8 A VISIT TO THE CIRCUS

CHAPTER EIGHT A VISIT TO THE CIRCUS PETER LOOKED at his watch. 'Bother!' he said in dismay. 'It's nearly dinner-time. We must all get back home as fast as we can. Meet at half- past two again, Secret Seven.' 'We can't!' said Pam and Barbara. 'We're going to a party.' 'Don't have a meeting without us,' begged Pam. 'I can't come either,' said George. 'So we'd better make it tomorrow. Anyway, if the thief is one of the acrobats at the circus, he won't be leaving this afternoon! He'll stay there till the circus goes.'

第八章参观马戏团彼得看了看表。 “麻烦!”他沮丧地说。 “快到晚饭时间了。我们必须尽快赶回家。 两点半再见面，秘密七号。“我们不能！”帕姆和芭芭拉说。 “我们要去参加一个聚会。“不要开没有我们的会议，”帕姆恳求道。 “我也不能去。”乔治说。 “所以我们最好明天去。 不管怎样，如果小偷是马戏团的杂技演员，他今天下午是不会离开的！他会一直待到马戏团走了。”

'Well– it's only just a chance he might be an acrobat,' said Janet. 'I only just said it could only be an acrobat that scaled that high wall. I didn't really mean it!' 'It's worth looking into, anyhow,' said Peter. 'Well– meet tomorrow at half-past nine, then. And will everybody please think hard, and have some kind of plan to suggest? I'm sure we shall think of something good!' Everyone thought hard that day– even Pam and Barbara whispered together in the middle of their party! 'I vote we go and see the circus,' whispered Pam. 'Don't you think it would be a good idea? Then we can see if Peter recognises any of the acrobats as the thief he saw hiding under that bush!' When the Secret Seven met the next day, muttering the password as they went through the door of the shed, everyone seemed to have exactly the same idea! 'We should visit the circus,' began George.

“嗯——他可能是个杂技演员，这只是一个机会，”珍妮特说。 “我只是说，只有杂技演员才能爬上那堵高墙。 我不是那个意思！“不管怎么说，这事值得一查。”彼得说。 “那么，明天九点半见。 请大家好好想想，提点建议好吗？ 我相信我们会想出好办法的！”那天每个人都在努力思考——甚至帕姆和芭芭拉也在聚会中窃窃私语！“我建议我们去看马戏，”帕姆小声说。 “你不觉得这是个好主意吗？” 然后我们可以看看彼得是否认出了躲在灌木丛下的小偷！”第二天，当七人秘密碰头时，他们一边穿过小屋的门，一边嘟哝着密码，每个人似乎都有一个完全相同的想法！“我们应该去看马戏团，”乔治说。

'That's just what Pam and I thought!' said Barbara. 'I thought so too,' said Colin. 'In fact, it's the only sensible thing to do. Don't you think so, Peter?' 'Yes. Janet and I looked in the local paper, and we found that the circus opens this afternoon,' said Peter. 'What about us all going to see it? I don't know if I would recognise any of the acrobats as the thief– I really only caught just a glimpse of him, you know– but it's worth trying.' 'You said he was dark and clean-shaven,' said Colin. 'And I saw that his hair was black, anyway. He had a little thin patch on the top. But it isn't much to go on, is it?' 'Has anyone got any money?' asked Pam. 'To buy circus tickets, I mean? I haven't any at all, because I had to buy a birthday present to take to the party yesterday.' Everyone turned out their pockets. The

“我和帕姆就是这么想的！”芭芭拉说。 “我也这么想。”科林说。 事实上，这是唯一明智的做法。 彼得，你不这样认为吗？“是的。 “珍妮特和我看了当地的报纸，我们发现马戏表演今天下午开始，”彼得说。 “我们都去看怎么样？” 我不知道我是否能认出哪个杂技演员是小偷——你知道，我真的只瞥见了他一眼——但值得一试。“你说他皮肤黝黑，刮得干干净净的，”柯林说。 “而且我看到他的头发是黑色的。 他头顶上有一小块薄薄的补丁。 但这也没什么好说的，不是吗？“有人有钱吗？”潘问。 “我是说去买马戏票？” 我一点钱也没有，因为昨天我得去买生日礼物带去聚会。”每个人都掏出了自己的口袋。 的

money was put in a pile in the middle and counted. 'The tickets are three pounds for children,' said Peter with a groan. 'Three pounds! They must think that children are made of money. We've got just twelve pounds here, that's all. Only four of us can go.' 'I've got five pounds in my money-box,' said Janet. 'And I've got three pounds at home,' said Colin. 'Anyone got one more pound to spare?' 'Oh yes– I'll borrow it from Susie,' said Jack. 'Well, don't go and tell her the password in return for the pound!' said Colin, and got a kick from Jack and an angry snort. 'Right. That looks as if we can all go, after all,' said Peter, pleased. 'Meet at the circus field ten minutes before the circus begins. Don't be late, anyone! And keep your eyes peeled for anyone wearing a dark blue pullover

钱被放在中间的一堆里，然后清点。 “儿童票价是三英镑。”彼得呻吟着说。 “三磅!他们一定认为孩子是由钱做的。 我们这里只有12磅，仅此而已。 我们只有四个人能去。“我的储蓄罐里有五英镑，”珍妮特说。 “我家里还有三英镑。”柯林说。 “谁还有多余的一英镑？”“哦，是的——我会向苏西借的，”杰克说。 “好吧，别去把密码告诉她以换取英镑！”科林说，杰克踢了他一脚，生气地哼了一声。 的权利。“看来我们终于都能去了。”彼得高兴地说。 马戏开始前十分钟在马戏场地集合。 任何人都不要迟到！注意看有没有人穿深蓝色套头衫

with a tiny thread of red in it– because it's pretty certain the thief must have worn a jumper or pullover made of that wool.' Everyone was very punctual. All but Pam had money with them, so Peter gave her enough for her ticket. They went to the ticket- box and bought seven tickets, feeling really rather excited. A circus was always fun– but to go to a circus and keep a lookout for a thief was even more exciting than usual! Soon they were all sitting in their seats, looking down intently on the sawdust-strewn ring in the middle of the great tent. The band struck up a lively tune and a drum boomed out. The children sat up, thrilled. In came the horses, walking proudly, their feathery plumes nodding. In came the clowns, somersaulting and yelling; in came the bears; in came all the performers, one after another, greeting the audience with smiles. The children watched out for the acrobats,

上面还有一根小小的红线——因为可以肯定，小偷穿的一定是用这种羊毛做的套头衫或套衫。”每个人都很准时。 除了帕姆，其他人都带了钱，所以彼得给了她足够的钱买车票。 他们走到售票处买了七张票，心里非常兴奋。 看马戏总是很有趣的，但去看马戏并提防小偷比平时更令人兴奋！很快，他们都坐在座位上，专注地看着大帐篷中央撒满木屑的圆圈。 乐队奏起一支活泼的曲子，鼓声隆隆响起。 孩子们激动地坐了起来。 马进来了，骄傲地走着，它们的羽毛在点头。 小丑们一边翻跟头，一边大喊大叫地走了进来；熊进来了；所有的表演者一个接一个地走了进来，微笑着向观众致意。 孩子们留心看杂技演员，

but they were all mixed up with the other performers– five clowns and conjurers, two clever stilt-walkers, and five men on ridiculous bicycles. It was impossible to tell which were the acrobats. 'They are third on the programme,' said Peter. 'First come the horses– then the clowns– and then the acrobats.' So they waited, clapping the beautiful dancing horses, and laughing at the ridiculous clowns until their sides ached. 'Now for the acrobats!' said Peter, excitedly. 'Watch, Colin, watch!'

但他们都和其他表演者混在一起——五个小丑和魔术师，两个聪明的踩高跷者，还有五个骑着可笑自行车的人。 分辨不出谁是杂技演员。 “他们在节目中排名第三，”彼得说。 “首先是马，然后是小丑，最后是杂技演员。”于是他们等待着，为那些跳舞的骏马鼓掌，嘲笑那些可笑的小丑，笑得腰都疼了。 “现在轮到杂技演员表演了！”彼得兴奋地说。 “看着，科林，看着！”