三怪客泛舟記：哈里斯與天鵝

After lunch， we moved on to Wargrave and Shiplake，and then to Sonning.We got out of the boat there， and we walked about for an hour or more. It was too late then to go on past Reading， so we decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands.We would spend the night there.

午飯之后，我們繼續(xù)駛向沃格雷夫和希普雷克，然后再去松寧。在那里下了船，游覽了一個(gè)小時(shí)左右。來(lái)不及趕到雷丁了，所以我們決定回到希普雷克，在那里找一個(gè)小島過(guò)夜。

When we had tied the boat up by one of the islands，it was still early.George said it would be a good idea to have a really excellent supper.He said we could use all kinds of things，and all the bits of food we had left.We could make it really inter-esting， and we could put everything into one big pan together.George said he would show us how to do it.

我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)小島上拴好了船，天色尚早。喬治說(shuō)要是能真正做上一頓可口的晚餐那該多好啊!還說(shuō)可以把所有的東西，剩的飯都做到一起，那才有味道呢!我們可以把這些東西都放在一只大鍋里。喬治要給我們露一手，表演一下怎么做。

We liked this idea，so George collected wood to make a fire.Harris and I started to prepare the potatoes. This became a very big job.We began quite happily. However， by the time we had finished our first potato，we were feeling very miserable.There was almost no potato left.George came and looked at it.

這個(gè)主意太妙了。喬治便去找木頭生火，哈里斯和我準(zhǔn)備弄土豆。真沒(méi)想到工程如此浩大。剛開(kāi)始的時(shí)候我們還挺高興，可是剛削完第一個(gè)土豆，我們就已經(jīng)痛苦不堪了。一個(gè)土豆幾乎削得沒(méi)剩多少了。喬治走過(guò)來(lái)一看，說(shuō)：

'Oh， that's no good. You've done it wrong!Do it like this!'he said.

“哦，這樣削可不行。你們把東西全糟塌了?？?，象我這樣削。”

We worked very hard for twenty-five minutes.At the end of that time we had done four potatoes.We refused to continue.

我們辛辛苦苦地干了二十五分鐘，才削好了四個(gè)，我們堅(jiān)決不干了。

George said it was stupid to have only four potatoes， so we washed about six more.Then we put them in the pan without doing anything else to them.We also put in some carrots and other vegetables. But George looked at it， and he said there was not enough.So then we got out both the food baskets.We took out all the bits of things that were left， and we put them in，too. In fact， we put in everything we could find. I remember that Montmorency watched all this，and he looked very thoughtful.Then he walked away.He came back a few minutes later with a dead rat in his mouth. He wanted to give it to us for the meal.We did not know if he really wanted to put it in the pan，or if he wanted to tell us what he thought about the meal.Harris said he thought it would be all right to put the rat in.However， George did not want to try anything new.

喬治說(shuō)只有四個(gè)土豆也太不象話了，因此我們又洗了六個(gè)，沒(méi)削沒(méi)刮，就那么放在鍋里，又放了一些胡蘿卜和其它蔬菜。可是喬治看看，說(shuō)還是不夠。我們只好把兩個(gè)裝食物的籃子都拿出來(lái)了，把剩下的所有的東西都放進(jìn)鍋里。說(shuō)實(shí)在的，我們把能找到的都放進(jìn)去了。我還記得在整個(gè)烹飪過(guò)程中，“元帥”一直心事重重地看著，又走開(kāi)了。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，他叼著一只死耗子回來(lái)了，想給我們的晚餐做點(diǎn)貢獻(xiàn)。到底它是真的想把死耗子放進(jìn)鍋里呢，還是想告訴我們這是它對(duì)晚餐的看法呢，我們不得而知。哈里斯說(shuō)放進(jìn)去很好，可是喬治不想搞什么新的試驗(yàn)。

It was a very good meal. It was different from other meals.The potatoes were a bit hard， but we had good teeth， so it did not really matter.

這頓飯確實(shí)很好，與以往吃的都不同。土豆有些硬，但因?yàn)槲覀兊难篮?，所以也沒(méi)什么大問(wèn)題。

After supper Harris was rather disagreeable—I think it was the meal which caused this.He is not used to such rich food.George and I decided to go for a walk in Henley， but we left Harris in the boat.He said he was going to have a glass of whisky，smoke his pipe， and then get the boat ready for the night.We were on an island，so when we came back we would shout from the river bank.Then Harris would come in the boat and get us.When we left， we said to him，'Don't go to sleep!'

哈里斯吃罷晚飯變得有些不太友好——我想這一定是那頓飯?jiān)谧鞴郑€不適應(yīng)那么豐盛的食物。喬治和我打算到亨利城里面轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)，把哈里斯留在船上。他說(shuō)他要喝一杯威士忌，抽斗煙，再把船弄好，準(zhǔn)備過(guò)夜。我們停在一個(gè)島上，所以回來(lái)的時(shí)候只要在岸上喊上一聲，哈里斯就把船搖過(guò)來(lái)接我們。臨行的時(shí)候，我們叮囑他：“可別睡著了!”

Henley was very busy， and we met quite a lot of people we knew in town.The time passed very quickly.When we started off on our long walk back， it was eleven o'clock.

亨利城里面十分熱鬧，我們?cè)谀抢锱鲆?jiàn)不少倫敦城里的熟人。時(shí)間過(guò)得真快，我們動(dòng)身回來(lái)時(shí)，已經(jīng)十一點(diǎn)了，還有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的一段路要走。

It was a dark and miserable night.It was quite cold， and it was raining a bit. We walked through the dark， silent fields，and we talked quietly to each other.We wondered if we were going the right way.We thought of our nice， warm， comfort-able boat. We thought of Harris， and Montmorency， and the whisky—and we wished that we were there.

那是個(gè)陰沉可怕的夜晚，冷氣逼人，又下著小雨。我們穿過(guò)黑暗寂靜的曠野，低聲談著話，心里直犯嘀咕，也不知道走的路對(duì)不對(duì)。一想到我們那個(gè)溫暖，舒適的小船，想到哈里斯和“元帥”，還有威士忌——真不如就呆在船上呢。

We imagined that we were inside our warm little boat， tired and a little hungry， with the dark， miserable river outside.We could see ourselves-we were sitting down to supper there; we were passing cold meat and thick pieces of bread to each other.We could hear the happy sounds of our knives and our laughing voices.We hurried to make it real.

我們想像自己拖著饑餓、疲憊的身子回到船上，周?chē)顷幧膳碌暮铀?。我們仿佛看?jiàn)自己坐下來(lái)吃著晚餐，互相遞著冷肉和一片片厚厚的面包;我們仿佛聽(tīng)見(jiàn)刀叉叮當(dāng)作響，聽(tīng)到自己陣陣的笑語(yǔ)。我們歸心似箭，要盡快實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)夢(mèng)想。

After some time，we found the river，and that made us happy. We knew that we were going the right way. We passed Shiplake at a quarter to twelve， and then George said， quite slowly.' You don't remember which island it was， do you?'

又過(guò)了一段時(shí)間，我們終于到了河邊，心中才高興起來(lái)，知道自己走的路沒(méi)有錯(cuò)。我們經(jīng)過(guò)希普雷克的時(shí)候是十一點(diǎn)三刻，喬治慢吞吞地問(wèn)道：“你還記得咱們住的那個(gè)小島，是嗎?”

' No，I don't，'I replied， and I began to think carefully.'How many are there?'

“不，記不得了，”我回答說(shuō)，然后我也開(kāi)始使勁想。“一共有幾個(gè)島啊?”

'Only four，'George answered.'It'll be all right，if Harris is awake.'

“只有四個(gè)，”喬治回答。“只要哈里斯醒著，準(zhǔn)能找到。”

'And if he isn't awake?'I asked.

“要是他沒(méi)醒著怎么辦?”我問(wèn)。

But we decided not to think about that.

我們打定主意不去那么想。

When we arrived opposite the first island， we shouted， but there was no answer.So we went to the second island， and we tried there.The result was the same.

我們走到第一個(gè)島對(duì)面大喊大叫，可是毫無(wú)回音。我們又跑到第二個(gè)島對(duì)面又喊，還是沒(méi)有回音。

'Oh， I remember now，'George said.'It was the third one.'

“哦，我想起來(lái)了，”喬治說(shuō)。“我們住的是第三個(gè)島。”

And， full of hope， we ran to the third one， and we called out.There was no answer.

我們滿懷希望地跑到第三個(gè)島又喊了一通，還是沒(méi)有回音。

It was now becoming serious. It was after midnight.The ho-tels were all full，and we could not go round all the houses and knock on doors at midnight!George said that perhaps we could go back to Henley，find a policeman and hit him.He would arrest us and take us to a police station， and then we would have somewhere to sleep. But then we thought， 'Per-haps he won't arrest us.Perhaps he'll just hit us，too!'We could not fight policemen all night.

這樣，問(wèn)題就嚴(yán)重了。時(shí)間已過(guò)半夜，旅館也早已客滿，我們總不能走遍全城，半夜里一家一家挨著敲門(mén)吧!喬治說(shuō)也許我們應(yīng)該回亨利城，找個(gè)警察，把他打一頓，他就會(huì)把我們抓起來(lái)帶到派出所。那樣我們就有地方睡覺(jué)了。可是轉(zhuǎn)念一想：“說(shuō)不定警察不抓我們，倒是也把我們揍一頓呢!”我們不能整個(gè)晚上都和警察打架。

We tried the fourth island，but there was still no reply. It was raining hard now， and it was not going to stop. We were very cold， and wet， and miserable. We began to wonder if there were only four islands， or if we were on the wrong bit of the river.Everything looked strange and different in the darkness.

我們又摸索到第四個(gè)島，同樣毫無(wú)結(jié)果。雨下得越來(lái)越大，沒(méi)有停的樣子。我們又冷又濕，狼狽不堪。我們開(kāi)始懷疑起來(lái)：到底是不是只有四個(gè)小島呢?還是我們走到了另一個(gè)河岸?漆黑一片，一切都變幻莫測(cè)。

Just when we had lost all hope， I suddenly saw a strange light. It was over by the trees， on the opposite side of the river.I shouted as loudly as I could.

正在我們絕望的當(dāng)間兒，我忽然看見(jiàn)一道奇異的光線，從河對(duì)岸的樹(shù)林里透了出來(lái)，于是我扯起嗓子喊起來(lái)。

We waited in silence for a moment， and then(Oh， how happy we were!)we heard Montmorency bark.

我們靜靜等了一會(huì)兒。啊!我們聽(tīng)見(jiàn)“元帥”吠叫(哦!我們太高興了!)

We continued to shout for about five minutes， and then we saw the lights of the boat. It was coming towards us slowly.We heard Harris's sleepy voice. He was asking where we were.

我們又聲嘶力竭地喊了五分鐘，才看見(jiàn)小船上的燈光慢慢地向我們移過(guò)來(lái)，又聽(tīng)見(jiàn)哈里斯迷迷糊糊的聲音，問(wèn)我們?cè)谀睦铩?/p>

Harris seemed very strange. It was more than tiredness. He brought the boat to our side of the river. He stopped， at a place where we could not get into the boat， and then immediately he fell asleep.

哈里斯顯得有點(diǎn)奇怪，困得不象是一般的疲倦。他把船靠到岸邊，停下來(lái)，可那個(gè)地方我們根本無(wú)法上船，而他自己卻又馬上睡著了。

We had to scream and yell to wake him up again.At last we did wake him up， and we got into the boat.

我們只能喊著，尖叫著才能把他弄醒。他好不容易醒過(guò)來(lái)，我們這才得以上船。

Harris looked very sad.In fact，he looked like a man who had had a lot of trouble.We asked him if anything had hap-pened， and he said，' Swans!'

哈里斯看上去十分難過(guò)，就好像經(jīng)歷了一場(chǎng)大劫難。我們問(wèn)他到底發(fā)生了什么事兒，他說(shuō)了兩個(gè)字：“天鵝!”

We had left the boat near a swan's nest， and， soon after George and I had left， Mrs Swan came back. She started to shout at Harris. However， Harris managed to chase her away，and she went to fetch her husband.Harris said he had had quite a hard battle with these two swans. But he had fought bravely and，in the end，he defeated them.

原來(lái)，我們把船停在了天鵝巢的旁邊。就在我和喬治起身剛走，天鵝太太回來(lái)了。她沖著哈里斯直嚷嚷，而哈里斯呢，使出渾身解數(shù)把天鵝太太趕走。于是她把她丈夫拉來(lái)了。哈里斯說(shuō)他和兩只天鵝戰(zhàn)斗得異常激烈，哈里斯愈戰(zhàn)愈勇，最后大獲全勝。

Half an hour later they returned-with eighteen more swans.There was another terrible battle.Harris said the swans had tried to pull him and Montmorency from the boat and drown them.But，once again，Harris fought bravely，for four hours，and he had killed them all.Then they had all swum away to die.

過(guò)了半個(gè)小時(shí)，它們卷土重來(lái)——又帶來(lái)了十八只天鵝!又是一場(chǎng)昏天黑地的戰(zhàn)斗。那些天鵝要把哈里斯和“元帥”拖到水里去，淹死他們。哈里斯再次以大無(wú)畏的精神又戰(zhàn)斗了四個(gè)小時(shí)，把它們?nèi)繗灉?。它們只能游到別的地方，等死去吧!

'How many swans did you say there were?'George asked.

“你說(shuō)一共有多少只天鵝?”喬治問(wèn)道。

'Thirty-two，'Harris replied，sleepily.

“三十二只，”哈里斯半睡半醒地回答說(shuō)。

'You said eighteen before，'George said.

“可你剛才不是說(shuō)十八只嗎?”喬治說(shuō)。

'No， I didn't，'Harris answered.'I said twelve.Do you think I can't count?'

“我可沒(méi)說(shuō)，”哈里斯咕噥道。“我說(shuō)的是十二只。你當(dāng)我不會(huì)數(shù)數(shù)啊?”

We never discovered what had really happened.We asked Harris about it the next morning， but he said， 'What swans?'And he seemed to think that George and I had been dreaming.

到底那場(chǎng)天鵝戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)是怎么一回事，我們始終沒(méi)搞清楚。第二天早上我們問(wèn)起哈里斯這件事，他卻說(shuō)：“什么天鵝?”他以為喬治和我一直還做著夢(mèng)呢!

Oh， how wonderful it was to be in the boat again! We ate a very good supper， and then we thought we would have some whisky.But we could not find it.We asked Harris what he had done with it， but he did not seem to understand. The expres-sion on Montmorency's face told us that he knew something，but he said nothing.

哦，重新回到船上可真好!我們美美地吃了一頓晚餐。本來(lái)還想好好地喝上點(diǎn)威士忌，卻怎么也找不著。我們審問(wèn)哈里斯，把威士忌搞到哪里去了，他一派茫然無(wú)知的樣子，根本不懂我們?cè)谡勈裁?。?ldquo;元帥”臉上的表情卻好像告訴我們，他知道些內(nèi)幕，但它什么也不說(shuō)。

I slept well that night，although Harris did wake me up ten times or more. He was looking for his clothes. He seemed to be worrying about his clothes all night.

我那天晚上睡得很好，盡管哈里斯把我吵醒了十好幾回。他一直在找衣服，似乎一晚上盡擔(dān)心他的衣服了。

Twice he made George and me get up，because he wanted to see if we were lying on his trousers.George got quite angry the second time.

他把喬治和我推醒了兩次，就是為了看看我們有沒(méi)有壓在他的褲子上。第二次的時(shí)候，喬治氣壞了。

'Whatever do you want your trousers for? It's the middle of the night!'he cried.'Why don't you lie down and go to sleep?'

“你半夜三更起來(lái)找褲子，到底要干嘛?”喬治喊道。“干嘛不躺下來(lái)好好去睡覺(jué)。”

The next time I woke up Harris said he could not find his shoes.And I can remember that once he pushed me over onto my side.'Wherever can that umbrella be?'he was saying.

我第二次醒來(lái)時(shí)，哈里斯說(shuō)找不著鞋了。后來(lái)我還記得他把我推了一個(gè)個(gè)兒，還在說(shuō)：“我的傘能去哪兒呢?”

After lunch， we moved on to Wargrave and Shiplake，and then to Sonning.We got out of the boat there， and we walked about for an hour or more. It was too late then to go on past Reading， so we decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands.We would spend the night there.

When we had tied the boat up by one of the islands，it was still early.George said it would be a good idea to have a really excellent supper.He said we could use all kinds of things，and all the bits of food we had left.We could make it really inter-esting， and we could put everything into one big pan together.George said he would show us how to do it.

We liked this idea，so George collected wood to make a fire.Harris and I started to prepare the potatoes. This became a very big job.We began quite happily. However， by the time we had finished our first potato，we were feeling very miserable.There was almost no potato left.George came and looked at it.

'Oh， that's no good. You've done it wrong!Do it like this!'he said.

We worked very hard for twenty-five minutes.At the end of that time we had done four potatoes.We refused to continue.

George said it was stupid to have only four potatoes， so we washed about six more.Then we put them in the pan without doing anything else to them.We also put in some carrots and other vegetables. But George looked at it， and he said there was not enough.So then we got out both the food baskets.We took out all the bits of things that were left， and we put them in，too. In fact， we put in everything we could find. I remember that Montmorency watched all this，and he looked very thoughtful.Then he walked away.He came back a few minutes later with a dead rat in his mouth. He wanted to give it to us for the meal.We did not know if he really wanted to put it in the pan，or if he wanted to tell us what he thought about the meal.Harris said he thought it would be all right to put the rat in.However， George did not want to try anything new.

It was a very good meal. It was different from other meals.The potatoes were a bit hard， but we had good teeth， so it did not really matter.

After supper Harris was rather disagreeable—I think it was the meal which caused this.He is not used to such rich food.George and I decided to go for a walk in Henley， but we left Harris in the boat.He said he was going to have a glass of whisky，smoke his pipe， and then get the boat ready for the night.We were on an island，so when we came back we would shout from the river bank.Then Harris would come in the boat and get us.When we left， we said to him，'Don't go to sleep!'

Henley was very busy， and we met quite a lot of people we knew in town.The time passed very quickly.When we started off on our long walk back， it was eleven o'clock.

It was a dark and miserable night.It was quite cold， and it was raining a bit. We walked through the dark， silent fields，and we talked quietly to each other.We wondered if we were going the right way.We thought of our nice， warm， comfort-able boat. We thought of Harris， and Montmorency， and the whisky—and we wished that we were there.

We imagined that we were inside our warm little boat， tired and a little hungry， with the dark， miserable river outside.We could see ourselves-we were sitting down to supper there; we were passing cold meat and thick pieces of bread to each other.We could hear the happy sounds of our knives and our laughing voices.We hurried to make it real.

After some time，we found the river，and that made us happy. We knew that we were going the right way. We passed Shiplake at a quarter to twelve， and then George said， quite slowly.' You don't remember which island it was， do you?'

' No，I don't，'I replied， and I began to think carefully.'How many are there?'

'Only four，'George answered.'It'll be all right，if Harris is awake.'

'And if he isn't awake?'I asked.

But we decided not to think about that.

When we arrived opposite the first island， we shouted， but there was no answer.So we went to the second island， and we tried there.The result was the same.

'Oh， I remember now，'George said.'It was the third one.'

And， full of hope， we ran to the third one， and we called out.There was no answer.

It was now becoming serious. It was after midnight.The ho-tels were all full，and we could not go round all the houses and knock on doors at midnight!George said that perhaps we could go back to Henley，find a policeman and hit him.He would arrest us and take us to a police station， and then we would have somewhere to sleep. But then we thought， 'Per-haps he won't arrest us.Perhaps he'll just hit us，too!'We could not fight policemen all night.

We tried the fourth island，but there was still no reply. It was raining hard now， and it was not going to stop. We were very cold， and wet， and miserable. We began to wonder if there were only four islands， or if we were on the wrong bit of the river.Everything looked strange and different in the darkness.

Just when we had lost all hope， I suddenly saw a strange light. It was over by the trees， on the opposite side of the river.I shouted as loudly as I could.

We waited in silence for a moment， and then(Oh， how happy we were!)we heard Montmorency bark.

We continued to shout for about five minutes， and then we saw the lights of the boat. It was coming towards us slowly.We heard Harris's sleepy voice. He was asking where we were.

Harris seemed very strange. It was more than tiredness. He brought the boat to our side of the river. He stopped， at a place where we could not get into the boat， and then immediately he fell asleep.

We had to scream and yell to wake him up again.At last we did wake him up， and we got into the boat.

Harris looked very sad.In fact，he looked like a man who had had a lot of trouble.We asked him if anything had hap-pened， and he said，' Swans!'

We had left the boat near a swan's nest， and， soon after George and I had left， Mrs Swan came back. She started to shout at Harris. However， Harris managed to chase her away，and she went to fetch her husband.Harris said he had had quite a hard battle with these two swans. But he had fought bravely and，in the end，he defeated them.

Half an hour later they returned-with eighteen more swans.There was another terrible battle.Harris said the swans had tried to pull him and Montmorency from the boat and drown them.But，once again，Harris fought bravely，for four hours，and he had killed them all.Then they had all swum away to die.

'How many swans did you say there were?'George asked.

'Thirty-two，'Harris replied，sleepily.

'You said eighteen before，'George said.

'No， I didn't，'Harris answered.'I said twelve.Do you think I can't count?'

We never discovered what had really happened.We asked Harris about it the next morning， but he said， 'What swans?'And he seemed to think that George and I had been dreaming.

Oh， how wonderful it was to be in the boat again! We ate a very good supper， and then we thought we would have some whisky.But we could not find it.We asked Harris what he had done with it， but he did not seem to understand. The expres-sion on Montmorency's face told us that he knew something，but he said nothing.

I slept well that night，although Harris did wake me up ten times or more. He was looking for his clothes. He seemed to be worrying about his clothes all night.

Twice he made George and me get up，because he wanted to see if we were lying on his trousers.George got quite angry the second time.

'Whatever do you want your trousers for? It's the middle of the night!'he cried.'Why don't you lie down and go to sleep?'

The next time I woke up Harris said he could not find his shoes.And I can remember that once he pushed me over onto my side.'Wherever can that umbrella be?'he was saying.

午飯之后，我們繼續(xù)駛向沃格雷夫和希普雷克，然后再去松寧。在那里下了船，游覽了一個(gè)小時(shí)左右。來(lái)不及趕到雷丁了，所以我們決定回到希普雷克，在那里找一個(gè)小島過(guò)夜。

我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)小島上拴好了船，天色尚早。喬治說(shuō)要是能真正做上一頓可口的晚餐那該多好啊!還說(shuō)可以把所有的東西，剩的飯都做到一起，那才有味道呢!我們可以把這些東西都放在一只大鍋里。喬治要給我們露一手，表演一下怎么做。

這個(gè)主意太妙了。喬治便去找木頭生火，哈里斯和我準(zhǔn)備弄土豆。真沒(méi)想到工程如此浩大。剛開(kāi)始的時(shí)候我們還挺高興，可是剛削完第一個(gè)土豆，我們就已經(jīng)痛苦不堪了。一個(gè)土豆幾乎削得沒(méi)剩多少了。喬治走過(guò)來(lái)一看，說(shuō)：

“哦，這樣削可不行。你們把東西全糟塌了?？矗笪疫@樣削。”

我們辛辛苦苦地干了二十五分鐘，才削好了四個(gè)，我們堅(jiān)決不干了。

喬治說(shuō)只有四個(gè)土豆也太不象話了，因此我們又洗了六個(gè)，沒(méi)削沒(méi)刮，就那么放在鍋里，又放了一些胡蘿卜和其它蔬菜?？墒菃讨慰纯?，說(shuō)還是不夠。我們只好把兩個(gè)裝食物的籃子都拿出來(lái)了，把剩下的所有的東西都放進(jìn)鍋里。說(shuō)實(shí)在的，我們把能找到的都放進(jìn)去了。我還記得在整個(gè)烹飪過(guò)程中，“元帥”一直心事重重地看著，又走開(kāi)了。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，他叼著一只死耗子回來(lái)了，想給我們的晚餐做點(diǎn)貢獻(xiàn)。到底它是真的想把死耗子放進(jìn)鍋里呢，還是想告訴我們這是它對(duì)晚餐的看法呢，我們不得而知。哈里斯說(shuō)放進(jìn)去很好，可是喬治不想搞什么新的試驗(yàn)。

這頓飯確實(shí)很好，與以往吃的都不同。土豆有些硬，但因?yàn)槲覀兊难篮?，所以也沒(méi)什么大問(wèn)題。

哈里斯吃罷晚飯變得有些不太友好——我想這一定是那頓飯?jiān)谧鞴?，他還不適應(yīng)那么豐盛的食物。喬治和我打算到亨利城里面轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)，把哈里斯留在船上。他說(shuō)他要喝一杯威士忌，抽斗煙，再把船弄好，準(zhǔn)備過(guò)夜。我們停在一個(gè)島上，所以回來(lái)的時(shí)候只要在岸上喊上一聲，哈里斯就把船搖過(guò)來(lái)接我們。臨行的時(shí)候，我們叮囑他：“可別睡著了!”

亨利城里面十分熱鬧，我們?cè)谀抢锱鲆?jiàn)不少倫敦城里的熟人。時(shí)間過(guò)得真快，我們動(dòng)身回來(lái)時(shí)，已經(jīng)十一點(diǎn)了，還有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的一段路要走。

那是個(gè)陰沉可怕的夜晚，冷氣逼人，又下著小雨。我們穿過(guò)黑暗寂靜的曠野，低聲談著話，心里直犯嘀咕，也不知道走的路對(duì)不對(duì)。一想到我們那個(gè)溫暖，舒適的小船，想到哈里斯和“元帥”，還有威士忌——真不如就呆在船上呢。

我們想像自己拖著饑餓、疲憊的身子回到船上，周?chē)顷幧膳碌暮铀?。我們仿佛看?jiàn)自己坐下來(lái)吃著晚餐，互相遞著冷肉和一片片厚厚的面包;我們仿佛聽(tīng)見(jiàn)刀叉叮當(dāng)作響，聽(tīng)到自己陣陣的笑語(yǔ)。我們歸心似箭，要盡快實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)夢(mèng)想。

又過(guò)了一段時(shí)間，我們終于到了河邊，心中才高興起來(lái)，知道自己走的路沒(méi)有錯(cuò)。我們經(jīng)過(guò)希普雷克的時(shí)候是十一點(diǎn)三刻，喬治慢吞吞地問(wèn)道：“你還記得咱們住的那個(gè)小島，是嗎?”

“不，記不得了，”我回答說(shuō)，然后我也開(kāi)始使勁想。“一共有幾個(gè)島啊?”

“只有四個(gè)，”喬治回答。“只要哈里斯醒著，準(zhǔn)能找到。”

“要是他沒(méi)醒著怎么辦?”我問(wèn)。

我們打定主意不去那么想。

我們走到第一個(gè)島對(duì)面大喊大叫，可是毫無(wú)回音。我們又跑到第二個(gè)島對(duì)面又喊，還是沒(méi)有回音。

“哦，我想起來(lái)了，”喬治說(shuō)。“我們住的是第三個(gè)島。”

我們滿懷希望地跑到第三個(gè)島又喊了一通，還是沒(méi)有回音。

這樣，問(wèn)題就嚴(yán)重了。時(shí)間已過(guò)半夜，旅館也早已客滿，我們總不能走遍全城，半夜里一家一家挨著敲門(mén)吧!喬治說(shuō)也許我們應(yīng)該回亨利城，找個(gè)警察，把他打一頓，他就會(huì)把我們抓起來(lái)帶到派出所。那樣我們就有地方睡覺(jué)了?？墒寝D(zhuǎn)念一想：“說(shuō)不定警察不抓我們，倒是也把我們揍一頓呢!”我們不能整個(gè)晚上都和警察打架。

我們又摸索到第四個(gè)島，同樣毫無(wú)結(jié)果。雨下得越來(lái)越大，沒(méi)有停的樣子。我們又冷又濕，狼狽不堪。我們開(kāi)始懷疑起來(lái)：到底是不是只有四個(gè)小島呢?還是我們走到了另一個(gè)河岸?漆黑一片，一切都變幻莫測(cè)。

正在我們絕望的當(dāng)間兒，我忽然看見(jiàn)一道奇異的光線，從河對(duì)岸的樹(shù)林里透了出來(lái)，于是我扯起嗓子喊起來(lái)。

我們靜靜等了一會(huì)兒。啊!我們聽(tīng)見(jiàn)“元帥”吠叫(哦!我們太高興了!)

我們又聲嘶力竭地喊了五分鐘，才看見(jiàn)小船上的燈光慢慢地向我們移過(guò)來(lái)，又聽(tīng)見(jiàn)哈里斯迷迷糊糊的聲音，問(wèn)我們?cè)谀睦铩?/p>

哈里斯顯得有點(diǎn)奇怪，困得不象是一般的疲倦。他把船靠到岸邊，停下來(lái)，可那個(gè)地方我們根本無(wú)法上船，而他自己卻又馬上睡著了。

我們只能喊著，尖叫著才能把他弄醒。他好不容易醒過(guò)來(lái)，我們這才得以上船。

哈里斯看上去十分難過(guò)，就好像經(jīng)歷了一場(chǎng)大劫難。我們問(wèn)他到底發(fā)生了什么事兒，他說(shuō)了兩個(gè)字：“天鵝!”

原來(lái)，我們把船停在了天鵝巢的旁邊。就在我和喬治起身剛走，天鵝太太回來(lái)了。她沖著哈里斯直嚷嚷，而哈里斯呢，使出渾身解數(shù)把天鵝太太趕走。于是她把她丈夫拉來(lái)了。哈里斯說(shuō)他和兩只天鵝戰(zhàn)斗得異常激烈，哈里斯愈戰(zhàn)愈勇，最后大獲全勝。

過(guò)了半個(gè)小時(shí)，它們卷土重來(lái)——又帶來(lái)了十八只天鵝!又是一場(chǎng)昏天黑地的戰(zhàn)斗。那些天鵝要把哈里斯和“元帥”拖到水里去，淹死他們。哈里斯再次以大無(wú)畏的精神又戰(zhàn)斗了四個(gè)小時(shí)，把它們?nèi)繗灉?。它們只能游到別的地方，等死去吧!

“你說(shuō)一共有多少只天鵝?”喬治問(wèn)道。

“三十二只，”哈里斯半睡半醒地回答說(shuō)。

“可你剛才不是說(shuō)十八只嗎?”喬治說(shuō)。

“我可沒(méi)說(shuō)，”哈里斯咕噥道。“我說(shuō)的是十二只。你當(dāng)我不會(huì)數(shù)數(shù)啊?”

到底那場(chǎng)天鵝戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)是怎么一回事，我們始終沒(méi)搞清楚。第二天早上我們問(wèn)起哈里斯這件事，他卻說(shuō)：“什么天鵝?”他以為喬治和我一直還做著夢(mèng)呢!

哦，重新回到船上可真好!我們美美地吃了一頓晚餐。本來(lái)還想好好地喝上點(diǎn)威士忌，卻怎么也找不著。我們審問(wèn)哈里斯，把威士忌搞到哪里去了，他一派茫然無(wú)知的樣子，根本不懂我們?cè)谡勈裁?。?ldquo;元帥”臉上的表情卻好像告訴我們，他知道些內(nèi)幕，但它什么也不說(shuō)。

我那天晚上睡得很好，盡管哈里斯把我吵醒了十好幾回。他一直在找衣服，似乎一晚上盡擔(dān)心他的衣服了。

他把喬治和我推醒了兩次，就是為了看看我們有沒(méi)有壓在他的褲子上。第二次的時(shí)候，喬治氣壞了。

“你半夜三更起來(lái)找褲子，到底要干嘛?”喬治喊道。“干嘛不躺下來(lái)好好去睡覺(jué)。”

我第二次醒來(lái)時(shí)，哈里斯說(shuō)找不著鞋了。后來(lái)我還記得他把我推了一個(gè)個(gè)兒，還在說(shuō)：“我的傘能去哪兒呢?”