11 THE COAL-HOLE

CHAPTER ELEVEN THE COAL-HOLE NOBODY WANTED to jump down in the least. For one thing, the hole wasn't very big– for another, the dark ground was a long way below– and for a third thing, who knew what might lie in wait for any daring boy dropping down through that hole! 'Well, I must say I think it would be rather silly to get down there, knowing as little as we do about this affair,' said Peter, at last. 'Do you suppose this is where the dog was pushed down, Colin?' 'I don't know,' said Colin, puzzled. 'The dog's not there now, anyway, dead or alive.

第十一章煤洞谁也不想跳下去。 首先，这个洞不是很大；其次，下面的地面很黑；第三，谁知道会有什么东西等着哪个勇敢的孩子从洞里掉下去呢！“嗯，我得说，我认为我们对这件事所知甚少，到那儿去是相当愚蠢的。”彼得终于说。 “科林，你认为狗就是在这里被推倒的吗？”“我不知道，”科林困惑地说。 “不管怎么说，那条狗现在不在那儿，死的活的都不在。

The hole is empty. I suppose it's really an underground cellar, and may be quite big. Anyway, what's the point of pushing a lovely dog down a coal-hole? It doesn't make sense to me.' 'We'd better put the lid back and go home,' said Peter. 'It's getting dark. I'm not sure I like this nasty lonely little yard now it's getting towards night-time!' He took hold of the lid, but Colin stopped him. 'Wait a minute,' he said. 'I've got an idea.' He put his head right down into the hole. Then he whistled. Colin had a very shrill, piercing whistle that usually went right through people's heads making them angry. His shrill whistle sounded now, though it could not be very well heard up in the yard, because Colin's head was in the hole. It could be heard down in the cellar, though, for the piercing noise echoed round and round!

洞是空的。我想那真的是一个地下地窖，而且可能相当大。 不管怎样，把一只可爱的狗推到煤洞里有什么意义？ 这对我来说没有意义。“我们最好把盖子盖上回家，”彼得说。 “天黑了。现在快到晚上了，我不确定我是否喜欢这个肮脏寂寞的小院子！”他抓住盖子，但科林阻止了他。 “等一下，”他说。“我有个主意。”他把头直接探进洞里。 然后他吹了一声口哨。科林有一种非常尖锐刺耳的口哨，通常会直接穿过人们的脑袋，让他们生气。 他刺耳的哨声响起了，虽然在院子里听不太清楚，因为柯林的头在洞里。 不过，在地窖里也能听到，因为那刺耳的声音在周围回荡！

'What are you doing that for?' began Peter, angrily, but Jack guessed, and nudged him to be quiet. Colin was now listening, his head still down the hole. He heard something– what was it? Yes, there it came again. Then it stopped. He took his head out, his eyes shining. 'The dog's down there somewhere all right,' he said. 'It heard my whistle, and I heard it barking, far away, somewhere, goodness knows where.' 'Gosh! Did you really?' said Peter, amazed. 'That was a really good idea of yours, Colin. Well, we now know for certain that the dog's down there, so that man must have pushed him into the hole. This is a mystery all right.' 'Yes. One that has sprung up all of a sudden, as mysteries usually do,' said Colin. 'What do we do next? We could get down the hole if we brought a rope-ladder, but we'll break our legs if we just try to drop down.' There was a pause. The boys sat back on

“你这样做是为了什么？”彼得生气地说，但杰克猜到了，用胳膊肘推了推他，让他安静下来。 科林正在听着，他的头仍然埋在洞里。 他听到了什么声音——是什么声音？ 是的，它又来了。然后它停了下来。 他探出头来，眼睛闪闪发光。 “狗就在下面什么地方，”他说。 “它听到了我的哨声，我也听到了它的叫声，在很远的地方，天知道在什么地方。“天啊!真的吗？彼得惊讶地说。 “你的主意真不错，科林。 我们现在确定狗就在下面，所以一定是那个人把它推到洞里的。 这是一个谜。“是的。 “一个突然冒出来的，神秘事件通常都是这样。”科林说。 “接下来我们做什么？”如果我们带一架绳梯，就能下去，但如果我们想往下掉，会摔断腿的。”一阵沉默。 男孩们又坐回去了

their bent knees and thought hard. 'The cellar must belong to one of these buildings,' said Jack, at last. 'But which one? It might belong to any of these around us. The coal-hole is exactly in the centre of the yard.' 'I can't see that it matters which one,' said Peter. 'Well, it might,' said Jack. 'We could find out if any firm in these buildings is interested in dogs.' 'Well, I suppose that's an idea,' said Peter, doubtfully. 'Anyway, let's put this lid back now, and place the box over it. We don't want anyone to suspect we've come across part of their secret.' They put back the lid as quietly as they could, and dragged the box across it. Now it was as well-hidden as when they had first come into the yard. 'It's almost dark now,' said Peter. 'We'd better get back home. My mother will be

他们弯着膝，苦思冥想。 “地窖一定是其中一栋楼的。”杰克终于说。 “但是哪一个呢？”它可能属于我们身边的任何一个。 煤坑正好在院子的正中央。“我看不出是哪一个有什么关系。”彼得说。 “嗯，有可能，”杰克说。 “我们可以看看这些大楼里是否有公司对狗感兴趣。“嗯，我想这主意不错。”彼得迟疑地说。 “不管怎样，现在让我们把盖子盖上，把盒子盖上。 我们不想让任何人怀疑我们发现了他们的一部分秘密。”他们尽可能悄悄地盖上盖子，把箱子拖过盖子。 现在它和他们刚进院子时一样隐蔽得很好。 “天快黑了。”彼得说。 “我们最好回家去。 我妈妈会

wondering where I am– and oh, bother– I've not done my homework yet. It's awfully difficult to swot at French verbs when you're thinking out a mystery all the time.' 'Look!' said Jack, as they turned to leave the yard. 'Look! Only one of these buildings has a lit window. Do you suppose the coal-cellar belongs to that one? Do you think there's anyone looking after that bullterrier? He must be scared stiff if he's all by himself.' The boys stared up at the lit window. 'It's the building on the left,' said Peter. 'It will be just round the corner of the block. Let's go that way and see what firm uses it. It might be a help, though, of course, the lit window may have nothing whatever to do with the mystery!' They left the yard cautiously, went down the dark alley-way, and out into the street. They walked round the block, and came to the building that they thought must have shown

不知道我在哪里——哦，真讨厌——我还没做完作业呢。 当你一直在思考一个谜题时，想要学习法语动词是非常困难的。“看!他们转身离开院子时，杰克说。 “看!这些建筑物中只有一间窗户是亮着的。 你认为这个煤窖是属于那个人的吗？ 你觉得有人照看那只斗牛犬吗？ 如果只有他一个人，他一定吓呆了。”男孩们抬头盯着亮着灯的窗户。 “就是左边的那栋楼。”彼得说。 “就在这个街区的拐角处。 我们去那边看看哪家公司用它。 这可能会有帮助，不过，当然了，那扇亮着灯的窗户可能与这个谜团毫无关系！”他们小心翼翼地离开院子，穿过黑暗的小巷，来到街上。 他们绕着街区走了一圈，来到了那幢他们认为一定已经显露出来的楼房

the lit window. Colin switched his torch on to the dirty brass plate in the main doorway. 'Alliance of Callinated Sack Manufacturers!' he read. 'What on earth does that mean? Anyway, by the look of the building, the sack manufacturers must have gone west long ago. What a desolate, dirty place! It hasn't had a touch of paint for years!' 'It may be one of the buildings that the Council plan to pull down,' said Jack. 'I know some of them round about here are being pulled down, they're so old. Come on, let's go.' 'Look!' said Peter suddenly, and pulled the others to one side. 'The door's opening!' Sure enough it was. The boys stood quietly in the shadows, waiting. Someone came out and shut the door softly. He went down the few steps into the street. He kept close to the wall as he walked along, a tall, stooping man. With one accord the boys followed, their

灯火通明的窗户。柯林把手电筒对准正门上那块肮脏的铜板。 “花絮袋制造商联盟！”他念道。 “这到底是什么意思？” 不管怎样，从这栋建筑的外观来看，麻袋制造商一定很久以前就搬到西部去了。 多么荒凉、肮脏的地方啊！它已经好几年没有油漆了！“这可能是议会计划拆除的建筑物之一，”杰克说。 “我知道这附近有些房子正在被拆掉，它们太老了。 来吧，我们走。“看!彼得突然说，把其他人拉到一边。 “门开了！”果然是这样。 孩子们静静地站在阴影里等着。 有人走了出来，轻轻地把门关上。 他走下几级台阶，来到街上。 他是一个身材高大、驼背的人，走路时紧贴着墙。 男孩们不约而同地跟了上去