VI—A Queer Noise in the Night
第六章——夜里奇怪的声响
AT LAST IT WAS dinner time, and the children sat down to see what Henry had in his bundles.
终于到了晚饭时间，孩子们坐下来看亨利在包裹里带了什么。
“I bought another loaf of brown bread at the store,” said Henry, “and some more milk. Then I bought some dried meat, because we can eat it in our hands. And I bought a bone for Watch.”
“我在店里又买了一条黑面包，”亨利说，“还多买了一些牛奶。然后我买了些肉干，因为我们可以拿在手里吃。我还给沃奇买了一根骨头。”
Watch looked hungrily at the bone and lay down at once to eat it.
沃奇眼馋地盯着那根骨头，立刻趴下来啃了起来。
Jessie got out four cups and bowls and put some milk into each one. Then the children put in little pieces of brown bread and began to eat it with their new spoons.
杰西拿出四个杯子和碗，每个里面都倒了一些牛奶。然后孩子们把小块的黑面包泡进去，开始用新勺子吃起来。
“What fun!” cried Jessie. “Eating with spoons. Now tell us what you did in town, Henry.”
“真有趣！”杰西叫道，“用勺子吃饭。现在告诉我们你在镇上做了什么，亨利。”
Henry began, “The town below this hill is Silver City. I saw the name on a sign.”
亨利开口道：“这座山下面的镇子叫银城。我是在一块牌子上看到这个名字的。”
“I went into the town and walked along the first street I came to. It was a nice street, with big houses and flowers and trees. I saw a man out cutting his grass. He’s a good man, too, I can tell you—a doctor.”
“我走进镇子，沿着遇到的第一条街走。那是条不错的街道，有大房子、鲜花和树木。我看见一个人在外面割草。我跟你说，他是个好人——是个医生。”
“Did you work for him?” asked Jessie.
“你给他干活了吗？”杰西问。
“Yes,” said Henry. “He was very hot, and just as I came to the house, his bell rang. He started to the house, and I called after him and asked him if I could cut the grass. He said, ‘Yes, yes! I wish you would!’ You see, he wasn’t used to cutting it himself.”
“是的，”亨利说，“他热得够呛，就在我走到他家时，门铃响了。他正往屋里走，我在后面喊住他，问他能不能让我来割草。他说：‘好，好！求之不得！’你知道，他不习惯自己割草。”
“So I cut the grass, and he said, ‘Good for you. Do you want to work every day?’ And he said he had never had a boy who cut it as well as I did.”
“于是我割了草，他说：‘干得好。你想每天都来干活吗？’他还说他从没见过哪个男孩割草割得像我这么好。”
“Oh, Henry!” cried Violet and Jessie.
“哦，亨利！”维奥莱特和杰西叫道。
“I told him I did want to work, and he told me to come back this afternoon.”
“我告诉他我确实想干活，他就让我今天下午再去。”
“He has a pretty house and a garage and a big vegetable garden. Then he has a lot of cherry trees behind the house—a cherry orchard. You should see the beautiful big red cherries!”
“他有一座漂亮的房子、一个车库和一个大菜园。房子后面还有很多樱桃树——一个樱桃园。你真该看看那些又大又红的漂亮樱桃！”
“Well, when I was cutting the grass near the kitchen, the cook came to the kitchen door and watched me.”
“嗯，当我在厨房附近割草时，厨娘来到厨房门口看我。”
“She asked me if I liked cookies. I said I did, and she gave me one.”
“她问我喜不喜欢饼干。我说喜欢，她就给了我一块。”
“What did you do with it?” asked Benny hungrily.
“你怎么处理那块饼干的？”班尼饿乎乎地问。
“When she went back into the kitchen, I put it in my pocket,” said Henry laughing.
“等她回到厨房后，我就把它放进了口袋，”亨利笑着说。
“Did she see you?” cried Jessie.
“她看见了吗？”杰西叫道。
“Oh, no,” said Henry. “I played I was eating it. For a long time I carefully ate away on nothing at all.”
“噢，没有，”亨利说，“我假装在吃。好半天我都在小心翼翼地对着空气嚼。”
Benny began to look at Henry’s pocket. It did look very funny.
班尼开始盯着亨利的口袋看。那样子确实很滑稽。
Henry went on. “When I came home, the doctor gave me a dollar, and the cook gave me this bag.”
亨利继续说：“我回来时，医生给了我一美元，厨娘给了我这个袋子。”
Henry laughed at Benny and pulled the bag out of his pocket. In it were ten delicious brown cookies.
亨利笑着看了看班尼，从口袋里掏出那个袋子。里面有十块美味的棕色饼干。
“Oh, oh!” cried Benny. “Please, Jessie! Let’s have cookies for dinner.”
“哦，哦！”班尼叫道，“求你了，杰西！我们晚饭吃饼干吧。”
“Yes, indeed,” said Jessie.
“当然可以，”杰西说。
Then Henry opened his last bundle.
然后亨利打开了最后一个包裹。
“I thought we ought to have a tablecloth,” he said. “So I got one at the store. But it wasn’t hemmed.”
“我觉得我们应该有一块桌布，”他说，“所以我在店里买了一块。但它还没锁边。”
Violet begged, “Oh, let me hem it.”
维奥莱特恳求道：“哦，让我来缝边吧。”
She took her scissors out of her workbag and cut the two ends even. But before she began to hem the pretty blue tablecloth, she helped Jessie wash and rinse the dishes and put them away. Benny helped, too. When Henry said good-by and went back to town, all the children were working happily.
她从针线包里拿出剪刀，把两头剪齐。但在开始给这块漂亮的蓝色桌布锁边之前，她先帮杰西清洗并冲净了碗盘，把它们收好。班尼也帮了忙。当亨利道别回镇上时，所有的孩子都在快乐地忙碌着。
Watch was trying to make a hole with one paw to bury his bone in.
沃奇正试图用一只爪子刨个坑来埋它的骨头。
“I’ll help you bury your bone, Watch,” said Benny.
“我来帮你埋骨头吧，沃奇，”班尼说。
“Oh, no, Benny,” said Jessie. “Watch wants to bury his bone himself. You come and help me. I’m going to make a broom for the house.”
“哦，不行，班尼，”杰西说，“沃奇想自己埋骨头。你来帮我吧。我要给家里做一把扫帚。”
For a little while Benny ran around finding sticks for the broom, but he soon went to sleep on the ground with the dog for a pillow.
班尼跑去找做扫帚的树枝，跑了一会儿，很快就枕着狗在地上睡着了。
The two girls sat by the brook. Violet was hemming the blue tablecloth, and Jessie was making the broom with a long stick for a handle.
两个女孩坐在小溪边。维奥莱特在给蓝桌布锁边，杰西正在用一根长树枝做扫帚柄。
When Henry came back at supper time, the broom with its long handle stood in the kitchen, and the new tablecloth was hemmed. Henry admired the broom and the tablecloth. Then he gave Jessie a small bundle.
晚饭时间亨利回来时，那把长柄扫帚已经立在厨房里，新桌布也缝好了边。亨利对扫帚和桌布赞不绝口。然后他递给杰西一个小包裹。
“Oh, butter!” cried Jessie, her eyes shining.
“哦，黄油！”杰西叫道，眼睛闪闪发亮。
It was butter, yellow and sweet. The four children had not had any butter for many days. At last they sat down to their fine supper.
是黄油，金黄香甜。这四个孩子已经好多天没吃过黄油了。他们终于坐下来享用这顿丰盛的晚餐。
“Now this spoon is a magic spoon,” said Henry. “Turn it around and use the handle, and it is a knife!”
“这把勺子可是把魔法勺，”亨利说，“把它转过来用勺柄，它就变成了一把刀！”
He showed Benny how to put the butter on the brown bread with his magic knife. With dried meat, bread and butter, milk, and cookies, the children could not ask for a better supper.
他教班尼如何用这把“魔法刀”把黄油涂在黑面包上。有肉干、黄油面包、牛奶和饼干，孩子们再也想不到比这更好的晚餐了。
“What did you do this afternoon, Henry?” asked Jessie.
“你今天下午做了什么，亨利？”杰西问。
“Well, I washed the doctor’s car,” said Henry. “Then I washed the walks and the windows. Tomorrow I’m going to work in the garden.”
“嗯，我洗了医生的车，”亨利说，“然后洗了人行道和窗户。明天我要去花园里干活。”
Then he looked at the brook. “Oh, how I would love to have a swim in that nice cold water!”
然后他看向小溪。“哦，我多想在那清凉的水里游个泳啊！”
Henry was hot and sticky as he looked at the waterfall.
亨利看着瀑布，感觉又热又黏。
“Maybe we could make a swimming pool,” he said. “We could build a dam out of logs.”
“也许我们可以造个游泳池，”他说，“我们可以用原木筑一道坝。”
“Oh, yes, we could,” said Jessie. “Violet and I know where to find some logs and some big flat stones.”
“哦，是的，我们可以，”杰西说，“我和维奥莱特知道哪儿能找到一些原木和大扁石头。”
“You do?” said Henry.
“真的吗？”亨利说。
“Yes,” said Jessie. “They are not far away. And just a little way below here is a pool now, with sand all around it. But it is not big enough to swim in.”
“是的，”杰西说，“离这儿不远。就在下面一点点的地方现在就有个水潭，周围都是沙子。只是不够大，没法游泳。”
“Is that so!” cried Henry. “Some day I’ll stay at home, and I’ll try to dam up the brook and make a swimming pool.”
“是吗！”亨利叫道，“哪天我留在家里，试试把小溪拦起来造个游泳池。”
“You can have my wheels,” said Benny.
“你可以用我的轮子，”班尼说。
“Good!” replied Henry. “I’ll make you a little cart with the wheels, Benny, and you can carry stones in it.”
“太好了！”亨利回答，“我会用那些轮子给你做辆小车，班尼，你可以用它来运石头。”
“Yes,” said Benny. “I will.”
“好的，”班尼说，“我会的。”
“Come now, we must go to bed,” said Jessie.
“来吧，我们该睡觉了，”杰西说。
The children were all glad to go to bed. They stood on the stump and climbed into their new house, and they all went to sleep but Henry. He was thinking about the new swimming pool. All at once he saw that Watch was not asleep.
孩子们都很高兴能上床睡觉。他们站在树桩上爬进新家，除了亨利外都睡着了。他还在想着那个新游泳池。突然，他发现沃奇没有睡。
Henry patted the dog and said, “Lie down, Watch.”
亨利拍了拍狗说：“躺下，沃奇。”
But Watch did not lie down. He began to growl softly.
但沃奇没有躺下。它开始低声咆哮。
“Sh!” said Henry to the dog. He sat up. Jessie sat up.
“嘘！”亨利对狗说。他坐了起来。杰西也坐了起来。
“What is it, Henry?” she whispered.
“怎么了，亨利？”她小声问。
“I don’t know,” replied Henry. He was frightened.
“我不知道，”亨利回答。他有些害怕。
“I think Watch hears something in the woods.”
“我想沃奇听到了树林里有什么动静。”
“Let’s close the door,” said Jessie. “I’m afraid.”
“我们把门关上吧，”杰西说，“我害怕。”
The two children closed the heavy door softly. Then they sat still and listened, but they did not hear anything.
两个孩子轻轻关上了沉重的门。然后他们静静地坐着倾听，但什么也没听到。
“Lie down, Watch,” said Jessie again. “Go to sleep.”
“躺下，沃奇，”杰西又说，“去睡觉。”
But Watch did not go to sleep. He growled again.
但沃奇没有去睡觉。它又咆哮了一声。
“Maybe someone is in the woods. Maybe someone wants to hide in this car,” whispered Jessie.
“也许树林里有人。也许有人想躲在这节车厢里，”杰西低语道。
“Maybe,” said Henry. “There is something out there that the dog doesn’t like.”
“也许吧，”亨利说，“外面肯定有什么让狗不喜欢的东西。”
Then they heard a stick crack, and Watch barked.
接着他们听到树枝折断的声音，沃奇叫了起来。
“Oh, sh!” Jessie put her hand over his mouth.
“哦，嘘！”杰西用手捂住了它的嘴。
“If there is someone out in the woods, he knows that there is a dog in this boxcar,” said Henry.
“如果树林里真有人，他现在就知道这节车厢里有狗了，”亨利说。
He took the new broom in his hand and waited.
他手里拿着新扫帚等待着。
But nothing came. Nothing at all. The two children waited and waited. Violet and Benny slept through it all.
但什么也没发生。什么都没有。两个孩子等了又等。维奥莱特和班尼一直在熟睡，对这一切浑然不觉。
“I’m going to open the door now,” said Henry.
“我现在要开门了，”亨利说。
They opened the door softly and then listened. The dog sniffed a little. Then he turned around three times and lay down. He put his head on his paws.
他们轻轻打开门，然后侧耳倾听。狗嗅了嗅，然后转了三圈躺了下来，把头搁在爪子上。
“It must be all right now,” said Henry. “Watch knows. Maybe it was just a rabbit.”
“现在肯定没事了，”亨利说，“沃奇知道的。也许只是一只兔子。”
So at last they all went to sleep and slept until morning.
于是最后他们都睡着了，一直睡到天亮。
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