牛津书虫系列《五个孩子和沙精》Chapter2 附中英双语文本

2 The Children Wish to Be Rich
2 孩子们希望变得富有
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. 'Per-haps it wasn't 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，马莎带着小弟弟出去了，孩子们决定回砾石坑那儿再去找赛米德。开头他们没有找到。“也许它不一定真在这里，”罗伯特说。可他们还是开始用手挖沙子，忽然他们触到了赛米德褐色的、毛绒绒的身体。它坐起来抖掉毛上的沙子。
' How are you today？'Anthea asked.
“你好吗？”安西娅问。
'Well，I didn't sleep very well，but thank you for asking，'the Psammead answered.
“嗯，我没睡好，但谢谢你的问候。”赛米德回答。
' Can you give wishes today？'Robert said. ' Because we'd like to have two，if we can. But one is a very little wish. '
“今天你能给人实现愿望吗？”罗伯特说，“因为如果可以的话我们想要实现两个愿望。不过有一个是非常小的愿望。”
'Well， all right，' said the Psammead， looking at Robert with its long eyes. ' Let's have the little wish first. '
“那么，好吧。”赛米德说，用它的柄眼看着罗伯特。“先来实现这个小愿望吧。”
' 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？'
“不能让马莎知道愿望的事。”罗伯特说，“我的意思是她不能看出我们有什么变化。你能每天对每个愿望都这样办吗？”
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？'
赛米德变大了一点儿，然后又变小了。“我把那个办好了。”它说，“这容易。下一个愿望是什么？”
' We wish，' said Robert slowly，' to be very rich. '
“我们希望，”罗伯特慢慢地说，“变得非常有钱。”
' 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？'
“你们想要多少钱？”赛米德问道。“这当然对你们没什么好处，”它在心里默念着。“好吧，要多少——还有，想要金子还是钞票？”
'Gold， please，'Robert said. 'Millions！'
“请给我们金子，”罗伯特说，“几百万！”
'A full gravel-pit，all right？'said the Psammead，sounding bored. ' But get out before I begin， or you'll die underneath it. '
“满满一砾石坑，行了吧？”赛米德说，听起来它不耐烦了。“可在我开始之前先走开，不然你们会被压死的。”
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！
它把细胳膊变得很长并挥动起来。孩子们害怕了，尽快地跑到上边路上去。在那儿时他们扭头看了看。他们不得不闭上眼睛，再慢慢睁开。砾石坑满满的，到顶上都是闪闪发光的、崭新的金币！
The children stood with their mouths open， and no one said a word.
孩子们站着，嘴巴张着，谁也没说话。
Then Robert took one of the coins in his hand and looked at it. ' It's different from English money，'he said.
然后罗伯特将一块金币放在手里看着。“和英国钱不一样，”他说。
' Well，it doesn't matter. It's gold，'said Cyril. 'Don't for-get 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，那没关系。是金的。”西里尔说，“别忘了太阳落下去的时候它们就都没了。快点儿！尽量往兜里装，然后去把它们花掉。”
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.
所以他们都往兜里装金币，然后朝村子走去。可金子很沉，一会儿他们就又累又热。他们决定在村里买点喝的，然后再继续赶往罗彻斯特城去。
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. '