小小人的大世界

内容简介

一个患病的英国小男孩被送往乡间姑婆的老宅中休养。寂静中他发现了在老宅里的一个秘密：借东西的小人。借东西的小人只有铅笔一般高，他们把家安在房子的地板下，靠从楼上的“巨人”那里“借”东西为生。他们最害怕的就是被“看见”。

借东西的小女孩阿瑞埃蒂在门外草丛里被小男孩看见。好心的小男孩不仅帮助这一家小人借东西，还充当信使，为他们给住在别处的亲戚送信。但好景不长，女管家也发现了小人一家，她关住小男孩，找来警察、猫和捕鼠专家对付小人。万分危急之际，小人一家是如何成功逃脱人类的追捕的呢？他们在后来的颠沛流离的野外生活中又发生了哪些惊险和奇遇呢？

作者简介

玛丽・诺顿（1903?1992），英国作家，以幻想系列丛书“借东西的小人”闻名，该系列一共五本，畅销多年，在英美家喻户晓，曾获1953年卡内基儿童文学奖，2007年入选“七十年来十大童书经典”。

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Chapter Four

Pod came in slowly， his sack on his back； he leaned his hat pin， with its dangling name?tape， against the wall and， on the middle of the kitchen table， he placed a doll’s tea cup； it was the size of a mixing bowl.

“Why， Pod―” began Homily.

“Got the saucer too，” he said. He swung down the sack and untied the neck. “Here you are，” he said， drawing out the saucer. “Matches it.”

He had a round， currant?bunny sort of face； tonight it looked flabby.

“Oh， Pod，” said Homily， “you do look queer. Are you all right？”

Pod sat down. “I’m fair enough，” he said.

“You went up the curtain，” said Homily. “Oh， Pod， you shouldn’t have. It’s shaken you―”

Pod made a strange face， his eyes swiveled round toward Arrietty. Homily stared at him， her mouth open， and then she turned. “Come along， Arrietty，” she said briskly， “you pop off to bed， now， like a good girl， and I’ll bring you some supper.”

“Oh，” said Arrietty， “can’t I see the rest of the borrowings？”

“Your father’s got nothing now. Only food. Off you pop to bed. You’ve seen the cup and saucer.”

Arrietty went into the sitting room to put away her diary， and took some time fixing her candle on the up turned drawing pin which served as a holder.

“Whatever are you doing？” grumbled Homily. “Give it here. There， that’s the way. Now off to bed and fold your clothes， mind.”

“Good night， Papa，” said Arrietty， kissing his flat white cheek.

“Careful of the light，” he said mechanically， and watched her with his round eyes until she had closed the door.

“Now， Pod，” said Homily， when they were alone， “tell me. What’s the matter？”

Pod looked at her blankly. “I been ‘seen’，” he said.

Homily put out a groping hand for the edge of the table； she grasped it and lowered herself slowly on to the stool. “Oh， Pod，” she said.

There was silence between them. Pod stared at Homily and Homily stared at the table. After a while she raised her white face. “Badly？” she asked.

Pod moved restlessly. “I don’t know about badly. I been‘seen.’ Ain’t that bad enough？”

“No one，” said Homily slowly， “hasn’t never been ‘seen’ since Uncle Hendreary and he was the first they say for forty?five years.” A thought struck her and she gripped the table. “It’s no good， Pod， I won’t emigrate！”

“No one’s asked you to，” said Pod.

“To go and live like Hendreary and Lupy in a badger’s set！ The other side of the world， that’s where they say it is―all among the earthworms.”

“It’s two fields away， above the spinney，” said Pod.

“Nuts， that’s what they eat. And berries. I wouldn’t wonder if they don’t eat mice―”

“You’ve eaten mice yourself，” Pod reminded her.

“All draughts and fresh air and the children growing up wild. Think of Arrietty！” said Homily. “Think of the way she’s been brought up. An only child. She’d catch her death. It’s different for Hendreary.”

“Why？” asked Pod. “He’s got four.”

“That’s why，” explained Homily. “When you’ve got four， they’re brought up rough. But never mind that now... Who saw you？”

“A boy，” said Pod.

“A what？” exclaimed Homily， staring.

“A boy.” Pod sketched out a rough shape in the air with his hands. “You know， a boy.”

“But there isn’t―I mean， what sort of a boy？”

“I don’t know what you mean‘what sort of a boy’. A boy in a night?shirt. A boy. You know what a boy is， don’t you？”

“Yes，” said Homily， “I know what a boy is. But there hasn’t been a boy， not in this house， these twenty years.”

“Well，” said Pod， “there’s one here now.”

Homily stared at him in silence， and Pod met her eyes. “Where did he see you？” asked Homily at last.

“In the schoolroom.”

“Oh，” said Homily， “when you was getting the cup？”

“Yes，” said Pod.

“Haven’t you got eyes？” asked Homily. “Couldn’t you have looked first？”

“There’s never nobody in the schoolroom. And what’s more，” he went on， “there wasn’t today.”

“Then where was he？”

“In bed. In the night?nursery or whatever it’s called. That’s where he was. Sitting up in bed. With the doors open.”

“Well， you could have looked in the nursery.”

“How could I?halfway up the curtain！”

“Is that where you was？”

“Yes.”

“With the cup？”

“Yes. I couldn’t get up or down.”

“Oh， Pod，” wailed Homily， “I should never have let you go. Not at your age！”

“Now， look here，” said Pod， “don’t mistake me. I got up all right. Got up like a bird， as you might say， bobbles or no bobbles. But”―he leaned toward her―“afterwards― with the cup in me hand， if you see what I mean...” He picked it up off the table. “You see， it’s heavy like. You can hold it by the handle， like this ... but it drops or droops， as you might say. You should take a cup like this in your two hands. A bit of cheese off a shelf， or an apple―well， I drop that ... give it a push and it falls and I climbs down in me own time and picks it up. But with a cup―you see what I mean？ And coming down， you got to watch your feet. And， as I say， some of the bobbles was missing. You didn’t know what you could hold on to， not safely...”

“Oh， Pod，” said Homily， her eyes full of tears， “what did you do？”