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frump — I don't mind admitting it — but that doesn't mean you can roast her to a crisp.

因为版本不同 音频文本略有出入

Chapter24

Veruca in the Nut Room

3

'A chance!' yelled Mrs Salt. 'My darling Veruca! She'll . . . she'll . . . she'll be sizzled like a sausage!'

'Quite right, my dear,' said Mr Salt. 'Now see here, Wonka,' he added, 'I think you've gone just a shade too far this time, I do indeed. My daughter may be a bit of a frump — I don't mind admitting it — but that doesn't mean you can roast her to a crisp. I'll have you know I'm extremely cross about this, I really am.'

'Oh, don't be cross, my dear sir!' said Mr Wonka. 'I expect she'll turn up again sooner or later. She may not even have gone down at all. She may be stuck in the chute just below the entrance hole, and if that's the case, all you'll have to do is go in and pull her up again.'

Hearing this, both Mr and Mrs Salt dashed into the Nut Room and ran over to the hole in the floor and peered in.

'Veruca!' shouted Mrs Salt. 'Are you down there!'

There was no answer.

Mrs Salt bent further forward to get a closer look. She was now kneeling right on the edge of the hole with her head down and her enormous behind sticking up in the air like a giant mushroom. It was a dangerous position to be in. She needed only one tiny little push . . . one gentle nudge in the right place . . . and that is exactly what the squirrels gave her! Over she toppled, into the hole head first, screeching like a parrot.

'Good gracious me!' said Mr Salt, as he watched his fat wife go tumbling down the hole, 'what a lot of rubbish there's going to be today!' He saw her disappearing into the darkness. 'What's it like down there, Angina?' he called out. He leaned further forward.

The squirrels rushed up behind him . . .

'Help!' he shouted.

But he was already toppling forward, and down the chute he went, just as his wife had done before him — and his daughter.  'Oh dear!' cried Charlie, who was watching with the others through the door, 'what on earth's going to happen to them now?'

'I expect someone will catch them at the bottom of the chute,' said Mr Wonka.

'But what about the great fiery incinerator?' asked Charlie.

'They only light it every other day,' said Mr Wonka. 'Perhaps this is one of the days when they let it go out. You never know . . . they might be lucky . . .'

'Ssshh!' said Grandpa Joe. 'Listen! Here comes another song!'

From far away down the corridor came the beating of drums. Then the singing began.

中文翻译

“有可能！”索尔特夫人叫起来，“我亲爱的韦鲁卡！她将……她将……她将像支香肠被烧得丝丝响！”

“完全对，我亲爱的，”索尔特先生说，“噢，旺卡，”他又说，“我认为你这一次做得有点儿太过分了，我真觉得是这样，我的女儿可能脾气有点儿不好──我不避讳这一点──但是这并不意味着你就要把她烤成脆片。我要你知道我是极端反对的，我真的极端反对。”

“啊，别反对，我亲爱的先生！”旺卡先生说，“我希望迟早会找到她的，她可能还没有完全下去。她可能正好被黏在入口洞下的坑里了。如果是这样，你们可以进去把她拖出来。”

索尔特先生和夫人听到这以后，立刻跑到坚果地板上的那个洞口盯着往里看。

“韦鲁卡！”索尔特先生大声喊道，“你下到哪儿了？”

没有回音。

索尔特夫人使劲弯下了身子想看得更清楚一些，她跪在洞口的边上，头朝下，大屁股在空中翘起，活像个大蘑菇。这种姿态很危险，很有可能掉进去。只需要轻轻地推她一下……在合适的地方用胳膊肘轻轻地推一下……正好是松鼠们给了她一下！

她头朝下掉进了洞里，像一只鹦鹉般地尖叫着。

索尔特先生看到他的胖妻滚进洞里去了，说：“我的天哪！今天将有多么多的垃圾呀！”他朝洞里叫道：“喂！下面什么样？”他的身体也进一步向前倾。

松鼠们在他后面猛地一推……

“救命！”他叫喊着。

可是他已经像他的妻子和儿女一样，掉进垃圾坑里去了。

“哟，哎呀！”透过玻璃门正在观看的查理叫道，“现在他们怎么办呢？”

“我希望有人在垃圾坑底接住他们。”旺卡先生说。

“但是那巨大的焚化炉怎么办？”查理问道。

“炉子是隔一天点一次，”旺卡先生说，“也许在今天他们能出来。但不知道他们是否走运……”

“嘘！”乔爷爷说，“听着！又唱歌了！”

远处传来一阵击鼓声，接着歌声四起。

未

完

待

续