韦神微博:《铁路少年》——书虫·牛津英汉双语读物

★★书虫·牛津英汉双语读物 The Railway Children
铁路少年 作者：Edith Nesbit【英】
外语教学与研究出版社·牛津大学出版社 
●CHAPTER ONE The beginning of things They were not railway children at the beginning. They lived with their father and mother in London. There were three of them. Roberta--she was always called Bobbie, and was the oldest. Next came Peter, who wanted to be an engineer when he grew up. And the youngest was Phyllis, who was always trying to be good. Mother was almost always at home, ready to play with the children, or to read to them. And she wrote stories, then read them to the children after tea. These three lucky children had everything that they needed. Pretty clothes, a warm house, and lost of toys. They also had a wonderful father who was never angry, and always ready to play a game. They were very happy. But they did not know how happy until their life in London was over, and they had to live a very different life indeed. The awful change came suddenly. *  *  * ◆ 1 ◆  故事的开始         起初，他们并不是铁路少年。他们和父母一起住在伦敦。他们兄弟姐妹三个，分别是：罗伯塔——大家常叫她博比，年龄最大。彼得排行老二，他长大后想当工程师。老三叫菲利斯，她一向很乖巧。         妈妈几乎一直待在家里，或者陪孩子们玩儿，或者读故事给他们听。她还自己编写故事，在茶后读给孩子们听。         这三个幸运的孩子拥有他们想要的一切。漂亮的衣服，温暖的家，还有好多好多的玩具。他们还有一个难得的好爸爸，他从不发脾气，而且经常陪孩子们做游戏。         他们生活得非常幸福。但直到他们在伦敦的生活结束以后，他们才真正明白了那段生活有多么美好，以后他们不得不过一种截然不同的生活。         这个糟糕的变化降临得十分突然。 *   *   *It was Peter's birthday, and he was ten years old. Among his presents was a toy steam engine, and it quickly became Peter's favourite toy. But after three days, the engine went BANG! Peter was very unhappy about his broken toy. The others said he cried, but Peter said his eyes were red because he had cold. When father came home that day, Peter told him the sad story about his engine, and Father looked at it very carefully. Mother and the children waited. ‘Is there no hope？’ said Peter。 ‘Of course there's hope!’ said Father, smiling. ‘I'll mend it on Saturday, and you can all help me.’  Just then,someone knocked at the front door. A few moments later, Ruth—the maid—came in. ‘There are two gentlemen to see you,’ she said to Father. ‘Now, who can they be?’ said Father. ‘Try to be quick, dear,’ said his wife. ‘It's nearly time for the children to go to bed. ’
But the two men stayed and stayed. Father's voice got louder and louder in the next room, but the children and Mother could not hear what was said. Then Ruth came back and spoke to Mother. ‘He wents you to go in, ma'ma,’ she said, ‘I think he's had bad news. Be ready for the woest.’ Mother went into the next room,  and there was more talking. Soon after, the children heart Ruth call a taxi, then there was the sound of feet going outside and down the steps. Mother came back, and her face was white. ‘It's time to go to bed,’ she said to the children. ‘Ruth will take you upstairs.’ ‘But, Father—’ began Phyllis. ‘Father's had to go away on business,’ said Mother. ‘Now, go to bed, darlings.’  Bobbie whispered, ‘It wasn't bad news, was it ? ’ ‘No, darling,’ said Mother. ‘I can't tell you anything tonight. Please go now.’ *   *   *         那天是彼得的生日，他已经十岁了。在他收到的生日礼物中，有一个玩具蒸汽火车头，这个火车头很快就成了他最喜欢的玩具。但过了三天，这个火车头突然“砰”地一声坏掉了！彼得为此闷闷不乐。家里的其他人都说彼得哭了，可彼得声称他的眼睛变红是因为他感冒了。         那天，爸爸回来的时候，彼得把这个不幸的消息告诉了他。爸爸仔细地检查了那个火车头。妈妈和孩子们等在旁边。         “没希望修好了吗？”彼得问。         “当然有希望！”爸爸微笑著说，“星期六我给你修好，你们都可以给我帮帮忙。”         就在这个时候，有人敲他家的前门。几分钟之后，鲁思——家里的女佣——走了进来。“有两位先生想要见您。”她对爸爸说。         “现在这个时候，会是谁呀？”爸爸说。         “尽量快点儿，亲爱的，”他妻子说，“孩子们就该上床睡觉了。”         但是，那两个人待了很久。隔壁房间里，爸爸讲话的声音越来越高，不过妈妈和孩子们还是听不清他在说些什么。后来，鲁思回来跟妈妈说话。         妈妈进了隔壁那个房间，又是一番交谈。过了一会儿，孩子们听到鲁思叫了一辆出租车，随后传来了有人下楼出门的脚步声。         妈妈回来了，面无血色。         “该上床睡觉了，”她对孩子们说，“鲁思会带你们上楼的。”         “但是，爸爸——”菲利斯首先说。         “爸爸要出差，”妈妈说，“现在，上床睡觉吧，亲爱的。”         博比小声说：“该不是什么坏消息吧，是吗？”         “不是，亲爱的，”妈妈说，“今晚我什么也不能告诉你们，请现在就去睡觉吧。” *   *   * Mother went out early the next morning, and it was nearly seven o'clock before she came home. She looked ill and tired, and the children asked her no questions. Mother drank a cup of tea, then she said, ‘Now, my darlings, I want to tell you something. Those men did bring bad news last night. Father will be away for some time, and I'm very worried.’ ‘Is it something to do with the Government ?’ asked Bobbie. The children knew that Father worked in a Government office. ‘Yes,’ said Mother. ‘Now don't ask me any more quistions about it. Will you promise me that ?’ The children promised. Everything was horrible for some weeks. Mother was nearly always out. Ruth, the maid, went away. Then Mother went to bed for two days, and the children wondered if the world was coming to an end. One morning, Mother came down to breakfast. Her face was very white, but she tried to smile. ‘We have to leave our house in London,’ she said. ‘We're going to live in the country, in a dear little white house near a railway line. I know you'll love it.’ A busy week followed, packing everything up in boxes. The children almost enjoyed the excitement. ‘We can't take everything,’ Mother told them. ‘Just the necessary things. We have to play “being poor” for a while.’ On their last night in the house, Peter had to sleep on the floor, which he enjoyed very much. ‘I like moving,’ he said. ‘I don't !’ said Mother, laughing. Bobbie saw her face when she turned away. ‘Oh, Mother,’ she thought. ‘How brave you are! How I love you!’ Next day, they went to the railway station, and got on a train. At first, they enjoyed looking out of the windows, but then they became sleepy. Later, Mother woke them. ‘Wake up, dears,’ she said. ‘We're there.’ There were no taxis, and a man with a cart took their boxes. The children and Mother walked behind the cart along a dark, dirty road, which seemed to go across the fields. After a while, a shape appeared in the darkness. ‘There's the house,’ said Mother. The cart went along by the garden wall, and round to the back door. There were no lights in any the windows. ‘Where's Mrs Viney?’ said Mother. ‘Who's she?’ asked Bobbie. ‘A woman from the village. I asked her to clean the place and make our supper,’ said Mother. ‘Your train was late,’ said the man with the cart. ‘She's probably gone home.’ ‘But she has the key,’ said Mother. ‘It'll be under the doorstep,’ said the man. He went to look. ‘Yes, here it is.’ There went inside the dark house. There was a large kitchen with a stone floor, but there wasno fire, and the room was cold. T?here was a candle on the table, and the man lit it. Then a noise seemed to come from inside the walls of the house. It sounded like small animals running up and down. Then the cart man went away and shut the door. Immediately, the candle went out. ‘Oh, I wish we hadn't come!’ said Phyllis. *   *   * 第二天一早，妈妈就出门了，直到将近晚上7点才回来。她看上去很不舒服，很疲惫，孩子们什么都没敢问。 妈妈喝了一杯茶，随后她说：“我亲爱的孩子们，现在我想告诉你们一些事情。昨晚那两个人的确带来了坏消息。爸爸要离开我们一段日子，我很担心。” “是跟政府有关的事情吗？”博比问。因为孩子们知道，爸爸在一个政府部门工作。 “是的，”妈妈说，“别再问这件事了，你们能答应我吗？” 孩子们都答应了。 随后的几个星期里，情况变得一团糟。妈妈几乎不在家。鲁思，就是家里的女佣，也走了。然后，妈妈有两天卧床不起，孩子担心是不是世界末日就要来了。 这天早晨，妈妈终于下楼吃早饭了。虽然她仍是面色苍白，但还是努力露出一些微笑。 “我们得离开伦敦的这个家了，”她说，“我们要住到乡下去，住到一个靠近铁路的、可爱的白色小房子里。我相信你们会喜欢它的。” 接下来的一个星期显得非常忙碌。他们把所有的东西都打包装箱。孩子们干得热火朝天。 “我们不能把什么都带走，”妈妈告诉他们，“只带那些必需品，我们得过一阵子‘穷’日子了。” 在老房子住的最后一个夜晚，彼得不得不睡在地板上，这让他兴奋不已。“我喜欢搬家。”他说。 “我可不喜欢！”妈妈笑着说。 当妈妈把脸转开时，博比看清了她的脸。“呵，妈妈，”她心想，“您是多么勇敢呀！我太爱您了！” 第二天，他们来到火车站，登上了一列火车。起初，他们尽情欣赏着车窗外的景色，但很快他们就有些困了。后来，妈妈叫醒了他们。 “醒醒，亲爱的，”她说，“我们到了。” 这里没有出租车，一个男人用手推车推着他们的箱子。妈妈和孩子们跟在手推车的后面，沿着一条又黑又脏的路走着，好像在穿过田野。过了一会儿，他们看到黑暗中有一个模模糊糊的轮廓。 “那就是我们的房子了。”妈妈说。 那人推着手推车，沿着院墙绕到了后门。所有的窗户里都没有一丝光亮。 “瓦伊尼夫人在哪儿？”妈妈说。 “她是谁呀？”博比问。 “她是住在村里的一个妇女。我让她来帮我们打扫房屋，准备晚饭。”妈妈说。 “你们的车晚点了，”推手推车的人说，“她可能已经回家去了。” “可钥匙还在她手里呢。”妈妈说。 “可能放在台阶下了。”推车的男人说。他走过去瞧了瞧，“是的，在这儿呢。” 他们终于进了这个漆黑的房子。屋里有一个大厨房，用石头铺地，但厨房里没有火，屋里很冷。桌子上有根蜡烛，那个男人点着了它。这时，从房屋的墙里传出了一些声音，听上去像是小动物蹿上蹿下的声音。随后，推车的男人走了，并关上了门。蜡烛立刻就熄灭了。   “哦，我真希望我们没到这里来。”菲利斯说。