6 JACK IS VERY PUZZLED

CHAPTER SIX JACK IS VERY PUZZLED THE CAVE was a great success. On rainy days it was a wonderful place to lie in and read, or play games. Each of the Seven burrowed into the sand and made his or her own bed or hole. Each had a cushion for their head. The shelves were always kept stacked with papers and magazines, and with food and drink. 'We couldn't have found a better place,' said Colin. 'Jack, does Susie ever bother about where you disappear to for hours on end?' 'Goodness, yes,' said Jack. 'She keeps on and on about it. She knows our old shed is no longer a meeting-place, because she went to

第六章杰克非常困惑《洞穴》取得了巨大的成功。 下雨天，这里是躺着看书或做游戏的好地方。 七只小山羊各自在沙子里挖洞，做自己的床或洞。 每个人头上都有一个垫子。 书架上总是堆满了报纸和杂志，还有食物和饮料。 “我们找不到比这更好的地方了。”柯林说。 “杰克，苏茜有没有为你连续几个小时消失在哪里而烦恼过？”“天哪，是的，”杰克说。 “她不停地说。 她知道我们的旧棚屋不再是见面的地方了，因为她去了

have a look at it. I have to be awfully careful not to let her follow me when I come here. Yesterday I turned round and there she was, keeping to the bushes beside the road, hoping I wouldn't see her.' 'What did you do?' asked Pam. 'I turned a corner and went off to the sweet shop instead of coming here,' said Jack. 'I do hope she won't find our cave.' 'Let's go into the quarry and play hide-and-seek,' said Janet, getting up. 'The sun's out again, and I'm longing to stretch my legs.' So off they all went. Jack was chosen to shut his eyes and count a hundred before he began looking. The cave was to be Home. Jack stood by a tree at the other side of the quarry, counting nice and slowly. When he had counted a hundred, he looked round. Could he see anyone behind a bush, or lying in the lush grass nearby? No – not one of the others was to be seen.

看看吧。我来这儿的时候必须非常小心，不让她跟着我。 昨天我转过身来，她就在那儿，躲在路边的灌木丛里，希望我不会看到她。“你做了什么？”潘问。 “我拐了个弯，没来这儿，而是去了糖果店，”杰克说。 “我真希望她找不到我们的山洞。“我们到采石场去玩捉迷藏吧，”珍妮特说着站了起来。 太阳又出来了，我真想活动活动腿。于是他们都走了。 杰克被选中闭上眼睛，数到一百才开始看。 这个洞穴就是家。杰克站在采石场另一边的一棵树旁，慢慢地数着。 当他数到一百时，他环顾四周。 他能看见树丛后面或附近茂盛的草丛里躺着什么人吗？ 没有——其他的人一个也看不见。

He moved cautiously round his tree, keeping his eyes open for a sudden movement somewhere. He glanced towards the cave, which he could just see between a gap in the broom bushes that hid it so well. Then he stared. Someone was slipping into the cave! Who was it? He just couldn't see. That's not fair, thought Jack. They haven't given me a chance to find them. Well, I'll soon find out which of the Seven it is, and tell them what I think of them! He saw a patch of blue nearby and recognised Pam's dress behind a bush. He rushed at her, but she escaped and ran squealing to the cave. Then he found Barbara, Janet, and Scamper together, crouching behind a great hummock of sand. He ran to catch them and fell headlong over a tuft of grass. They rushed away, the girls squealing and Scamper barking.

他小心翼翼地绕着树走着，眼睛睁得大大的，生怕什么地方突然有动静。 他朝山洞瞥了一眼，正好能从扫帚丛的缝隙中看到，扫帚丛把山洞藏得很好。 然后他凝视着。有人溜进了山洞！是谁？ 他只是看不见。这不公平，杰克想。 他们都没给我机会去找他们。 好吧，我很快就会知道是七个人中的哪一个，然后告诉他们我对他们的看法！他看到附近有一片蓝色，认出是帕姆在灌木丛后面穿的裙子。 他向她冲去，但她逃走了，尖叫着跑向山洞。 然后他发现芭芭拉、珍妮特和斯坎普一起蹲在一个巨大的沙丘后面。 他跑过去抓他们，却一头栽在一丛草上。 他们跑开了，女孩们尖叫着，斯坎普狂吠着。

He nearly caught Colin behind a tree, but Colin was too quick for him. Let's see – that only leaves one more, said Jack to himself. The first one I saw going into the cave – then the three girls – then Colin – myself – and so there's just one more. It's Peter or George. He hunted here and there, and then suddenly fell over two giggling boys. It was Peter and George, half-buried in the soft sand. Jack grabbed at Peter and caught him, but George escaped to the cave. 'I'm caught all right!' said Peter, grinning. 'I'll be "He" next. Let's call out to everyone in the cave.' 'Wait a minute,' said Jack, looking puzzled. 'There's something I don't understand. Let's go up to the cave.' Peter went with him to the cave, where the other five were waiting. 'What don't you understand?' asked Peter. 'Well, listen – first I saw someone slipping

他差点在树后抓住柯林，但柯林跑得太快了。 让我想想——这样就只剩下一个了，杰克自言自语道。 我看到第一个人进了山洞——然后是三个女孩——然后是科林——还有我自己——所以就只剩下一个了。 是彼得还是乔治。他到处找，突然被两个咯咯笑的男孩绊倒了。 原来是彼得和乔治，半埋在松软的沙子里。 杰克抓住彼得，把他抓住了，但乔治逃到了山洞里。 “我被抓住了！”彼得咧嘴笑着说。 “下一个我是‘他’。”我们把洞里的每个人都喊出来。“等一下，”杰克说，看起来很困惑。 “有件事我不明白。 咱们上洞去吧。”彼得和他一起去了山洞，其他五个人都在那里等着。 “你有什么不明白的？”彼得问。 “嗯，听着——首先我看到有人滑倒了

into the cave immediately after I'd finished counting,' said Jack, 'which wasn't really fair. Then I found Pam, then Janet and Barbara, then Colin, then you and George, Peter.' 'Well – what's puzzling you?' asked Peter. 'Just this – that makes eight of us, not counting Scamper,' said Jack. 'And what I want to know is, who was the eighth?' They all counted. Yes, Jack was right. That made eight, not seven. Everyone said at once that they hadn't slipped into the cave before Jack discovered them. 'Well, who was that first person then, if it wasn't any of us?' said Jack, really puzzled. 'I tell you I saw somebody go into the cave before I discovered any of you. Who was it?' Everyone began to look round uneasily. Peter pulled the green curtain back as far as he could, and the sunshine filled the cave, except for the dark places at the back. 'There's nobody here,' said Pam.

“我刚数完，马上就进了洞，”杰克说，“这太不公平了。 然后我找到了帕姆，珍妮特和芭芭拉，科林，然后是你和乔治，彼得。“嗯——你在困惑什么？”彼得问。 “就这样——算上斯坎普，我们有八个人了。”杰克说。 “我想知道的是，第八位是谁？”他们都算过。 是的，杰克是对的。一共是8个，不是7个。 每个人都立刻说他们是在杰克发现他们之前溜进山洞的。 “那么，如果不是我们中的任何一个人，那么第一个人是谁呢？”杰克不解地说。 “我告诉你们，在我发现你们之前，我看见有人进了山洞。 是谁？”大家开始不安地环顾四周。 彼得尽量把绿色的帘子往后拉，阳光洒满了山洞，除了后面的黑暗地方。 “这儿没人，”潘说。

do you suppose it could have been Susie?' 'I don't know. I only just saw somebody, but I haven't any idea who it was,' said Jack. 'And look here, surely that somebody must still be in here! I found Pam almost immediately, and she rushed off to the cave. You didn't see anyone here, did you, Pam?' 'Of course not,' said Pam. 'If I'd seen Susie I would have been furious with her!' Peter took down a torch from the shelf of rock nearby and switched it on. He flashed it towards the dark corners at the end of the cave. 'Come forth!' he said, in a hollow voice. 'Come forth, O wicked intruder!' But nobody came. The far corners of the cave, now lit brilliantly by the torch, were quite empty. 'It's odd,' said Jack, frowning. 'Very odd. Give me the torch, Peter. I'll go and see if there's any corner or hole at the end of the cave that we haven't noticed.'

你觉得会是苏西吗？”“我不知道。 “我刚才只是看见一个人，但我不知道是谁。”杰克说。 “看这儿，肯定有人还在这儿！”我几乎立刻就找到了帕姆，她冲进了山洞。 你没看到这里有人吧，帕姆？“当然不是，”潘说。 “如果我看到了苏西，我会对她大发雷霆的！”彼得从旁边的岩石架子上取下一个手电筒，打开电源。 他把它朝洞穴尽头黑暗的角落一闪。 “出来!”他用空洞的声音说。 “出来吧，邪恶的闯入者！”但是没有人来。 山洞远处的角落，现在被火把照亮了，却空无一人。 “真奇怪。”杰克皱着眉头说。 “非常奇怪。把火把给我，彼得。 我去看看山洞尽头有没有我们没注意到的角落或洞。”