day 59

第二章

Mr Willy Wonka's Factory

In the evenings,after he had finished his supper of watery cabbage soup, Charlie always wentinto the room of his four grandparents to listen to their stories, and thenafterwards to say good night.

Every one of theseold people was over ninety. They were as shrivelled as prunes, and as bony asskeletons, and throughout the day, until Charlie made his appearance, they layhuddled in their one bed, two at either end, with nightcaps on to keep theirheads warm, dozing the time away with nothing to do. But as soon as they heardthe door opening, and heard Charlie's voice saying, 'Good evening, Grandpa Joeand Grandma Josephine, and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina,' then all fourof them would suddenly sit up, and their old wrinkled faces would light up withsmiles of pleasure — and the talking would begin. For they loved this littleboy. He was the only bright thing in their lives, and his evening visits weresomething that they looked forward to all day long. Often, Charlie's mother andfather would come in as well, and stand by the door, listening to the storiesthat the old people told; and thus, for perhaps half an hour every night, thisroom would become a happy place, and the whole family would forget that it washungry and poor.

One evening, whenCharlie went in to see his grandparents, he said to them, 'Is it really truethat Wonka's Chocolate Factory is the biggest in the world?'

'True?' cried allfour of them at once. 'Of course it's true! Good heavens, didn't you know that?It's about fifty times as big as any other!'

'And is Mr WillyWonka really the cleverest chocolate maker in the world?'

'My dear boy,'said Grandpa Joe, raising himself up a little higher on his pillow, 'Mr WillyWonka is the most amazing, the most fantastic, the most extraordinary chocolatemaker the world has ever seen! I thought everybody knew that!'  'I knew he was famous, Grandpa Joe, and Iknew he was very clever . . .'

'Clever!' criedthe old man. 'He's more than that! He's a magician with chocolate! He can makeanything — anything he wants! Isn't that a fact, my dears?'

The other threeold people nodded their heads slowly up and down, and said, 'Absolutely true.Just as true as can be.'

And Grandpa Joesaid, 'You mean to say I've never told you about Mr Willy Wonka and hisfactory?'

'Never,' answeredlittle Charlie.

'Good heavensabove! I don't know what's the matter with me!'

'Will you tell menow, Grandpa Joe, please?'

'I certainly will.Sit down beside me on the bed, my dear, and listen carefully.'

Grandpa Joe wasthe oldest of the four grandparents. He was ninety-six and a half, and that isjust about as old as anybody can be. Like all extremely old people, he wasdelicate and weak, and throughout the day he spoke very little. But in theevenings, when Charlie, his beloved grandson, was in the room, he seemed insome marvellous way to grow quite young again. All his tiredness fell away fromhim, and he became as eager and excited as a young boy.

'Oh, what a man heis, this Mr Willy Wonka!' cried Grandpa Joe. 'Did you know, for example, thathe has himself invented more than two hundred new kinds of chocolate bars, eachwith a different centre, each far sweeter and creamier and more delicious thananything the other chocolate factories can make!'

'Perfectly true!'cried Grandma Josephine. 'And he sends them to all the four corners of theearth! Isn't that so, Grandpa Joe?'

晚上吃过晚饭，也就是那种清汤寡水的卷心菜汤，查理总是走进他的外公外婆、爷爷奶奶住的房间听他们讲故事，听完故事再跟他们道声晚安，然后他才去睡觉。

老人们的年纪都过了九十岁，他们干瘪得就象桃脯，憔悴得就象一具具骷髅。每天，在查理去看望他们之前，他们就蜷缩在一张床上，两个人睡一头，戴着睡帽不让头受冷，就这么打着瞌睡消磨时光，什么也干不了。可只要查理打开门，说：“乔爷爷，约瑟芬奶奶，乔治外公，乔治娜外婆，晚上好。”顿时四位老人就会猛地坐起身来，枯老起皱的脸上光彩焕发，绽开愉悦的笑容。接着谈话开始了。他们都非常热爱这个小男孩，是他照亮了他们的生命，他们整天盼望的就是晚上他的到来。时常，查理的父母也会一起进来，站在门口，听老人讲故事。就这样。每天晚上大约有半小时光景房间里一片欢乐，全家人把饥饿和贫困都忘记了。

一天晚上，查理进来问候他的祖父母们，他问他们：“旺卡的巧克力工厂真是世界上最大的吗？。”

“怎么？”四位老人顿时一起叫了起来。“当然是真的！天哪，你还不知道吗？它大约有其他工厂的五十倍那么大！”

“那么威利·旺卡真是世界上最最聪明的巧克力制造商吗？”

“我亲爱的孩子，”乔爷爷从枕头上稍稍抬起一点身子说，“威利·旺卡先生是有史以来最令人惊叹，最不可思议，也是最最杰出的巧克力制造商！我想人人都知道这一点！”

“我知道他很有名，爷爷，我也知道他非常聪明……”

“聪明！”老人叫了起来，“他岂止聪明！他是巧克力法师！他可以造出任何东西——只要他想造！这不是事实吗，我亲爱的？”

其余三个老人慢慢地点着头说：“绝对没错，千真万确。”

乔爷爷又说道：“难道我还从没把威利·旺卡先生和他工厂的事告诉过你吗？”

“从没讲过。”小查理回答道。

“天哪！我这是怎么搞的！”

“请你现在就告诉我好吗，爷爷？”

“当然。来，坐到我旁边。亲爱的，好好听着。”

四个老人中数乔爷爷最老。他已经九十六岁半了，一般人最多也只能活到这么大年纪。就象所有年龄非常大的老人一样，他十分虚弱，白天他几乎不说什么话。可到了晚上，只要他最钟爱的孙子查理一进这间房间，他就似乎变得十分年轻了，这真令人不可思议。他的疲顿一扫而光，他变得象个年轻人一样热切和兴奋。

“哦，威利·旺卡先生真是个了不起的人！”乔爷爷赞叹道。“比方说吧，就是他发明了二百多种新的巧克力，每一种的馅心都是不同的，每一种都比其他巧克力工厂生产的巧克力更甜，奶油味更足，尝起来更可口！”

“一点没错！”约瑟芬奶奶喊道，“他把这些巧克力送到世界各地，不是这样吗，乔？”