I—The Four Hungry Children
第一章、四个饥饿的孩子
ONE WARM NIGHT four children stood in front of a bakery.
一个温暖的夜晚，四个孩子站在一家面包店前。
No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from.
没人认识他们，也没人知道他们从哪里来。
The baker’s wife saw them first, as they stood looking in at the window of her store.
面包师的妻子最先看到了他们，当时他们正站在店外望着橱窗。
The little boy was looking at the cakes, the big boy was looking at the loaves of bread, and the two girls were looking at the cookies.
小男孩盯着蛋糕看，大男孩盯着长条面包看，两个女孩则盯着饼干看。
Now the baker’s wife did not like children. She did not like boys at all.
面包师的妻子不喜欢孩子，尤其讨厌男孩。
So she came to the front of the bakery and listened, looking very cross.
于是她走到面包店前面听着动静，脸上带着怒容。
“The cake is good, Jessie,” the little boy said. He was about five years old.
“杰西，蛋糕看起来真好吃，”大约五岁的小男孩说道。
“Yes, Benny,” said the big girl. “But bread is better for you. Isn’t it, Henry?”
“是啊，本尼，”大女孩说，“但吃面包对你身体更好。对吧，亨利？”
“Oh, yes,” said Henry. “We must have some bread, and cake is not good for Benny and Violet.”
“哦，没错，”亨利说，“我们得买些面包，蛋糕对本尼和维奥莱特来说不太健康。”
“I like bread best, anyway,” said Violet. She was about ten years old, and she had pretty brown hair and brown eyes.
“反正我最喜欢吃面包了，”维奥莱特说。她大约十岁，长着漂亮的棕色头发和棕色眼睛。
“That is just like you, Violet,” said Henry, smiling at her. “Let’s go into the bakery. Maybe they will let us stay here for the night.”
“这很像你的风格，维奥莱特，”亨利微笑着对她说，“我们进面包店吧。也许他们会让我们在这里过夜。”
The baker’s wife looked at them as they came in.
孩子们走进店里时，面包师的妻子打量着他们。
“I want three loaves of bread, please,” said Jessie.
“请给我三条长条面包，”杰西说。
She smiled politely at the woman, but the woman did not smile.
她有礼貌地对那位妇人微笑，但那妇人并没有回以微笑。
She looked at Henry as he put his hand in his pocket for the money. She looked cross, but she sold him the bread.
当亨利把手伸进口袋掏钱时，她看着他。虽然她面带怒容，但还是把面包卖给了他。
Jessie was looking around, too, and she saw a long red bench under each window of the bakery.
杰西也在四处张望，她看到面包店的每扇窗户下都有一条红色的长凳。
The benches had flat red pillows on them.
长凳上铺着扁平的红色靠垫。
“Will you let us stay here for the night?” Jessie asked. “We could sleep on those benches, and tomorrow we would help you wash the dishes and do things for you.”
“您能让我们在这里过一夜吗？”杰西问道，“我们可以睡在那些长凳上，明天帮您洗碗干活。”
Now the woman liked this. She did not like to wash dishes very well. She would like to have a big boy to help her with her work.
妇人听了倒是挺高兴。她不太喜欢洗碗，有个大男孩帮她干活倒也不错。
“Where are your father and mother?” she asked.
“你们的爸爸妈妈呢？”她问。
“They are dead,” said Henry.
“他们都去世了，”亨利回答。
“We have a grandfather in Greenfield, but we don’t like him,” said Benny.
“我们在格林菲尔德有个爷爷，但我们不喜欢他，”本尼说。
Jessie put her hand over the little boy’s mouth before he could say more.
没等小男孩再说下去，杰西就捂住了他的嘴。
“Oh, Benny, keep still!” she said.
“哦，本尼，别说了！”她说。
“Why don’t you like your grandfather?” asked the woman.
“你们为什么不喜欢爷爷？”妇人问。
“He is our father’s father, and he didn’t like our mother,” said Henry. “So we don’t think he would like us. We are afraid he would be mean to us.”
“他是我们爸爸的爸爸，但他不喜欢我们的妈妈，”亨利说，“所以我们觉得他也不会喜欢我们。我们怕他会虐待我们。”
“Did you ever see him?” asked the woman.
“你们见过他吗？”妇人问。
“No,” answered Henry.
“没有，”亨利答道。
“Then why do you think he would be mean to you?” asked the woman.
“那你们为什么觉得他会虐待你们呢？”妇人又问。
“Well, he never came to see us,” said Henry. “He doesn’t like us at all.”
“嗯，他从来没来看过我们，”亨利说，“他根本不喜欢我们。”
“Where did you live before you came here?” asked the woman.
“来这里之前你们住在哪里？”妇人问。
But not one of the four children would tell her.
但这四个孩子谁也不肯告诉她。
“We’ll get along all right,” said Jessie. “We want to stay here for only one night.”
“我们会照顾好自己的，”杰西说，“我们只想在这里住一晚。”
“You may stay here tonight,” said the woman at last. “And tomorrow we’ll see what we can do.”
“今晚你们可以住在这里，”妇人终于开口了，“明天的事明天再说吧。”
Henry thanked her politely.
亨利有礼貌地向她道谢。
“We are all pretty tired and hungry,” he said.
“我们都又累又饿，”他说。
The children sat down on the floor. Henry cut one of the loaves of bread into four pieces with his knife, and the children began to eat.
孩子们坐在地板上。亨利用小刀把一条面包切成四块，大家开始吃起来。
“Delicious!” said Henry.
“真好吃！”亨利说。
“Well, I never!” said the woman.
“真是活久见！”妇人说道。
She went into the next room and shut the door.
她走进隔壁房间，关上了门。
“I’m glad she is gone,” remarked Benny, eating. “She doesn’t like us.”
“她走了真好，”本尼边吃边说，“她不喜欢我们。”
“Sh, Benny!” said Jessie. “She is good to let us sleep here.”
“嘘，本尼！”杰西说，“她能让我们睡在这里已经很好了。”
After supper the children lay down on their red benches, and Violet and Benny soon went to sleep.
晚饭后，孩子们躺在红色的长凳上，维奥莱特和本尼很快就睡着了。
But Jessie and Henry could hear the woman talking to the baker.
但杰西和亨利能听到妇人和面包师说话的声音。
She said, “I’ll keep the three older children. They can help me. But the little boy must go to the Children’s Home. He is too little. I cannot take care of him.”
她说：“我要留下这三个大一点的孩子，他们可以帮我干活。但那个小男孩必须送到儿童之家去。他太小了，我没法照顾他。”
The baker answered, “Very well. Tomorrow I’ll take the little boy to the Children’s Home. We’ll keep the others for awhile, but we must make them tell us who their grandfather is.”
面包师回答道：“好吧。明天我就把小男孩送去儿童之家。其他几个先留一段时间，但我们必须让他们说出爷爷是谁。”
Jessie and Henry waited until the baker and his wife had gone to bed. Then they sat up in the dark.
杰西和亨利一直等到面包师夫妇上床睡觉后，才在黑暗中坐起身来。
“Oh, Henry!” whispered Jessie. “Let’s run away from here!”
“哦，亨利！”杰西低声说，“我们从这里逃走吧！”
“Yes, indeed,” said Henry. “We’ll never let Benny go to a Children’s Home. Never, never! We must be far away by morning, or they will find us. But we must not leave any of our things here.”
“当然，”亨利说，“我们绝不能让本尼被送去儿童之家。绝不！天亮前我们必须走远，否则会被他们找到。而且我们不能把任何东西落在这里。”
Jessie sat still, thinking.
杰西静静地坐着思考。
“Our clothes and a cake of soap and towels are in the big laundry bag,” she said. “Violet has her little workbag. And we have two loaves of bread left. Have you your knife and the money?”
“我们的衣服、一块肥皂和毛巾都在那个大洗衣袋里，”她说，“维奥莱特带着她的小针线包。我们还剩两条面包。你的小刀和钱带了吗？”
“Yes,” said Henry. “I have almost four dollars.”
“带了，”亨利说，“我有将近四美元。”
“You must carry Benny,” said Jessie. “He will cry if we wake him up. But I’ll wake Violet.”
“你得抱着本尼，”杰西说，“如果把他叫醒他会哭的。我来叫醒维奥莱特。”
“Sh, Violet! Come! We are going to run away again. If we don’t run away, the baker will take Benny to a Children’s Home in the morning.”
“嘘，维奥莱特！快起来！我们要再次逃走了。如果不跑，面包师明天早上就会把本尼送到儿童之家去。”
The little girl woke up at once. She sat up and rolled off the bench. She did not make any noise.
小女孩立刻醒了过来。她坐起身，从长凳上滑下来，没有发出一点声响。
“What shall I do?” she whispered softly.
“我该做什么？”她轻声耳语道。
“Carry this,” said Jessie. She gave her the workbag.
“拿着这个，”杰西说着把针线包递给了她。
Jessie put the two loaves of bread into the laundry bag, and then she looked around the room.
杰西把两条面包放进洗衣袋，然后环顾了一下房间。
“All right,” she said to Henry. “Take Benny now.”
“好了，”她对亨利说，“现在抱上本尼。”
Henry took Benny in his arms and carried him to the door of the bakery.
亨利把本尼抱在怀里，走到面包店门口。
Jessie took the laundry bag and opened the door very softly. All the children went out quietly. They did not say a word.
杰西提着洗衣袋，轻轻地打开了门。所有的孩子都安静地走出去，一声不吭。
Jessie shut the door, and then they all listened. Everything was very quiet. So the four children went down the street.
杰西关上门，然后大家都侧耳倾听。四周一片寂静。于是，这四个孩子沿着街道走远了。
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