書蟲三級 鐵路少年：5.拯救火車

5．Saving the train
5．拯救火車

One day, the children were walking by the fence along the top of the hill beside the railway line. The line here ran through a deep little valley and the hillside on both sides of the line was very rocky. But among the rocks, grass and flowers grew, and many small trees.

這天，孩子們正沿著鐵路邊山頂上的籬笆走著。這一段鐵路線要穿過一條深深的小山谷，山谷的兩側(cè)石頭遍地。但是在這些石頭中間長著草、花，還有很多小樹。

Phyllis stood by the fence and looked down to the lines at the bottom. 'It's like looking down the side of a mountain,' she said.

菲利斯站在籬笆旁，往谷底的鐵路看去。“真像是站在山邊往下瞧。”她說。

Suddenly, they heard a noise. It was soft, but very clear, and slowly began to get louder.

突然，他們聽到了一個聲音。這聲音很弱，卻很清晰，漸漸地，聲音變得越來越大。

Look at the tree over there!' cried Peter.

“瞧那邊那棵樹！”彼得大喊。

The girls looked and saw a tree moving slowly downwards on the opposite side of the railway line!

女孩們望過去，看到在鐵路線的另一邊，一棵樹正在往下緩緩移動！

It's magic!' said Phyllis. 'I knew the railway was magic. Look, some other trees are moving, too.'

“太神奇了！”菲利斯說，“我就知道這鐵路是有魔力的。瞧，其他的樹也在動呢。”

They watched as the trees moved on and on, grass and stones moving with them. Then a big rock began to move as well, and suddenly half the hillside was moving. A second or two later, everything came crashing down in a big heap on the railway line below.

他們看著那些樹動呀，動呀，青草和石頭也隨著它們一起移動。緊跟著，有一塊大巖石也開始動了，突然間半邊山都動了起來。一兩秒鐘之后，所有這些東西一下子都塌到了下面的鐵路上，堆成了一大堆。

It's right across the line!' said Phyllis, feeling a little frightened now.

“正好都堆在鐵路上！”菲利斯說，這會兒她感到有點兒害怕了。

Yes,' said Peter, slowly. 'And the 11.29 hasn't gone by yet. We must let them know at the station, or there will be an awful accident.'

“是的，”彼得慢吞吞地說，“11點29分那趟車還沒通過呢。我們一定得到車站去告訴他們，不然恐怕就要出大事故了。”

There isn't time,' said Bobbie. 'It's past eleven now.'

“沒時間了，”博比說，“現(xiàn)在都11點多了。”

They thought for a moment.

大家想了想。

We need something red. Then we could go down on the line and wave it,' said Peter. 'Everyone knows that red means danger, and the train would stop.'

“我們需要一些紅顏色的東西。然后我們可以下到鐵路上，揮舞它，”彼得說，“人人都知道紅色表示危險，火車就會停下來的。”

Our petticoats!' said Phyllis. 'They're red. Let's take them off.'

“我們的襯裙！”菲利斯說，“我們的襯裙都是紅色的。我們把襯裙脫下來吧。”

The girls did this, then the three of them ran along the line to a corner. When they were round the corner, it was impossible to see the heap of trees and rocks.

女孩兒們脫下襯裙。然后，三個孩子一起沿著鐵路跑到一個拐彎處。在那里他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，在彎道的這一側(cè)，根本看不到那堆樹和石頭。

We'll need some sticks as well,' said Peter, taking one of the petticoats. 'Now...' He took a knife from his pocket.

“我們還需要些棍子，”彼得一邊說著，一邊抓起了一條襯裙，“現(xiàn)在……”他從口袋里掏出了一把刀子。

You're not going to cut them, are you?' said Phyllis.

“你該不會把襯裙割了吧？”菲利斯問。

Yes, cut them!' said Bobbie. 'If we can't stop the train, there will be a real accident and people will be killed.'

“是的，要把襯裙割了！”博比回答，“如果我們不能讓火車停下來的話，真會出事故的，而且肯定會死人的。”

They cut the petticoats into six pieces and put them on to sticks. Now they had six red flags. Next, they pushed two of the flags into heaps of stones between the lines, then Bobbie and Phyllis each took one, and Peter took the other two. They stood ready to wave them immediately the train appeared.

他們把紅襯裙割成六塊，然后把它們分別綁在六根棍子上?，F(xiàn)在他們就有了六面紅色的旗子。然后，他們把兩面旗子插在鐵軌中間的石子堆上。接下來，博比和菲利斯每人拿一面旗子，彼得拿起另外兩面。他們站在那里等著，只要火車一出現(xiàn)就馬上沖它搖旗子。

It seemed a long time before the railway lines began to shake, and they heard the train coming.

似乎過了很長時間，鐵路才開始有些震顫，他們聽見有火車開過來的聲音。

Wave your flags!' ordered Peter. 'But don't stand on the line, Bobbie!'

“搖你們手中的旗子！”彼得馬上發(fā)出命令，“但不要站在鐵軌上，博比！”

The train came very, very fast. The lines began to shake and the two flags that were pushed into the heaps of stones soon fell over, but Bobbie ran across and picked up one of them.

火車風(fēng)馳電掣而來。鐵軌顫得愈加厲害，很快插在石堆上的那兩面旗都倒了，但是博比跑過去，撿起其中的一面。

The train's not going to stop!' she shouted. 'They won't see us, it's no good!'

“火車不會停的！”她大喊，“他們看不到我們，這樣做沒有用！”

She ran on to the line, waving her two flags.

她跑到鐵軌上，揮舞著手中的兩面旗子。

Get back, Bobbie!' shouted Peter.

“回來，博比！”彼得大喊。

But Bobbie did not move from the line. She waved and waved her flags, shouting 'Stop, stop!' as the big black engine came towards her.

但是博比并沒有從鐵軌上走開。她拼命地搖動手中的旗子，還一邊大喊：“停下，停下！”此時巨大的黑色火車頭正向她開過來。

It did stop... but only twenty metres from Bobbie.

它終于停下了……就在離博比只有20米遠的地方。

Peter and Phyllis ran along the line to tell the driver about the trees and rocks around the corner. But Bobbie couldn't move because her legs were shaking too much. She had to sit down on the ground.

彼得和菲利斯沿著鐵路跑過去，告訴火車司機前面拐彎處堆有樹和石頭。而此時，博比卻動不了了，因為她的腿抖得厲害。她不得不坐在了地上。

But they had saved the train.

但他們救了這列火車。

You're brave and clever children,' the driver told them.

“你們真是又勇敢又聰明的好孩子。”火車司機對他們說。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

Some weeks later, a letter arrived at the little white house on the hill. It was for Peter, Bobbie, and Phyllis, and it said:

幾個星期之后，一封信寄到了山上的白色小屋。信是寄給彼得、博比和菲利斯的，信上寫著：

Dear Sir and Ladies—We would like to say thank you for saving the train and stopping a very bad accident. Please come to the station at three o'clock on the 30th of the month, if this is a suitable day.

親愛的先生和女士們——你們拯救了火車，避免了一場可怕事故的發(fā)生，我們特向你們表示感謝。如果方便的話，請于本月30日下午3點鐘到車站來一趟。

J. Inglewood

J．英格伍德

Secretary, the Northern and Southern Railway Company

南北鐵路公司　秘書

It was to be a very special day indeed.

這的確成了一個非常特殊的日子。

The three children went down to the station at the right time, dressed in their best clothes, and the Station Master came to meet them.

三個孩子穿著他們最好的衣服，準時來到了車站，站長過來迎接他們。

Come into the waiting room,' he said.

“到候車室來吧。”他說。

He took them into the room where people usually waited for the trains—but now there was a carpet on the floor, and flowers above the pictures on the walls.

他帶他們進了候車室，這原本是人們等車的地方——但是現(xiàn)在地板上鋪上了地毯，墻上的畫的上方，還插著花。

Perks the Porter was there, and several men in high hats and long coats. There were ladies in expensive dresses, and people who had been on the train on 'red-petticoat day'. Best of all, their own old gentleman was there, and he came across to shake their hands.

除了守道工珀克斯以外，在場的還有幾個戴著高帽，穿著長外衣的先生。還有幾位穿著盛裝的女士，以及一些在“紅襯裙日”那天坐在火車上的人。最讓他們高興的是，每天跟他們招手的那個老先生也在場，他徑直走過來和他們握手。

Then everybody sat down on chairs and an important looking man got up to speak. He said nice things about the children—how brave and clever they were—and then he sat down. Next, the old gentleman got up and said more nice things about them. Then he called them across and gave each of them a beautiful gold watch.

大家落座以后，一個看起來像是個大人物的人站起來講話。他把孩子們表揚了一番——夸獎他們又勇敢又聰明——然后他就坐下了。接著，那位和藹的老先生站起來，又把他們稱贊了一番。說完以后，他把他們叫到身邊，送給他們每人一只漂亮的金表。

These are from the Northern and Southern Railway Company,' he said, 'to say thank you for the brave and sensible thing that you did to save the train.'

“這是南北鐵路公司送的禮物，”老先生說，“用以感謝你們拯救火車時勇敢聰明的表現(xiàn)。”

It was a wonderful day. A day that seemed more like a dream than real life.

今天簡直是太棒了。與其說這是真的，還不如說是在做夢。

Afterwards, the old gentleman walked with them to the little white house. 'I want to meet the mother of these clever children,' he said.

會見之后，老先生和他們一起，步行來到了他們的白色小屋里。“我想見一見這些聰明孩子們的媽媽。”他說。

Mother was surprised to see their visitor, but she thanked him again for the things he had sent when she was ill. Then they talked about 'red-petticoat day', and the children showed Mother their watches and told her about the people at the station.

看到客人，媽媽很吃驚，但她再次向老先生致謝，感謝老先生在她生病時送給她的東西。隨后，他們談到了那個“紅襯裙日”，孩子們讓媽媽看了他們的表，跟她講了剛才在車站里所見到的人。

I've been very pleased to meet you,' Mother said to the old gentleman, when it was time for him to leave. 'I'm sorry we can't ask you to come and see us again, but we live very quietly.'

“見到您我很高興，”當老先生起身告辭的時候，媽媽說，“但是我很抱歉今后不能再邀請您到我們家來，因為我們不想打破生活的平靜。”

The children thought this was very strange. They had made a friend—a very good friend—and they dearly wanted him to come and see them again.

孩子們感到很納悶。他們成了朋友——他是他們一個非常要好的朋友——他們誠懇地希望老先生能再過來看看他們。

What did the old gentleman think? They didn't know. He looked closely at Mother and said, 'I thank you, Madam, for welcoming me to your house today.'

老先生又是怎么想的呢？他們不得而知。老先生注視著媽媽，開口說道：“謝謝您，夫人，謝謝您今天的款待。”

But Bobbie was watching her mother's face as the old gentleman walked away. It was a sad, tired face.

但當老先生離開的時候，博比一直注視著媽媽的臉。那是一張傷感、滿是倦容的臉。

She's thinking about Father,' thought Bobbie.

“她又在想爸爸了。”博比心想。

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