05 The Terrible Tractors

5 The Terrible Tractors As the sun rose the next morning, Boggis and Bunce and Bean were still digging. They had dug a hole so deep you could have put a house into it. But they had not yet come to the end of the foxes' tunnel. They were all very tired and cross. 'Dang and blast!' said Boggis. 'Whose rotten idea was this?' 'Bean's idea,' said Bunce. Boggis and Bunce both stared at Bean. Bean took another swig of cider, then put the flask back into his pocket without offering it to the others. 'Listen,' he said angrily, 'I want that fox! I'm going to get that fox! I'm not giving in till I've strung him up over my front porch, dead as a dumpling!' 'We can't get him by digging, that's for sure,' said the fat Boggis. 'I've had enough of digging.'

第二天早晨太阳升起的时候，博格斯、邦斯和比恩还在挖土。 他们挖了一个深得可以放一座房子进去的坑。 但是他们还没有走到狐狸隧道的尽头。 他们都很累，很生气。 “该死!”博格斯说。 “这是谁的馊主意?”“宾的主意，”邦斯说。 博吉斯和邦斯都盯着比恩。 比恩又喝了一大口苹果酒，然后把瓶子放回口袋里，没有把它递给其他人。 “听着，”他生气地说，“我要那只狐狸!我要去抓那只狐狸!除非我把他吊在我的门廊上，死得像个饺子，否则我是不会屈服的!“我们挖也找不到他，这是肯定的。”胖博格斯说。 “我挖够了。”

Bunce, the little pot-bellied dwarf, looked up at Bean and said, 'Have you got any more stupid ideas, then?' 'What?' said Bean. 'I can't hear you.' Bean never took a bath. He never even washed. As a result, his earholes were clogged with all kinds of muck and wax and bits of chewing-gum and dead flies and stuff like that. This made him deaf. 'Speak louder,' he said to Bunce, and Bunce shouted back, 'Got any more stupid ideas?' Bean rubbed the back of his neck with a dirty finger. He had a boil coming there and it itched. 'What we need on this job,' he said, 'is machines… mechanical shovels. We'll have him out in five minutes with mechanical shovels.' This was a pretty good idea and the other two had to admit it.

大腹便便的小矮人邦斯抬头看着比恩说:“那么，你还有什么愚蠢的想法吗?”“什么?比恩说。 “我听不见你说什么。”比恩从来不洗澡。 他甚至从不洗澡。结果，他的耳孔被各种各样的泥土、蜡、口香糖、死苍蝇之类的东西堵住了。 这使他失聪了。“大声点说，”他对邦斯说，邦斯也喊道:“还有什么蠢主意吗?”比恩用脏手指揉了揉脖子后面。 他那里长了一个疖子，而且很痒。 他说，我们做这项工作需要的是机器……机械铲子。 五分钟之内我们就可以用机械铲子把他挖出来。”这是个不错的主意，另外两个人也不得不承认。

'All right then,' Bean said, taking charge. 'Boggis, you stay here and see the fox doesn't escape. Bunce and I will go and fetch our machinery. If he tries to get out, shoot him quick.' The long, thin Bean walked away. The tiny Bunce trotted after him. The fat Boggis stayed where he was with his gun pointing at the foxhole. Soon, two enormous caterpillar tractors with mechanical shovels on their front ends came clanking into the wood. Bean was driving one, Bunce the other. The machines were both black. They were murderous, brutal-looking monsters.

“那好吧。”比恩说，开始负责。 “博吉斯，你呆在这儿，别让狐狸跑掉。 邦斯和我去拿我们的机器。 如果他想逃出来，就快打死他。”瘦长的豆子走开了。 小邦斯跟在他后面小跑。 胖博格斯呆在原地，用枪指着散兵坑。 很快，两辆巨大的履带式拖拉机前端装着机械铲，丁当作响地开进了树林。 比恩开一辆，邦斯开另一辆。 两台机器都是黑色的。 他们是凶残的、看起来很残忍的怪物。

'Here we go, then!' shouted Bean. 'Death to the fox!' shouted Bunce. The machines went to work, biting huge mouthfuls of soil out of the hill. The big tree under which Mr Fox had dug his hole in the first place was toppled like a matchstick. On all sides, rocks were sent flying and trees were falling and the noise was deafening. Down in the tunnel the foxes crouched, listening to the terrible clanging and banging overhead. 'What's happening, Dad?' cried the Small Foxes. 'What are they doing?' Mr Fox didn't know what was happening or what they were doing. 'It's an earthquake!' cried Mrs Fox.

“那么，我们走吧!”比恩喊道。 “狐狸去死!”邦斯喊道。 机器开始工作了，大口大口地从山上挖出泥土。 狐狸先生最初在那棵大树下挖洞的树像一根火柴棍一样倒了下来。 四面八方，石头飞来飞去，树木倒在地上，声音震耳欲聋。 下面的隧道里，狐狸蹲着，听着头顶上可怕的叮当声和撞击声。 “发生什么事了，爸爸?”小狐狸叫道。 “他们在干什么?”福克斯先生不知道发生了什么，也不知道他们在做什么。 “地震了!”狐狸太太叫道。

'Look!' said one of the Small Foxes. 'Our tunnel's got shorter! I can see daylight!' They all looked round, and yes, the mouth of the tunnel was only a few feet away from them now, and in the circle of daylight beyond they could see the two huge black tractors almost on top of them. 'Tractors!' shouted Mr Fox. 'And mechanical shovels! Dig for your lives! Dig, dig, dig!'

“看!一只小狐狸说。 “我们的隧道变短了!”我看见天了!”他们都环顾四周，是的，隧道口现在离他们只有几英尺远了，在远处的日光中，他们可以看到两辆巨大的黑色拖拉机几乎就在他们上面。 “拖拉机!狐狸先生喊道。 “还有机械铲子!”挖掘你的生命!挖，挖，挖!”