The Oompa-Loompas guided the boat alongside the red door. On the door it said, INVENTING ROOM — PRIVATE — KEEP OUT. Mr Wonka took a key from his pocket, leaned over the side of the boat, and put the key in the keyhole.

奥帕—伦帕人把船靠到那道红色的门旁。门上写着:发明室——私人重地——闲人免进。旺卡先生从衣袋里掏出一把钥匙,从船边靠过去,把钥匙插进钥匙孔。

When Mr Wonka shouted “Stop the boat!” the Oompa-Loompas jammed their oars into the river and backed water furiously. The boat stopped.

当旺卡先生大叫一声“停船”时,所有的奥帕—伦帕人把他们的船桨插进河里,使劲地倒划。船停下来了。

“This is the most important room in the entire factory!” he said. “All my most secret new inventions are cooking and simmering in here! Old Fickel-gruber would give his front teeth to be allowed inside just for three minutes! So would Prodnose and Slugworth and all the other rotten chocolate makers! But now, listen to me! I want no messing about when you go in! No touching, no meddling, and no tasting! Is that agreed?”

“这是全厂最重要的房间!”他说,“我所有最秘密的新发明都是在这里炮制的!要让老菲克尔格鲁伯进去三分钟,他宁肯用他的门牙来作交换!普罗德诺斯、斯拉格沃思和其他下流的巧克力制造商也会这样做!不过现在听我说,你们进去,我不希望有任何捣乱行为!不要摸,不要多事,不要乱吃!答应吗?”

“Yes, yes!” the children cried. “We won’t touch a thing!”

“答应,答应!”孩子们叫道,“我们什么也不摸!”

“Up to now,” Mr Wonka said, “nobody else, not even an Oompa-Loompa, has ever been allowed in here!” He opened the door and stepped out of the boat into the room. The four children and their parents all scrambled after him.

“直到现在,”旺卡先生说,“从来没有人,甚至没有一个奥帕—伦帕人,曾被允许走进这房间!”他打开门,从船上跨进房间。四个孩子和他们的家人都跟在他后面爬上去。

Charlie Bucket stared around the gigantic room in which he now found himself. The place was like a witch’s kitchen! All about him black metal pots were boiling and bubbling on huge stoves, and kettles were hissing and pans were sizzling, and strange iron machines were clanking and spluttering, and there were pipes running all over the ceiling and walls, and the whole place was filled with smoke and steam and delicious rich smells.

查理·巴克特环顾他现在进来的巨大房间。这地方像一个女巫的厨房!在他的四周,许多黑色金属锅正在大灶上沸腾得扑扑响,水壶在咝咝响,平底锅在吱吱响,奇怪的铁机器在当啷当啷、噼里啪啦响。天花板和四面墙上布满管子,整个房间弥漫着烟雾和蒸气以及浓郁的香气。

“Don’t touch!” shouted Mr Wonka. “And don’t knock anything over!”

“不要摸!”旺卡先生叫道,“不要弄翻任何东西!”

Mr Wonka himself had suddenly become even more excited than usual, and anyone could see that this was the room he loved best of all. He was hopping about among the saucepans and the machines like a child among his Christmas presents, not knowing which thing to look at first. He lifted the lid from a huge pot and took a sniff; then he rushed over and dipped a finger into a barrel of sticky yellow stuff and had a taste; then he skipped across to one of the machines and turned half a dozen knobs this way and that; then he peered anxiously through the glass door of a gigantic oven, rubbing his hands and cackling with delight at what he saw inside. Then he ran over to another machine, a small shiny affair that kept going phut-phut-phut-phut-phut, and every time it went phut, a large green marble dropped out of it into a basket on the floor. At least it looked like a marble.

旺卡先生似乎变得比先前更兴奋。大家一看便知道,这是他最喜欢的房间。他在深底锅和机器之间跳来跳去,像个小孩子在他的圣诞礼物之间跳来跳去一样,不知道先看哪一样好。他掀开一个大锅的盖子闻闻;接着他冲过去把一根手指伸进一大桶黄色黏液,再把手指拿出来尝尝味道;接着他跑到一个机器那里,把机器的半打旋钮转来转去;接着他焦急地望着一个巨炉的玻璃门,对看到的炉里的情况高兴得搓着手咯咯笑;接着他跑到另一部机器那边,这是一个发亮的小玩意儿,不断发出啪啪啪啪的声音,每发出啪的一声,一粒绿色的大石头弹子就落到地上的一个篮子里。至少它看起来像是一粒石头弹子。

“It’s like gum!” cried Violet Beauregarde.

“就像口香糖!”维奥莉特·博雷加德叫道。

“Everlasting Gobstoppers!” cried Mr Wonka proudly. “They’re completely new! I am inventing them for children who are given very little pocket money. You can put an Everlasting Gobstopper in your mouth and you can suck it and suck it and suck it and suck it and it will never get any smaller!”

“永远吃不掉的石头弹子糖!”旺卡先生自豪地说,“这是崭新的产品!我是为零用钱不多的小朋友发明的。把一粒永远吃不掉的石头弹子糖放进嘴里,吮了又吮,吮了又吮,它永远不会变小!”

“It is not like gum,” Mr Wonka said. “Gum is for chewing, and if you tried chewing one of these Gobstoppers here you’d break your teeth off! And they never get any smaller! They never disappear! NEVER! At least I don’t think they do. There’s one of them being tested this very moment in the Testing Room next door. An Oompa-Loompa is sucking it. He’s been sucking it for very nearly a year now without stopping, and it’s still just as good as ever!”

“它不像口香糖,口香糖是嚼的。如果你嚼石头弹子糖,就要嚼崩你的牙!它们永远不会变小!它们永远不会消失!永远不会!至少我想它们不会。现在有一粒正在隔壁实验室进行实验。一个奥帕—伦帕人正在吮着它。他已经不断地吮了快一年了,糖依然是老样子。”旺卡先生说。

“Now, over here,” Mr Wonka went on, skipping excitedly across the room to the opposite wall, “over here I am inventing a completely new line in toffees!” He stopped beside a large saucepan. The saucepan was full of a thick gooey purplish treacle, boiling and bubbling. By standing on his toes, little Charlie could just see inside it.

“现在看看这里,”旺卡先生兴奋地奔到对面的墙边,接着说,“我正在这里发明一系列全新的太妃糖!”他在一个大深底锅旁边停下。锅里盛满了很稠的紫色糖浆,正在沸腾冒泡。小查理踮起脚,正好看到锅的里面。

“A beard!” cried Veruca Salt. “Who wants a beard, for heaven’s sake?”

“胡子,”维鲁卡·索尔特叫道,“天哪,谁要胡子呢?”

“That’s Hair Toffee!” cried Mr Wonka. “You eat just one tiny bit of that, and in exactly half an hour a brand-new luscious thick silky beautiful crop of hair will start growing out all over the top of your head! And a moustache! And a beard!”

“那是头发太妃糖!”旺卡先生叫道,“你只要吃一丁点儿,正好过半小时,你的整个头顶就会长满厚厚一层新的柔软秀发!还长出唇髭!还长出长胡子!”

“But Mr Wonka,” said Mike Teavee, “little boys and girls never do go about with…”

“不过旺卡先生,”迈克·蒂维说,“事实上从没有小男孩和小女孩走来走去是…”

“It would suit you very well,” said Mr Wonka, “but unfortunately the mixture is not quite right yet. I’ve got it too strong. It works too well. I tried it on an Oompa-Loompa yesterday in the Testing Room and immediately a huge black beard started shooting out of his chin, and the beard grew so fast that soon it was trailing all over the floor in a thick hairy carpet. It was growing faster than we could cut it! In the end we had to use a lawn mower to keep it in check! But I’ll get the mixture right soon! And when I do, then there’ll be no excuse any more for little boys and girls going about with bald heads!”

“你长胡子正合适,”旺卡先生说,“只可惜这种混合物还没有完全调好。我的配方开得太重了,它的效果过于厉害。昨天在实验室里,我让一个奥帕—伦帕人试了试,一把黑色大胡子马上从他的下巴迸出来,长得飞快,一下子就铺满整个地板,像是一张胡子厚地毡。它长起来快得连剃也来不及!最后我们只好用一台割草机在他的脸颊上割个不停!不过我很快就能把混合物配好!一旦成功,小男孩和小女孩就再也没有理由秃着头走来走去了!”

“Don’t argue, my dear child, please don’t argue!” cried Mr Wonka. “It’s such a waste of precious time! Now, over here, if you will all step this way, I will show you something that I am terrifically proud of. Oh, do be careful! Don’t knock anything over! Stand back!”

“不要跟我争论,我亲爱的小朋友,请不要跟我争论!”旺卡先生叫道,“这太浪费宝贵时间了!到这边来,如果你们全都过来,我要让你们看一样我无比自豪的东西。噢,请小心,不要打翻任何东西!退后一点儿!”


yewandou

一个人要有坚强的毅力,否则他将一事无成

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