day 64
第四章
The Secret Workers
The next evening, Grandpa Joe went on with his story.
'You see, Charlie,' he said, 'not so very long ago there used to be thousands of people working in Mr Willy Wonka's factory. Then one day, all of a sudden, Mr Wonka had to ask every single one of them to leave, to go home, never to come back.'
'But why?' asked Charlie.
'Because of spies.'
'Spies?'
'Yes. All the other chocolate makers, you see, had begun to grow jealous of the wonderful sweets that Mr Wonka was making, and they started sending in spies to steal his secret recipes. The spies took jobs in the Wonka factory, pretending that they were ordinary workers, and while they were there, each one of them found out exactly how a certain special thing was made.' 'And did they go back to their own factories and tell?' asked Charlie.
'They must have,' answered Grandpa Joe, 'because soon after that, Fickelgruber's factory started making an ice cream that would never melt, even in the hottest sun. Then Mr Prodnose's factory came out with a chewing-gum that never lost its flavour however much you chewed it. And then Mr Slugworth's factory began making sugar balloons that you could blow up to huge sizes before you popped them with a pin and gobbled them up. And so on, and so on. And Mr Willy Wonka tore his beard and shouted, "This is terrible! I shall be ruined! There are spies everywhere! I shall have to close the factory!"
'But he didn't do that!' Charlie said.
'Oh, yes he did. He told all the workers that he was sorry, but they would have to go home. Then, he shut the main gates and fastened them with a chain. And suddenly, Wonka's giant chocolate factory became silent and deserted. The chimneys stopped smoking, the machines stopped whirring, and from then on, not a single chocolate or sweet was made. Not a soul went in or out, and even Mr Willy Wonka himself disappeared completely.
'Months and months went by,' Grandpa Joe went on, 'but still the factory remained closed. And everybody said, "Poor Mr Wonka. He was so nice. And he made such marvellous things. But he's finished now. It's all over."
'Then something astonishing happened. One day, early in the morning, thin columns of white smoke were seen to be coming out of the tops of the tall chimneys of the factory! People in the town stopped and stared.
"What's going on?" they cried. "Someone's lit the furnaces! Mr Wonka must be opening up again!" They ran to the gates, expecting to see them wide open and Mr Wonka standing there to welcome his workers back.
翻译：
第四章
私密的工人
第二天晚上，乔爷爷继续讲述他的故事。
“你得知道，查理，”他说道，“就在不久以前威利·旺卡先生的工厂里还有几千名工人在千活。可突如其来有那么一天，旺卡先生竟不得不要求所有的工人都离去。一个不留，统统回家去，决不要再回来干活了。”
“这是为什么呢？”查理问。
“因为出了密探。”
“密探？”
“不错，你得明白，所有其他的巧克力制造商开始对旺卡先生大为嫉妒，等他们到了厂里。于是他们开始派密探去偷旺卡先生的神秘的配方。这些密探装扮成普通的工人，在旺卡的工厂里工作，等他们到了厂里。每一个密探都发现了一种特殊的糖果品种的确切的制作方法。”
“那他们是否又回到了自己的厂里，把这种方法讲出来了呢？”
“想必总是那样的吧，”乔爷爷回答道，“因为没过多久，菲克尔格鲁伯的工厂做出了一种在炎热的太阳下也不会融化的冰淇淋，接着普鲁得诺斯先生的工厂推出了一种口香糖，无论嚼多久它的香味都不会消失。再后来斯拉格沃思先生的工厂开始生产那种可以吹得很大很大的糖气球。接着相继还有这种那种糖果被生产出来。威利·旺卡先生扯着胡子咆哮道：“简直太可怕了！我要被毁了！到处都是密探！我得关闭这家工厂！”
“可他肯定没这么干！“查理说。
“哦，不，他这么干了。他对所有的工人说，尽管他很抱歉，可他还是不得不请他们都回家去。这以后他就关闭了所有的厂门，把厂门用铁链紧紧锁上。突然间，旺卡的庞大的巧克力工厂变得悄无声息，荒漠冷落了。烟囱不再冒烟，机器的嘘嘘声消失了，打那以后，再也不见有一块巧克力或糖果生产出来。没一个人影进出，就连威利·旺卡先生也全然不见了踪影……
“一个月又一个月过去了，”乔爷爷继续讲道，“可这家工厂仍然关闭着。所有的人都说：‘可怜的旺卡先生，他人真好，又做出了这么些奇妙的东西，可现在他完了，一切都过去了。’
“后来令人惊异的事情发生了。一天大清早，人们看见这家工厂高大的烟囱口上竟然冒出一缕缕淡淡的白烟！城里的居民都停住脚，目不转睛地看着。‘这是怎么回事！’他们嘟囔着。‘有人把熔炉生起来了！旺卡先生一定又准备开工了！’大家奔到厂门口期望看到厂门洞开，旺卡先生站在那儿欢迎他的工人回来干活。
“没有！几扇大门依然锁着，铁链万无一失地挂在那儿，哪儿也不见旺卡先生的人影。
“‘可是工厂确实开工了！’人们喊起来。‘听！那是机器声它们又嘘嘘地运转起来了！还可以闻到溶化了的巧克力气味！’”
乔爷爷前倾着身子，把一根瘦长的手指搁在查理的膝盖上，温和地说道：“查理，可最最神奇的是工厂窗户里映出的那些身影。站在工厂外面的街上就能看到磨砂玻璃窗里晃动着许多小小的黑影。”
“那是什么人的影子？”查理赶紧问道。
“这正是每个人都想知道的。”
“‘厂里都是工人！’人们又喊起来。‘可不见有人进去过！工厂门都是锁着的！真是太不可思议了！也没有一个人出来过！’
“可毫无疑问，”乔爷爷说道，“工厂开工了。打那以后它就没有停止生产过，至今已有十年了。更了不起的是工厂生产出来的各种巧克力和糖果一直都是最奇妙最可口的。当然，现在旺卡先生再发明出某种新的特别好吃的巧克力，无论是菲克尔格鲁伯先生、普鲁得诺斯先生，还是斯拉格沃思先生，都无法照样制作了，密探再也没法进入工厂偷到新品种的制作方法了。”
“爷爷，”查理大声问道，“那么究竟旺卡先生雇用什么人在工厂里干活呢？”
“没人知道，查理。”
“那不是太奇怪了吗！没人问过旺卡先生吗？”
“再没人见过他。他从不出来。从那儿出来的只有各种巧克力和糖果，这些巧克力和糖果写明发往地点，码得整整齐齐地从墙上的一扇特别的活板门出来，每天都由邮局的车队来把它们运走。”
“爷爷，在那儿干活的到底是什么人啊？”
“亲爱的孩子，”乔爷爷答道，“这是巧克力制造界最大的奥秘之一。我们只知道一点，那些人很小。那些不时在窗后出现的影子，尤其是在晚上亮灯的时候，看得出是些很小很小的人，还不及我的膝盖高……”
“这样的人是不会有的。”查理说。
正在这时，查理的父亲巴克特先生走进了房间。他是从牙膏厂下班回家。他激动地挥舞着手中的一份晚报，大声嚷道：“你们听到这个新闻了吗？”他把报纸拿得高高的，每个人都看见了那条头号大标题。标题是这样的：《旺卡工厂最终将成为少数幸运儿打开》
