3 The cross old man

CHAPTER THREE The cross old man THEY DIDN'T build an army, of course! They only had time to build four snowmen. The snow was thick and soft in the field, and it was easy to roll it into big balls and use them for the snowmen. Scamper had a lovely time helping them all. Janet put the cap on one of the snowmen, and Peter put the old coat round his snowy shoulders. They found stones for his eyes and nose, and a piece of wood for his mouth. They gave him a stick under his arm. He looked the best of the lot. 'I suppose it's time to go home now,' said Colin at last. 'My dinner's at half-past twelve, worse luck.'

第三章十字架老人他们当然没有建立军队！他们只有时间堆了四个雪人。 田野里的雪又厚又软，很容易把它滚成大球，用来堆雪人。 斯坎普度过了一段愉快的时光，帮助他们所有人。 珍妮特把帽子戴在其中一个雪人身上，彼得把旧外套披在他雪白的肩膀上。 他们找到石头做他的眼睛和鼻子，一块木头做他的嘴。 他们在他腋下夹了一根棍子。 他看起来是所有人中最好的。 “我想现在该回家了。”柯林最后说。 “我十二点半吃晚饭，真倒霉。”

'We'd better all go home,' said Pam. 'We'll all have to wash and change our things and put our gloves to dry. Mine are soaking and oooh, my hands are cold!' 'So are mine. I know they'll hurt awfully as soon as they begin to get a bit warm,' said Barbara, shaking her wet hands up and down. 'They're beginning now.' They left the snowmen in the field and went out of the nearby gate. Opposite was an old house. It was empty except for one room at the bottom, where dirty curtains hung across the window. 'Who lives there?' asked Pam. 'Only a caretaker,' said Janet. 'He's very old and very deaf– and awfully bad-tempered.' They hung over the gate and looked at the desolate old house. 'It's quite big,' said Colin. 'I wonder who it belongs to, and why they don't live in it.' 'Isn't the path up to the house lovely and

“我们最好都回家，”潘说。 “我们都得洗洗，换衣服，把手套晾干。 我的手湿透了，哦，我的手很冷！”“我的也是。 “我知道它们一暖和起来就会痛得要命。”芭芭拉说着，上下摇晃着湿手。 “现在就开始了。”他们把雪人留在田野里，从附近的大门出去了。 对面是一座老房子。 除了楼下的一间屋子，里面空无一人，脏窗帘挂在窗户上。 “谁住在那儿？”潘问。 “只是个看门人。”珍妮特说。 “他又老又聋——而且脾气非常坏。”他们悬在大门上方，望着那座荒凉的老房子。 “挺大的。”科林说。 “我想知道它是谁的，为什么他们不住在里面。“通往房子的那条路是不是很可爱，而且……

smooth with snow?' said Janet. 'Not even the caretaker has trodden on it. I suppose he uses the back gate. Oh, Scamper– you naughty dog, come back!' Scamper had squeezed under the gate and gone bounding up the smooth, snowy path. The marks of his feet were clearly to be seen. He barked joyfully. The curtains at the ground-floor window moved and a cross, wrinkled old face looked out. Then the window was thrown up.

光滑的雪？珍妮特说。 “就连管理员也没有踩过它。 我猜他是从后门走的。 噢，斯坎普——你这顽皮的狗，回来吧！”斯坎普从大门下面挤了进去，沿着光滑的雪道蹦蹦跳跳地跑了。 他的脚印清晰可见。 他高兴地叫着。底层窗户上的窗帘拉开了，一张皱巴巴的老脸向外张望。 然后窗户被掀了起来。

'You get out of here! Take your dog away! I won't have children or dogs here, pestering little varmints!' Scamper stood and barked boldly at the old caretaker. He disappeared. Then a door opened at the side of the house and the old man appeared, with a big stick. He shook it at the alarmed children. 'I'll whack your dog till he's black and blue!' shouted the man. 'Scamper, Scamper, come here!' shouted Peter. But Scamper seemed to have gone completely deaf. The caretaker advanced on him grimly, holding the stick up to hit the spaniel. Peter pushed open the gate and tore up the path to Scamper, afraid he would be hurt. 'I'll take him, I'll take him!' he shouted to the old man. 'What's that you say?' said the cross old

“你给我出去！”把你的狗带走！我不要孩子和狗在这里，这些讨厌的小恶棍！”斯坎普站在那里，大胆地对着老管理员吠叫。 他消失了。这时，房子旁边的一扇门开了，老人出现了，手里拿着一根大棍子。 他朝受惊的孩子们摇了摇。 “我要把你的狗打得遍体鳞伤！”那人喊道。 “斯坎普，斯坎普，过来！”彼得喊道。 但斯坎普似乎完全失聪了。 管理员冷酷地向他走来，举起棍子要打那只西班牙猎犬。 彼得推开大门，奔向斯坎普，他害怕自己会受伤。 “我要带走他，我要带走他！”他对老人喊道。 “你说什么？”十字架老人说

fellow, lowering his stick. 'What do you want to go and send your dog in here for?' 'I didn't. He came in himself!' called Peter, slipping his fingers into Scamper's collar. 'Speak up, I can't hear you,' bellowed the old man, as if it was Peter who was deaf and not himself. Peter bellowed back: 'I DIDN'T SEND MY DOG IN!' 'All right, all right, don't shout,' grumbled the caretaker. 'Don't you come back here again, that's all, or I'll send the police after you.' He disappeared into the side door again. Peter marched Scamper down the drive and out of the gate. 'What a bad-tempered man,' he said to the others. 'He might have hurt Scamper awfully if he'd hit him with that great stick.' Janet shut the gate. 'Now you and Scamper have spoilt the lovely smooth path,' she said. 'Goodness, there's the church clock striking a

那家伙，放下他的手杖。 “你为什么要把你的狗送到这里来？””“我没有。 他自己进来的！彼得喊道，把手指伸进斯坎普的衣领里。 “大声点，我听不见你说什么。”老人吼道，好像是彼得聋了，而不是他自己。 彼得吼道：“我没有让我的狗进去！“好吧，好吧，别嚷嚷。”管理员嘟囔着。 “别再到这儿来了，够了，不然我就叫警察来抓你。”他又从侧门消失了。 彼得带着斯坎普沿着车道走，出了大门。 “真是个坏脾气的人，”他对其他人说。 “要是他用那根大棒打斯坎普，他可能会伤得很厉害的。”珍妮特关上了大门。 “现在你和斯坎普毁了这条可爱的平坦小路，”她说。 “天哪，教堂的钟在敲钟。

quarter to one. We'll really have to hurry!' 'We'll let you all know when the next meeting is!' shouted Peter, as they parted at the corner. 'And don't forget the password and your badges.' They all went home. Jack was the first in because he lived very close. He rushed into the bathroom to wash his hands. Then he went to brush his hair. 'I'd better put my badge away,' he thought, and put up his hand to feel for it. But it wasn't there. He frowned and went into the bathroom. He must have dropped it. He couldn't find it anywhere. He must have dropped it in the field when he was making the snowmen with the others. Bother! Blow!

差四十五分之一。我们真的得快点了！“下次开会的时间我们会通知你们的！”他们在拐角处分手时，彼得喊道。 “别忘了密码和徽章。”他们都回家了。 杰克是第一个来的，因为他住得很近。 他冲进浴室洗手。 然后他去梳头。 “我最好把徽章收起来，”他想，然后伸手去摸。 但它不在那里。他皱起眉头，走进浴室。 他一定是把它掉了。他到处都找不到。 他一定是在和其他人堆雪人的时候把它掉在地里了。 麻烦!打击!