「聽＆讀」孩子們希望變得富有
★ 孩子們希望變得富有 ★
The next morning Martha took Baby out with her and the children decided to go back to the gravel-pit to look for the Psammead again。 At first， they could not find it。 ‘Perhaps it Wasnt really here’ Robert said。 But they began to dig into the sand with their hands and suddenly they came to the brown furry body of the Psammead。 It sat up and shook the sand out of its fur。
第二天早晨，馬莎帶著小弟弟出去了，孩子們決定回礫石坑那兒再去找賽米德。開頭他們沒有找到。“也許它不一定真在這裡，”羅伯特說。可他們還是開始用手挖沙子，忽然他們觸到了賽米德褐色的、毛絨絨的身體。它坐起來抖掉毛上的沙子。
‘How are you today？’ Anthea asked。
“你好嗎？”安西婭問。
‘Well， I didn’t sleep very well， but thank you for asking，‘ the Psammead answered。
“嗯，我沒睡好，但謝謝你的問候。”賽米德回答。
’Can you give wishes today？‘ Robert said。 ’Because we‘d like to have two if we can。 But one is a very little wish。’
“今天你能給人實現願望嗎？”羅伯特說，“因為如果可以的話我們想要實現兩個願望。不過有一個是非常小的願望。”
‘Well， all right，’ said the Psammead， looking at Robert with its long eyes。 ‘Let’s have the little wish first。‘
“那麼，好吧。”賽米德說，用它的柄眼看著羅伯特。“先來實現這個小願望吧。”
’Martha mustn‘t know about the wishes，’ Robert said。 ‘I mean， she mustn’t see anything different about us。 And can you do that for every wish on every day？‘
“不能讓馬莎知道願望的事。”羅伯特說，“我的意思是她不能看出我們有什麼變化。你能每天對每個願望都這樣辦嗎？”
The Psammead went a little bigger and then went small again。 ’I‘ve done that，’ it said。 ‘It was easy。 What’s the next wish？‘
賽米德變大了一點兒，然後又變小了。“我把那個辦好了。”它說，“這容易。下一個願望是什麼？”
’We wish，‘ said Robert slowly， ’to be very rich。‘
“我們希望，”羅伯特慢慢地說，“變得非常有錢。”
’How much money do you want？‘ asked the Psammead。 ’It won‘t do you much good， of course，’ it said quietly to itself。 ‘Well， how much——and do you want it in gold or notes？’
“你們想要多少錢？”賽米德問道。“這當然對你們沒什麼好處，”它在心裡默唸著。“好吧，要多少——還有，想要金子還是鈔票？”
‘Gold， please，’ Robert said。 ‘Millions！’
“請給我們金子，”羅伯特說，“幾百萬！”
‘A full gravel-pit， all right？’ said the Psammead， sounding bored。 ‘But get out before I begin， or you’ll die underneath it。‘
“滿滿一礫石坑，行了吧？”賽米德說，聽起來它不耐煩了。“可在我開始之前先走開，不然你們會被壓死的。”
Its thin arms got very long and it began to move them about。 The children were afraid and ran as fast as they could up to the road。 When they were there， they turned to look back。 They had to close their eyes and open them again very slowly。 The gravel-pit was full， right up to the top， with new， shining， gold coins！
它把細胳膊變得很長並揮動起來。孩子們害怕了，儘快地跑到上邊路上去。在那兒時他們扭頭看了看。他們不得不閉上眼睛，再慢慢睜開。礫石坑滿滿的，到頂上都是閃閃發光的、嶄新的金幣！
The children stood with their mouths open， and no one said a word。
孩子們站著，嘴巴張著，誰也沒說話。
Then Robert took one of the coins in his hand and looked at it。 ’It‘s different from English money，’ he said。
然後羅伯特將一塊金幣放在手裡看著。“和英國錢不一樣， ”他說。
‘Well， it doesn’t matter。 It‘s gold，’ said Cyril。 ‘Don’t forget that it will all go when the sun goes down。 Come on！ Let‘s put as much as we can in our pockets and go and spend it。’
“唔，那沒關係。是金的。”西里爾說， “別忘了太陽落下去的時候它們就都沒了。快點兒！儘量往兜裡裝，然後去把它們花掉。”
So they all put gold coins in their pockets and went off to the village。 But the gold was heavy， and soon they were very tired and hot。 They decided to get something to drink in the village and then go on to the town of Rochester。
所以他們都往兜裡裝金幣，然後朝村子走去。可金子很沉，一會兒他們就又累又熱。他們決定在村裡買點喝的，然後再繼續趕往羅徹斯特城去。
Cyril went into the shop and the others waited outside。 But when Cyril came back with a bottle of lemonade， he said， ‘I had to pay with my real money。 When they saw all the coins， they wouldn’t change the gold。‘
西里爾走進商店，其他孩子在外邊等著。可是當西里爾拿著一瓶檸檬汽水回來時，他說：“我得付我自己的真錢。他們看見所有這些金幣時不肯找錢。”
’Well， I‘ll try to get something with the gold，’ Anthea said。 ‘We need a horse and cart。 Come on。’
“那我去試著用這金子買點東西。”安西婭說，“我們需要一輛馬套二輪單馬車。來吧。”
Anthea went to talk to a man who had a horse and cart， and the others waited。 After a few minutes， she came back， looking very pleased with herself。 ‘I wasn’t stupid like Cyril，‘ she said。 ’I only took out one coin， not all of them， and the man said he‘ll drive us to Rochester and wait for us。’
安西婭走過去和一個有馬套二輪單馬車的人談起來，別的孩子等著。幾分鐘後她回來了，看起來很得意的樣子。“我可不像西里爾那麼傻。”她說，“我只拿出一塊金幣，而不拿出所有的金幣，那個人說他把我們拉到羅徹斯特去並等著我們。”
On the way to Rochester， they did not speak。 They were making plans about how to spend their gold， and they did not want to talk in front of the driver。
在去羅徹斯特的路上他們沒有講話。他們計劃著怎樣花他們的金子，而且他們不想在趕車人面前談論。
But when they arrived in Rochester， with about twelve hundred gold coins in their pockets， they found that it was very difficult to spend them。 Anthea tried to buy a very nice hat， but the woman in the shop looked very strangely， first at the gold coins， then at Anthea。
可是當他們兜裡裝著大約一千兩百塊金幣到了羅徹斯特時，他們發現要花掉這些金幣很困難。安西妮想買一頂很漂亮的帽子，可店裡的那個女人很奇怪地先看看金幣，再看看安西婭。
‘I can’t take that，‘ she said。 ’It‘s not modern English money。’
“我不要那個。”她說，“這不是現行的英國貨幣。”
They went from shop to shop， but no one wanted to take their gold。 ‘It’s because our hands are dirty and we look untidy。 People think we‘ve stolen the gold，’ Anthea said。
他們去了一個又一個商店，可是沒有人要他們的金子。“這是因為我們的手髒，我們自己看起來也不整潔。人們認為這金子是我們偷的。”安西婭說。
And it was worse when they tried to buy a horse and carriage。 Cyril showed the man his gold， and the man called to his son， ‘Send for the police！’
當他們試圖買一輛馬套四輪馬車時，事情就更糟了。西里爾把他的金幣給那人看，那人朝他的兒子喊：“叫警察來！”
‘It’s our money，‘ said Cyril angrily。 ’We‘re not thieves。’
“這是我們的錢，”西里爾氣憤地說，“我們不是賊。”
‘Where did you get it from then？’ said the man。
“那你從什麼地方搞到它的？”那人說。
‘A sand-fairy gave it to us，’ said Jane。 ‘He gives us a wish a day and they all come true。’
“一個沙精給我們的。”簡說，“他每天為我們實現一個願望，而且都實現了。”
The man shook his head slowly。 ‘Oh dear， oh dear，’ he said。 ‘Stealing， and then telling stories about it。’
那人慢慢地搖搖頭。“天啊，天啊，”他說，“偷東西，然後又編故事。”
Just then a policeman arrived and when he heard about the gold， he said to the four children， ‘Come with me。 I’m taking you to the police station！‘
這時警察來了，聽了金幣的事他對這四個孩子說：“跟我走。我帶你們去警察局！”
The children were angry and unhappy， but the policeman walked along the road behind them and they couldn’t escape。 They held their heads down because they did not want anyone to see them， and suddenly Robert ran into someone。 ‘Robert， what have you done now？’ a voice cried。 It was Martha and Baby！
孩子們很生氣，很不快。可是警察沿路跟在他們後邊，他們逃跑不了。他們低著頭，因為不願讓別人看到。突然羅伯特撞到了人身上。“羅伯特，你們幹什麼去了？”一個聲音喊道。原來是馬莎和小弟弟！
The policeman explained everything to Martha， and Cyril had to take the gold out of his pocket and show it to her。
警察對馬莎解釋了這一切。西里爾只得從兜裡拿出金子給她看。
‘I can’t see anything—just two very dirty hands，‘ she said。 ’There‘s no gold there。 What are you talking about？’
“我什麼也沒看見——只是兩隻髒手。”她說，“沒有金子。你在說些什麼呀？”
And then the children remembered that Martha couldn‘t see the wishes。
於是孩子們記起馬莎是看不出這些許願的事的。
It was getting dark when they arrived at the police station。 The policeman explained about the gold and the Inspector said， ’Well， let‘s see it。’
到警察局時，天快黑了。警察解釋了金子的事，巡長說：“好吧，讓我們看看。”
Cyril put his hands into his pockets——but they were empty！ The others put their hands into their pockets。 They were empty， too！ Of course， all the fairy gold went when the sun went down！
西里爾把手伸進兜裡——可兜裡是空的！其他孩子把手伸進兜裡，也都是空的！當然了，太陽一落下山去所有這些變出來的金幣就沒有了！
‘How did they do that？’ cried the policeman。
“他們是怎麼搞的？”那警察叫起來。
Martha was very angry with him。 ‘I told you that there wasn’t any gold，‘ she shouted。 ’You‘ll be in trouble for this。 Saying that these poor little children are thieves！’
馬莎很生他的氣。“我告訴過你沒有什麼金子。”她喊道，“你會為此觸黴頭的。竟然說這些可憐的小孩子是小偷！”
But she was very angry with the children too。 ‘What were you doing in town alone？’ she said to them outside the police station。
可她也很生孩子們的氣。“你們自己在城裡幹什麼呢？”在警察局外她對他們說。
And she took them home and sent them to bed early。
她把孩子們帶回家，早早地就叫他們睡覺了。
《五個孩子和沙精》是2008年7月外語教學與研究出版社出版的圖書，作者是伊迪比·內斯位元。本書主要講述了可以幫人實現願望的沙精和五個孩子的故事。
