牛津書蟲系列 猴爪 Chapter 3
It was nearly midnight.In their warm living-room， the two old people and their son sat and talked about the soldier's stories.
'India is a wonderful country，' Mr White said.'What exciting stories! It was a good evening.'
Mrs White stood up to take some things into the kitchen， but she stopped and listened to Herbert and his father.
'Yes，'Herbert said.' Morris told some interesting stories， but， of course， some of them weren't true. '
'Oh Herbert!'mrs White said.
'Well， Mother， that story about the monkey's paw wasn't true. A dirty little monkey's paw isn't magic! But it was a good story.' And Herbert smiled.
'Well，I think you're right， Herbert，' his mother said.
'I don't know，' Mr White said quietly.'Perhaps the story was true.Strange things can happen sometimes.'
Mrs White looked at her husband.'Did you give some money to Tom Morris for that paw?' she asked.'We don't have money to give away for nothing!' Mrs White was angry now.
'Well，yes，'her husband answered.'I did， but not much， and at first he didn't want to take it. He wanted the monkey's paw.'
'Well，he can't have it，'Herbert laughed.'It's our paw now and we're going to be rich and happy.Come on， Father.Make a wish!'
Old Mr White took the paw from his pocket.'OK，Herbert， but what am I going to ask for? I have everything—you， your mother. What do I need?'
'Money，of course，'Herbert answered quickly.'We need money! You're alwaysthinking about money. That's be cause we haven't got very much of it. With money you can pay for this house .It can be your house! Go on， Father， wish for thirty thousand pounds!'
Herbert stopped talking and his old father thought for a minute. The room was quiet and they could hear the rain on the windows.
Then Mr White took the monkey's paw in his right hand. He was afraid， but he looked at hiswife and she smiled at him.
'Go on，' she said.
Slowly and carefully Mr White said，'I wish for thirty thousand pounds.'
Suddenly he gave a cry and Mrs White and Herbert ran to him.
'What's the matter， Father?' Herbert asked.
'It moved!' Mr White cried.'The monkey's paw—it moved!'
They looked at the paw. It was now on the floor and not in the old man's hand. The family watched it， and they wait ed—but it did not move again.
So the little family sat down again and they waited. Nothing happened The noise of the rain on the windows was worse now and their little living-room did not feel nice and warm.
Mrs White said，'It's cold Let's go to bed.'
Mr White did not answer and in the end Herbert said， 'Well，there's no money，F(xiàn)ather. Your friend's story wasn't true.'But Mr White did not answer. He sat quietly and said nothing.
After some time Mrs White said to her husband，'Are you OK ?'
'Yes，yes，' the old man answered，'but for a minute or two I was afraid.'
'Well， we needed that money，' Mrs White said，'but we aren't going to get it. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.'
After Mrs White went to bed， the two men sat and smoked for some time.
Then Herbert said，'Well，F(xiàn)ather，I'm going to bed too. Perhaps the money is in a bag under your bed!Good night， Father.'And Herbert laughed and went out of the room.
Old Mr White sat in the cold living-room for a long time. The candle died and it wasdark Suddenly， the old man saw a face at the window. Quickly， he looked again， but there was nothing there. He felt afraid. Slowly he stood up and left the cold， dark room.
3
已經(jīng)快半夜了。在他們溫暖的客廳里，兩位老人和他們的兒子在談?wù)撝媳墓适隆?/p>
“印度是一個神奇的國家，”懷特先生說，“多么激動人心的故事!多么美好的夜晚。”
懷特太太站起來要拿東西進(jìn)廚房，但她卻停下來聽赫伯特和他父親談話。
“是的，”赫伯特說，“莫里斯講了一些有趣的故事，但是，有些東西不一定是真實(shí)的。”
“哦，赫伯特!”懷特太太說。
“是的，母親，有關(guān)猴爪的故事不是真的。一只臟的猴爪哪會有魔力!但這個故事很好。”赫伯特笑著說。
“我想你是對的，赫伯特。”他母親說。
“我不知道，”懷特先生平靜地說，“也許這個故事是真的。怪事有時也會發(fā)生。”
懷特太太看著她的丈夫。“你從莫里斯那兒拿來猴爪給他錢了嗎?”她問。“我們沒有多余的錢去為無價值的東西付出!”懷特太太現(xiàn)在發(fā)怒了。
“是的，”她丈夫回答說，“我付錢了，但不多。開始他不想要錢，他要他的猴爪。”
“好啦，莫里斯不再擁有猴爪了，”赫伯特笑了起來。“猴爪現(xiàn)在屬于我們，我們將變得富有幸福。來吧，父親。許個愿!”
老懷特先生從口袋里拿出猴爪。“好吧，赫伯特，但我還要什么呢?我擁有一切——你，你母親。我需要什么呢?”
“當(dāng)然是錢，”赫伯特迅速回答，“我們需要錢!你總是為錢而費(fèi)盡心思，那是因?yàn)槲覀儧]有錢。有錢你能買房子。真正屬于你的房子!來吧，父親，許愿吧，愿咱們有30 000英鎊。”
赫伯特停止了講話，他的父親思考了一會兒。房子里很安靜，他們能夠聽到雨點(diǎn)打在大窗戶上的聲音。
接著懷特先生拿出猴爪放在右手。他很害怕，他看著妻子;他的妻子沖他微笑。
“說吧。”她說。
懷特先生緩慢而又小心地說，“我希望有 30 000英鎊。”
突然，他發(fā)出一聲尖叫，懷特太太和赫伯特向他跑過去。
“發(fā)生什么事了，父親?”赫伯特問。
“它動起來了!”懷特先生喊道。“那猴爪——它動起來了!”
他們看著爪子。爪子現(xiàn)在不在老人手里而在地板上。這一家看著，等著，但猴爪已不再動了。
于是，這個小家庭又坐下來等。但什么也沒有發(fā)生。雨聲現(xiàn)在變得更急，他們的小客廳已感覺不到暖和。
懷特太太說，“天冷了，我們睡覺吧。”
懷特先生不答話，最后赫伯特說，“瞧，沒有錢出現(xiàn)，父親，你朋友講的故事不是真的。”但懷特先生還是不答話，他靜靜地坐著一言不發(fā)。
一會兒過后，懷特太太問她丈夫，“你沒事吧?”
“是的，是的，”老人回答道，“但有一兩分鐘我很害怕。”
“不錯，我們需要錢，”懷特太太說，“但我們不會憑空拿到錢。我累了，我要睡覺。”
懷特太太上床睡覺之后，兩個男人坐著吸了一會兒煙。
赫伯特說，“父親，我也要睡覺了。也許錢就在你床下的一個袋子里，晚安，父親。”赫伯特笑著走出了房間。
老懷特先生在寒冷的客廳里呆了很長時間。蠟燭滅了，天黑了。突然，老人看見窗戶上有一張臉。很快，他又看了一眼，但那兒什么也沒有。他很害怕，他慢慢地站起來，離開了寒冷、漆黑的房間。
