木偶奇遇記：Chapter 15

As he ran, the Marionette felt more and more certain that he would have to give himself up into the hands of his pursuers. Suddenly he saw a little cottage gleaming white as the snow among the trees of the forest.

這時木偶已經(jīng)完全泄氣，到了要撲倒在地向兩個強盜告饒的地步，可一下子看見深綠的樹林子里，遠遠有一座雪白的小房子在耀眼。

"If I have enough breath left with which to reach that little house, I may be saved," he said to himself.

“我要是有口氣跑到那房子，就有救了，”他心里說。

Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly through the woods, the Assassins still after him.

他一分鐘也不耽擱，重新一個勁跑起來，穿過林子。兩個殺入強盜依然在后面追。

After a hard race of almost an hour, tired and out of breath, Pinocchio finally reached the door of the cottage and knocked.

他拼命跑了近兩個鐘頭，終于上氣不接下氣地跑到那座小房子門口，連忙嘭嘭嘭敲門。

No one answered.

可沒人答應(yīng)。

He knocked again, harder than before, for behind him he heard the steps and the labored breathing of his persecutors.

他使勁把門敲得震天價響，因為他聽見追來的腳步聲、又響又急的呼吸聲越來越近了。

The same silence followed.

可還是靜悄悄的。

As knocking was of no use, Pinocchio, in despair, began to kick and bang against the door, as if he wanted to break it. At the noise, a window opened and a lovely maiden looked out. She had azure hair and a face white as wax. Her eyes were closed and her hands crossed on her breast. With a voice so weak that it hardly could be heard, she whispered:

他看見敲門毫無用處，就開始在門上用腳拼命地踢，用頭拼命地撞。這時窗口探出個頭來，這是個美麗的小女孩，天藍色的頭發(fā)，臉白得跟蠟像似的，眼睛閉著，雙手交叉在胸前。她說話時嘴唇也不動，聲音很輕很輕，像是從另一個改界來的：

"No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead."

“這座房子里沒人，所有的人都死了。”

"Won't you, at least, open the door for me?" cried Pinocchio in a beseeching voice.

“至少你給我開開門!”皮諾喬哭叫著求她，

"I also am dead."

“我也死了。”

"Dead? What are you doing at the window, then?"

“死了，那你現(xiàn)在在窗口干嗎?”

"I am waiting for the coffin to take me away."

“我在等棺材，它要來把我給裝走。”

After these words, the little girl disappeared and the window closed without a sound.

小女孩子一說完這句話，就不見了。窗子也悄沒聲兒地重新關(guān)上了。

"Oh, Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair," cried Pinocchio, "open, I beg of you. Take pity on a poor boy who is being chased by two Assass -- "

“噢，天藍色頭發(fā)的美麗小姑娘，”皮諾喬大叫，“幫幫忙，給我開開門吧!請你同情一個可憐的孩子，他后面追著殺人的……”

He did not finish, for two powerful hands grasped him by the neck and the same two horrible voices growled threateningly:

他這句話沒能說完，因為他覺得脖子給掐住了，還聽到那兩個聲音在咆哮著威脅說：

"Now we have you!"

“現(xiàn)在你再逃不掉啦!”。

The Marionette, seeing death dancing before him, trembled so hard that the joints of his legs rattled and the coins tinkled under his tongue.

木偶看到死在眼前，不由得一陣哆嗦，哆嗦得兩條木頭腿的關(guān)節(jié)卡嗒卡嗒響，藏在舌頭底下的四個金幣也丁丁當當響起來了。

"Well," the Assassins asked, "will you open your mouth now or not? Ah! You do not answer? Very well, this time you shall open it."

“怎么樣，”兩個殺人強盜問他說。“你開口嗎，開還是不開，怎么!不回答?……那我們就動手了，這一回定要把你的嘴弄開!……”

Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two heavy blows on the Marionette's back.

他們說著，拔出兩把很長很長的刀子，鋒利得像剃刀，嚓嚓!……給他背上來了兩下。

Happily for him, Pinocchio was made of very hard wood and the knives broke into a thousand pieces. The Assassins looked at each other in dismay, holding the handles of the knives in their hands.

幸虧木偶是用很硬很硬的木頭做的，因此他沒受傷，刀倒斷成了好多片。兩個殺人強盜手里光剩下刀柄，你看著我，我看著你。

"I understand," said one of them to the other, "there is nothing left to do now but to hang him."

“我明白了，”其中一個說，“咱們得吊死他!吊死他吧!”

"To hang him," repeated the other.

“吊死他吧!”另一個跟著又說了一退。

They tied Pinocchio's hands behind his shoulders and slipped the noose around his neck. Throwing the rope over the high limb of a giant oak tree, they pulled till the poor Marionette hung far up in space.

說干就干，他們把他雙手反綁，用活結(jié)套住他的喉嚨，把他吊在一棵大橡樹的樹枝上。

Satisfied with their work, they sat on the grass waiting for Pinocchio to give his last gasp. But after three hours the Marionette's eyes were still open, his mouth still shut and his legs kicked harder than ever.

然后他們坐在樹下，就等著木偶蹬最后一次腿?？赡九歼^了三個鐘頭依然張開兩只眼睛，閉著嘴巴，兩腿越蹬越有勁。

Tired of waiting, the Assassins called to him mockingly:"Good-by till tomorrow. When we return in the morning, we hope you'll be polite enough to let us find you dead and gone and with your mouth wide open."

他們最后等得不耐煩了，就向木偶轉(zhuǎn)過臉，冷笑著對他說：“明兒見，等我們明天回到這兒，希望你幫個大忙，已經(jīng)死掉了，把嘴張得大大的。”

With these words they went.

他們說著，走了。

A few minutes went by and then a wild wind started to blow. As it shrieked and moaned, the poor little sufferer was blown to and fro like the hammer of a bell. The rocking made him seasick and the noose, becoming tighter and tighter, choked him. Little by little a film covered his eyes.

這時候猛亂起一陣北風，呼呼地怒號，把吊在那里的可憐木偶吹過來吹過去，狠狠地搖得他像過節(jié)時丁當丁當搖著的大鐘，這樣搖啊搖啊，搖得他痛苦萬分。喉嚨上的活結(jié)越收越緊，叫他氣也透不出來。

Death was creeping nearer and nearer, and the Marionette still hoped for some good soul to come to his rescue, but no one appeared. As he was about to die, he thought of his poor old father, and hardly conscious of what he was saying, murmured to himself:

他的兩眼一點一點發(fā)黑?？伤m然感到死期已近，依然希望隨時會有人經(jīng)過，把他救下來，可他等啊等啊，看見還是沒人來，一個人也沒有，于是就想到他的可憐的爸爸……他半死不活地結(jié)結(jié)巴巴說：

"Oh, Father, dear Father! If you were only here!"

“噢，我的爸爸，要是你在這兒就好了!……”

These were his last words. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, stretched out his legs, and hung there, as if he were dead.

他再也說不出話來。他閉上眼睛，張開嘴巴，伸長兩腿，一陣猛烈顫動，吊在那里像是僵硬了。