06 The Race

6 The Race Now there began a desperate race, the machines against the foxes. In the beginning, the hill looked like this: After about an hour, as the machines bit away more and more soil from the hilltop, it looked like this:

机器和狐狸之间开始了一场殊死搏斗。 一开始，山是这样的:大约一个小时后，随着机器从山顶上咬走越来越多的土壤，它看起来像这样:

Sometimes the foxes would gain a little ground and the clanking noises would grow fainter and Mr Fox would say, 'We're going to make it! I'm sure we are!' But then a few moments later, the machines would come back at them and the crunch of the mighty shovels would get louder and louder. Once the foxes actually saw the sharp metal edge of one of the shovels as it scraped up the earth just behind them. 'Keep going, my darlings!' panted Mr Fox. 'Don't give up!' 'Keep going!' the fat Boggis shouted to Bunce and Bean. 'We'll get him any moment now!'

有时狐狸们会抢占一点地盘，叮当声就会减弱，狐狸先生就会说:“我们要成功了!”我相信我们会的!”但过了一会儿，机器又会回来对付他们，大铲子发出的嘎吱声会越来越响。 有一次，当铲子在它们身后铲土的时候，狐狸真的看到了铲子锋利的金属刃。 “继续走，亲爱的!”狐狸先生喘着气说。 “不要放弃!”“继续走!”胖博格斯对邦斯和比恩喊道。 “我们随时都能抓到他!”

'Have you caught sight of him yet?' Bean called back. 'Not yet,' shouted Boggis. 'But I think you're close!' 'I'll pick him up with my bucket!' shouted Bunce. 'I'll chop him to pieces!' But by lunchtime the machines were still at it. And so were the poor foxes. The hill now looked like this: The farmers didn't stop for lunch; they were too keen to finish the job.

“你看见他了吗?”比恩回叫道。 “还没有，”博吉斯喊道。 “但我认为你很接近!”“我要用我的水桶把他捞起来!”邦斯喊道。 “我要把他剁成碎片!”但到了午餐时间，机器还在工作。 可怜的狐狸也一样。 这座山现在看起来是这样的:农民们没有停下来吃午饭;他们急于完成这项工作。

'Hey there, Mr Fox!' yelled Bunce, leaning out of his tractor. 'We're coming to get you now!' 'You've had your last chicken!' yelled Boggis. 'You'll never come prowling around my farm again!' A sort of madness had taken hold of the three men. The tall skinny Bean and dwarfish potbellied Bunce were driving their machines like maniacs, racing the motors and making the shovels dig at a terrific speed. The fat Boggis was hopping about like a dervish and shouting, 'Faster! Faster!' By five o'clock in the afternoon this is what had happened to the hill:

“嘿，狐狸先生!”邦斯从拖拉机里探出身子，喊道。 “我们现在就来接你!”“你吃完了最后一只鸡!”博格斯喊道。 “你再也不许到我的农场来晃悠了!”一种疯狂攫住了这三个人。 瘦高的比恩和大腹便便的邦斯像疯子一样驾驶着他们的机器，让马达全速运转，让铲子以惊人的速度挖掘。 胖博格斯像个苦行僧一样跳来跳去，喊着:“快点!快!”到下午五点钟的时候，小山的情况是这样的:

The hole the machines had dug was like the crater of a volcano. It was such an extraordinary sight that crowds of people came rushing out from the surrounding villages to have a look. They stood on the edge of the crater and stared down at Boggis and Bunce and Bean. 'Hey there, Boggis! What's going on?' 'We're after a fox!' 'You must be mad!' The people jeered and laughed. But this only made the three farmers more furious and more obstinate and more determined than ever not to give up until they had caught the fox.

机器挖的洞就像火山口。 这是一个如此非凡的景象，成群结队的人从周围的村庄冲出来看一看。 他们站在火山口边上，盯着下面的博吉斯、邦斯和比恩。 “嘿，博吉斯!”这是怎么呢？“我们在追一只狐狸!”“你一定是疯了!”人们又讥笑又大笑。 但这只会让三个农民更加愤怒，更加固执，更加坚定，不抓住狐狸决不罢休。