精靈鼠小弟 第19期:欣喜若狂的一家

When lunchtime came (everybody had forgotten about breakfast) all three sat down to a lamb stew which Mrs. Little had prepared,

到了午飯時間(每個人都忘了吃早飯)，他們才擺上了利特爾太太早就燉好的小羊羔肉。

but it was a sad meal, each one trying not to stare at the small empty chair which Stuart always occupied, right next to Mrs. Little's glass of water.

那真是一頓悲傷的午飯，每個人都試圖不去注意那張放在利特爾太太的水杯附近的，斯圖亞特常坐的空空的小椅子。

No one could eat, so great was the sorrow. George ate a bit of dessert but nothing else.

沒有一個人想吃飯，因為他們都沉浸在強烈的悲痛之中。喬治除了一點兒餐后甜點外什么都沒吃。

When lunch was over Mrs. Little broke out crying again, and said she thought Stuart must be dead.

午餐結束后，利特爾太太放聲痛哭起來，并說她認為斯圖亞特一定是死了。

"Nonsense, nonsense!" growled Mr. Little.

"你胡說，胡說!"利特爾先生吼叫。

"If he is dead," said George, "we ought to pull down the shades all through the house."

"如果他死了，"喬治說，"我們該把房子里的窗簾都拉下來。"

And he raced to the windowsand began pulling down the shades.

他往窗子那里跑去，準備去拉窗簾。

"George!" shouted Mr. Little in an exasperated tone, if you don't stop acting in anidiotic fashion, I will have to punish you.

"喬治!"利特爾先生用一種憤怒的語調說，如果你不停止你這種白癡式的行動的話，我一定會懲罰你的。

We are having enough trouble today without having to cope with your foolishness.

我們今天的麻煩已經夠多的了，不能再去容忍你的愚蠢了。

But George had already run into the living room and had begun to darken it, to show his respect for the dead.

可是喬治已經跑進了起居室，開始去拉窗簾，表示他對死去的兄弟的沉痛哀悼了。

He pulled a cord and out dropped Stuart onto the windowsill.

他拉了一下繩子，斯圖亞特便從窗簾里掉到了窗臺上。

"Well, for the love of Pete," said George. "Look who's here, Mom!"

"噢，感謝老天，"喬治說。"看誰在那里，媽媽!"

"It's about time somebody pulled down that shade,"remarked Stuart.

"終于有人拉那窗簾了，"斯圖亞特說。

"That's all I can say." He was quite weak and hungry.

"我只能說這些了。"他很虛弱，也很餓。

Mrs. Little was so overjoyed to see him that she kept right on crying.

看到他后，利特爾太太欣喜若狂，忍不住又哭起來。

Of course, everybody wanted to know how it had happened.

當然，每個人都想知道事情是怎么發(fā)生的。

"It was simply an accident that might happen to anybody,"said Stuart.

"這只是一個小事故，可你們任何人都會這么想的，"斯圖亞特說。

As for my hat and cane being found at the entrance to the mousehole, you can draw your own conclusions.

因為我的帽子和手杖在老鼠洞口被發(fā)現(xiàn)，所以你們才得出了你們自己的結論。