Ch3-Riches to Rags

CHAPTER THREE Riches to Rags Jack looked at Annie. "She called that kid Charley Dickens," he said. "I heard," said Annie. "So Charles Dickens must be five or six years old." "Oh, man," said Jack, groaning. "So Merlin wants us to help another little kid, like we helped

第三章由富到穷杰克看着安妮。 “她给那个孩子起名叫查理·狄更斯，”他说。 “我听说了，”安妮说。“那么查尔斯·狄更斯一定有五六岁了。” “哦，天哪。”杰克呻吟着说。 “所以梅林想让我们帮助另一个孩子，就像我们帮助过的那样

Wolfie Mozart?" "Seems like it," said Annie. "Wait a minute. That doesn't make sense. Let's do the math," said Jack. "Our book said Charles Dickens was born in 1812." He pulled out their research book and looked at the first page. "And Queen Victoria became queen in 1837." "The driver said she's been queen for six years…," said Annie. "So now it's 1843. Subtract 1812 from 1843.…" Jack squeezed his eyes shut. "And you get… thirty-one!" he said. "Good work!" said Annie. "So Charles Dickens is thirty-one," said Jack. "And Charley must be Charles Junior."

Wolfie莫扎特吗?”“好像是这样，”安妮说。 “等一下。这说不通啊。 让我们算算。”杰克说。 “我们书上说查尔斯·狄更斯生于1812年。” 他拿出他们的研究书，看了第一页。 “维多利亚女王于1837年成为女王。” “司机说她当女王已经六年了……”安妮说。 “所以现在是1843年。1843减去1812。杰克紧紧地闭上了眼睛。 “你得到……31 !”他说。 “干得好！”安妮说。“那么查尔斯·狄更斯31岁了，”杰克说。 “那查理一定就是小查理了。”

"Great," said Annie. "Let's go meet Charles Senior." Jack put away their book, and he and Annie walked to the front gate. Between the iron bars, they could see a beautiful three-story house with tall windows. "Nice place," said Annie. "It looks like Charles Dickens has already given his gifts to the world." "Yeah, and gotten some back," said Jack. "So I wonder what his problem is?" "We'll have to figure that out when we meet him," said Annie. She jangled a bell hanging from the gate. A moment later, the front door opened. A stout woman in a white apron came out and walked to

“太好了，”安妮说。“我们去见见老查尔斯吧。” 杰克把书放好，他和安妮走向前门。 在铁栅栏之间，他们可以看到一栋漂亮的三层楼的房子，有高高的窗户。 “好地方，”安妮说。“看来查尔斯·狄更斯已经把他的礼物送给了世界。” “是啊，还拿了一些回来。”杰克说。 “所以我想知道他有什么问题？”“我们见到他的时候再想办法吧，”安妮说。 她摇响了挂在大门上的铃铛。 过了一会儿，前门开了。 一个穿着白围裙的胖女人走了出来，走到

the gate. "Yes?" she said through the bars. "Is this the Dickens residence?" said Annie. "Yes," said the woman. "Ah, excellent!" said Annie. "We've come to call on Charles Dickens." "Indeed? Who are you?" asked the woman. "We're Jack and An—" started Annie. "Andrew!" finished Jack. "Right," said Annie, clearing her throat and deepening her voice. "We're Jack and Andrew from Frog Creek. And who are you?" "I am Mrs. Tibbs, the housekeeper," said the woman. "And it is my sad job to tell you that Mr.

门口。“什么事？”她隔着栅栏说。 “这是狄更斯的住宅吗？”安妮说。 “是的，”女人说。“啊，好极了！”安妮说。 “我们来拜访查尔斯·狄更斯。” “真的吗?你是谁？”女人问。 “我们是杰克和安——”安妮开口说。 “安德鲁！”杰克说完。“好的，”安妮说，清了清嗓子，提高了嗓门。 “我们是来自青蛙溪的杰克和安德鲁。 你是谁？”“我是蒂布斯太太，管家，”那女人说。 “我很遗憾地告诉你，约翰先生。

Dickens can have no visitors today. He is working on his latest book and cannot be disturbed." "Mrs. Tibbs," said Annie, "may we have just five short minutes of Mr. Dickens's time, please?" "Young man, I am afraid that right now Mr. Dickens needs every minute he can spare for his writing," said Mrs. Tibbs. "Surely you know how important Mr. Dickens's work is." "Yes, ma'am, surely we do," said Jack. "But—" "I am terribly sorry, young gentlemen," said Mrs. Tibbs. "It grieves me to turn you away, but I must. I pray that you will bear no grudge against Mr. Dickens." With that, Mrs. Tibbs turned and hurried back inside. "Well, that didn't get us very far," said Jack.

今天狄更斯不能有访客。 他正在写他的新书，不能被打扰。” “蒂布斯太太，”安妮说，“我们能占用狄更斯先生短短的五分钟时间吗？”“年轻人，我担心现在狄更斯先生需要分分秒秒地写作，”蒂布斯太太说。 “你当然知道狄更斯先生的作品有多重要。” “是的，夫人，我们当然知道，”杰克说。 “我非常抱歉，年轻的先生们，”蒂布斯太太说。 “我很难过把你赶走，但我必须这样做。 我希望你不要对狄更斯先生怀恨在心。” 说完，蒂布斯太太转身匆匆回到屋里。 “嗯，那并没有让我们走多远。”杰克说。

"Surely it did not," said Annie. "Pardon us, sirs," someone said. Jack and Annie turned around. Two boys with dirty clothes and dirty faces were standing behind them. The taller boy wore an old top hat, and the smaller one wore a wool cap that was too big for him. He carried a large, round brush, a broom, and some rags. "Oh… hi," said Jack. "We was just needing to ring the bell, sir, if you don't mind," the bigger boy said. "Sure," said Jack. "But the housekeeper's not letting anyone in today. That's why we're leaving."

“当然不是，”安妮说。 “请原谅我们，先生们。”有人说。 杰克和安妮转过身来。 两个脏衣服、脏脸的男孩站在他们后面。 个子高的那个戴着一顶旧礼帽，个子小的那个戴着一顶对他来说太大的羊毛帽。 他带着一把又大又圆的刷子、一把扫帚和一些破布。 “哦……嗨，”杰克说。“先生，如果您不介意的话，我们正想按铃呢。”大男孩说。 “当然，”杰克说。“但是管家今天不让任何人进来。 这就是我们离开的原因。”