書蟲三級 鐵路少年：4.博比的旅行

4．Bobbie's ride
4．博比的旅行

About two weeks later, the old gentleman saw another white sheet with black letters when he looked out of the train. It said: SHE IS NEARLY WELL. THANK YOU.

大約兩個星期之后，當老先生再次往窗外張望時，他又看到了一張寫著黑字的白布單。白布單上寫著：她快好了，謝謝您。

Then it was time for the children to tell Mother what they had done. It was not easy, but they had to do it. And Mother was very angry indeed.

終于到了孩子們跟媽媽講明一切的時候了。盡管這不太容易，可他們也得講。媽媽的確十分惱火。

Now listen, it's true that we're poor,' she told them, 'but you must not tell everyone. And you must never, never ask strangers to give you things.'

“現(xiàn)在你們聽著，我們是很窮，”她告訴孩子們，“但是你們不能對任何人說。你們永遠不能，永遠不能向陌生人索要東西。”

We didn't mean to be bad, Mother,' cried Bobbie.

“媽媽，我們沒打算做壞事。”博比哭著解釋。

We're sorry,' said Phyllis and Peter, crying too.

“我們很抱歉。”菲利斯和彼得也哭著說。

Soon, Mother was crying with them. 'I'll write a letter to the old gentleman and thank him,' she said. 'You can give it to the Station Master to give him. Now we won't say any more about it.'

很快，媽媽也和他們一起哭了起來。“我會給那位老先生寫封信，向他表示感謝的，”她說，“你們可以請站長把信轉(zhuǎn)交給他?，F(xiàn)在什么都別再說了。”

The day after the children took the letter to the station, it was Bobbie's birthday. In the afternoon, she was politely told to go out until tea-time.

孩子們把信送到車站去的第二天是博比的生日。那天下午，大家委婉地請她回避一下，到喝茶的時間再回來。

You mustn't see what we're doing,' said Phyllis. 'It's a surprise.'

“你不能在場看我們做些什么，”菲利斯說，“這是一個驚喜。”

Bobbie went into the garden, and then she walked across the fields. When she came back, Phyllis and Peter met her at the back door. They were very clean and tidy, and Phyllis was wearing her prettiest dress. There was just enough time for Bobbie to make herself tidy before they called her into the front room.

博比先是來到了花園里，之后她穿過田野走了走。當她返回的時候，菲利斯和彼得在后門迎接她。他們打扮得干凈整齊，菲利斯還穿著她最漂亮的那條連衣裙。當然博比在大家讓她進客廳之前，也有足夠的時間來梳理自己。

Mother, Peter, and Phyllis were standing near the table, and there were twelve lighted candles on it, one for each of Bobbie's years. The table was covered with beautiful flowers from the fields and garden, and there were some interesting little boxes, too.

媽媽、彼得和菲利斯正站在桌旁，桌子上點著12枝蠟燭，每一枝代表一歲。桌上放滿了從田野中和花園里采來的漂亮的花，除此之外，還有一些有趣的小盒子。

Happy birthday, Bobbie!' they shouted happily. 'Open your presents!'

“生日快樂，博比！”大家開心地喊道，“打開你的禮物看看吧！”

They were very nice presents. There was a pretty handkerchief with flowers on it, from Phyllis. A lovely little silver brooch of Mother's, shaped like a rose, which Bobbie had loved for years. There were two blue glass vases from Mrs Viney. And there were three birthday cards with pretty pictures.

這些禮物非常棒。一塊有花形圖案的漂亮手絹，這是菲利斯送的。媽媽送的是一枚可愛的銀質(zhì)小胸針，樣子像一朵玫瑰花，博比心儀這枚胸針已經(jīng)有好幾年了。瓦伊尼夫人送給她的是兩只藍色的玻璃花瓶。桌上還有三張印有精美圖案的生日賀卡。

This is my present,' said Peter, putting his toy steam engine on the table. It was full of sweets. Bobbie looked surprised, because just for a moment she thought Peter was giving her the engine. 'Not the engine,' he said quickly. 'Only the sweets.' But he had seen the look on her face. 'I mean, not all the engine. You... you can have half, if you like,' he said bravely.

“這是我送你的禮物。”彼得一邊說著，一邊把他的那個玩具蒸汽火車頭放在了桌子上?；疖囶^里裝滿了糖果。博比有些吃驚，因為那一瞬間，她以為彼得要把火車頭送給她。“不是送你火車頭，”他趕緊說，“只送你糖果。”但他瞧見了博比臉上表情的變化。“我的意思是，我不是把整個火車頭送給你，如果你喜歡的話，你……你可以擁有一半。”他鼓足勇氣說。

Thank you, Peter,' said Bobbie. 'It's a wonderful present.' And she thought: 'It was very kind of Peter to give me half of his engine. Well, I'll have the broken half, and I'll get it mended.'

“謝謝你，彼得，”博比說，“這禮物太棒了。”她心里想：“彼得真是太好了，他愿意送一半火車頭給我。嗯，那我就要那壞的那一半吧，我可以找人修一下。”

It was a lovely birthday. But later that night, Bobbie came silently down the stairs to get her presents. She saw her mother sitting at the table, with a pen and some writing paper in front of her. 'She's writing to Father,' thought Bobbie.

這是一個愉快的生日聚會。當天深夜，博比悄悄下樓去取她的禮物。她看見媽媽坐在桌旁，面前放著一枝鋼筆和一些信紙。“媽媽在給爸爸寫信呢。”博比心想。

But at that moment, Mother wasn't writing. Her head was on her arms and her arms lay on the table.

不過在那一刻，媽媽并沒有在寫字。她的兩只胳膊搭在桌上，頭埋在胳膊里。

It's my birthday, and she doesn't want me to know she's unhappy,' thought Bobbie. 'Well, I won't know, I won't know.'

“今天是我的生日，媽媽不想讓我知道她心里很苦悶，”博比想，“那么，我就假裝不知道吧，我假裝不知道。”

And she went quietly back to her room. But it was a sad end to the birthday.

她悄悄地回到了自己的房間，但是，這個生日是以傷感結(jié)束的。

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The next day, Bobbie put Peter's engine in a box and took it down to the railway. She did not go to the station, but she went along the line to the place where the engines stopped.

第二天，博比把彼得的火車頭裝進了盒子里，帶著它到山下的鐵路上去了。她沒有去車站，而是沿著鐵路，直接去了?？炕疖囶^的地方。

When the next train came in, Bobbie went across the line and stood beside the engine. She had never been close to one before, and it was very big. The driver and the fireman did not see her. They were talking to Perks, the Porter, who was on the other side of the line.

當又一列火車駛進來時，博比穿過鐵路，來到了車頭的旁邊。在此之前，她從來沒有如此近距離地見過火車頭，火車頭很大。司機和司爐工都沒看見她，他們正在跟守道工珀克斯說話，而珀克斯站在鐵路的另一邊。

Excuse me,' began Bobbie. But the men did not hear her because the engine was making a lot of steam and noise. Bobbie climbed on to the step of the engine—but at that moment, the train began to move!

“勞駕。”博比招呼道。但因為火車嘈雜的蒸汽聲和其他聲響，這三個人都沒有聽到她的話。博比爬到了火車機車的臺階上——可是，就在同時，火車開動了！

Bobbie fell inside, on to a heap of coal. 'Help!' she cried. But still the men didn't see or hear her.

博比摔到車里，倒在了一堆煤上。“救命啊！”她哭喊道。但是，旁邊的人仍舊是既沒有看到她，也沒有聽到她的呼救。

I shouldn't be here!' she thought, as the train went faster. 'I'll be in terrible trouble!'

“我不能待在這兒！”隨著火車跑得越來越快，她心里想，“要不我會有大麻煩的！”

She put out a hand and touched the nearest arm, and the driver turned round quickly. 'What are you doing here?' he shouted. And Bobbie began to cry.

她伸出一只手，踫到了離她最近的火車司機的胳膊，司機猛地轉(zhuǎn)過身。“你在這兒做什么？”他喊道。于是博比開始哭了。

This seemed to worry the two men, and they took several minutes to calm Bobbie down and to stop her crying. Then the fireman said, 'Now tell us why you're here. It's not every day a little girl falls into our steam engine!'

這好像讓兩個男人擔心起來，他們用了幾分鐘安慰博比，讓她別哭了。之后，司爐工對她說：“現(xiàn)在請告訴我們，你怎么會在這兒。一個小女孩兒掉進我們的蒸汽火車頭，這種事情可不是每天都發(fā)生的！”

Bobbie picked up the box with Peter's toy engine inside it. 'I... I wanted to ask if you could mend this,' she explained, and took the engine out of the box. 'Everybody on the railway seemed so good and kind. I didn't think you'd mind.'

博比撿起那個裝有彼得的玩具火車頭的盒子。“我……我想問問你們能不能把它修好。”她解釋著，并把火車頭從盒子中取了出來，“鐵路上的每個人看上去都很好，很善良。我想你們不會介意的。”

The driver took the little engine and the two men looked at it silently, not speaking for several minutes. Bobbie waited.

司機接過那個小火車頭，兩個人靜靜地看著它，幾分鐘都沒有開口說話。博比等待著。

What do you think, Jim?' said the driver at last. 'Can we help the little lady?'

“你覺得怎么樣，吉姆？”司機終于開口說話了，“我們幫得了這位小女士嗎？”

The fireman smiled. 'I should think we can!'

司爐工笑了。“我想我們應該能！”

Oh, thank you!' said Bobbie.

“哦，謝謝你們！”博比說。

But now we must make sure that you get home safely,' said the driver.

“不過，現(xiàn)在我們必須確保你平安回家。”司機說道。

Bobbie stayed on the train until it reached Stackpoole Junction. She asked the two men all about driving a steam train, and they showed her the automatic brake, and the little clock faces that told them how much steam the engine was making. It was all very interesting. At Stackpoole Junction the two railwaymen put her on another train and sent her home.

博比一直在火車上坐到斯塔克普樞紐站。她詳細地向兩個人詢問了怎么開蒸汽火車。他們讓她看了自動剎車裝置和一些小表盤，這些小表盤能表明發(fā)動機產(chǎn)生了多少蒸汽。真是太有意思了。在斯塔克普樞紐站，兩位鐵路工人把她送到了另一列火車上，送她回家。

Bobbie was back in time for tea.

博比回到家時，正好是喝下午茶的時間。

Where have you been?' asked the others.

“你到哪兒去了？”其他人問。

To the station, of course,' said Bobbie. But she would not say another word.

“當然是去車站了。”博比說。但除此之外，她什么都不說了。

It was some weeks before Bobbie took her brother and sister to meet the friendly engine driver and fireman. The two children were very surprised. And Peter was very excited when he saw his engine, now as good as new again.

幾個星期之后，博比帶著她的弟弟和妹妹去見了親切的火車司機和司爐工。那兩個孩子簡直驚呆了，尤其當彼得看見他的玩具火車頭現(xiàn)在嶄新如初的時候，他欣喜若狂。

And only then, as the three children walked home again, did Bobbie tell the others about her adventures on the engine of the steam train.

直到那天，當三個孩子走著回家的時候，博比才跟他們講述了她在蒸汽火車頭上的奇遇。

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