木偶奇遇记：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.

这时木偶已经完全泄气，到了要扑倒在地向两个强盗告饶的地步，可一下子看见深绿的树林子里，远远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.

“我要是有口气跑到那房子，就有救了，”他心里说。

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

他一分钟也不耽搁，重新一个劲跑起来，穿过林子。两个杀入强盗依然在后面追。

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

他拼命跑了近两个钟头，终于上气不接下气地跑到那座小房子门口，连忙嘭嘭嘭敲门。

No one answered.

可没人答应。

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

他使劲把门敲得震天价响，因为他听见追来的脚步声、又响又急的呼吸声越来越近了。

The same silence followed.

可还是静悄悄的。

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:

他看见敲门毫无用处，就开始在门上用脚拼命地踢，用头拼命地撞。这时窗口探出个头来，这是个美丽的小女孩，天蓝色的头发，脸白得跟蜡像似的，眼睛闭着，双手交叉在胸前。她说话时嘴唇也不动，声音很轻很轻，像是从另一个改界来的：

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

“这座房子里没人，所有的人都死了。”

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

“至少你给我开开门!”皮诺乔哭叫着求她，

"I also am dead."

“我也死了。”

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

“死了，那你现在在窗口干吗?”

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

“我在等棺材，它要来把我给装走。”

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

小女孩子一说完这句话，就不见了。窗子也悄没声儿地重新关上了。

"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，天蓝色头发的美丽小姑娘，”皮诺乔大叫，“帮帮忙，给我开开门吧!请你同情一个可怜的孩子，他后面追着杀人的……”

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

他这句话没能说完，因为他觉得脖子给掐住了，还听到那两个声音在咆哮着威胁说：

"Now we have you!"

“现在你再逃不掉啦!”。

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，不由得一阵哆嗦，哆嗦得两条木头腿的关节卡嗒卡嗒响，藏在舌头底下的四个金币也丁丁当当响起来了。

"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."

“怎么样，”两个杀人强盗问他说。“你开口吗，开还是不开，怎么!不回答?……那我们就动手了，这一回定要把你的嘴弄开!……”

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

他们说着，拔出两把很长很长的刀子，锋利得像剃刀，嚓嚓!……给他背上来了两下。

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.

幸亏木偶是用很硬很硬的木头做的，因此他没受伤，刀倒断成了好多片。两个杀人强盗手里光剩下刀柄，你看着我，我看着你。

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

“我明白了，”其中一个说，“咱们得吊死他!吊死他吧!”

"To hang him," repeated the other.

“吊死他吧!”另一个跟着又说了一退。

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.

说干就干，他们把他双手反绑，用活结套住他的喉咙，把他吊在一棵大橡树的树枝上。

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.

然后他们坐在树下，就等着木偶蹬最后一次腿。可木偶过了三个钟头依然张开两只眼睛，闭着嘴巴，两腿越蹬越有劲。

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."

他们最后等得不耐烦了，就向木偶转过脸，冷笑着对他说：“明儿见，等我们明天回到这儿，希望你帮个大忙，已经死掉了，把嘴张得大大的。”

With these words they went.

他们说着，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.

这时候猛乱起一阵北风，呼呼地怒号，把吊在那里的可怜木偶吹过来吹过去，狠狠地摇得他像过节时丁当丁当摇着的大钟，这样摇啊摇啊，摇得他痛苦万分。喉咙上的活结越收越紧，叫他气也透不出来。

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:

他的两眼一点一点发黑。可他虽然感到死期已近，依然希望随时会有人经过，把他救下来，可他等啊等啊，看见还是没人来，一个人也没有，于是就想到他的可怜的爸爸……他半死不活地结结巴巴说：

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

“噢，我的爸爸，要是你在这儿就好了!……”

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

他再也说不出话来。他闭上眼睛，张开嘴巴，伸长两腿，一阵猛烈颤动，吊在那里像是僵硬了。