Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Charlie the fly sat in total darkness, his tiny heart thrumming in panic. He tried to calm himself down and figure out what to do. His cardboard prison was bumping up and down, and Charlie guessed by the steady rhythm that he was in Dylan's pocket, and that Dylan was walking. Charlie was well and truly stuck. He had to change back– and fast. But Charlie needed to be calm in order to change, and there was no escape from his spiralling thoughts. He felt as if he was trapped in a coffin, buried deep under the earth. He couldn't imagine ever seeing daylight again. He could hardly breathe. Charlie hurled himself against the cardboard walls of the box, banging and bashing to no avail, until he finally gave up and miserably clung to one of the

苍蝇查理坐在一片漆黑中，他那颗小小的心脏在恐慌中怦怦直跳。 他试图使自己冷静下来，想办法怎么办。 他的纸板监狱上下颠簸着，查理从那稳定的节奏猜出他在迪伦的口袋里，迪伦正在走路。 查理真的被困住了。 他必须改变，而且要快。 但是查理需要冷静才能改变，他无法摆脱他那螺旋上升的思想。 他觉得自己好像被困在棺材里，深埋在地下。 他无法想象还能再见到阳光。 他几乎无法呼吸。查理拼命地往箱子的硬纸板墙上撞，不停地撞，但无济于事，最后他放弃了，悲惨地紧紧抓住了其中的一个

sides. He couldn't even tell if he was the right way up. Slowly but surely, Charlie the fly felt himself start separating from Charlie the boy. Bit by bit, he could feel his thoughts and memories slipping away, and Charlie knew they would go on shrinking until they disappeared altogether, and all that would be left would be a fly in a matchbox. Charlie fought the terror that clutched at him. He tried to slow his breathing and remember all the people who loved him: his mum and dad; his brother, SmoothMove; his best friends, Mohsen and Wogan, and of course, Flora. He clung to warm memories of them, desperately trying to stop himself sinking into the dreadful quicksand of forgetfulness that threatened to engulf him. Slowly, the slide into oblivion stopped, and Charlie found he could still remember who he was. He might be a fly with a pooey proboscis, but he was Charlie the fly. He was still stuck, though. The happy memories had been enough to stop him losing himself, but hadn't been quite enough to get him to change back. Through the cardboard, he could hear faint noises from outside. It sounded like he was in a playground. Dylan must have reached school, and Charlie was still stuck in his pocket. 'Come on, Van der Gruyne!' shouted the unmistakable voice of Mr Wind, the Head of Year. 'You nearly missed the bus, boy. Get on quickly!'

两侧。他甚至不知道自己爬得对不对。 慢慢地，苍蝇查理觉得自己开始和男孩查理分离了。 一点一点地，他能感觉到他的思想和记忆在溜走，查理知道它们会继续萎缩，直到完全消失，剩下的只会是火柴盒里的一只苍蝇。 查理与笼罩在他心头的恐惧作斗争。 他试着放慢呼吸，回忆所有爱他的人：他的妈妈和爸爸；他的兄弟SmoothMove；他最好的朋友莫森和沃根，当然还有弗洛拉。 他紧紧抓住对他们的温暖回忆，拼命地试图阻止自己陷入可怕的遗忘流沙中，这流沙威胁着他。 慢慢地，被遗忘的感觉停止了，查理发现他还记得自己是谁。 他可能是一只长着长长的鼻子的苍蝇，但他是苍蝇查理。 尽管如此，他还是被困住了。 这些快乐的回忆足以阻止他迷失自我，但还不足以让他变回来。 透过纸板，他能听到外面微弱的声音。 听起来他像是在操场上。 迪伦一定是到了学校，查理还在他的口袋里。 “来吧，范德格鲁恩！”毫无疑问是年级长风先生的声音。 “你差点没赶上公共汽车，孩子。 快上车！”

Charlie felt the bumping steps as Dylan clambered on to the bus. 'Now,' Mr Wind continued, 'that's everybody… apart from McGuffin. Anybody seen Charles McGuffin? No? Well, he was warned! Hope he has fun on bog-duty with Mr O'Dear! Driver, if you will, to the zoo!' Through his six sticky feet, Charlie felt the vibration of the bus engine starting, then a sudden bump as Dylan sat down. Now Charlie was REALLY stuck. There was no way he could change back now. Everyone would see him. As the bus drove further away from the school, the babbling of the children became louder and more excitable.

当迪伦爬上公共汽车时，查理感到了颠簸的脚步声。 “好了，”风先生继续说，“这是除了麦高芬以外的所有人。 有人看到查尔斯·麦高芬了吗？ 没有?嗯，有人警告过他！希望他和奥迪尔先生在沼泽地里玩得开心！如果你愿意的话，赶车去动物园吧！”通过他的六只黏糊糊的脚，查理感觉到公共汽车引擎启动的震动，然后迪伦坐了下来。 现在查理真的被困住了。 现在他不可能再变回去了。 每个人都会看到他。随着公共汽车驶离学校越来越远，孩子们的咿呀学语越来越响，也越来越激动。

But above the chatter, Charlie could clearly hear two voices arguing. 'He does!' 'He doesn't!' 'He DOES!' 'He' DOES NOT!' Charlie would know them anywhere. It was Mohsen and Wogan. 'How do you know? You haven't even seen it!' 'Right, Flora, can you settle this?' That was Mohsen speaking, Charlie thought, smiling inside. 'Does Spider-Man blow webs out of his bum?' 'Does Spider-Man blow webs out of his bum?!' That was Flora's voice, and Charlie's heart leaped with joy. He could imagine the look of disbelief in her face. 'Is that what you're really asking me?' 'He does!' exclaimed Wogan. 'In the first movie– the one with the evil sheep! Spider-Man bends over and blasts webs out like massive farts all over them!' Charlie felt laughter begin to ripple through him like sunshine on water. 'Wogan,' Flora said wearily. 'Please. Listen to yourself. Spider-Man blasting webs out of his bum on to evil sheep? Are you sure this wasn't a dream?' 'Ah,' Wogan replied. 'Yes. Now you mention it, there's actually a strong possibility it was a dream. In fact, come to think of it, I'm almost certain it was a dream.' If Charlie hadn't been a fly at that moment, he would have roared with laughter. But as he was a fly,

但在谈话声之外，查理清楚地听到两个争吵的声音。 “他!“他没有！”“是的！”“他没有！”查理到哪里都能认出他们。 是莫森和沃根。“你怎么知道的？” 你还没看过呢！“好吧，弗洛拉，你能解决这个问题吗？”那是莫森在说话，查理心里暗笑。 “蜘蛛侠会从屁股里吐出网来吗？”“蜘蛛侠会从屁股里吐出网来吗？”那是弗洛拉的声音，查理的心高兴得跳了起来。 他可以想象她脸上难以置信的表情。 “你真的要问我这个吗？”“是的！”沃根叫道。 “在第一部电影里——那只邪恶的羊！”蜘蛛侠弯下腰，把蜘蛛网炸得像大屁一样！”查理感到笑声开始在他身上泛起涟漪，就像阳光照在水面上一样。 “沃根，”弗洛拉疲惫地说。 “请。倾听你自己。 蜘蛛侠把屁股里的网喷到邪恶的羊身上？ 你确定这不是梦吗？“啊，”沃根回答。 ‘是的。既然你提到了，那很有可能是个梦。 事实上，仔细想想，我几乎可以肯定那是个梦。”如果查理当时不是一只苍蝇，他一定会大笑起来。 但因为他是一只苍蝇，

he just hung upside down, laughing silently to himself. And that was all it took to make Charlie start changing back: happiness and laughter and love. For the first time he could remember, Charlie didn't want to change back– he was on a bus packed with his classmates!– but he couldn't stop himself. The image of Spider-Man bending over and shooting a web out of his bum on to evil sheep was just too funny, and Charlie felt himself starting to grow… Dylan could feel it too, and grabbed at his pocket, but it was too late. 'Noooooo!' he cried. With a gigantic ripping sound, Charlie smashed out of the matchbox, burst out of Dylan's trousers. And a moment later, he had changed completely back to human-Charlie, and was sitting on Dylan's lap in the back corner seat of the bus. 'Charlie!' called Wogan, spotting him. 'There you are! Where've you been?' 'We thought you missed the bus!' said Mohsen. 'But why are you sitting on Dylan's knee? There are plenty of seats.' 'They must have finally got over that whole "mortal enemies" thing,' said Wogan.

他只是倒挂着，暗自发笑。 正是这些让查理开始变回原来的样子：幸福、欢笑和爱。 在他的记忆中，查理第一次不想换回来——他和他的同学在一辆挤满了人的公共汽车上！——但他控制不住自己。 蜘蛛侠弯下腰，用屁股向邪恶的绵羊撒网的画面太搞笑了，查理觉得自己开始长大了……迪伦也能感觉到，他伸手去抓自己的口袋，但为时已晚。 “Noooooo !他叫道。随着一声巨大的撕裂声，查理从火柴盒里摔了出来，从迪伦的裤子里冲了出来。 过了一会儿，他完全变回了人类查理，坐在迪伦的腿上，坐在巴士的后角座位上。 “查理!沃根发现了他，喊道。 “你在这儿!”你去哪儿了？“我们以为你没赶上公共汽车呢！”莫森说。 “可你为什么坐在迪伦的膝盖上？” 有很多座位。“他们一定是终于忘记了‘死敌’这回事了。”沃根说。

'Well isn't that wonderful,' Mohsen beamed. 'Everybody's friends now, sitting on each other's knees.' 'I knew you two would put your differences aside eventually,' said Flora. 'I'm so proud of you both.' 'We have NOT put our differences aside,' said Dylan, shoving Charlie off his lap. 'And we are STILL mortal enemies!' 'Ah well,' said Wogan. 'Never mind. I thought it was too good to be true.' 'And not only will I wreak a terrible revenge on you, McGuffin,' continued Dylan. 'But you owe me a new pair of trousers as well.' Dylan stormed off to the front of the bus, clutching the hole in his trousers so he didn't show the whole bus his pants. 'Will that boy ever change– hang on, what's that?' Wogan asked, pointing at Charlie. 'What's what?' Charlie asked. 'That! All over your face,' said Wogan, still pointing. 'Ugh,' said Mohsen. 'It's like brown stuff all round your mouth and nose.'

莫森笑道：“这不是很棒吗？” “现在每个人都是朋友了，坐在彼此的膝盖上。“我知道你们俩最终会放下分歧的，”弗洛拉说。 “我真为你们俩感到骄傲。“我们没有把分歧放在一边，”迪伦说着，把查理从他的腿上推开。 “我们仍然是死敌！”“啊，好吧，”沃根说。 “没关系。我觉得这太好了，不可能是真的。“我不仅要对你进行可怕的报复，麦高芬，”迪伦继续说道。 “可是你还欠我一条新裤子呢。”迪伦气冲冲地走到巴士前面，紧紧抓住裤子上的洞，不让整个巴士的人看到他的裤子。 “那孩子会变吗——等一下，那是什么？”沃根指着查理问道。 “什么什么?”查理问道。 “这!“全是你的脸。”沃根说，仍然指着。 “啊，”莫森说。“你的嘴巴和鼻子周围都是棕色的东西。”