15 UNDERGROUND HAPPENINGS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN UNDERGROUND HAPPENINGS THE THREE boys down in the coal-hole were now carefully opening the door they had seen. Scamper was at Peter's heels, as excited as they were. Peter wished he didn't pant quite so loudly, but Scamper couldn't help that! The door creaked as it was opened. There was no light beyond. Peter cautiously flashed his torch on and off. A passage lay before him, leading to a few steps. A closed door was at the top of the steps. The boys went along the passage and up the few steps and then turned the handle of the

第十五章地下发生的事在煤洞里的三个男孩正在小心翼翼地打开他们看到的那扇门。 斯坎普跟在彼得后面，和他们一样兴奋。 彼得希望自己不要那么大声地喘气，但斯坎普没办法！门打开时发出吱吱的响声。 远处没有光。 彼得小心翼翼地把手电筒亮了又灭。 他面前有一条通往几步路的通道。 台阶顶上有一扇关着的门。 孩子们沿着通道走了几步，然后转动了门把手

door. Would it be locked? No, it wasn't. It opened towards them, and Peter peered round the crack. Still there was darkness in front of them. He flashed his torch round. Now they were in the main cellars that lay under the big building. They stretched here and there, low-roofed, with brick pillars standing up from floor to roof at intervals. A noise came to Scamper's ears, and he listened, head on one side. Peter saw him listening, and listened too. But he could hear nothing. Scamper's ears were sharper than his. They moved forward very cautiously, stopping every now and again to listen. It was very weird to be so far under a building, in the pitch darkness and loneliness of these vast cellars. They smelt strange too– musty and old and damp. They came to another door– a wooden one– and now Scamper began to get very excited. Peter had difficulty in preventing him from

门。它会被锁上吗？不，不是。 门朝他们开了，彼得从裂缝里往外张望。 他们的面前仍然一片黑暗。 他用手电向四周闪烁。 现在他们到了那幢大楼下面的主地窖里。 它们到处伸展，屋顶很低，砖柱从地板到屋顶间或竖立起来。 一个声音传到斯坎普的耳朵里，他侧过头听着。 彼得看见他在听，也在听。 但他什么也听不见。 斯坎普的耳朵比他的还尖。 他们小心翼翼地向前走着，不时停下来倾听。 在这么深的建筑物下面，在这些巨大的地窖的漆黑和孤独中，感觉很奇怪。 它们闻起来也很奇怪——发霉了，又旧又潮。 他们来到另一扇门前——一扇木门——斯坎普开始变得非常兴奋。 彼得很难阻止他

barking. And then, as they opened the stout wooden door, they heard what Scamper heard! It was the noise of whining dogs! Scamper whined too when he heard, and wanted to dash through the door. Then came a barking and a yapping. Then more whining. 'There are dogs shut up here,' whispered Peter. 'We were right. Go carefully now, for goodness' sake.' They came to a long, narrow cellar, where a faint light glowed from a glass bulb. On one side was a wooden bench, on which cages were set. In them were five or six dogs, their eyes gleaming red in the faint light. Nobody was there with the dogs. They gazed warily and snarled as the three boys came quietly near, but when Scamper gave an excited, friendly whine, they whined too, pawing at their cages in excitement. 'They've got water and food,' whispered Peter. 'Oh, look, there's the lovely car-sick

吠叫。然后，当他们打开那扇结实的木门时，他们听到了斯坎普听到的声音！那是狗的哀嚎声！斯坎普听到后也呜咽起来，想冲进门去。 接着传来了犬吠声和汪汪声。 然后是更多的抱怨。“这里关着狗。”彼得小声说。 “我们是对的。看在上帝的份上，现在小心点。”他们来到一个又长又窄的地窖，一个玻璃灯泡发出微弱的光。 一边是一条木凳，上面放着笼子。 里面有五六条狗，它们的眼睛在微弱的光线下闪着红光。 没有人和狗在一起。 当三个男孩悄悄地走近时，它们警惕地盯着，咆哮着，但当斯坎普兴奋地发出友好的呜呜声时，它们也呜呜地叫了起来，兴奋地用爪子抓着笼子。 “他们有水和食物。”彼得小声说。 “哦，看，有个可爱的晕车病

poodle we saw in that car, Jack, do you remember? We saw it when we were doing a bit of practice, hiding by the road in a spyhole, watching people go by. I'm sure it's the same poodle.' 'Yes. It is,' said Jack. 'Colin, there's a bull-terrier, see? He's the same one you saw with that young man, I suppose?' Colin nodded. He was very fond of dogs, and he was already making friends with these, allowing them to lick his hand through the wires of the cages. 'There's a greyhound, and a magnificent Alsatian!' said Peter. 'I bet those are the ones the girls read about in the papers as lost or stolen. And here's a Dalmatian– hallo, Spots! You're a beauty, aren't you?' The dogs were now all very friendly to the boys, partly because they had a dog with them who was friendly too. Peter stood and looked at the dogs, wondering what to do next.

我们在车里看到的贵宾犬，杰克，你还记得吗？ 我们是在做练习的时候看到的，当时我们躲在路边的窥孔里，看着人们经过。 我肯定是同一只贵宾犬。“是的。 “是的，”杰克说。“科林，那儿有条斗牛梗，看见了吗？” 我想，他就是你看见和那个年轻人在一起的那个人吧？”科林点点头。 他非常喜欢狗，他已经和狗交朋友了，让它们隔着笼子的铁丝舔他的手。 “有一只灰狗，还有一只漂亮的阿尔萨斯狗！”彼得说。 “我敢打赌，那些是女孩们在报纸上读到的丢失或被盗的东西。 这是一只斑点狗——你好，小不点！你真漂亮，是不是？”这些狗现在对男孩们都很友好，部分原因是他们有一只狗和他们在一起，它也很友好。 彼得站在那里看着狗，不知道下一步该怎么办。

'Should we set them free from their cages, tie them together with rope and see if we can get them out of the coal-hole?' he said. 'Don't be silly!' said Colin. They'd? never go up the rope-ladder– and I bet they'd begin to fight if we set them free.' 'Listen, somebody's coming!' said Jack, suddenly, and Scamper gave a warning growl. The boys went into the shadows and waited. They saw an old bent man shuffling along, carrying a lantern. His head shone in the faint radiance of the electric light above, for he was quite bald. He had a small dog with him, a mongrel of some kind, and he talked to it as he came in a curious, hoarse voice like a creaking gate! 'Come on, Tinks. We'll see if all the lords and ladies are all right. They don't think nothing of the likes of you and me, but we don't care, do we?' The little dog trotted beside him, and they

“我们是不是应该把它们从笼子里放出来，用绳子把它们绑在一起，看看能不能把它们从煤洞里拉出来？”他说。 “别傻了！”科林说。 他们会吗?永远不要爬绳梯——我敢打赌，如果我们放了它们，它们会打起来的。“听，有人来了！”杰克突然说，斯坎普发出了一声警告的咆哮。 孩子们躲进阴影里等着。 他们看见一个弯腰驼背的老人提着灯笼拖着脚步走过来。 他的头在上面微弱的电光下闪闪发光，因为他已经秃顶了。 他带着一只小狗，是某种杂种狗，他一边走过来，一边用一种奇怪的、沙哑的声音跟它说话，声音就像一扇吱吱作响的门！“来吧，小叮当。 我们去看看所有的贵族和女士们都好不好。 他们不会瞧不起你我这种人，但我们不在乎，是不是？”小狗在他身边小跑，他们

came to the cages. The old man went on talking in his creaking voice, staring at the caged dogs. 'Well, my high-and-mighty ones, my lords and ladies, you're worse off than little Tinks here. You've lost your own masters, but he's got his. You may be worth your weight in gold, for all I know, but you'd give all you've got for a nice long walk, wouldn't you? Well, Tinks goes for two each day. Tell 'em, Tinks, tell 'em.' But Tinks was not listening. He had smelt strange smells, the smells of the three boys and the golden spaniel, Scamper! In a moment he was over beside them, barking madly. The old man held up his lantern and peered at them. 'What, more visitors?' he creaked. 'Come to see the lords and ladies, have you? Wait now, you're only lads!' Peter came out from the shadows with Jack and Colin. He didn't feel at all afraid of this

来到笼子里。老人继续用他那嘶哑的声音说话，眼睛盯着笼子里的狗。 “好吧，我的权贵们，我的先生们和女士们，你们的处境比这里的小叮当还糟糕。 你失去了自己的主人，但他有他的。 就我所知，你也许身家千金，但你愿意付出一切来换取一次悠长的散步，不是吗？ 小叮当每天吃两颗。 告诉他们，叮叮铃，告诉他们。”但是叮叮铃不听。 他闻到了一股奇怪的气味，那是三个男孩和那只金色的猎犬斯坎普的气味！不一会儿，他就走到他们身边，疯狂地叫着。 老人举起灯笼，凝视着他们。 “什么，又来了客人？”他嘶哑地说。 “来看看先生们和太太们，是吗？” 等等，你们还只是孩子！”彼得带着杰克和科林从阴影中走了出来。 他一点也不害怕