9 Out into the night

CHAPTER NINE Out into the night JANET SPENT the whole of the afternoon making Scamper a white coat. Peter borrowed a ragged old sheet, and found an old white macintosh. He thought he could cut up the sheet and make it do for the other three, it was so big. Janet helped him to cut it up and make armholes and neck-holes. She giggled when he put one on to see if it was all right. 'You do look peculiar,' she said. 'What about your head– how are you going to hide your dark hair? It will be moonlight tonight, you know.' 'We'll have to try and make white caps or something,' said Peter. 'And we'll paint our

第九章夜幕降临，珍妮特花了整个下午给斯坎普做一件白大褂。 彼得借了一张破旧的床单，找到了一张旧的白色麦金塔。 他想他可以把床单剪开，给另外三个人用，床单太大了。 珍妮特帮他把衣服剪短，缝了袖孔和领孔。 当他戴上一只看是否合适时，她咯咯地笑了起来。 “你看上去真怪，”她说。 “那你的头呢——你打算怎么把你的黑发藏起来？” 你知道，今晚会有月光。“我们得试着做一顶白帽子什么的。”彼得说。 “我们要把我们的。

faces white!' 'There's some whitewash in the shed,' said Janet, with another giggle. 'Oh, dear- you will all look strange. Can I come to the shed at nine, Peter, and just see you all before you go?' 'All right– if you can creep down without anyone seeing you,' said Peter. 'I think Mummy's going out tonight, so it should be all right. If she's not, you mustn't come in case you make a noise and spoil the whole thing.' Mummy was going out that night. Good! Now it would be easy to slip down to the shed. Peter told Janet she must wrap up very warmly indeed– and if she had fallen asleep she was not to wake up! 'I shan't fall asleep,' said Janet, indignantly. 'You know I couldn't possibly. Mind you don't.' 'Don't be silly,' said Peter. 'As if the leader in an important plan like this could fall asleep! My word, Janet– the Secret Seven are in for

脸白了!“棚子里有些白漆，”珍妮特说，又咯咯地笑了起来。 “哦，亲爱的——你们看上去都很奇怪。 彼得，我九点到小屋去，在你们走之前见见你们，行吗？“好吧——如果你能偷偷溜下去，不让人看见的话。”彼得说。 “我想妈妈今晚要出去，所以应该没事。 如果她不在，你千万别来，免得弄出声音，把整个事情搞砸了。”那天晚上妈妈要出去。 好!现在滑到棚子里就容易多了。 彼得告诉珍妮特，她一定要穿得暖和些——如果她睡着了，就别醒了！“我不会睡着的，”珍妮特愤怒地说。 “你知道我不可能。 注意不要。“别傻了，”彼得说。 “好像这样一个重要计划的领导者会睡着似的！”我保证，珍妮特，秘密七人会

an adventure this time!' At half-past eight the children's lights were out, and didn't go on again. But torches lit up their rooms, and Janet was very, very busy dressing up Scamper in his new white coat. He didn't like it at all, and kept biting at it. 'Oh, Scamper– you won't be allowed to go unless you look like a snow-dog!' said Janet, almost in despair. And whether or not Scamper understood what she said she didn't know– but from that moment he let her dress him up without any more trouble. He looked peculiar and very mournful. 'Come on, if you're coming– it's almost nine,' said a whispering voice. It was Peter's. Together the two children and Scamper crept down the stairs. They were very warmly wrapped up indeed– but as soon as they got out into the air they found that it was not nearly as cold as they expected. 'The snow's melting! There's no frost

这次是一次冒险！”八点半，孩子们的灯熄灭了，再也没有亮起来。 但火把照亮了他们的房间，珍妮特正忙着给斯坎普穿上他的新白大褂。 他一点也不喜欢它，一直在咬它。 “哦，斯坎普——除非你看起来像一只雪狗，否则不会让你去的！”珍妮特几乎绝望地说。 斯坎普是否明白她说的话，她不知道——但从那一刻起，他让她给他穿好衣服，再也没有麻烦了。 他看上去很奇怪，很悲伤。 “快点，如果你要来的话——都快九点了。”一个耳语的声音说。 这是彼得的。两个孩子和斯坎普一起爬下楼梯。 他们确实裹得很暖和，但一到外面的空气里，他们就发现天气远不像他们想象的那么冷。 “雪融化了！”没有霜冻

tonight,' whispered Janet. 'Gosh, I hope those snowmen won't have melted,' said Peter, in alarm. 'Oh, they won't yet,' said Janet. 'Come on– I can see one of the others.' The passwords were whispered softly at the door of the shed, and soon there were five of the Secret Seven there. Peter lit a candle, and they all looked at one another in excitement. 'We've got to paint our faces white and put on our white things,' said Peter. 'Then we're ready.' Jack giggled. 'Look at Scamper! He's in white too! Scamper, you look ridiculous.' 'Woof,' said Scamper, miserably. He felt ridiculous, too! Poor Scamper. With squeals and gurgles of laughter the four boys painted their faces white. They had carefully put on their white things first so as not to mess up their overcoats. Janet fitted the little white skull caps she had roughly made,

“今晚。”珍妮特低声说。 “天哪，我希望那些雪人没有融化。”彼得惊恐地说。 “哦，他们还不会，”珍妮特说。 “来吧——我能看到其他人中的一个。”口令在小屋门口轻声低语，很快七个秘密中的五个就来到了那里。 彼得点了一支蜡烛，大家都兴奋地面面相觑。 “我们得把脸涂成白色，穿上白色的衣服。”彼得说。 “那我们就准备好了。”杰克咯咯笑了。 “看看斯坎普！”他也穿白色的！斯坎普，你看起来很可笑。“汪，”斯坎珀痛苦地说。 他也觉得很可笑！可怜的奔跑。 四个男孩尖叫着，咯咯地笑着，把脸涂白了。 他们小心翼翼地先穿上白色的衣服，以免弄脏大衣。 珍妮特戴上了她草草做好的白色小帽，

over each boy's head. 'Well! I shouldn't like to meet you walking down the lane tonight!' she said. 'You look terrifying!' 'Time we went,' said Peter. 'Goodbye, Janet. Go to bed now and sleep tight. I'll tell you our adventures in the morning! I shan't wake you when I come in.' 'I shall stay awake till you come!' said Janet. She watched them go off down the moonlit path, a row of weird white figures with horrid white faces. They really did look like walking snowmen, as they trod softly over the soft, melting snow.

在每个男孩的头上。“好!今晚我不想在巷子里遇见你！她说。 “你看起来很可怕！”“我们该走了。”彼得说。 “再见,珍妮特。现在上床好好睡一觉。 明天早上我再告诉你我们的冒险经历！我进来的时候不会吵醒你的。“我要一直醒着，直到你回来！”珍妮特说。 她看着他们走在月光下的小路上，一排奇怪的白色身影长着可怕的白脸。 当他们轻轻地踩在柔软的、正在融化的雪上时，他们看起来确实像在走路的雪人。

They made their way quietly out of the gate and walked in the direction of the lane that led to the old house, keeping a sharp lookout for any passers-by. They met no one except a big boy who came so quietly round a corner in the snow that not one of the four heard him. They stopped at once when they saw him. He stopped too. He gazed at the four white snowmen in horror. 'Ooooh!' he said. 'Ow! What's this? Who are you?' Peter gave a dreadful groan, and the boy yelled in alarm. 'Help! Four live snowmen! Help!' He tore off down the road, shouting. The four boys collapsed in helpless giggles against the fence behind. 'Oh, dear!' said Jack. 'I nearly burst with laughter when you did that groan, Peter.' 'Come on– we'd better get away quickly

他们悄悄地走出大门，朝着通往老房子的那条小巷走去，同时密切注意着有没有过路人。 除了一个大男孩，他们谁也没遇到。他悄悄地从雪地的一个角落走来，四个人都没听见。 他们一看见他就立刻站住了。 他也停了下来。他惊恐地盯着那四个白色的雪人。 “唔!他说。“噢!这是什么? 你是谁？”彼得发出一声可怕的呻吟，男孩惊恐地大叫起来。 “帮助!四个活生生的雪人！帮助!”他一边喊叫一边沿路飞奔而去。 四个男孩无助地傻笑着倒在后面的篱笆上。 “哦,亲爱的!杰克说。“彼得，你呻吟的时候我差点笑出声来。“来吧——我们最好快点走。