绿野仙踪 第109期:奥芝的秘密(2)

 The soldier had the news carried straight to Oz that Dorothy and the other travelers had come back again, after destroying the Wicked Witch; but Oz made no reply.  兵士带着这消息迳往奥芝那里去，告诉他多萝茜和她的几个同伴，在杀死了西方女巫以后，回来了；但奥芝却缄默不语。

They thought the Great Wizard would send for them at once, but he did not.  他们都在想，也许那伟大的奥芝会立刻接见他们，但是他没有这样做。

They had no word from him the next day, nor the next, nor the next.  第二天，他们仍然没有被准允这个接见，下一天也没有，再下一天是没有。

The waiting was tiresome¹ and wearing, and at last they grew vexed² that Oz should treat them in so poor a fashion, after sending them to undergo hardships and slavery.  他们等得不耐烦了，最后，他们愤怒起来，想到奥芝把他们送去西方女巫那里，如今还要这么对待他们。

So the Scarecrow at last asked the green girl to take another message to Oz,  因此稻草人最后请绿衣女郎带话给奥芝，

saying if he did not let them in to see him at once they would call the Winged Monkeys to help them,  说如果他不立即接见他们，他们将要召唤飞猴来帮助他们，

and find out whether he kept his promises or not.  弄明白他究竟为什么不遵守诺言。

When the Wizard was given this message he was so frightened that he sent word for them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes after nine o'clock the next morning.  当这个魔术家听到了这个消息的时候，他非常害怕，传话给他们，明天早晨九点零四分到宫殿里来。

He had once met the Winged Monkeys in the Land of the West, and he did not wish to meet them again. 他曾经在西方的国土上被飞猴赶走，他不想再遇见第二次了。

The four travelers passed a sleepless³ night, each thinking of the gift Oz had promised to bestow⁴ on him.  这四个旅行者，捱过了失眠的一夜，每人都在想那奥芝送给他们的礼物。

Dorothy fell asleep only once, and then she dreamed she was in Kansas,  多萝茜刚睡着，就梦见她在堪萨斯州，

where Aunt Em was telling her how glad she was to have her little girl at home again. 爱姆婶婶正向她倾诉，怎样喜欢她的小侄女再回到身边。

Promptly⁵ at nine o'clock the next morning the green-whiskered soldier came to them,  第二天早晨九点钟，那绿胡须的兵士来到他们那里，

and four minutes later they all went into the Throne Room of the Great Oz. 四分钟以后，他们就向伟大的奥芝的宫殿走去。

Of course each one of them expected to see the Wizard in the shape he had taken before,  当然，他们每个人都想象着看到魔术家时的那种样子，

and all were greatly surprised when they looked about and saw no one at all in the room.  然而出乎他们的意料，当他们望过去时，宫殿宝座上没有一个人。

They kept close to the door and closer to one another, for the stillness of the empty room was more dreadful than any of the forms they had seen Oz take. 他们彼此靠近更近，走近那门，因为这寂静的空洞的宫殿里，似乎比他们曾经见过的奥芝的幻影，更加恐怖。

1 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

2 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

4 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

5 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。