16 Ending

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Ending It was late afternoon and Ted and Rufus had been chatting all day. Frank had been a little sneaky, and at Ted's request, flown over a bucket of clean, fresh water from the Crystal Lake in Twinklenuts. After splashing about in it with some soap, and Ted brushing his fur with the comb, Rufus didn't look too bad at all. 'This Titus fella is amazing at baking,' said Rufus, eating his eleventh cream bun of the day. 'You've landed on your feet here, kid.' 'I wish Mum and Dad had never left, really,' said Ted, a little wistfully. 'Ah, they were just doing what they thought was best,' said Rufus. 'You don't get those humans on horses around here any more?' Ted shook his head. 'Nah. They just tend to dump things here now, like those tyres.' Rufus shivered.

下午晚些时候，泰德和鲁弗斯聊了一整天。 弗兰克有点鬼鬼祟祟，在泰德的要求下，他从Twinklenuts水晶湖的一桶干净的淡水上飞过。 用肥皂在里面溅起水来，泰德用梳子刷了刷他的毛，鲁弗斯看起来一点也不糟糕。 “这个叫提图斯的家伙太会烤面包了，”鲁弗斯一边说，一边吃着今天的第十一个奶油面包。 “你已经站稳脚跟了，孩子。“我真希望爸爸妈妈没有离开，真的。”泰德说，有点怅惘。 “啊，他们只是在做他们认为最好的事。”鲁弗斯说。 “你们这儿再也没有人骑马了吧？”泰德摇了摇头。 “不。他们现在只是倾向于把轮胎之类的东西倒在这里。”鲁弗斯不禁打了个哆嗦。

'They were horrible,' he said. 'I saw you looking at me that night.' 'Why didn't you say something, then?' said Ted. 'I was just too nervy, I suppose. As it is, your sister hardly believes who I am. She definitely wouldn't if I'd popped out from those tyres looking like the monster from the deep!' The light in Grimwood was now warm and golden. The brothers started gathering logs for Rufus's fire. 'Best get back to your sis before it gets dark, Ted,' said Rufus. 'I don't want her getting more annoyed at me.' 'Oh, boo,' said Ted, but he gathered his things together to leave. 'I s'pose you're right. Still, at least I haven't got a Bigfoot to be worried about any more.' Rufus stood up and gave Ted a squeeze. 'Say hello to Nancy from me,' said Rufus. 'Hello yourself,' grunted a voice. 'Nance!' yelped Ted, running to his sister, who was loping towards them. Ted dragged her over to the fire. Then he just stood there, beaming up at his brother and sister. 'Ted, go and hang out with your bunny pal for a while,' said Nancy. 'She's missed you. She's been giving everyone earache for days.' 'Oh! But I wanna stay with you guys!' said Ted, his tail flopping in disappointment. Rufus winked at Ted. 'Go on, kid.' He grinned. 'I'll see you tomorrow, OK?' 'Fiiiiine,' sighed Ted. He could see that Nancy and Rufus needed a bit of alone time.

“他们太可怕了，”他说。 “那天晚上我看见你在看我。”“那你为什么不早说呢？泰德说。 “我想我只是太紧张了。 事实上，你妹妹几乎不相信我是谁。 如果我从轮胎里跳出来，看起来像从深海来的怪物，她绝对不会这么做的！”格里姆伍德的光线现在温暖而金黄。 兄弟俩开始为鲁弗斯的篝火收集木柴。 “最好在天黑之前回到你妹妹身边，泰德。”鲁弗斯说。 “我不想让她对我更生气。“哦，糟糕。”泰德说，但他收拾好东西准备离开。 “我想你是对的。不过，至少我不用再担心大脚怪了。”鲁弗斯站起来，挤了泰德一下。 “代我向南希问好，”鲁弗斯说。 “你好，”一个声音咕哝道。 “娘娘腔的男人!泰德大叫着，跑向正在向他们跑来的妹妹。 泰德把她拖到火炉边。 然后他就站在那里，微笑着看着他的哥哥和妹妹。 “泰德，去和你的兔子朋友玩一会儿，”南希说。 “她很想你。她这几天让大家都很头疼。“哦!但我想和你们在一起！泰德说，失望地甩着尾巴。 鲁弗斯朝泰德眨了眨眼。“接着说，孩子。”他咧嘴一笑。 “明天见，好吗？”“菲林。”泰德叹了口气。 他看得出南希和鲁弗斯需要一点独处的时间。

'What a great little dude,' said Rufus, watching Ted skip happily off towards Bunnyville. 'Yeah,' said Nancy. 'He's the best.' Rufus sat down on a log and gestured for Nancy to do the same. He coughed nervously. 'I know there's loads for us to talk about,' said Rufus, scratching at his ears. 'I've got a lot of explaining to do. And I promise I will, but… well, Ted was telling me about your dreams.' Nancy frowned. 'Yeah, well. They make a bit more sense now, I guess,' murmured Nancy. Rufus patted the pockets of his tatty waistcoat and took out a tin whistle. 'Thought you might like to hear something,' he said. And after a couple of blows to clear away the dust, Rufus played a little tune. He looked at Nancy to see if she recognized it. Her fur was standing on end. 'That's it!' she whispered. 'That's the tune… the one I've been hearing in my dreams!' Rufus grinned. 'Ted said you couldn't remember the last few notes,' he said. 'I'll play it again.' Nancy shut her eyes as Rufus played. She had the most amazing feeling as if the music was travelling into her ears and spreading a warm glow through her body. She put her paw on her chest and felt her heart beating.

“真是个了不起的小家伙。”鲁弗斯看着泰德兴高采烈地向班尼维尔走去，说道。 “是的，”南希说。“他是最棒的。”鲁弗斯在一根圆木上坐了下来，示意南希也坐下来。 他紧张地咳嗽。“我知道我们有很多话要谈。”鲁弗斯搔着耳朵说。 “我有很多事情要解释。 我保证我会的，但是……嗯，泰德跟我说了你的梦。”南希皱起了眉头。 “是的,很好。“我想，他们现在讲得通一些了。”南希喃喃地说。 鲁弗斯拍了拍自己破旧马甲的口袋，拿出一个锡制哨子。 “我想你也许想听点什么，”他说。 在吹了几下灰尘后，鲁弗斯演奏了一首小曲。 他看着南希，看她是否认出来了。 她的毛竖了起来。 “就是这样!她低声说。 “就是那首曲子……就是我在梦里听到的那首！”鲁弗斯笑了。 “泰德说你记不住最后几个音符，”他说。 “我再弹一遍。”鲁弗斯演奏时，南希闭上了眼睛。 她有一种奇妙的感觉，仿佛音乐传到她的耳朵里，在她的身体里散发出温暖的光芒。 她把爪子放在胸前，感觉到了自己的心跳。

'Mum used to sing it to us,' said Rufus softly. 'Every night, before we fell asleep. She made it up. It was the first thing I taught myself to play.' Nancy didn't say anything. She just lay down on the log next to the fire and sighed. Rufus grinned. It was the first time he'd seen Nancy look relaxed. 'I'll play it a few more times, then,' he said. And he played the song over and over again, until the sun went down and Nancy fell into the deepest sleep she'd ever known. Titus chinked a fork against a jam jar filled with flowers. Ted had arranged a few of them on his dining table, seeing as it was a special occasion.

“妈妈以前常唱给我们听。”鲁弗斯轻声说。 “每天晚上，在我们入睡之前。 她瞎编的。这是我自学的第一件事。”南希什么也没说。 她只是躺在炉火旁的圆木上叹了口气。 鲁弗斯笑了。这是他第一次看到南希看起来很放松。 “那我再弹几次吧，”他说。 他一遍又一遍地放着这首歌，直到太阳下山，南希进入了她所知道的最深的睡眠。 提图斯用叉子敲着一个装满鲜花的果酱罐，发出叮当声。 泰德把这看作是一个特殊的场合，在他的餐桌上放了一些。

'Oh no,' said Ingrid. 'Why does he insist on making speeches? Leave it to us professionals, I say.' 'Let him have his moment, dear,' said Sir Charles. 'My dear friends!' said Titus, dabbing at his snout with his handkerchief. 'Isn't this wonderful? It feels like only yesterday we were welcoming Ted and Nancy to Grimwood. And now here we are greeting yet another member of their wonderful family, Rufus!' There were cheers, hoots and quacks. Rufus blushed. 'Actually,' continued Titus. 'I suppose we should be saying welcome back. Because Rufus is actually from Grimwood, and so is dear Nancy!' There were more hoots and cheers. Then there was a weird choking noise, but it was only Pamela trying to swallow a jam jar in one go. Rufus stood up. 'I can't thank you enough,' he said. 'For taking in my brother and sister and giving them the loving family they deserve.' 'He means me!' said Willow, pointing at her own head. 'Loving family riiiight here, oh yeah!'

“哦，不，”英格丽德说。“他为什么坚持要发表演讲？” 让我们专业人士来解决吧，我说。“亲爱的，让他有机会吧，”查尔兹爵士说道。 “我亲爱的朋友们！提图斯说着，用手绢轻轻擦了擦他的鼻子。 “这不是很棒吗？”我们欢迎特德和南希来到格里姆伍德，感觉就像昨天一样。 现在，我们要欢迎这个美好家庭的又一位成员，鲁弗斯！”这里有欢呼声、嘘声和嘎嘎声。 鲁弗斯脸红了。“实际上，”提多接着说。 “我想我们应该说欢迎回来。 因为鲁弗斯实际上是格里姆伍德人，亲爱的南希也是！”还有更多的嘘声和欢呼声。 然后是一种奇怪的窒息声，但那只是帕梅拉试图一口气吞下一个果酱罐。 鲁弗斯站了起来。“我怎么感谢你也不为过，”他说。 “谢谢你收留了我的弟弟和妹妹，给了他们一个他们应得的充满爱的家庭。“他指的是我！”威洛指着自己的头说。 “可爱的家人就在这里，哦耶！”

Nancy threw a scone at her, but Willow caught it expertly in her mouth and gave Nancy the thumbs up as she chomped it down. 'I'd like us to raise a toast,' said Rufus, lifting his glass of pink lemonade. 'To Rex and Jess. Our brave and loving Mum and Dad. Forever on an adventure, wherever they are.' 'To Rex and Jess!' said everyone, chinking glasses. 'AWOOGA! AWOOGA! Let's have a crazy disco party!' said Sharon, and she let off five party poppers at once, which catapulted her into the air. Pamela started playing some tunes from Sharon's mobile DJ booth. 'There is always a song and dance in this stupid place,' moaned Ingrid. 'Ah, you love it really, Ingrid,' said Frank, pecking at a roast potato. 'Shall we have this dance?' And he extended his wing. 'No,' said Ingrid. Sir Charles Fotheringay watched his furious wife waddle over to Willow. 'Isn't she just wonderful?' he sighed. Frank just rolled his eyes. Willow was busy telling Ted about the new theatre project she was cooking up with Ingrid. 'Oh, Willow, I can't wait!' he said, hopping up and down. 'You're the best. I'm sorry I wasn't around for a few days. I hope you know I'm your very best friend for ever.' Willow laughed.

南希扔了一个司康饼给她，但薇洛熟练地把它叼在嘴里，并向南希竖起大拇指，大口地把它咬下去。 “我想让我们举杯。”鲁弗斯说着，举起一杯粉红色的柠檬水。 “致雷克斯和杰西。我们勇敢而慈爱的爸爸妈妈。 永远在冒险，无论他们在哪里。“敬雷克斯和杰西！”大家都说，眼镜叮当作响。 “AWOOGA !AWOOGA !让我们来个疯狂的迪斯科派对吧！莎伦说，她同时发射了五个派对上的爆竹，这把她弹到了空中。 帕梅拉开始播放莎伦的移动DJ亭里的一些曲子。 “在这个愚蠢的地方总是有人唱歌跳舞，”英格丽德呻吟道。 “啊，你真爱吃，英格丽德，”弗兰克说着，啄着一个烤土豆。 “我们跳支舞好吗？”他展开翅膀。 “不，”英格丽德说。查尔斯·福瑟林盖爵士看着他愤怒的妻子摇摇摆摆地走向威洛。 “她真是太棒了！”他叹了口气。 弗兰克只是翻了个白眼。 威洛正忙着告诉泰德她和英格丽正在筹划的新剧院计划。 “哦，威洛，我等不及了！”他说着，跳上跳下。 “你是最棒的。很抱歉我这几天没在你身边。 我希望你知道，我永远是你最好的朋友。”柳笑了。