18 In the Kitchen

In the Kitchen 'The time has come!' my grandmother said. 'The great moment has arrived! Are you ready, my darling?' It was exactly half-past seven. Bruno was in the bowl finishing that fourth banana. 'Hang on,' he said. 'Just a few more bites.' 'No!' my grandmother said. 'We've got to go!' She picked him up and held him tight in her hand. She was very tense and nervous. I had never seen her like that before. 'I'm going to put you both in my handbag now,' she said, 'but I shall leave the clasp undone.' She popped Bruno into it first. I waited, clutching the little bottle to my chest. 'Now you,' she said. She picked me up and gave me a kiss on the nose. 'Good luck, my darling. Oh, by the way, you do realize you've got a tail, don't you?' 'A what?' I said. A tail. A long curly tail.'

“时间到了!”我祖母说。 “伟大的时刻到了!”你准备好了吗，亲爱的?”时间正好是七点半。 布鲁诺在碗里吃第四根香蕉。 “等一下，”他说。“再咬几口就好了。“不!我祖母说。 “我们得走了!”她把他抱起来，紧紧地握在手里。 她非常紧张和紧张。 我以前从未见过她那样。 “我现在要把你们两个都放进我的手提包里，”她说，“但是我要把扣子解开。”她先把布鲁诺推了进去。 我等待着，把小瓶子抱在胸前。 “现在轮到你了，”她说。她把我抱起来，在我鼻子上亲了一下。 “祝你好运，亲爱的。对了，你知道自己被人跟踪了吧?“什么?”我说。 一个尾巴。一条长长的卷尾巴。”

'I must say that never occurred to me,' I said. 'Good gracious me, so I have! I can see it now! I can actually move it! It is rather grand, isn't it?' 'I mention it only because it might come in useful when you're climbing about in the kitchen,' my grandmother said. 'You can curl it around and you can hook it on to things and you can swing from it and lower yourself to the ground from high places.' 'I wish I'd known this before,' I said. 'I could have practised using it.' 'Too late now,' my grandmother said. 'We've got to go.' She popped me into her handbag with Bruno, and at once I took up my usual perch in the small side-pocket so that I could poke my head out and see what was going on. My grandmother picked up her walking-stick and out she went into the corridor to the lift. She pressed the button and the lift came up and she got in. There was no one in there with us. 'Listen,' she said. 'I won't be able to talk to you much once we're in the Dining-Room. If I do,

“我得说我从来没有想到过这一点，”我说。 “我的天哪，的确是这样!”我现在看到了!我真的可以移动它!它很宏伟，不是吗?“我提到它，只是因为当你在厨房里爬来爬去的时候，它可能会有用，”我祖母说。 “你可以把它卷起来，把它挂在其他东西上，你可以在上面荡来荡去，也可以从高处把自己放低到地上。”“我要是早点知道就好了，”我说。 “我本来可以练习使用它的。“现在太晚了，”祖母说。 “我们得走了。”她把我和布鲁诺一起塞进她的手提包里，我立刻在侧口袋里像往常一样坐了下来，这样我就可以把头探出来看看发生了什么事。 我的祖母拿起她的手杖，走到走廊的电梯。 她按下按钮，电梯就上来了，她进去了。 里面没人和我们在一起。 “听着，”她说。“一到餐厅，我就不能跟你多谈了。 如果我这么做了，

people will think I'm dotty and talking to myself.' The lift reached the ground floor and stopped with a jerk. My grandmother walked out of it and crossed the lobby of the hotel and entered the Dining-Room. It was a huge room with gold decorations on the ceiling and big mirrors around the walls. The regular guests always had their tables reserved for them and most of them were already in their places and starting to eat their suppers. Waiters were buzzing about all over the place, carrying plates and dishes. Our table was a small one beside the right-hand wall about halfway down the room. My grandmother made her way to it and sat down. Peeping out of the handbag, I could see in the very centre of the room two long tables that were not yet occupied. Each of them carried a notice fixed on to a sort of silver stick and the notices said, RESERVED FOR MEMBERS OF THE RSPCC. My grandmother looked towards the long tables but said nothing. She unfolded her napkin and spread it over the handbag on her lap. Her hand slid under the napkin and took hold of me gently.

人们会认为我疯了，在自言自语。”电梯到了一楼，猛地停了下来。 我的祖母走了出来，穿过旅馆的大厅，走进了餐厅。 这是一个很大的房间，天花板上有金色的装饰，墙壁上有大镜子。 老客人总是为他们预留了桌子，他们中的大多数人已经在自己的位置上，开始吃晚饭。 服务员端着盘子和盘子，在各处嗡嗡作响。 我们的桌子很小，在房间中间的右边墙边。 我奶奶走过去，坐了下来。 从提包里往外看，我看到房间正中央有两张长桌子，还没有人坐。 他们每个人都拿着一张贴在一种银棒上的告示，上面写着:“皇家防止虐待儿童协会会员专用”。 祖母望着长桌，什么也没说。 她展开餐巾，把它铺在膝上的手提包上。 她的手伸到餐巾纸下面，轻轻地抓住我。

With the napkin covering me, she lifted me up close to her face and whispered, 'I am about to put you on the floor under the table. The table-cloth reaches almost to the ground so no one will see you. Have you got hold of the bottle?' 'Yes,' I whispered back. 'I'm ready, Grandmamma.' Just then, a waiter in a black suit came and stood by our table. I could see his legs from under the napkin and as soon as I heard his voice, I knew who he was. His name was William. 'Good evening, madam,' he said to my grandmother. 'Where is the little gentleman tonight?' 'He's not feeling very well,' my grandmother said. 'He's staying in his room.' 'I'm sorry to hear that,' William said. 'Today there is green-pea soup to start with, and for the main course you have a choice of either grilled fillet of sole or roast lamb.' 'Pea soup and lamb for me, please,' my grandmother said. 'But don't hurry it, William. I'm

她用餐巾盖住我，把我举到靠近她脸的地方，低声说:“我要把你放在桌子下面的地板上。 桌布几乎拖到地面，所以没人会看到你。 你拿到瓶子了吗?“是的，”我低声回答。 “我准备好了，奶奶。”就在这时，一位身穿黑色西装的服务员走过来，站在我们的桌旁。 我可以从餐巾下面看到他的腿，一听到他的声音，我就知道他是谁。 他的名字叫威廉。“晚上好，夫人，”他对我祖母说。 “这位小绅士今晚在哪儿?”“他感觉不太舒服，”祖母说。 “他呆在他的房间里。“听到这个消息我很难过，”威廉说。 今天的开胃菜是豌豆汤，主菜你可以选择烤比目鱼片或烤羊肉。祖母说:“请给我豌豆汤和羊肉。” “不过别着急，威廉。 我

in no rush tonight. In fact, you can bring me a glass of dry sherry first.' 'Of course, madam,' William said, and he went away. My grandmother pretended she had dropped something, and as she bent down, she slid me out from

今晚不着急。事实上，你可以先给我来一杯干雪利酒。“当然可以，夫人。”威廉说着就走了。 我的祖母假装她掉了什么东西，当她弯下腰时，她把我从

under the napkin on to the floor under the table. 'Go, darling, go!' she whispered, then she straightened up again. I was on my own now. I stood clasping the little bottle. I knew exactly where the door into the

在餐巾下面，在桌子下面的地板上。 “去吧，亲爱的，去吧!她小声说，然后又站直了身子。 我现在只能靠自己了。我站在那里，手里紧握着小瓶子。 我很清楚这扇门在哪里