10 JEFF TRIES TO REMEMBER

CHAPTER TEN JEFF TRIES TO REMEMBER PETER HAD also brought a jar of peanut butter and a slab of cake for Jeff, and Colin had brought half a loaf and some butter. The boy took them hungrily, and didn't even wait to cut a slice of bread. He tore at it with his teeth, and the others watched him, feeling shocked to see such hunger. Janet gently took the bread from him, cut a large slice, buttered it and spread it thickly with peanut butter. 'You'll like this better than mouthfuls of bread!' she said.

第十章杰夫努力记起彼得也给杰夫带来了一罐花生酱和一块蛋糕，科林带来了半条面包和一些黄油。 男孩饿着肚子，连一片面包都没切就吃了。 他用牙齿撕咬它，其他人看着他，看到如此饥饿感到震惊。 珍妮特轻轻地从他手里拿过面包，切了一大块，涂上黄油，涂上厚厚的花生酱。 “你会喜欢这个胜过喜欢满口面包的！”她说。

Jeff ate everything they had brought, except the biscuits they were keeping for midmorning. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket with a sigh. 'That was good,' he said. 'I can't tell you how good!' The kitten had finished its meal now too, and was sitting beside Jeff, washing its face. 'It looks fatter already,' said Janet, stroking it. 'Poor little thing! Imagine kicking a baby like this! You wouldn't think there'd be anyone bad enough, would you?' 'Mr Tizer's very bad,' said Jeff. 'Worse than my uncle. He kicks me too.' 'We want you to tell us all you can,' said Peter, settling himself as comfortably as he could, with his back to the tree-trunk. 'We think we ought to try and find out what it was that Mr Tizer and your uncle were so afraid you had overheard. They must have been planning something wrong– something that

杰夫吃光了他们带来的所有东西，除了他们留到上午十点左右吃的饼干。 他叹了口气，在夹克袖子上擦了擦嘴。 “那很好，”他说。“我无法告诉你有多好！”小猫也吃完了饭，坐在杰夫旁边洗脸。 “它看起来已经胖了，”珍妮特抚摸着它说。 “可怜的小东西！”想象一下这样踢一个婴儿！你不会觉得有那么坏的人，对吧？“蒂泽尔先生很坏，”杰夫说。 “比我舅舅还坏。他也踢我。“我们要你把你能讲的都讲给我们听。”彼得说着，尽量舒服地坐了下来，背靠着树干。 “我们想，我们应该设法弄清楚蒂泽尔先生和你叔叔那么害怕你听到的是什么。 他们一定是计划错了什么事

ought to be stopped.' Jeff stared at them. 'Stopped? Who's going to stop it? Not me. Nor you either. Nobody can stop Mr Tizer, not even the police. Anyway I don't know anything.' 'Jeff, you must try and think,' said Colin. 'You said you were asleep in the sitting-room on the sofa when your uncle and Mr Tizer were planning something. You said you woke up and turned over, and they were angry with you because they thought you'd heard what they were talking about. You must be able to remember something!' 'I can't,' said Jeff, looking sullen. Peter felt sure he could if he really wanted to. 'You're afraid of Mr Tizer,' he said. 'That's why you won't try to remember. It's mean of you. We've been sorry for you and the kitten and helped you. Now you should help us. We'll see you don't come to any harm.' Jeff stroked the kitten, and it purred loudly.

应该被阻止。”杰夫盯着他们。 “停止?谁来阻止它？ 不是我。你也一样。没有人能阻止Tizer先生，即使是警察。 反正我什么都不知道。“杰夫，你必须试着想想，”科林说。 “你说你在客厅的沙发上睡着了，而你叔叔和蒂泽尔先生正在策划什么事情。 你说你醒来后翻了个身，他们对你很生气因为他们以为你听到了他们说的话。 你一定能记起什么吧！“我不能，”杰夫闷闷不乐地说。 彼得觉得如果他真的想的话，他肯定能做到。 “你害怕蒂泽尔先生，”他说。 “这就是为什么你不想记起来。 你太小气了。我们为你和小猫感到难过，也帮助了你。 现在你应该帮助我们。我们会确保你不会受到任何伤害。”杰夫抚摸着小猫，它大声地呜呜叫着。

'Well– you've been really kind,' he said at last. 'And I'll try to remember what I overheard. But it doesn't make any sense to me, and it won't to you, either!' 'Never mind. Tell us,' said Colin. Jeff frowned as he tried to remember. 'Let me see,' he began. 'I was asleep– and I woke up– and I heard their voices…' 'Yes. Go on,' said Peter. 'I don't know what they were talking about,' said Jeff. 'I was too sleepy to hear properly. I just heard a few things– things that don't make any sense.' 'What things?' asked Barbara, wishing she could jog Jeff and make him go faster in his story. 'Well– let's see– they talked about MKX,' said Jeff, frowning hard. 'Yes, I remember that clearly, MKX.' 'MKX?' said Jack. 'What in the world does that mean? Would it be a code-word for

“嗯——你真是太好了，”他终于说。 “我会试着记起我听到了什么。 但这对我来说毫无意义，对你来说也一样！”“没关系。 “告诉我们。”科林说。杰夫皱起眉头，努力回忆。 “让我看看，”他开始说。“我睡着了——然后我醒了——我听到了他们的声音……” “说下去。”彼得说。“我不知道他们在说什么，”杰夫说。 “我太困了，听不清。 我只是听到了一些不合理的事情。“什么东西？”芭芭拉问，希望她能让杰夫跑得快一点，让他的故事讲得快一点。 “嗯——让我想想——他们谈到了MKX。”杰夫说，使劲皱着眉头。 “是的，我记得很清楚，MKX。“类似MKX吗?杰克说。 “这到底是什么意思？” 会是一个代号吗

someone helping them in their plans?' 'I don't know,' said Jeff. 'But I do remember MKX. And I remember a date too– Thursday the 25th. They said that two or three times. That's next Thursday, isn't it?' 'Yes,' said Peter. 'It is. Perhaps that was the date of their next robbery or whatever they were planning to do! I say, this is exciting. Go on, Jeff. Remember something else!' 'Don't hurry me,' said Jeff. 'Else I shall remember wrong.' There was a dead silence at once. No one wanted Jeff to 'remember wrong'! 'They spoke about someone too,' said Jeff, wrinkling his forehead. 'Let's see. Yes– Emma Lane. They kept on about Emma Lane, I do remember that.' 'Emma Lane? That's a good clue,' said Colin. 'We might be able to find out who she is. I've never heard of her.' 'Anything else?' asked Peter. 'You really are

有人在帮助他们的计划吗？“我不知道，”杰夫说。 “但我记得MKX。我还记得一个日期，25号星期四。 他们说了两三遍。 那是下星期四，对吗？“是的，”彼得说。 “这是。也许这是他们下一次抢劫的日期，或者他们计划做的任何事情！我说，这太令人兴奋了。 继续，杰夫。记住一些其他的事情！“别催我，”杰夫说。 “不然我就记错了。”立刻是死一般的寂静。 没人希望杰夫“记错了”！“他们也提到了一个人，”杰夫皱着额头说。 “让我们看看。是的，艾玛·莱恩。 他们一直在谈论艾玛·莱恩，我确实记得。“艾玛·莱恩？” “这是个好线索。”科林说。 “我们也许能查出她是谁。 我从来没听说过她。“还有别的吗？”彼得问。 “你真的是

doing very well, Jeff. Think hard.' Jeff was pleased. He thought again, going back in his memory to that night on the sofa, hearing the two men's voices again in his mind. 'Oh, yes!' he said suddenly, 'they said something about a red pillow. That puzzled me. A red pillow. I remember that.' It puzzled the others too. A red pillow didn't seem to fit into anything. Who would have a red pillow, and what for? 'MKX. Thursday the 25th. Emma Lane. A red pillow,' said Peter. 'What a mix-up! I can't make head or tail of any plot with those four things in it. In fact, the only thing that is at all possible to follow up is the Emma Lane clue. Anything more, Jeff? Think, do think!' 'There was something about a grating,' said Jeff. 'Watching through a grating– yes, that was it! Does that help you at all?' No, it didn't. It just added to all the

很好，杰夫。仔细想一想。”杰夫很高兴。 他又想了想，回忆起那天晚上在沙发上的情景，脑海中又听到了那两个人的声音。 “哦,是的!他突然说，“他们说什么红枕头。 这使我迷惑不解。红色的枕头。 我记得。”这也使其他人迷惑不解。 一个红色的枕头似乎不适合任何东西。 谁会有一个红色的枕头，为什么？ 类似MKX。星期四，25号。艾玛的车道。 “一个红枕头。”彼得说。 “真是一团糟！”有这四样东西在里面，我根本搞不懂任何情节。 事实上，唯一可能的线索就是艾玛·莱恩的线索。 还有别的事吗，杰夫？想想，一定要想想！“说到栅栏，”杰夫说。 “隔着铁栅栏看——对，就是这样！”这对你有帮助吗？”不，没有。 它只是加上了所有的