Chapter 13
The Big Day Arrives
2
'Who's the kid with a picture of The Lone Ranger stencilled on his windcheater?'
'That's Mike Teavee! He's the television fiend!'
'He must be crazy! Look at all those toy pistols he's got hanging all over him!'
'The one I want to see is Veruca Salt!' shouted another voice in the crowd. 'She's the girl whose father bought up half a million chocolate bars and then made the workers in his peanut factory unwrap every one of them until they found a Golden Ticket! He gives her anything she wants! Absolutely anything! She only has to start screaming for it and she gets it!'
'Dreadful, isn't it?' 'Shocking, I call it!'
'Which do you think is her?'
'That one! Over there on the left! The little girl in the silver mink coat!'
'Which one is Charlie Bucket?'
'Charlie Bucket? He must be that skinny little shrimp standing beside the old fellow who looks like a skeleton. Very close to us. Just there! See him?'
'Why hasn't he got a coat on in this cold weather?'
'Don't ask me. Maybe he can't afford to buy one.'
'Goodness me! He must be freezing!'
Charlie, standing only a few paces away from the speaker, gave Grandpa Joe's hand a squeeze, and the old man looked down at Charlie and smiled.
Somewhere in the distance, a church clock began striking ten.
Very slowly, with a loud creaking of rusty hinges, the great iron gates of the factory began to swing open.
The crowd became suddenly silent. The children stopped jumping about. All eyes were fixed upon the gates.
'There he is!' somebody shouted, 'That's him!'
And so it was!
中文翻译
“那个穿着风衣，风衣上印着孤胆骑警画像的男孩是谁？”
“那就是迈克·蒂韦！他是个电视迷！”
“他一定是疯了！瞧他身上挂满了玩具手枪！”
“我倒想瞧瞧谁是韦鲁卡·索尔特！”人群中又有一个声音叫着，“就是那个姑娘，她父亲给她买了五十万块巧克力，并叫他的果仁工厂的工人剥去所有巧克力的包装纸，直到找到一张金参观券为止！他满足她的任何要求！绝对的满足！她只要尖声哭叫就能得到一切！”
“真不可想象，不是吗？”
“我觉得这实在令人震惊！”
“你想她是哪一个？？”
“就是那一个！站在左边的那一个！那个穿银色貂皮大衣的女孩！”
“哪一个是查理·巴克特？”
“查理·巴克特？一定是那个不起眼的小家伙，就站在那个象个骷髅架子的老家伙旁边，离我们挺近的。就在那儿！瞧见了吗？”
“这么冷的天他怎么也不穿一件外衣？”
“别问我。或许他买不起吧。”
“天哪！他一定要给冻僵了！”
查理站的地方离这个讲话的人很近，他捏了一下乔爷爷的手，老人低头看看查理，微微一笑。
远处某地一座教堂的钟开始敲响了十点钟。
工厂的大门那生了锈的铰链发出了很响的嘎嘎声，迟缓地，一点点地打开了。
人群突然变得鸦雀无声，孩子们也停止了欢腾跳跃，所有的眼睛一起盯住那两扇大铁门。
“他来了！”有人喊了起来，“那就是他！”
果然不错，他来了！
未
完
待
续
