Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT On the floor near the radio lay a woman. She looked old and had silvery grey hair. She was dressed in outdoor things, and her hat lay on the floor. The children looked at her in horror- what could have happened?

在收音机旁边的地板上躺着一个女人。 她看起来很老，头发灰白。 她穿着户外的衣服，帽子放在地板上。 孩子们惊恐地看着她——会发生什么事呢？

At last, to their relief, they saw her eyes open, and she looked up at them. Then she tried to speak. 'Water!' she croaked. George darted out and found a bathroom with glasses. She filled one with water and brought it back. Julian eased the old woman up into a sitting position, and George helped her

最后，让他们松了一口气的是，他们看到她睁开了眼睛，抬头看着他们。 然后她试着说话。“水!她嘶哑地说。 乔治冲出去，找到了一间有眼镜的浴室。 她装满了水，把它带了回来。 朱利安扶着老妇人坐起来，乔治扶着她

to drink the water. She managed to give them a faint smile. 'So silly of me,' she said, in a faraway kind of voice. 'I was just going downstairs to leave the house by the back door, when I slipped here on the polished floor. And, and—'

去喝水。她勉强对他们微微一笑。 “我真傻，”她用一种遥远的声音说。 “我正要下楼从后门离开房子，就在擦得锃亮的地板上滑倒了。 , - - - - - -”

She stopped for a moment, and Anne patted her hand. 'You fell and hurt yourself?' she said. 'Where?' 'I'm afraid it's my hip,' said the old lady. 'I couldn't get up off the floor. I just couldn't. So I wasn't even able to phone for help. And there was no one in the house- my niece had gone—' 'And your daily woman is deaf, so she wouldn't hear you call!' said Julian, remembering. 'Yes, yes,' said the old lady. 'I just managed to get my arm up to the radio and switched it on.' You see, I thought someone might hear it- perhaps a policeman coming round the house at night...'

她停了一会儿，安妮拍了拍她的手。 “你摔倒摔伤了？”她说。 “在哪里?“恐怕是我的臀部出了问题，”老太太说。 “我在地板上站不起来。 我就是做不到。所以我甚至不能打电话求助。 房子里一个人也没有——我的外甥女走了——”“而且你的女仆是个聋子，所以她听不到你的呼唤！朱利安回忆道。 “是的，是的，”老太太说。 “我只是设法把我的手臂伸向收音机，打开了它。”你看，我想有人会听到——也许是夜间到房子周围来的警察……”

'How long have you been lying like this?' asked Anne anxiously. 'Since yesterday afternoon,' said the old lady. 'I just couldn't move, you see. I was glad I had my outdoor things on- I'd have frozen stiff last night, it was so cold! I was so thirsty, too. Not hungry. Just very, very thirsty.

“你这样躺了多久了？”安妮焦急地问。 “从昨天下午开始，”老太太说。 “你看，我就是动不了。 我很高兴我穿上了户外的衣服——昨晚太冷了，我差点冻僵了！我也很渴。 不饿。只是非常非常渴。