英語(yǔ)聽力 學(xué)英語(yǔ),練聽力,上聽力課堂! 注冊(cè) 登錄
> 在線聽力 > 有聲讀物 > 世界名著 > 譯林版·彼得兔的故事 >  第3篇

雙語(yǔ)·彼得兔的故事 格洛斯特的裁縫

所屬教程:譯林版·彼得兔的故事

瀏覽:

2022年05月19日

手機(jī)版
掃描二維碼方便學(xué)習(xí)和分享

THE TAILOR OF GLOUCESTER

In the time of swords and periwigs and full-skirted coats with flowered lappets—when gentlemen wore ruffles, and gold-laced waistcoats of paduasoy and taffeta—there lived a tailor in Gloucester.

He sat in the window of a little shop in Westgate Street, cross-legged on a table, from morning till dark.

All day long while the light lasted he sewed and snippeted, piecing out his satin and pompadour, and lutestring; stuffs had strange names, and were very expensive in the days of the Tailor of Gloucester.

But although he sewed fine silk for his neighbours, he himself was very, very poor—a little old man in spectacles, with a pinched face, old crooked fingers, and a suit of thread-bare clothes.

He cut his coats without waste, according to his embroidered cloth; they were very small ends and snippets that lay about upon the table—“Too narrow breadths for nought—except waistcoats for mice,” said the tailor.

One bitter cold day near Christmastime the tailor began to make a coat—a coat of cherry-coloured corded silk embroidered with pansies and roses, and a cream-coloured satin waistcoat—trimmed with gauze and green worsted chenille—for the Mayor of Gloucester.

The tailor worked and worked, and he talked to himself. He measured the silk, and turned it round and round, and trimmed it into shape with his shears; the table was all littered with cherry-coloured snippets.

“No breadth at all, and cut on the cross; it is no breadth at all; tippets for mice and ribbons for mobs! for mice!” said the Tailor of Gloucester.

When the snow-flakes came down against the small leaded window-panes and shut out the light, the tailor had done his day's work; all the silk and satin lay cut out upon the table.

There were twelve pieces for the coat and four pieces for the waistcoat; and there were pocket flaps and cuffs, and buttons all in order. For the lining of the coat there was fine yellow taffeta; and for the button-holes of the waistcoat, there was cherry-coloured twist. And everything was ready to sew together in the morning, all measured and sufficient—except that there was wanting just one single skein of cherry-coloured twisted silk.

The tailor came out of his shop at dark, for he did not sleep there at nights; he fastened the window and locked the door, and took away the key. No one lived there at night but little brown mice, and they run in and out without any keys!

For behind the wooden wainscots of all the old houses in Gloucester, there are little mouse staircases and secret trap-doors; and the mice run from house to house through those long narrow passages; they can run all over the town without going into the streets.

But the tailor came out of his shop, and shuffled home through the snow. He lived quite near by in College Court, next the doorway to College Green; and although it was not a big house, the tailor was so poor he only rented the kitchen.

He lived alone with his cat; it was called Simpkin. Now all day long while the tailor was out at work, Simpkin kept house by himself; and he also was fond of the mice, though he gave them no satin for coats!

“Miaw?” said the cat when the tailor opened the door. “Miaw?”

The tailor replied—“Simpkin, we shall make our fortune, but I am worn to a ravelling. Take this groat (which is our last fourpence) and Simpkin, take a china pipkin; buy a penn'orth of bread, a penn'orth of milk and a penn'orth of sausages. And oh, Simpkin, with the last penny of our fourpence buy me one penn'orth of cherry-coloured silk. But do not lose the last penny of the fourpence, Simpkin, or I am undone and worn to a thread-paper, for I have no more twist.”

Then Simpkin again said, “Miaw?” and took the groat and the pipkin, and went out into the dark.

The tailor was very tired and beginning to be ill. He sat down by the hearth and talked to himself about that wonderful coat.

“I shall make my fortune—to be cut bias—the Mayor of Gloucester is to be married on Christmas Day in the morning, and he hath ordered a coat and an embroidered waistcoat—to be lined with yellow taffeta—and the taffeta sufficeth; there is no more left over in snippets than will serve to make tippets for mice—”

Then the tailor started; for suddenly, interrupting him, from the dresser at the other side of the kitchen came a number of little noises—

Tip tap, tip tap, tip tap tip!

“Now what can that be?” said the Tailor of Gloucester, jumping up from his chair. The dresser was covered with crockery and pipkins, willow pattern plates, and tea-cups and mugs.

The tailor crossed the kitchen, and stood quite still beside the dresser, listening, and peering through his spectacles. Again from under a tea-cup, came those funny little noises—

Tip tap, tip tap, Tip tap tip!

“This is very peculiar,” said the Tailor of Gloucester; and he lifted up the tea-cup which was upside down. Out stepped a little live lady mouse, and made a curtsey to the tailor! Then she hopped away down off the dresser, and under the wainscot.

The tailor sat down again by the fire, warming his poor cold hands, and mumbling to himself—

“The waistcoat is cut out from peach-coloured satin—tambour stitch and rose-buds in beautiful floss silk. Was I wise to entrust my last fourpence to Simpkin? One-and-twenty button-holes of cherry-coloured twist!”

But all at once, from the dresser, there came other little noises:

Tip tap, tip tap, tip tap tip!

“This is passing extraordinary!” said the Tailor of Gloucester, and turned over another tea-cup, which was upside down. Out stepped a little gentleman mouse, and made a bow to the tailor!

And then from all over the dresser came a chorus of little tappings, all sounding together, and answering one another, like watch-beetles in an old worm-eaten window-shutter—

Tip tap, tip tap, tip tap tip!

And out from under tea-cups and from under bowls and basins, stepped other and more little mice, who hopped away down off the dresser and under the wainscot.

The tailor sat down, close over the fire, lamenting—“One-and-twenty button-holes of cherry-coloured silk! To be finished by noon of Saturday; and this is Tuesday evening. Was it right to let loose those mice, undoubtedly the property of Simpkin? Alack, I am undone, for I have no more twist!”

The little mice came out again, and listened to the tailor; they took notice of the pattern of that wonderful coat. They whispered to one another about the taffeta lining, and about little mouse tippets.

And then all at once they all ran away together down the passage behind the wainscot, squeaking and calling to one another, as they ran from house to house; and not one mouse was left in the tailor's kitchen when Simpkin came back with the pipkin of milk!

Simpkin opened the door and bounced in, with an angry “G-r-r-miaw!” like a cat that is vexed; for he hated the snow, and there was snow in his ears, and snow in his collar at the back of his neck. He put down the loaf and the sausages upon the dresser, and sniffed.

“Simpkin,” said the tailor, “where is my twist?”

But Simpkin set down the pipkin of milk upon the dresser, and looked suspiciously at the tea-cups. He wanted his supper of little fat mouse!

“Simpkin,” said the tailor, “where is my twist?”

But Simpkin hid a little parcel privately in the tea-pot, and spit and growled at the tailor; and if Simpkin had been able to talk, he would have asked—“Where is my mouse?”

“Alack, I am undone!” said the Tailor of Gloucester, and went sadly to bed.

All that night long Simpkin hunted and searched through the kitchen, peeping into cupboards and under the wainscot, and into the tea-pot where he had hidden that twist; but still he found never a mouse!

Whenever the tailor muttered and talked in his sleep, Simpkin said “Miaw-ger-r-w-s-s-ch!” and made strange horrid noises, as cats do at night.

For the poor old tailor was very ill with a fever, tossing and turning in his four-post bed; and still in his dreams he mumbled—“No more twist! No more twist!”

All that day he was ill, and the next day, and the next; and what should become of the cherry-coloured coat? In the tailor's shop in Westgate Street the embroidered silk and satin lay cut out upon the table—one-and-twenty button-holes—and who should come to sew them, when the window was barred, and the door was fast locked? But that does not hinder the little brown mice; they run in and out without any keys through all the old houses in Gloucester!

Out of doors the market folks went trudging through the snow to buy their geese and turkeys, and to bake their Christmas pies; but there would be no Christmas dinner for Simpkin and the poor old Tailor of Gloucester.

The tailor lay ill for three days and nights; and then it was Christmas Eve, and very late at night. The moon climbed up over the roofs and chimneys, and looked down over the gateway into College Court. There were no lights in the windows, nor any sound in the houses; all the city of Gloucester was fast asleep under the snow. And still Simpkin wanted his mice, and he mewed as he stood beside the four-post bed.

But it is in the old story that all the beasts can talk, in the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the morning (though there are very few folk that can hear them, or know what it is that they say).

When the Cathedral clock struck twelve there was an answer—like an echo of the chimes—and Simpkin heard it, and came out of the tailor's door, and wandered about in the snow.

From all the roofs and gables and old wooden houses in Gloucester came a thousand merry voices singing the old Christmas rhymes—all the old songs that ever I heard of, and some that I don't know, like Whittington's bells.

First and loudest the cocks cried out—“Dame, get up, and bake your pies!”

“Oh, dilly, dilly, dilly!” sighed Simpkin.

And now in a garret there were lights and sounds of dancing, and cats came from over the way.

“Hey, diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle! All the cats in Gloucester—except me,” said Simpkin.

Under the wooden eaves the starlings and sparrows sang of Christmas pies; the jackdaws woke up in the Cathedral tower; and although it was the middle of the night the throstles and robins sang; the air was quite full of little twittering tunes.

But it was all rather provoking to poor hungry Simpkin!

Particularly he was vexed with some little shrill voices from behind a wooden lattice. I think that they were bats, because they always have very small voices—especially in a black frost, when they talk in their sleep, like the Tailor of Gloucester. They said something mysterious that sounded like—

“Buz, quoth the blue fly, hum, quoth the bee,

Buz and hum they cry, and so do we!”

and Simpkin went away shaking his ears as if he had a bee in his bonnet.

From the tailor's shop in Westgate came a glow of light; and when Simpkin crept up to peep in at the window it was full of candles. There was a snippeting of scissors, and snappeting of thread; and little mouse voices sang loudly and gaily—

“Four-and-twenty tailors

went to catch a snail,

The best man amongst them

durst not touch her tail,

She put out her horns

like a little kyloe cow,

Run, tailors, run! or she'll

have you all e'en now!”

Then without a pause the little mouse voices went on again—

“Sieve my lady's oatmeal,

Grind my lady's flour,

Put it in a chestnut,

Let it stand an hour—”

“Mew! Mew!” interrupted Simpkin, and he scratched at the door. But the key was under the tailor's pillow; he could not get in.

The little mice only laughed, and tried another tune—

“Three little mice sat down to spin,

Pussy passed by and she peeped in.

What are you at, my fine little men?

Making coats for gentlemen.

Shall I come in and cut off your threads?

Oh, no, Miss Pussy, you'd bite off our heads!”

“Mew! Mew!” cried Simpkin. “Hey diddle dinketty?” answered the little mice—

“Hey diddle dinketty, poppetty pet!

The merchants of London they wear scarlet;

Silk in the collar, and gold in the hem,

So merrily march the merchantmen!”

They clicked their thimbles to mark the time, but none of the songs pleased Simpkin; he sniffed and mewed at the door of the shop.

“And then I bought

A pipkin and a popkin,

A slipkin and a slopkin,

All for one farthing—

and upon the kitchen dresser!” added the rude little mice.

“Mew! scratch! scratch!” scuffled Simpkin on the window-sill; while the little mice inside sprang to their feet, and all began to shout at once in little twittering voices—“No more twist! No more twist!” And they barred up the window shutters and shut out Simpkin.

But still through the nicks in the shutters he could hear the click of thimbles, and little mouse voices singing—

“No more twist! No more twist!”

Simpkin came away from the shop and went home, considering in his mind. He found the poor old tailor without fever, sleeping peacefully. Then Simpkin went on tip-toe and took a little parcel of silk out of the tea-pot, and looked at it in the moonlight; and he felt quite ashamed of his badness compared with those good little mice!

When the tailor awoke in the morning, the first thing which he saw upon the patchwork quilt, was a skein of cherry-coloured twisted silk, and beside his bed stood the repentant Simpkin!

“Alack, I am worn to a ravelling,” said the Tailor of Gloucester, “but I have my twist!”

The sun was shining on the snow when the tailor got up and dressed, and came out into the street with Simpkin running before him.

The starlings whistled on the chimney stacks, and the throstles and robins sang—but they sang their own little noises, not the words they had sung in the night.

“Alack,” said the tailor, “I have my twist; but no more strength—nor time—than will serve to make me one single button-hole; for this is Christmas Day in the morning! The Mayor of Gloucester shall be married by noon—and where is his cherry-coloured coat?”

He unlocked the door of the little shop in Westgate Street, and Simpkin ran in, like a cat that expects something. But there was no one there! Not even one little brown mouse!

The boards were swept and clean; the little ends of thread and the little silk snippets were all tidied away, and gone from off the floor. But upon the table—oh joy! the tailor gave a shout—there, where he had left plain cuttings of silk—there lay the most beautifullest coat and embroidered satin waistcoat that ever were worn by a Mayor of Gloucester! There were roses and pansies upon the facings of the coat; and the waistcoat was worked with poppies and corn-flowers. Everything was finished except just one single cherry-coloured button-hole, and where that button-hole was wanting there was pinned a scrap of paper with these words—in little teeny weeny writing—

NO MORE TWIST

And from then began the luck of the Tailor of Gloucester; he grew quite stout, and he grew quite rich. He made the most wonderful waistcoats for all the rich merchants of Gloucester, and for all the fine gentlemen of the country round.

Never were seen such ruffles, or such embroidered cuffs and lappets! But his button-holes were the greatest triumph of it all. The stitches of those button-holes were so neat—so neat—I wonder how they could be stitched by an old man in spectacles, with crooked old fingers, and a tailor's thimble. The stitches of those button-holes were so small—so small—they looked as if they had been made by little mice!

THE END

格洛斯特的裁縫

很久以前,有一段時(shí)期,人們都佩帶寶劍,頭戴假發(fā),穿著有印花垂飾的連身外套。那時(shí)候的紳士們都穿著帶褶皺花邊的衣服,或用棱紋絲和塔夫綢做成的鑲金色花邊的馬甲。就在那時(shí),在格洛斯特住著一個(gè)裁縫。

他的店鋪在西門街上,他每天都坐在店鋪窗戶前,雙腿盤坐在工作臺(tái)上,從早到晚地縫制衣服。

只要白日的光線充足,他就不停地又裁又縫,拼接緞子、花紋布、亮光綢。那些布料都有著奇怪的名字,在格洛斯特裁縫生活的時(shí)代,它們都是很昂貴的。

盡管裁縫為他的鄰居們縫制上等絲綢的衣服,但是他自己卻非常非常窮——他是一個(gè)戴著眼鏡的小老頭兒,臉上滿是皺紋,雙手蒼老得變了形,身上總穿著已經(jīng)磨破了邊的舊衣服。

他裁剪衣服的時(shí)候從來(lái)都不浪費(fèi),總是將繡花布料物盡其用。在他的桌子上放著很多小布頭和小碎片。“實(shí)在太零碎了,什么也做不了——只能給老鼠們做馬甲了?!辈每p說(shuō)。

在臨近圣誕節(jié)的一個(gè)寒冷冬日,裁縫開始為格洛斯特的市長(zhǎng)做一件外套。這件外套要用櫻桃紅色的燈芯綢制成,繡很多紫羅蘭和玫瑰花,另外還要配上一件奶白色的緞子馬甲,馬甲要鑲上薄紗和綠色精紡紗的花邊。

裁縫不停地忙碌著,還不斷地自言自語(yǔ)。他量完了綢緞的尺寸,然后又將綢緞翻過(guò)來(lái)又翻過(guò)去,用他的大剪刀將布料裁成需要的形狀,桌子上留下了很多櫻桃紅色的布頭。

“根本不夠?qū)挵。荒苄敝瞄_,根本不夠?qū)挘荒芙o老鼠做披肩了!給那些小壞家伙做緞帶嘍!給老鼠!”格洛斯特的裁縫說(shuō)。

雪花飄落,落在小小的鉛制窗框上,光線越來(lái)越弱,裁縫結(jié)束了一天的工作,所有裁好的絲綢和緞子都攤放在桌子上。

桌上有做外套用的十二片布料和做馬甲用的四片布料,另外還有口袋布、袖口和紐扣,全都放得井然有序。外套的襯里用的是上好的黃色塔夫綢,而馬甲的扣眼則需要用櫻桃紅的絲線鎖邊。所有的東西都準(zhǔn)備就緒,明天一早便能夠?qū)⑺鼈兛p在一起,該量的都量好了,要用的也都充足——不過(guò),里面還缺少一團(tuán)用來(lái)鎖邊的櫻桃紅色的捻絲線。

天黑下來(lái)后,裁縫離開了他的店鋪,他晚上不睡在這里。他關(guān)好了窗戶,鎖好門,裝好鑰匙走了。夜里,這里什么人都沒(méi)有,只有一群棕色的小老鼠,他們進(jìn)出根本不需要什么鑰匙!

在格洛斯特,所有老房子的木頭護(hù)墻板后面,都有小老鼠們的樓梯和秘密活板門,老鼠們通過(guò)窄窄的通道從一座房子到另一座房子,他們不用走街道就可以跑遍全鎮(zhèn)。

裁縫離開店鋪,冒著雪艱難地回到了自己的家。他住的地方離學(xué)院巷很近,就在學(xué)院草地門口的旁邊。盡管那并不是一所多大的房子,但是裁縫太窮了,他也只租得起那里的廚房。

他和他的貓住在那里,他的貓叫辛普金。由于白天裁縫都在店鋪工作,所以白天的時(shí)候辛普金獨(dú)自在家,他也很喜歡老鼠,只是他從來(lái)不給他們做緞子外套!

“喵?”裁縫打開門的時(shí)候貓叫道,“喵?”

裁縫回答說(shuō):“辛普金,我們要發(fā)財(cái)了,不過(guò)我現(xiàn)在可真是要累散架了。拿著這枚四便士的硬幣,這可是我們最后的四便士了,帶上一個(gè)小瓷罐,去買一便士的面包、一便士的牛奶和一便士的香腸。噢,辛普金,用我們四便士中的最后一便士,給我買一卷櫻桃紅色的捻絲線。千萬(wàn)不要把最后一便士弄丟了呀,辛普金,不然我就真要完蛋了,那樣我就沒(méi)有絲線鎖邊了。”

然后辛普金又“喵”了一聲,便帶著錢和小罐子,走進(jìn)了黑暗之中。

裁縫累極了,累得都要生病了。他坐在爐火旁邊,自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)著那件精美絕倫的外套。

“我會(huì)發(fā)財(cái)?shù)摹@兒要斜著裁——格洛斯特的市長(zhǎng)會(huì)在圣誕節(jié)當(dāng)天的上午結(jié)婚,他定做了一件外套和一件繡花的馬甲——要用黃色塔夫綢做襯里——塔夫綢是足夠用了,可剩下來(lái)的布頭只夠給老鼠做些披肩——”

就在這時(shí),裁縫猛地一驚,因?yàn)橥蝗婚g,從廚房另一頭的櫥柜里傳來(lái)了一陣簌簌的響聲,打斷了他的思緒,那聲音聽起來(lái)是這樣子的:

“踢嗒!”“踢嗒!”“踢嗒踢!”

“那是什么聲音?”格洛斯特的裁縫說(shuō)著從椅子上跳了起來(lái),櫥柜上擺滿了各種罐子、柳葉花紋的盤子、茶杯和大杯子。

裁縫穿過(guò)廚房,然后一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地站在櫥柜旁邊,透過(guò)眼鏡仔細(xì)觀察著。從一個(gè)茶杯下面又傳來(lái)了細(xì)細(xì)的聲音:

“踢嗒!”“踢嗒!”“踢嗒踢!”

“這可真古怪?!备衤逅固氐牟每p說(shuō)著,就將倒扣著的茶杯拿了起來(lái)。從里面走出了一個(gè)小小的老鼠女士,她向裁縫行了個(gè)屈膝禮,然后便跳下櫥柜,跑進(jìn)了護(hù)墻板下面。

裁縫又坐回到火邊,烤著自己冰冷的雙手,又自顧自地嘀咕起來(lái):

“馬甲要用桃紅色緞子裁出來(lái)——用漂亮、華麗的絲線繡出玫瑰花蕾!我把最后的四便士給了辛普金真的明智嗎?可還有二十一個(gè)扣眼需要櫻桃紅色的絲線鎖邊?。 ?/p>

而就在這時(shí),從櫥柜里又傳來(lái)了一陣小小的響動(dòng):

“踢嗒!”“踢嗒!”“踢嗒踢!”

“這可是太不同尋常了!”格洛斯特的裁縫說(shuō)著,便將另一個(gè)倒扣著的茶杯翻了過(guò)來(lái)。這次走出來(lái)一只老鼠先生,他對(duì)著裁縫鞠了一躬。

然后,從整個(gè)櫥柜中傳來(lái)了一陣“踢嗒踢嗒”的合唱,聲音全都一起響起,彼此相互應(yīng)和,就好像一扇被蛀空的舊百葉窗中的蠹蟲一般合唱著——

“踢嗒!”“踢嗒!”“踢嗒踢!”

從茶杯下面,從碗下面,從盆子下面,走出越來(lái)越多的小老鼠,他們都跳下櫥柜,跑進(jìn)護(hù)墻板的下面去了。

裁縫坐回爐火邊,靠近爐火,嘆息著:“有二十一個(gè)扣眼需要櫻桃紅色的絲線鎖邊啊!要在星期六的中午前完成,而現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是星期二晚上了。到底該不該把那些老鼠放走呢?他們肯定都是被辛普金抓起來(lái)的。唉唉,我要完了,我沒(méi)有絲線鎖邊了?!?/p>

小老鼠們又出來(lái)了,聽著裁縫的話,他們回憶著那件外套的式樣,低聲討論著塔夫綢的襯里和小小的老鼠披肩。

然后,在一瞬間,他們?nèi)寂艿搅俗o(hù)墻板后的通道中,吱吱叫著,呼喚著伙伴,從一座房子跑到另一座房子。等到辛普金提著一罐子牛奶回來(lái)的時(shí)候,裁縫的廚房中已經(jīng)一只老鼠都沒(méi)有了。

辛普金打開門,一躍而入,惱怒地叫了一聲:“呼——呼——喵!”貓?jiān)趷琅臅r(shí)候就會(huì)這么叫。辛普金很討厭下雪,他的耳朵里和脖子后面的衣領(lǐng)下都鉆進(jìn)雪了。他把面包和香腸放到了櫥柜上,用力吸著鼻子,使勁嗅著。

“辛普金,”裁縫說(shuō),“我的絲線呢?”

而辛普金只是把牛奶罐放在櫥柜上,狐疑地看著茶杯。他還想著要把肥肥的小老鼠做晚餐呢!

“辛普金,”裁縫說(shuō),“我的絲線呢?”

但是辛普金把一個(gè)小包偷偷地藏到了茶壺里,然后沖著裁縫又吐口水又咆哮,如果辛普金可以說(shuō)話的話,那他肯定是在問(wèn):“我的老鼠呢?”

“唉唉,我真完蛋了。”格洛斯特的裁縫說(shuō)著,悲傷地爬到了床上。

一整夜,辛普金都在廚房里四處尋覓、搜索,檢查櫥柜,尋找護(hù)墻板下面,還探入他藏鎖邊絲線的茶壺中尋找,但是一只老鼠都沒(méi)有找到!

裁縫只要在睡夢(mèng)中嘟囔低語(yǔ),辛普金便會(huì)發(fā)出“喵——嗚——噢——”的聲音,制造出奇怪而恐怖的噪音,貓?jiān)谝估锟偸菚?huì)這么做。

可憐的老裁縫發(fā)起了高燒,躺在他的四柱床上輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè),在睡夢(mèng)中還嘟囔著:“沒(méi)有絲線了!沒(méi)有絲線了!”

他病了一整天,第二天也沒(méi)有起來(lái),第三天也是。那件櫻桃紅色的外套到底會(huì)怎么樣呢?在西門街上的裁縫店里,裁好的繡花絲綢和緞子就擺在桌上,上面還有二十一個(gè)扣眼,可是店鋪的窗戶緊閉,門也被牢牢鎖住,有誰(shuí)能來(lái)縫起它們呢?但是這可攔不住棕色的小老鼠們,他們不需要任何鑰匙,便能夠在格洛斯特所有的老房子中進(jìn)進(jìn)出出,行走無(wú)礙。

在街上,趕集的人們?yōu)榱撕姹核麄兊氖フQ餡餅,頂風(fēng)冒雪地去買鵝和火雞,但是辛普金和可憐的老裁縫卻沒(méi)有圣誕大餐。

裁縫病著在床上躺了三天三夜,然后便到了圣誕節(jié)前夜。夜越來(lái)越深了,月亮爬過(guò)屋頂,爬上煙囪,俯視著通向?qū)W院巷的巷道。窗戶里面沒(méi)有燈,房子里面也都沒(méi)有聲音,整個(gè)格洛斯特市都在白雪的覆蓋下陷入了沉睡之中。而辛普金依然想要他的老鼠,他站在四柱床旁邊喵喵地叫著。

據(jù)古老的故事說(shuō),在圣誕節(jié)前夜到圣誕節(jié)早晨之間的深夜中,所有的動(dòng)物都能講話,只是很少有人能聽到,或是明白那些動(dòng)物說(shuō)的什么。

當(dāng)大教堂的鐘聲敲響了十二點(diǎn)的時(shí)候,答案揭曉了,就如同是鐘聲的回聲一般。辛普金聽到了那個(gè)聲音,他走出裁縫家的門,在雪中徘徊。

從格洛斯特城所有的屋頂、山墻和老舊的木頭屋子傳來(lái)了一千個(gè)愉快的聲音,唱著古老的圣誕歌曲——包括所有我曾經(jīng)聽過(guò)的老歌,還有一些我不知道的歌曲,就像是“惠廷頓的鐘聲”。

最初發(fā)聲的,也是聲音最響亮的,是公雞們的歌聲:“夫人,起床了,需要烤餡餅了!”

“噢,真好,真好,真好,真好!”辛普金嘆息著。

一個(gè)閣樓上亮著燈光,并傳來(lái)了跳舞的聲音,貓們從那個(gè)方向過(guò)來(lái)。

“嘿呀,扭吧,扭吧,有貓還有小提琴!格洛斯特所有的貓都參加了——除了我。”辛普金說(shuō)。

在木屋檐下面,八哥和麻雀唱著圣誕餡餅之歌;大教堂塔樓中的寒鴉醒了過(guò)來(lái);盡管已經(jīng)是午夜時(shí)分了,畫眉鳥和知更鳥都在唱歌;空氣中充滿了微微呢喃的旋律。

但是這一切令可憐而饑餓的辛普金更加惱怒。

特別是一個(gè)木頭隔板后面?zhèn)鱽?lái)的微弱的尖細(xì)叫聲令他格外煩躁。我覺(jué)得那后面的是蝙蝠,因?yàn)樗麄兊纳ひ艨偸欠浅N⑿?,尤其是在?yán)寒的黑暗中,他們就像格洛斯特的裁縫一樣,會(huì)在睡夢(mèng)中說(shuō)話。他們說(shuō)著一些神秘的事情,就像這樣的東西:

藍(lán)蠅嗡嗡嗡,

蜜蜂哼哼哼,

他們嗡又哼,

我們也一樣!

辛普金走開了,他晃了晃耳朵,就像是有一只蜜蜂飛進(jìn)了無(wú)邊帽里。

從西門街上的裁縫店里透出一絲光亮。辛普金躡足悄悄靠過(guò)去,透過(guò)窗戶向里面窺望,窗戶內(nèi)點(diǎn)滿了蠟燭。里面?zhèn)鱽?lái)剪刀的咔嚓聲、絲線的窸窣聲,以及小老鼠們大聲而歡快的歌聲:

二十四個(gè)裁縫呀,

齊去抓蝸牛,

最厲害的那個(gè)呀,

怕碰蝸牛尾;

蝸牛伸出觸角,

就像長(zhǎng)角小母牛,

快跑啊,裁縫們,快點(diǎn)跑!

不然她會(huì)把你們都吃掉!

沒(méi)有停頓,小老鼠們又接著唱道:

篩了太太的燕麥,

磨了太太的面粉,

放入栗子殼中,

等上一個(gè)小時(shí)。

“喵!喵!”辛普金打斷了他們,他用爪子撓著門。但是鑰匙放在裁縫的枕頭下面,他沒(méi)有辦法進(jìn)去。

小老鼠們一陣大笑,然后又唱起了另一首歌:

三只小老鼠,坐下來(lái)紡紗。

小貓經(jīng)過(guò)了,偷偷看過(guò)來(lái)。

你們?cè)诟蓡?,我的好伙?jì)?

我們做衣服,給紳士們穿。

讓我進(jìn)去吧,幫你們咬線頭兒?

哦,不用了,貓小姐,你會(huì)咬斷我們的頭!

“喵!喵!”辛普金叫道,“嘿嘿搖一搖?”小老鼠們回應(yīng)道:

嘿嘿搖一搖,乖乖小寵物!

倫敦的商人穿紅衣,

領(lǐng)子用絲綢,鑲邊是金子,

商人們走路喜洋洋!

小老鼠們敲著頂針打節(jié)拍,不過(guò)這些歌辛普金都不喜歡,他在店鋪的門口嗅來(lái)嗅去,喵喵叫著。

然后我買了,

一個(gè)瓦罐和一個(gè)水罐,

一個(gè)紙罐和一個(gè)廢水罐,

總共只花了一個(gè)子兒——

“就放在廚房的櫥柜上。”粗魯?shù)男±鲜髠冇旨恿艘痪洹?/p>

“喵!嚓!嚓!”辛普金撓著窗臺(tái),屋內(nèi)的小老鼠們都站了起來(lái),一齊用低低的呢喃聲喊道:“沒(méi)有絲線了!沒(méi)有絲線了!”他們關(guān)上了百葉窗,把辛普金徹底關(guān)在了外面。

但是通過(guò)百葉窗的縫隙,他依然能夠聽到屋內(nèi)頂針的碰擊聲,還有小老鼠們的歌聲:

“沒(méi)有絲線了!沒(méi)有絲線了!”

辛普金離開店鋪,回了家,一路上都在沉思。回到家后他發(fā)現(xiàn)可憐的老裁縫已經(jīng)退燒了,正安詳?shù)厮H缓?,辛普金踮著腳走到櫥柜邊,從茶壺中拿出了那一小卷絲線,借著月光看著它。想到那些善良的小老鼠,他為自己做過(guò)的壞事感到很愧疚。

第二天一早,裁縫醒了過(guò)來(lái),他看到的第一樣?xùn)|西,就在他那碎布縫成的被子上面,是一卷櫻桃紅色的捻絲線,而懺悔的辛普金就站在他的床邊。

“哎呀,我真是累壞了呀,”格洛斯特的裁縫說(shuō),“不過(guò)我有了絲線呀!”

裁縫起床穿好衣服,走到街上,辛普金跑在他前面。這時(shí)候陽(yáng)光燦爛,照耀著雪地。

八哥們?cè)跓焽枭厦娲抵谏冢嬅鉴B和知更鳥在唱著歌,不過(guò)他們用的是他們特有的語(yǔ)言,不再像夜里那樣唱出歌詞了。

“哎呀,”裁縫說(shuō),“我有了鎖邊線了,可是我沒(méi)有力氣呀,也沒(méi)有時(shí)間,頂多能夠鎖好一個(gè)扣眼,現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是圣誕節(jié)當(dāng)天早晨了!格洛斯特的市長(zhǎng)中午就要舉行婚禮了——可他的櫻桃紅外套在哪里呢?”

他打開了西門街上的小店鋪的門,辛普金跑了進(jìn)去,就像是在期待著什么。但是里面沒(méi)有一個(gè)人!甚至連一只棕色的小老鼠都沒(méi)有。

工作臺(tái)都被打掃清理過(guò)了,線頭和絲綢的碎片全都被清走了,地面上也沒(méi)有什么東西。不過(guò)就在桌子上面——噢,真讓人驚喜!裁縫發(fā)出一聲驚呼——就在那里,在他放著裁剪好的絲綢的地方——現(xiàn)在那里放著一件最美麗的外套和一件繡花的緞子馬甲,格洛斯特的任何一任市長(zhǎng)都沒(méi)有穿過(guò)這么精致、美麗的衣服。在外套的前襟上有玫瑰和紫羅蘭的繡花,而馬甲上面則繡著罌粟花和矢車菊。除了還有一個(gè)扣眼需要鎖上櫻桃紅色的絲線鎖邊以外,其他的一切工作都完成了。那個(gè)扣眼上別著一張小紙片,上面用極小極細(xì)的字寫著:

沒(méi)有絲線了。

從此以后,格洛斯特的裁縫的好運(yùn)來(lái)了,他變得身體強(qiáng)壯,又非常富有。他做最好的馬甲,為格洛斯特所有有錢的商人和全國(guó)各地所有體面的紳士服務(wù)。

從來(lái)都沒(méi)有人見過(guò)那么好看的褶邊或是繡花那么精美的袖口和衣襟。不過(guò),最引人注目的是他鎖的那些扣眼。那些扣眼針腳如此整齊——真是太整齊了,所以我都懷疑一個(gè)戴著眼鏡、指關(guān)節(jié)變形,還戴著頂針的老人怎么可能縫出這樣的針腳。那些扣眼的針腳是那么細(xì)小——實(shí)在太細(xì)小了,看上去就像是小老鼠縫出來(lái)的一樣。

用戶搜索

瘋狂英語(yǔ) 英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)法 新概念英語(yǔ) 走遍美國(guó) 四級(jí)聽力 英語(yǔ)音標(biāo) 英語(yǔ)入門 發(fā)音 美語(yǔ) 四級(jí) 新東方 七年級(jí) 賴世雄 zero是什么意思濰坊市帛方紡織公司東生活區(qū)英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流群

  • 頻道推薦
  • |
  • 全站推薦
  • 推薦下載
  • 網(wǎng)站推薦