3 A SHOCK FOR COLIN

CHAPTER THREE A SHOCK FOR COLIN BY THE time Peter had stood up to see where the horrified man had gone, he had completely disappeared. There wasn't a sign of him anywhere. 'Bother!' said Peter, vexed. 'Fat lot of good I am as an American Indian. Can't even stalk somebody right under my nose. Where in the world has the man gone?' He began to hunt here and there, and soon the others, seeing him standing up, knew that something had happened. They called to him. 'Peter– what is it? Why are you showing yourself?'

第三章科林的震惊当彼得站起来看那个吓坏了的人去了哪里时，他已经完全消失了。 到处都找不到他的踪迹。 “麻烦!”彼得恼火地说。 “作为一个美洲印第安人，我有很多好处。 甚至不能在我眼皮底下跟踪别人。 这人究竟到哪儿去了？”他开始到处寻找，很快其他人看到他站起来，就知道出事了。 他们叫他。“彼得——怎么了？” 你为什么要露面？”

'There was a man hiding under one of the bushes,' said Peter. 'I just wondered why. But he got up and shot away. Anyone see where he went?' No one had seen him at all. They clustered round Peter, puzzled. 'Fancy– seven of us crawling hidden in this field– and not one saw the man run off,' said Pam. 'We haven't even seen Colin!' 'The game's finished for this afternoon,' said Peter. He didn't want anyone to come suddenly on the man in hiding– it might be dangerous. 'We'll call Colin.' So they yelled for him. 'Colin! Come out, wherever you are! The game's finished.' They waited for him suddenly to stand up and appear. But he didn't. There was no answer to their call, and no Colin suddenly appeared. 'Colin!' yelled everyone. 'Come on out.' Still he didn't come. He didn't even shout

“有一个人躲在灌木丛下面。”彼得说。 “我只是想知道为什么。但他站起来，开枪逃跑了。 有人看到他去哪儿了吗？”根本没有人见过他。 他们迷惑不解地围在彼得周围。 “想象一下——我们七个人躲在这片地里爬行——没有一个人看见那个人跑掉了。”帕姆说。 “我们还没见到科林呢！”“今天下午的比赛结束了，”彼得说。 他不想让任何人突然袭击那个藏起来的人——那可能很危险。 “我们去叫科林。”所以他们喊他。 “科林!出来吧，不管你在哪里！比赛结束了。”他们等着他突然站起来出现。 但他没有。他们的呼唤没有回应，柯林也没有突然出现。 “科林!大家都喊道。“出来吧。”他仍然没有来。 他甚至没有喊

back. It was strange. 'Don't be funny!' shouted George. 'The game's over! Where are you?' Colin was where he had been all the time– hidden up in his tree. Why didn't he shout back? Why didn't he shin down the tree and race over to the others, pleased that he hadn't been caught? He didn't show himself for a very good reason. He was much too frightened to! He had had a shock when he saw the man drop down from the wall, and run to the thicket and hide– and he had an even greater shock when he saw him suddenly appear from a nearby bush, and run to the foot of the tree that he himself was hiding in. Then he heard the sounds of someone clambering up at top speed– good gracious, the man was climbing the very tree that Colin himself had chosen for a hiding-place! Colin's heart beat fast. He didn't like this at

回来。这很奇怪。“别开玩笑了！”乔治喊道。 “游戏结束了！”你在哪儿？”柯林还在他一直待的地方——藏在他的树上。 他为什么不回喊？他为什么不爬下树，跑到其他人身边，庆幸自己没有被抓住呢？ 他没有露面是有充分理由的。 他吓得不敢！当他看到那人从墙上掉下来，跑到灌木丛里躲起来时，他吓了一跳——更令他震惊的是，他突然从附近的灌木丛中出现，跑到他自己藏在里面的那棵树下。 然后他听到有人以最快的速度爬上树的声音——天哪，这个人正在爬科林自己选的藏身之处！科林的心跳得很快。 他不喜欢这样

all. What would the man say if he suddenly climbed up on top of him? He would certainly be very annoyed. The man came steadily up. But when he was almost up to the branch on which Colin sat, he stopped. The branch wasn't strong enough to hold a man, though it was quite strong enough for a boy. The man curled himself up in a fork of the tree just below Colin. He was panting hard, but trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible. Peter was not so very far away and might hear it. Colin sat as if he was turned to stone. Who was this man? Why had he come over the wall? Why had he hidden in Little Thicket? He would never have done that if he had known it was full of the Secret Seven playing Indians! And now here he was up Colin's tree, still in hiding– and at any moment he might look up

所有人。如果那个人突然爬到他身上，他会说什么？ 他肯定会很生气的。 那人稳稳地走过来。但当他快到柯林坐的那根树枝时，他停了下来。 那根树枝不够结实，支撑不住一个人，但对一个男孩来说却相当结实。 那人蜷缩在柯林下面的一根树枝上。 他喘着粗气，但尽量使自己的呼吸保持平静。 彼得离得不远，也许能听到。 科林坐着，好像变成了石头。 这个人是谁？他为什么翻墙而来？ 他为什么躲在小灌木林？ 如果他知道里面全是七个秘密人物扮演印第安人，他就不会那么做了！现在他在科林的树上，还在躲着——他随时都可能抬起头来

and see Colin. It was very unpleasant indeed. Then Colin heard the others shouting for him. 'Colin! Come out, wherever you are– the game's finished!' But poor Colin didn't dare to come out, and certainly didn't dare to shout back. He hardly dared to breathe, and hoped desperately that he wouldn't have to sneeze or cough. He sat there as still as a mouse, waiting to see what would happen. The man also sat there as still as a mouse, watching the six children below, peering at them through the leaves of the tree. Colin wished they had brought old Scamper with them. He would have sniffed the man's tracks and gone to the foot of the tree! But Scamper had been left behind. He always got much too excited when they were playing Indians, and by his barking gave away where everyone was hiding! After the others had hunted for Colin and

去看看科林。这的确很不愉快。 接着科林听到其他人在喊他。 “科林!出来吧，不管你在哪儿——游戏结束了！”但是可怜的科林不敢出来，当然也不敢回喊。 他几乎不敢呼吸，拼命地希望自己不必打喷嚏或咳嗽。 他一动不动地坐在那里，等着看会发生什么事。 那人也像老鼠一样静静地坐在那里，看着下面的六个孩子，隔着树叶凝视着他们。 科林真希望他们把老斯坎普也带来了。 他会嗅一嗅那人的踪迹，然后走到树下！但是斯坎普被落在后面了。 当他们玩印第安人游戏时，他总是太兴奋了，通过他的吠叫暴露了每个人的藏身之处！在其他人找到科林和

called him, they began to walk off. 'He must have escaped us and gone home,' said Peter. 'Well, we'll go too. We can't find that man, and I don't know that I want to, either. He looked a nasty bit of work to me.' In despair, Colin watched them leave Little Thicket and disappear down the field-path. The man saw them go too. He gave a little grunt and slid down the tree. Colin had been able to see nothing of him except the top of his head and his ears. He could still see nothing of the man as he made his way cautiously out of the thicket. He was a far, far better American Indian than any of the Secret Seven, that was certain! And now– was it safe for Colin to get down? He certainly couldn't stay up in the tree all night!

叫了他一声，他们就走开了。 “他一定是从我们这儿逃出来回家了。”彼得说。 “好吧，我们也去。我们找不到那个人，我也不想找他。 在我看来，他是个讨厌的家伙。”科林绝望地看着他们离开小灌木丛，消失在田间小路上。 那人也看见他们走了。他哼了一声，滑下了树。 科林除了他的头顶和耳朵外，什么也看不见。 当他小心翼翼地走出灌木丛时，他仍然看不到那个人的影子。 他是一个比七个秘密中的任何一个都优秀得多的美洲印第安人，这是肯定的！现在——科林下去安全吗？ 他当然不可能整晚都呆在树上！