OK阅读网

五个孩子和沙精
Five Children and It

英文中文双语对照双语交替

首页目录上一章下一章

4 Bigger than the Baker's Boy

The next morning Martha said that the children could not go out. ' You can stay in and be good，' she said.

' There's something that we all want，' said Robert. ' Can I just go out for half an hour to get it？' And Martha，who was really very kind，said that he could.

Of course， they all wanted the day's wish. So Robert hur-ried to the sand-pit.

The Psammead was waiting for him， but when Robert tried to think of a really good wish， he couldn't， and the others were not there to help him.

' Hurry up，'the Psammead said. ' I can't wait all day. '

' Oh dear，'Robert said. ' I wish that we didn't have to come here to get our wish… Oh， don't！'

But it was too late. The Psammead was already making it-self big.

'There！' it said. ' That wasn't easy， but I've done it. You don't need to come here to have your wish. '

Robert thanked the Psammead and then hurried back to tell the other children. ' We must wish for something really good tomorrow，'he said.

The next morning they thought and thought，but they couldn't think of a really good wish，so they decided to go to the gravel-pit. Suddenly they saw a baker's boy，who was coming along the road with his basket of bread， and they decided to play a game with him.

' Stop！' cried Cyril.

' Your money or your life！'shouted Robert.

And they stood on each side of the baker's boy.

The baker's boy，who was tall and large， was not very interested and he pushed them both away.

'Don't be stupid！' he said.

But Robert pushed him back and knocked him over. The bread fell out of the boy's basket and went all over the road. The baker's boy was very angry. He hit Robert and they began to fight. But the baker's boy was much bigger and stronger than Robert. He was also not a nice fighter— he pulled Robert's hair， kicked him in the leg， and hit him hard in the stomach. Then he picked up his bread， put it back in the basket， and went on his way.

Cyril wanted to help Robert， but the girls held his arms and stopped him. So Cyril was angry with the girls，and everybody was unhappy. They went along to the gravel-pit， and Robert began to kick the sand angrily. ' I'll teach that baker's boy a lesson one day，'he said. 'I wish I was bigger than him！'

Just then they saw that the Psammead was sitting behind them， and was watching them！

The next minute， Robert had his wish. He was bigger than the baker's boy！ Much， much bigger！ He was now more than three metres tall！He was not pleased because he looked very strange next to the others， who were still small.

The others felt sorry for him then， and asked the Psammead for another wish . But the Psammead was very cross and un-helpful. 'Why don't you think before you wish？'it said. ' He's a wild， noisy boy， and he can stay like that for the day. It will do him good. Now go away and leave me alone！'

The others turned back to their enormous brother. ' What are we going to do？'They asked.

'First，'said Robert，' I'm going to get that baker's boy！'And because he had very long legs， he arrived at the bottom of the hill long before the baker's boy， who was stopping at the houses along the road to leave the bread.

Robert hid behind a haystack and waited for the boy . When he saw the baker's boy coming，he jumped out from behind the haystack and the boy's mouth fell open in surprise. Then Robert took hold of him and put him on top of the haystack.

' Now get down from there，if you can！' Robert said.

It was very late when the baker's boy got back to the shop，and the baker was very angry！

Then Robert and the others went home，and down to the bottom of the garden. Anthea asked Martha to bring their lunch out there. She knew that Robert was too big to get into the house. Of course， Martha could not see that Robert was much bigger than before， and she only gave him as much meat and potatoes as usual— and no more. Poor Robert was very hungry.

The others were feeling unhappy too because there was a fair in town and they wanted to go to it. ' We can't go anywhere now，'Cyril said. ' Not with Robert like this. '

Suddenly Jane cried，'I know！ Let's take Robert to the fair！Someone there will pay us to show him to people. We can make a lot of money. '

The others thought that this was a good plan， and they left at once. When they arrived， they asked to see the head man. His name was Bill，and when he saw Robert， he got very excited.

' How much do you want for him？'he asked.

' You can't buy me，'said Robert，' but I'll come and show myself this afternoon，if you give me fifteen pounds—and some food！'

' Right！'Bill agreed.

So Bill took Robert inside one of the big fair tents and gave him something to eat. But while Robert was eating， Bill put men outside to stop him from escaping.

Then Bill stood outside the tent and began to shout to the crowds. ' Come and see the biggest man in the world！'he cried.

Very soon， people began to stop and listen. A young man and his girlfriend were the first to go and look at Robert. They paid their money to Bill and wnet in . The people outside heard a loud scream from the girl，and then they all wanted to go in too.

Soon Robert was the most exciting thing to see at the fair，and Bill was making a lot of money. ' Much more than fifteen pounds！' Cyril said to the girls.

Poor Robert got very bored. He had to shake hands with everybody and talk， to show that he was real. And how could he escape at the end of the day？' They'll kill us when I go small again，' he said.

Cyril thought for a minute. Then he said，' I've got a plan，'and he went outside the tent to talk to Bill. 'Look here，' he said，' my brother must be alone when the sun goes down. He gets very strange and angry then. I don't know why， but you must leave him alone， or he'll hurt someone. '

Bill was not very happy about this， but he agreed， and when the sun went down， they left Robert alone. Robert quickly got out under the back wall of the tent， and no one knew who he was because he was just a small boy again.

The children ran all the way home— and we do not know what Bill said when he found that Robert was not there！