“Happy birthday!” cried the four old grandparents, as Charlie came into their room early the next morning.
“祝你生日快乐！”第二天一早，查理一走进四位老人家的房间，他们就喊道。
Mr and Mrs Bucket came in and stood at the foot of the bed, watching Charlie.
巴克特先生和巴克特太太走进来，站在床尾看着查理。
The four old people, two at either end of the bed, propped themselves up on their pillows and stared with anxious eyes at the bar of chocolate in Charlie’s hands.
四位老人家坐在床边，每头两位，靠着他们的枕头，用焦急的眼神盯住查理手中那块巧克力糖。
Then Mrs Bucket said gently, “You mustn’t be too disappointed, my darling, if you don’t find what you’re looking for underneath that wrapper. You really can’t expect to be as lucky as all that.”
这时候，巴克特太太温柔地说：“我的小宝贝，如果你在那包糖纸里找不到你要找的东西，也千万不要太失望啊！你不能期望自己会那么幸运。”
The room became silent. Everybody was waiting now for Charlie to start opening his present. Charlie looked down at the bar of chocolate. He ran his fingers slowly back and forth along the length of it, stroking it lovingly, and the shiny paper wrapper made little sharp crackly noises in the quiet room.
房间里寂静无声。现在每个人都在等着查理动手打开他的礼物。查理低下头看着那块巧克力糖。他的手指慢慢地来回滑动，心爱地抚摸着它。闪亮的包糖纸在静悄悄的房间里发出很轻的清脆的响声。
Charlie smiled nervously and sat down on the edge of the bed. He was holding his present, his only present, very carefully in his two hands. WONKA’S WHIPPLE-SCRUMPTIOUS FUDGEMALLOW DELIGHT, it said on the wrapper.
查理紧张地微笑着，在床边坐下。他双手小心翼翼地拿着他的礼物——他唯一的礼物。包糖纸上写着：旺卡的一流开心牛奶巧克力软糖
“She’s quite right,” Mr Bucket said.
“你妈妈说得完全对。”巴克特先生说。
“The thing to remember,” Grandma Georgina said, “is that whatever happens, you’ll still have the bar of chocolate.”
“你要记住，”乔治娜姥姥说，“不管怎么样，你还是得到了一块巧克力糖。”
“After all,” Grandma Josephine said, “in the whole wide world there are only three tickets left to be found.”
“反正，”约瑟芬奶奶说，“在这个广阔的世界里，要找的奖券总共只剩下那么三张。”
Charlie didn’t say anything.
查理没有做声。
“Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight!” cried Grandpa George. “It’s the best of them all! You’ll just love it!”
“旺卡的一流开心牛奶巧克力软糖，”乔治姥爷叫道，“这是所有巧克力糖中最好的！你准爱吃！”
“Yes,” Charlie whispered. “I know.”
“是的，”查理轻轻地说，“我知道。”
The chance had to be there.
机会应该是有的。
They all knew it was ridiculous to expect this one poor little bar of chocolate to have a magic ticket inside it, and they were trying as gently and as kindly as they could to prepare Charlie for the disappointment. But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was there.
他们全都明白，希望这一小块可怜的巧克力糖里有一张金奖券是荒唐的。他们试图尽可能温柔和慈祥地使查理做好失望的准备。但还有一件事这些大人也知道，这件事就是：不管机会多么少，但机会还是有的。
This particular bar of chocolate had as much chance as any other of having a Golden Ticket.
这一块巧克力糖和任何一块巧克力糖一样，也有藏着一张金奖券的同等机会。
“Just forget all about those Golden Tickets and enjoy the chocolate,” Grandpa Joe said. “Why don’t you do that?”
“就忘掉什么金奖券，好好吃巧克力糖吧，”约瑟夫爷爷说，“你为什么不这样做呢？”
“You’d better go ahead and open it up, or you’ll be late for school,” Grandpa Joe said.
“你最好还是动手把它打开，不然你上学要迟到了。”约瑟夫爷爷说。
“You might as well get it over with,” Grandpa George said.
“你还来得及把它吃掉。”乔治姥爷说。
And that was why all the grandparents and parents in the room were actually just as tense and excited as Charlie was, although they were pretending to be very calm.
正因为这个缘故，房间里的爷爷、奶奶、姥爷、姥姥、爸爸和妈妈虽然装得非常镇静，实际上全跟查理一样紧张和激动。
Very slowly, Charlie’s fingers began to tear open one small corner of the wrapping paper.
查理开始用手指慢慢地撕开包装纸的一小角。
The old people in the bed all leaned forward, craning their scraggy necks.
床上的四位老人家全把身子靠向前，伸长他们的瘦脖子。
“Open it, my dear,” Grandma Georgina said. “Please open it. You’re making me jumpy.”
“打开它吧，我亲爱的，”乔治娜姥姥说，“请你打开它吧。你弄得我胆战心惊了。”
There was no sign of a Golden Ticket anywhere.
里面连金奖券的影子也没有。
Then suddenly, as though he couldn’t bear the suspense any longer, Charlie tore the wrapper right down the middle… and on to his lap, there fell… a light-brown creamy-coloured bar of chocolate.
忽然之间，查理像是再也忍不住这样猜想下去了，把包糖纸一下子撕到半当中…在他的膝盖上落下了…一块淡棕奶油色的巧克力糖。
“Well — that’s that!” said Grandpa Joe brightly. “It’s just what we expected.”
“对了——就是这样！”约瑟夫爷爷轻松地说，“正是我们所料想的。”
Charlie looked up. Four kind old faces were watching him intently from the bed. He smiled at them, a small sad smile, and then he shrugged his shoulders and picked up the chocolate bar and held it out to his mother, and said, “Here, Mother, have a bit. We’ll share it. I want everybody to taste it.”
查理抬起眼睛。床上四张慈祥的脸紧张地看着他。查理向他们微笑——难过地微微一笑。接着他耸耸肩，捡起那块巧克力糖，把它递给他的妈妈说：“吃吧，妈妈，吃一口。我们把它分了吃。我要每个人都尝一尝。”
“Certainly not!” his mother said.
“当然不吃！”他的妈妈说。
And the others all cried, “No, no! We wouldn’t dream of it! It’s all yours!”
其他人全叫起来：“不，不！我们根本不想尝它！这块巧克力糖全是你的！”
“Please,” begged Charlie, turning round and offering it to Grandpa Joe.
“请尝尝吧。”查理转过身，把它递给约瑟夫爷爷。
But neither he nor anyone else would take even a tiny bit.
但是约瑟夫爷爷也好，其他人也好，连小小的一口都不肯尝。
“It’s time to go to school, my darling,” Mrs Bucket said, putting an arm around Charlie’s skinny shoulders. “Come on, or you’ll be late.”
“该去上学了，我的宝贝，”巴克特太太用一只手臂搂住查理瘦削的双肩说，“去吧，不然你要迟到了。”
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