9 VERY PECULIAR

CHAPTER NINE VERY PECULIAR GEORGE WAS extremely astonished. Why, the men were still there! Then where was Jack? What had happened to him? He stood there in the beam of the torch, gaping. 'Come on in,' said the voice, impatiently. 'We heard you saying "Cheeky Charlie". Have you got a message from him?' George gaped still more. A message from him? From Cheeky Charlie? Why, that was only a password! Just the name of a dog! What did the man mean? 'Will you come into the room?' said the man, again. 'What's the matter with you, boy?

乔治非常吃惊。 为什么，那些人还在那儿！那杰克在哪儿？ 他出了什么事？他站在火炬的光线下，张着嘴。 “进来吧，”那声音不耐烦地说。 “我们听到你说‘无耻的查理’。 你有他的口信吗？”乔治张得更大了。 他的留言？《无耻的查理》？ 咦，那只是一个口令！只是一只狗的名字！这个人是什么意思？ “请到房间里来好吗？”那人又说。 “你怎么啦，孩子？”

Are you scared? We shan't eat a messenger from Charlie.' George went slowly into the room, his mind suddenly working at top speed. A messenger from Charlie. Could there be someone called Charlie, Cheeky Charlie? Did these men think he had come from him? How very extraordinary! 'There won't be no message from Charlie,' said the man called Zeb. 'Why should there be? He's waiting for news from us, isn't he? Here, boy– did Charlie send you to ask for news?' George could do nothing but nod his head. He didn't want to have to explain anything at all. These men appeared to think he had come to find them to get news for someone called Charlie. Perhaps if he let them give him the message, they would let him go without any further questions. 'Can't think why Charlie uses such a dumb

你害怕吗？我们不吃查理送来的信使。”乔治慢慢地走进房间，他的脑子突然以最快的速度运转起来。 查理的信使。会不会有人叫查理，厚脸皮查理？ 这些人以为他是从他那里来的吗？ 多么不寻常啊！“查理不会给你捎口信的，”那个叫泽布的人说。 “为什么要有呢？”他在等我们的消息，对吧？ 喂，孩子——是查理派你来打听消息的吗？”乔治只能点点头。 他根本不想解释任何事情。 这些人似乎以为他是来找他们为一个叫查理的人打听消息的。 也许如果他让他们告诉他这个消息，他们就会让他走，不再问任何问题。 “真不明白查理为什么要用这样一个笨蛋

kid to send out,' grumbled Zeb. 'Got a pencil, Larry? I'll scribble a message.' 'A kid that can't open his mouth and speak a word is just the right messenger for us,' said the man with the clear voice. 'Tell Charlie what we've decided, Zeb. Don't forget that he's to mark the tarpaulin with white lines at one corner.' Zeb scribbled something in a notebook by the light of a torch. He tore out the page and folded it over. 'Here you are,' he said to George. 'Take this to Charlie, and don't you go calling him Cheeky Charlie, see? Little boys that are rude get their ears boxed! His friends can call him what they like, but not you.' 'Oh, leave the kid alone,' said Larry. 'Where's Charlie now, kid? At Dalling's or at Hammond's?' George didn't know what to answer. 'Dalling's,' he said at last, not knowing in the least what it meant.

“送个孩子出去。”西布嘟囔着。 “有铅笔吗，拉里？”我来写个留言。“一个不会开口说话的孩子正适合做我们的信使，”那个声音清晰的人说。 “告诉查理我们的决定，泽布。 别忘了，他要在帆布的一角用白线做个记号。”泽布借着手电筒的光在笔记本上草草写了些什么。 他撕下那页纸，把它折起来。 “给你，”他对乔治说。 “把这个拿给查理，别叫他无耻的查理，明白吗？” 不礼貌的小男孩会被打耳光！他的朋友可以随便叫他什么，但你不行。“哦，别管那孩子，”拉里说。 “查理现在在哪儿，孩子？” 在达林还是在哈蒙德？”乔治不知道该怎么回答。 “达林的，”他最后说，一点也不知道这是什么意思。

Larry tossed him fifty pence. 'Clear off!' he said. 'You're scared stiff of this place, aren't you? Want me to take you down the hill?' This was the last thing that poor George wanted. He shook his head. The men got up. 'Well, if you want company, we're all going now. If not, buzz off.' George buzzed off, but not very far. He went back again into the other room, thankful to see that the moon had come out again, and had lit it enough for him to make his way quickly to the window. He clambered out awkwardly, because his legs were shaking and were not easy to manage. He made for a thick bush and flung himself into the middle. If those men really were going, he could wait till they were gone. Then he could go back and find Jack. WHAT had happened to Jack? He seemed to have disappeared completely.

拉里扔给他50便士。 “走开!”他说。“你害怕这个地方，是不是？” 要我带你下山吗？”这是可怜的乔治最不愿意看到的。 他摇了摇头。男人们站了起来。 “好吧，如果你想找人作伴，我们现在就走。 如果不是，那就走开。”乔治匆匆离开，但没走多远。 他又回到另一个房间，看到月亮又出来了，他很感激，因为月亮已经照得足够亮，他可以迅速地走到窗前。 他笨拙地爬了出来，因为他的腿在发抖，不容易控制。 他朝一丛茂密的灌木丛走去，一头扎进灌木丛中间。 如果那些人真的要走，他可以等到他们走了再走。 然后他就可以回去找杰克了。 杰克出了什么事？ 他似乎完全消失了。

The men went cautiously out of Tigger's Barn, keeping their voices low. The owl flew over their heads, giving a sudden hoot that startled them. Then George heard them laugh. Their footsteps went quietly down the hill. He heaved a sigh of relief. Then he scrambled out of the bush and went back into the house. He stood debating what to do. Should he try the password again? It had had surprising results last time, so perhaps this time it would be better just to call Jack's name. But before he could do so, a voice came out of the doorway that led to the further room. 'Cheeky Charlie!' it said, in a piercing whisper. George stood stock still, and didn't answer. Was it Jack saying that password? Or was it somebody else who knew the real Cheeky Charlie, whoever he might be? Then a light flashed on and caught him in its

男人们小心翼翼地走出跳跳虎的谷仓，压低声音。 猫头鹰从他们头顶飞过，突然叫了一声，把他们吓了一跳。 然后乔治听到他们的笑声。 他们的脚步声悄悄地走下山去。 他松了一口气。 然后他爬出灌木丛，回到房子里。 他站在那里辩论该做什么。 他应该再试一次密码吗？ 上次的结果令人惊讶，所以也许这次最好直接叫杰克的名字。 但还没等他开口，一个声音从通向另一个房间的门口传来。 “无耻的查理!它用刺耳的耳语说。 乔治一动不动地站着，没有回答。 是杰克说的那个密码吗？ 或者是认识真正的无耻查理的人，不管他是谁？ 这时一盏灯亮了起来，照在他身上

beam. But this time, thank goodness, it was Jack's torch, and Jack himself gave an exclamation of relief. 'It is you, George! Why in the world didn't you answer when I said the password? You must have known it was me.' 'Oh, Jack! Where were you? I've had an awful time!' said George. 'You shouldn't have gone off and left me like that. Where have you been?' 'I was listening to those men, and fell into this cupboard,' said Jack. 'It shut on me, and I couldn't hear another word. I didn't dare to move in case those men came to look for me. But at last I opened the door, and when I couldn't hear anything, I wondered where you were! So I whispered the password.' 'Oh, I see,' said George, thankfully. 'So you didn't hear what happened to me? The men discovered me– and—' 'Discovered you! What did they do?' said

光束。但这一次，谢天谢地，是杰克的火炬，杰克自己也松了一口气。 “是你，乔治！”我说密码的时候你怎么不回答？ 你肯定知道是我干的。“哦，杰克！”你去哪儿了？ 我过得很糟糕！乔治说。 "你不该就这样离开我。 你去哪儿了？“我在听那些人说话，结果掉到这个橱柜里去了。”杰克说。 它对着我关上了，我再也听不见一个字了。 我不敢动，怕那些人来找我。 但最后我打开了门，当我什么也听不见时，我想知道你在哪里！于是我低声说出了密码。“哦，我明白了，”乔治感激地说。 “那么你没有听说我出了什么事？” 那些人发现了我——而且——”“发现了你！他们做了什么？说