Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE THE LOST CAT One morning it was very wet, and Mollie, Peter, and Binky were playing a very noisy game of snap in the playroom together. Whiskers, the cat, had come with them and had curled herself up on a cushion in the wishing-chair, where she had gone fast asleep. 'Snap! Snap! SNAP!' yelled the children -and were so interested in their game that they didn't hear a little flapping sound. The wishing-chair had grown its wings and was flapping them gently to and fro. Before any one noticed the chair rose silently into the air and flew out of the open door- taking the puss-cat with it, still fast asleep!

第三章走失的猫一天早上，天很湿，莫丽、彼得和宾基一起在游戏室里玩起了啪嗒啪嗒的游戏，玩得很吵。 猫胡须也跟他们一起来了，她蜷缩在许愿椅的垫子上，很快就睡着了。 “拍!中计了!中计了!孩子们喊道——他们对他们的游戏太感兴趣了，连一点拍打的声音都没听见。 许愿椅长出了翅膀，正在轻轻地前后拍打着。 还没等人注意到，椅子就无声无息地升到空中，飞出了那扇开着的门——把那只还在呼呼大睡的猫也带走了！

'Snap!' yelled Binky, and took the last pile of cards in glee. 'I've won!'

“拍!宾基喊道，高兴地拿起最后一摞纸牌。 “我赢了!”

'Good,' said Peter. He looked round the playroom to see what game to play next- and then he looked rather surprised and scared. 'I say!' he said. 'Where's the chair gone?' Binky and Mollie looked round too. Mollie went pale. 'It's gone!' she said. 'It was here when we began our game,' said Binky. 'It must have slipped out without us noticing. I sort of remember feeling a little draught. It must have been its wings flapping.' 'Whiskers has gone too!' said Mollie, in alarm. 'She was asleep on the cushion. Oh, Binky- will she come back?' 'Depends where she has gone to,' said Binky. 'She's a black cat, you know- and if a witch should see her she might take her to help in her spells. Black cats are clever with spells.' Mollie began to cry. She was very fond of

“很好，”彼得说。他环视了一下游戏室，想看看接下来该玩什么游戏——然后他显得既惊讶又害怕。 “我说!他说。“椅子哪儿去了？”Binky和Mollie也环顾四周。 莫丽脸色苍白。“这是不见了!她说。 “我们开始比赛的时候它就在这里，”宾基说。 “它一定是在我们没有注意到的情况下溜出去了。 我记得我觉得有点口渴。 一定是它的翅膀在拍动。“胡须也不见了！”莫丽惊恐地说。 她在垫子上睡着了。 哦，Binky——她会回来吗？“那得看她去哪儿了，”宾基说。 “它是一只黑猫，你知道——如果一个女巫看到它，她可能会带它去帮她施咒语。 黑猫很会念咒语。”莫丽哭了起来。 她非常喜欢

Whiskers. 'Oh, why did we let Whiskers go to sleep on that chair?' she wept. 'Well, it's no good crying,' said Binky, patting Mollie's shoulder. 'We must just wait and see. Perhaps old Whiskers will come back still fast asleep when the chair returns!'

胡须。“哦，我们为什么让胡须睡在那把椅子上？”她哭着说。 “唉，哭也没用，”宾基拍着莫丽的肩膀说。 “我们必须等着瞧。 也许等椅子回来的时候，老胡须还在呼呼大睡呢！”

They waited for an hour or two with the door wide open- but no wishing-chair came back. The two children left Binky and went to their dinner. They hunted about the house just in case Whiskers should have got off the chair cushion and wandered home- but no one had seen her.

门大开着，他们等了一两个小时——但是没有许愿椅回来。 两个孩子离开Binky去吃晚饭了。 他们在房子里四处搜寻，以防胡须从椅子垫子上掉下来，溜达回家——但是没有人看见它。

After dinner they ran down the garden to their playroom again. Binky was there, looking gloomy. 'The chair hasn't come back,' he said.

晚饭后，他们又跑到花园的游戏室去了。 Binky在那里，看起来很沮丧。 “椅子还没回来，”他说。