09 The Recipe

The Recipe I hope you haven't forgotten that while all this was going on I was still stuck behind the screen on my hands and knees with one eye glued to the crack. I don't know how long I had been there but it seemed like for ever. The worst part of it was not being allowed to cough or make a sound, and knowing that if I did, I was as good as dead. And all the way through, I was living in constant terror that one of the witches in the back row was going to get a whiff of my presence through those special nose-holes of hers. My only hope, as I saw it, was the fact that I hadn't washed for days. That and the never-ending excitement and clapping and shouting that was going on in the room. The witches were thinking of nothing except The Grand High Witch up there on the platform and her great plan for wiping out all the children of England. They certainly weren't sniffing around for a child in the room. In their

我希望你没有忘记，当这一切发生的时候，我仍然被困在屏幕后面，用手和膝盖撑着，一只眼睛粘在裂缝上。 我不知道我在那里待了多久，但似乎是永远。 最糟糕的是不允许咳嗽或发出声音，并且知道如果我这样做，我就和死了一样。 在整个过程中，我一直生活在恐惧中，担心后排的某个女巫会通过她那特殊的鼻子洞嗅到我的存在。 在我看来，我唯一的希望就是我已经好几天没洗澡了。 还有房间里不断发生的兴奋、鼓掌和呐喊。 女巫们脑子里想的都是站在站台上的大女巫和她要消灭英格兰所有孩子的伟大计划。 他们肯定没有在房间里到处找孩子。 在他们的

wildest dreams (if witches have dreams), that would never have occurred to any of them. I kept still and prayed. The Grand High Witch's dreadful gloating song was over now, and the audience was clapping madly and shouting, 'Brilliant! Sensational! Marvellous! You are a genius, O Brainy One! It is a thrilling invention, this Delayed Action Mouse- Maker! It is a winner! And the beauty of it is that the teachers will be the ones who bump off the stinking little children! It won't be us doing it! We shall never be caught!' 'Vitches are never caught!' snapped The Grand High Witch. 'Attention now! I vont everybody's attention for I am about to be telling you vot you must do to prepare Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker!' Suddenly there came a great gasp from the audience. This was followed by a hubbub of shrieking and yelling, and I saw many of the witches leaping to their feet and pointing at the platform and crying out, 'Mice! Mice! Mice! She's

最疯狂的梦(如果女巫有梦的话)，她们谁也不会想到这一点。 我静静地祈祷着。大女巫那可怕的幸灾乐祸的歌声结束了，观众们疯狂地鼓掌，高喊着:“太棒了!”轰动的!不可思议的!你真是个天才，聪明的人!这是一个激动人心的发明，这延迟动作鼠标制造!它是赢家!它的美妙之处在于，老师们将是那些把臭孩子们打趴下的人!不会是我们干的!我们永远不会被抓住!“紫薇是永远抓不住的!”大女巫厉声说。 现在的注意力!我不想让大家注意，因为我要告诉你们为准备86级方程式延迟动作鼠标制造器必须做的投票!”突然，观众发出一阵巨大的喘息声。 接着是一阵尖叫和叫喊，我看见许多女巫跳了起来，指着平台喊道:“老鼠!老鼠!老鼠!她是

done it to show us! The Brainy One has turned two children into mice and there they are!' I looked towards the platform. The mice were there all right, two of them, running around near The Grand High Witch's skirts. But these were not field mice or house mice or wood mice or harvest mice. They were white mice! I recognized them immediately as being my own little William and Mary! 'Mice!' shouted the audience. 'Our leader has made mice to appear out of nowhere! Get the mouse-traps! Fetch the cheese!' I saw The Grand High Witch peering down at the floor and staring with obvious puzzlement at William and Mary. She bent lower to get a closer look. Then she straightened up and shouted, 'Qviet!' The audience became silent and sat down. 'These mice are nothing to do vith me!' she shouted. 'These mice are pet mice! These mice are qvite obviously belonging to some rrreepellent

这样做是为了展示给我们看!聪明的上帝把两个孩子变成了老鼠，他们就在那儿!”我朝站台望去。 老鼠还在那儿，有两只，在大女巫的裙子附近跑来跑去。 但这些不是田鼠，不是家鼠，不是林鼠，也不是收割鼠。 它们是小白鼠!我立刻认出他们就是我的小威廉和小玛丽!“老鼠!观众喊道。 “我们的首领凭空造出了老鼠!”拿捕鼠器来!把奶酪拿来!”我看见大女巫低头盯着地板，明显地困惑地盯着威廉和玛丽。 她弯下腰去凑近看。 然后她直起身子，喊道:“嘘!”观众安静下来，坐了下来。 “这些老鼠跟我一点关系都没有!”她喊道。 “这些老鼠是宠物老鼠!”这些老鼠很明显属于某种驱蚊剂

little child in the hotel! A boy it vill be for a certainty because girls are not keeping pet mice!' 'A boy!' cried the witches. 'A filthy smelly little boy! We'll swipe him! We'll swizzle him! We'll have his tripes for breakfast!' 'Silence!' shouted The Grand High Witch, raising her hands. 'You know perrrfectly vell you must do nothing to drrraw attention to yourselves vhile you are living in the hotel! Let us by all means get rrrid of this evil-smelling little sqvirt, but vee must do it as qvietly as possible, for are vee not all of us the most rrree-spectable ladies of the Rrroyal Society for the Prrree-vention of Crrruelty to Children?' 'What do you suggest then, O Brainy One?' they cried out. 'How shall we dispose of this small pile of filth?' They're talking about me, I thought. These females are actually talking about how to kill me. I began to sweat. 'Whoever he is, he is not important,' announced The Grand High Witch. 'Leave him to me. I shall

旅馆里有小孩!肯定是男孩，因为女孩不会养宠物鼠!“一个男孩!”女巫们叫道。 “一个又脏又臭的小男孩!我们要干掉他!我们要把他搅晕!我们早餐要吃他的三明治!“安静!大女巫举起双手喊道。 “你们很清楚，住在旅馆里的时候，你们不能做任何引人注目的事!让我们尽一切办法除掉这个臭气熏天的小怪物吧，不过我们必须尽可能悄悄地除掉它，因为我们不都是皇家防止虐待儿童协会中最可敬的女士吗?“那么你有什么建议呢，聪明的人?”他们喊道。 “我们怎么处理这一小堆垃圾呢?”他们在谈论我，我想。 这些雌性实际上在讨论如何杀死我。 我开始出汗。“不管他是谁，他都不重要。” “把他交给我吧。我将

smell him out and turn him into a mackerel and have him dished up for supper.' 'Bravo!' cried the witches. 'Cut off his head and chop off his tail and fry him in hot butter!' You can imagine that none of this was making me feel very comfortable. William and Mary were still running around on the platform, and I saw The Grand High Witch aim a swift running kick at William. She caught him right on the point of her toe and sent him flying. She did the same to Mary. Her aim was extraordinary. She would have made a great football player. Both mice crashed against the wall, and for a few moments they lay stunned. Then they got to their feet and scampered away.

嗅出他的气味，把他变成一条鲭鱼，把他端上来当晚餐。“万岁!女巫们叫道。 “砍下他的头和尾巴，把他放在热黄油里煎!”你可以想象，这一切都没有让我感到很舒服。 威廉和玛丽还在站台上跑来跑去，我看见至尊女巫飞快地朝威廉踢去。 她正好抓住他的脚尖，把他打飞了。 她对玛丽也做了同样的事。她的目标是非凡的。 她本可以成为一名伟大的足球运动员。 两只老鼠都撞在墙上，躺在那里呆了好一会儿。 然后他们站起来，蹦蹦跳跳地跑开了。

'Attention again!' The Grand High Witch was shouting. 'I vill now give to you the rrrecipe for concocting Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse- Maker! Get out pencils and paper.'

“注意!”大女巫喊道。 “现在我将给你的配方调制公式86延迟动作鼠标制造!拿出铅笔和纸来。”