08 The Foxes Begin to Starve

8 The Foxes Begin to Starve That evening three tents were put up in the crater on the hill – one for Boggis, one for Bunce and one for Bean. The tents surrounded Mr Fox's hole. And the three farmers sat outside their tents eating their supper. Boggis had three boiled chickens smothered in dumplings, Bunce had six doughnuts filled with disgusting goose-liver paste, and Bean had two gallons of cider. All three of them kept their guns beside them. Boggis picked up a steaming chicken and held it close to the fox's hole. 'Can you smell this, Mr Fox?' he shouted. 'Lovely tender chicken! Why don't you come up and get it?' The rich scent of chicken wafted down the tunnel to where the foxes were crouching. 'Oh, Dad,' said one of the Small Foxes, 'couldn't we just sneak up and snatch it out of his hand?'

狐狸开始挨饿那天晚上，在山上的火山口搭起了三顶帐篷——一顶给博格斯，一顶给邦斯，一顶给比恩。 帐篷包围了狐狸先生的洞。 三个农民坐在帐篷外面吃晚饭。 博吉斯点了三只水饺煮鸡，邦斯点了六个甜甜圈，里面塞满了恶心的鹅肝酱，比恩点了两加仑苹果酒。 他们三个人都把枪放在身边。 Boggis拿起一只冒着热气的鸡，把它靠近狐狸的洞。 “你能闻到这个吗，狐狸先生?”他喊道。 “可爱的嫩鸡!”你为什么不上来拿呢?”浓郁的鸡肉香味顺着隧道飘到狐狸蹲着的地方。 “哦，爸爸，”一只小狐狸说，“我们不能溜过去从他手里把它抢过来吗?”

'Don't you dare!' said Mrs Fox. 'That's just what they want you to do.' 'But we're so hungry!' they cried. 'How long will it be till we get something to eat?' Their mother didn't answer them. Nor did their father. There was no answer to give. As darkness fell, Bunce and Bean switched on the powerful headlamps of the two tractors and shone them on to the hole. 'Now,' said Bean, 'we'll take it in turn to keep watch. One watches while two sleep, and so on all through the night.' Boggis said, 'What if the fox digs a hole right through the hill and comes out on the other side?

“你敢!”狐狸太太说。 “这正是他们想让你做的。“可是我们太饿了!”他们叫道。 “我们要多久才能找到吃的东西?”妈妈没有回答他们。 他们的父亲也没有。没有什么可回答的。 夜幕降临时，邦斯和比恩打开了两辆拖拉机的大灯，照着那个洞。 “现在，”比恩说，“我们轮流站岗。 一个看守，两个睡觉，就这样过了一整夜。”博格斯说:“如果狐狸在山上挖个洞，从另一边出来怎么办?”

You didn't think of that one, did you?' 'Of course I did,' said Bean, pretending he had. 'Go on, then, tell us the answer,' said Boggis. Bean picked something small and black out of his ear and flicked it away. 'How many men have you got working on your farm?' he asked. 'Thirty-five,' Boggis said. 'I've got thirty-six,' Bunce said. 'And I've got thirty-seven,' Bean said. 'That makes one hundred and eight men altogether. We must order them to surround the hill. Each man will have a gun and a flashlight. There will be no escape then for Mr Fox.' So the order went down to the farms, and that night one hundred and eight men formed a tight ring around the bottom of the hill. They were armed with sticks and guns and hatchets and pistols and all sorts of other horrible weapons. This made it quite impossible for a fox or indeed for any other animal to escape from the hill. The next day, the watching and waiting went on. Boggis and Bunce and Bean sat upon small stools, staring at the fox's hole. They didn't talk

你没有想到这个，对吧?“当然了，”比恩假装说。 “那么，接着说，告诉我们答案吧。” 比恩从耳朵里掏出一个又小又黑的东西，弹开了。 “你的农场里有多少人在干活?”他问。 “三十五岁，”博吉斯说。 “我有三十六个。”邦斯说。 “我有三十七个。”比恩说。 “总共是一百零八个人。 我们必须命令他们包围这座山。 每个人都有一支枪和一个手电筒。 到那时福克斯先生就无处可逃了。”于是命令下到农场，那天晚上，108个人在山脚下围成一个严密的圆圈。 他们带着棍棒、枪、斧头、手枪和其他各种可怕的武器。 这使得狐狸或其他任何动物都不可能从山上逃出来。 第二天，人们继续观察和等待。 博吉斯、邦斯和比恩坐在小凳子上，盯着狐狸的洞。 他们没有说话

much. They just sat there with their guns on their laps. Every so often, Mr Fox would creep a little closer towards the mouth of the tunnel and take a sniff. Then he would creep back again and say, 'They're still there.' 'Are you quite sure?' Mrs Fox would ask. 'Positive,' said Mr Fox. 'I can smell that man Bean a mile away. He stinks.'

多。他们只是坐在那里，把枪放在腿上。 每隔一段时间，狐狸先生就会爬到隧道口附近，闻一闻。 然后他又爬回来说，‘他们还在那儿。“你肯定吗?”狐狸太太会问。 “肯定的，”狐狸先生说。“一英里外我就能闻到那个豆子的味道。 他很臭。”