12 EMMA LANE

CHAPTER TWELVE EMMA LANE GEORGE AND Jack called in at the post office as Peter had told them. They knew the post office girl, and she smiled at them. 'I hope it won't bother you to find out for us,' began George, very politely. 'But we want to know where someone called Emma Lane lives. It's rather important. Can you possibly tell us?' 'It will take me a few minutes,' said the girl taking down a big directory. 'I'll find out for you now.' The boys waited patiently. The girl turned over page after page, running her finger down

第十二章爱玛·莱恩乔治和杰克照彼得所说的去了邮局。 他们认识那个邮局的女孩，她朝他们微笑。 “我希望你不会为我们发现而烦恼。”乔治很有礼貌地说。 “但我们想知道一个叫艾玛·莱恩的人住在哪里。 这很重要。你能告诉我们吗？“这要花我几分钟，”女孩说着，取下一本大目录。 “我现在就替你查清楚。”男孩们耐心地等待着。 女孩一页一页地翻着，用手指往下滑

lists of names. 'Yes,' she said. 'There is an Emma Lane. Mrs Emma Lane, one, Church Street. That must be the one you want. It's the only Emma Lane there is. The others are Elizabeth and Elsie.' 'Oh thanks!' said George, delighted. 'One, Church Street. That's easy to remember!' 'We'll go and tell Peter after dinner,' said Jack. 'Then perhaps we could all go and find out exactly who Emma Lane is and what she does.' So, after dinner, they went round to Peter's house and he and Janet listened with great interest to their bit of news. 'We'll go straightaway to Emma Lane's and see if we can find out anything at all,' said Peter. 'She might know Mr Tizer, for instance.' 'Yes. She might tell us something about him, and that awful uncle of Jeff's,' said

名单。“是的，”她说。 “有一个叫艾玛·莱恩的人。教堂街1号艾玛·莱恩太太。 那一定是你想要的。 这是唯一一个艾玛·莱恩。 另外两个是伊丽莎白和埃尔西。“哦，谢谢！”乔治高兴地说。 “一，教堂街。这很容易记住！“晚饭后我们去告诉彼得，”杰克说。 “那么也许我们都可以去看看艾玛·莱恩到底是谁，她是做什么的。”所以，晚饭后，他们去了彼得家，彼得和珍妮特饶有兴趣地听着他们的一点消息。 “我们马上去艾玛·莱恩家，看看能不能发现点什么。”彼得说。 比方说，她可能认识蒂泽尔先生。“是的。 “她可能会告诉我们一些关于他的事，还有杰夫那个可怕的叔叔。

George. 'Shall we get the others and all go together?' 'No,' said Peter. 'It might look a bit peculiar, seven of us arriving to talk to Emma!' They set off to Church Street. Number One was a dear little house, neat and pretty with a tiny well-kept front garden. The four children stopped outside, and debated who was to go to the door and what to say. 'You go, Peter,' said George. 'We did our bit going to the post office. I wouldn't know what to say to Emma Lane!' 'All right. Janet and I will go,' said Peter, and he and his sister walked up the little path to the neat green front door. They rang the bell. A small girl opened the door and stared at them. She didn't say a word.

乔治。“我们叫上其他人一起去好吗？”“不，”彼得说。 “我们七个人去找艾玛说话，这看起来可能有点奇怪！”他们动身去教堂街。 一号是一幢可爱的小房子，整洁漂亮，前面有一个打理得很好的小花园。 四个孩子在门外停了下来，争论着谁去开门，该说些什么。 “你去吧，彼得。”乔治说。 “我们去邮局尽了自己的一份力。 我不知道该对艾玛·莱恩说什么！“好吧。” “珍妮特和我去，”彼得说，他和妹妹沿着小路走到整洁的绿色前门。 他们按了门铃。一个小女孩打开门，盯着他们。 她一句话也没说。

'Er– could you tell me if Mrs Emma Lane is in?' asked Peter, politely. 'Who's she?' asked the little girl. 'I've never heard of any Emma Lane.' This was most surprising. Peter was puzzled.

“呃——你能告诉我艾玛·莱恩太太在不在吗？”彼得礼貌地问。 “她是谁?小女孩问。 “我从来没听说过艾玛·莱恩这个人。”这是最令人惊讶的。 彼得很困惑。

'But the post office said she lived here,' he said. 'Isn't there an Emma Lane here? What about your mother?' 'My mother's called Mary Margaret Harris,' said the small girl. 'And I'm Lucy Ann Harris.' A voice called up the hall passage. 'Who's that, Lucy?' 'I don't know,' called back Lucy. 'It's just two children asking for someone who doesn't live here.' A lady came up the passage, her hands covered in flour. She smiled at Peter and Janet. 'I'm making cakes,' she said. 'Now, who is it you want?' 'They want an Emma Lane,' said the little girl, laughing. 'But she doesn't live here, does she, Mother?' 'Emma Lane? Why, she's your grandmother, you silly child!' said the lady. Lucy stared at her mother in surprise. 'I never knew Granny's name was Emma,'

“但是邮局说她住在这里，”他说。 “这儿不是有一个叫艾玛·莱恩的人吗？” 你妈妈呢？“我妈妈叫玛丽·玛格丽特·哈里斯，”小女孩说。 “我是露西·安·哈里斯。”一个声音从大厅通道传来。 “那是谁，露西？”“我不知道，”露茜回答。 “只是两个孩子在找一个不住在这里的人。”一位女士从过道走来，双手沾满了面粉。 她对彼得和珍妮特微笑。 “我在做蛋糕，”她说。 “现在，你要找谁？”“他们想要一个艾玛·莱恩，”小女孩笑着说。 “可她不住在这儿，是吗，妈妈？”“艾玛·莱恩？” 嘿，她是你的祖母，你这个傻孩子！夫人说。 露西惊讶地盯着母亲。 “我从来不知道奶奶的名字叫艾玛。”

she said. 'I never heard anyone call her Emma Lane. You call her Mother and I call her Granny.' 'Well, she's got a name, all the same,' said the lady. She turned to Peter and Janet. 'The old lady doesn't live here now,' she said. 'She went away three months ago to the seaside, and we've got her house instead. Did you want to speak to her?' 'No– well, yes– but it doesn't matter,' said Peter, feeling rather muddled. 'Thank you very much. I'm sorry to have bothered you in the middle of making cakes.' He and Janet went down the path. 'What a silly girl not to know her grandmother's name,' said Janet. 'Well, do you know the names of our two grannies?' said Peter. 'We know their surnames, but I don't know the Christian name of either of our grannies! I've never heard anyone call them by name, except that

她说。“我从没听过有人叫她艾玛·莱恩。 你叫她妈妈，我叫她奶奶。“好吧，她还是有名字的，”那位女士说。 她转向彼得和珍妮特。 “老太太现在不住在这儿了，”她说。 “三个月前她去海边了，我们得到了她的房子。 你想跟她说话吗？“不——好吧，是的——不过没关系。”彼得说，感到有些困惑。 “非常感谢。我很抱歉在做蛋糕的时候打扰你。”他和珍妮特沿着小路走去。 “真傻，连祖母的名字都不知道，”珍妮特说。 “那么，你知道我们两个奶奶的名字吗？”彼得说。 “我们知道他们的姓，但我不知道我们两个奶奶的教名！”我从没听人叫过他们的名字，除了那个