的，”我说。 “那是我必须做的。 我要在那儿等着，听着，希望能有一点运气。“那会很危险的，”我祖母说。 没有人欢迎厨房里的老鼠。 如果他们看到你，他们会把你压死的。”

'I won't let them see me,' I said. 'Don't forget you'll be carrying the bottle,' she said, 'so you won't be nearly so quick and nippy.' 'I can run quite fast standing up with the bottle in my arms,' I said. 'I did it just now, don't you remember? I came all the way up from The Grand High Witch's room carrying it.' 'What about unscrewing the top?' she said. 'That might be difficult for you.' 'Let me try,' I said. I took hold of the little bottle and using both my front paws, I found I was able to unscrew the cap quite easily. 'That's great,' my grandmother said. 'You really are a very clever mouse.' She glanced at her watch. 'At half-past seven,' she said, 'I shall go down to the Dining-Room for supper with you in

“我不会让他们看见我的，”我说。 “别忘了你要带着奶瓶，”她说，“这样你就不会那么快那么急了。“我抱着奶瓶站着跑得很快，”我说。 “我刚才做的，你不记得了吗?” 我大老远从大女巫的房间拿着它过来。“把上面的螺丝拧下来怎么样?”她说。 “这对你来说可能很难。“让我试试，”我说。 我抓住小瓶子，用我的两只前爪，我发现我可以很容易地拧开瓶盖。 “太好了，”我祖母说。 “你真是一只非常聪明的老鼠。”她瞥了一眼表。 “七点半，”她说，“我和你一起下楼到餐厅去吃晚饭

my handbag. I shall then release you under the table together with the precious bottle and from then on you'll be on your own. You will have to work your way unseen across the Dining-Room to the door that leads into the kitchen. There will be waiters going in and out of that door all the time. You will have to choose the right moment and nip in behind one of them, but for heaven's sake be sure that you don't get trodden on or squeezed in the door.' 'I'll try not to,' I said. 'And whatever happens, you mustn't let them catch you.' 'Don't go on about it, Grandmamma. You're making me nervous.' 'You're a brave little fellow,' she said. 'I do love you.' 'What shall we do with Bruno?' I asked her. Bruno looked up. 'I'm coming with you,' he said, speaking with his mouth full of banana. 'I'm not going to miss my supper!'

我的手提包。然后我会把你和珍贵的瓶子一起放在桌子底下，从那以后你就得靠自己了。 你得蹑手蹑脚地穿过餐室，走到通往厨房的那扇门。 那扇门会一直有服务员进进出出。 你必须选择一个合适的时机，从他们后面挤进去，但看在上帝的份上，确保你没有被踩到或被挤在门里。“我尽量不去，”我说。 “不管发生什么事，你都不能让他们抓住你。“别再说了，奶奶。” 你让我很紧张。“你是个勇敢的小家伙，”她说。 “我确实爱你。“我们拿布鲁诺怎么办呢?”我问她。 布鲁诺抬起头来。“我和你一起去，”他说，嘴里塞满了香蕉。 “我可不想错过我的晚餐!”

My grandmother considered this for a moment. 'I'll take you along,' she said, 'if you promise to stay in my bag and keep absolutely silent.' 'Will you pass food down to me from the table?' Bruno asked. 'Yes,' she said, 'if you promise to behave yourself. Would you like something to eat, my darling?' she said to me. 'No, thank you,' I said. 'I'm too excited to eat. And I've got to keep fit and frisky for the big job ahead.' 'It's a big job all right,' my grandmother said. 'You'll never do a bigger one.'

我祖母考虑了一会儿。 “我可以带你去，”她说，“只要你答应呆在我的包里，绝对不吭声。“你能把桌上的食物递给我吗?”布鲁诺问道。 “是的，”她说，“只要你保证守规矩。 你想吃点什么吗，亲爱的?她对我说。 “不，谢谢，”我说。“我激动得吃不下饭。 我必须保持健康，为即将到来的重要工作保持活力。“这是一件大事，”我祖母说。 “你永远不会做更大的了。”