eighteen
a minute later, they were out in the open, standing on the very top of the peach, near the stem, blinkingtheir eyes in the strong sunlight and peering nervously around.
‘what happened?’
‘where are we?’
‘but this is impossible!’
‘unbelievable!’
‘terrible!’
‘i told you we were bobbing up and down,’ the ladybird said.
‘we’re in the middle of the sea!’ cried james.
and indeed they were. a strong current and a high wind had carried the peach so quickly away fromthe shore that already the land was out of sight. all around them lay the vast black ocean, deep andhungry. little waves were bibbling against the sides of the peach.
‘but how did it happen?’ they cried. ‘where are the fields? where are the woods? where isengland?’ nobody, not even james, could understand how in the world a thing like this could havecome about.
‘ladies and gentlemen,’ the old-green-grasshopper said, trying very hard to keep the fear anddisappointment out of his voice, ‘i am afraid that we find ourselves in a rather awkward situation.’
‘awkward!’ cried the earthworm. ‘my dear old grasshopper, we are finished! every one of us isabout to perish! i may be blind, you know, but that much i can see quite clearly.’
‘off with my boots!’ shouted the centipede. ‘i cannot swim with my boots on!’
‘i can’t swim at all!’ cried the ladybird.
‘nor can i,’ wailed the glow-worm.
‘nor i!’ said miss spider. ‘none of us three girls can swim a single stroke.’
‘but you won’t have to swim,’ said james calmly. ‘we are floating beautifully. and sooner or later aship is bound to come along and pick us up.’
they all stared at him in amazement.
‘are you quite sure that we are not sinking?’ the ladybird asked.
‘of course i‘m sure,’ answered james. ‘go and look for yourselves.’
they all ran over to the side of the peach and peered down at the water below.
‘the boy is quite right,’ the old-green-grasshopper said. ‘we are floating beautifully. now we mustall sit down and keep perfectly calm. everything will be all right in the end.’
‘what absolute nonsense!’ cried the earthworm. ‘nothing is ever all right in the end, and well youknow it!’
‘poor earthworm,’ the ladybird said, whispering in james’s ear. ‘he loves to make everything into adisaster. he hates to be happy. he is only happy when he is gloomy. now isn’t that odd? but then, isuppose just being an earthworm is enough to make a person pretty gloomy, don’t you agree?’
‘if this peach is not going to sink,’ the earthworm was saying, ‘and if we are not going to bedrowned, then every one of us is going to starve to death instead. do you realize that we haven’t had athing to eat since yesterday morning?’
‘by golly, he’s right!’ cried the centipede. ‘for once, earthworm is right!’
‘of course i‘m right,’ the earthworm said. ‘and we’re not likely to find anything around here either.
we shall get thinner and thinner and thirstier and thirstier, and we shall all die a slow and grisly deathfrom starvation. i am dying already. i am slowly shrivelling up for want of food. personally, i wouldrather drown.’
‘but good heavens, you must be blind!’ said james.
‘you know very well i‘m blind,’ snapped the earthworm. ‘there’s no need to rub it in.’
‘i didn’t mean that,’ said james quickly. ‘i‘m sorry. but can’t you see that - ’
’see?’ shouted the poor earthworm. ‘how can i see if i am blind?’
james took a deep, slow breath. ‘can’t you real ize,’ he said patiently, ‘that we have enough foodhere to last us for weeks and weeks?’
‘where?’ they said. ‘where?’
‘why, the peach of course! our whole ship is made of food!’
‘jumping jehoshophat!’ they cried. ‘we never thought of that!’
‘my dear james,’ said the old-green-grasshopper, laying a front leg affectionately on james’sshoulder, ‘i don’t know what we’d do without you.
you are so clever. ladies and gentlemen - we are saved again!’
‘we are most certainly not!’ said the earthworm. ‘you must be crazy! you can’t eat the ship! it’s theonly thing that is keeping us up!’
‘we shall starve if we don‘t!’ said the centipede.
‘and we shall drown if we do!’ cried the earthworm.
‘oh dear, oh dear,’ said the old-green-grasshopper. ‘now we’re worse off than before!’
‘couldn’t we just eat a little bit of it?’ asked miss spider. ‘i am so dreadfully hungry.’
‘you can eat all you want,’ james answered. ‘it would take us weeks and weeks to make any sort ofa dent in this enormous peach. surely you can see that?’
‘good heavens, he’s right again!’ cried the old-green-grasshopper, clapping his hands. ‘it wouldtake weeks and weeks! of course it would! but let’s not go making a lot of holes all over the deck. ithink we’d better simply scoop it out of that tunnel over there - the one that we‘ve just come up by.’
‘an excellent idea,’ said the ladybird.
‘what are you looking so worried about, earthworm?’ the centipede asked. ‘what’s the problem?’
‘the problem is…’ the earthworm said, ‘the problem is…well, the problem is that there is noproblem!’
everyone burst out laughing. ‘cheer up, earthworm!’ they said. ‘come and eat!’ and they all wentover to the tunnel entrance and began scooping out great chunks of juicy, golden-coloured peach flesh.
‘oh, marvellous!’ said the centipede, stuffing it into his mouth.
‘dee-licious!’ said the old-green-grasshopper.
‘just fabulous!’ said the glow-worm.
‘oh my!’ said the ladybird primly. ‘what a heavenly taste!’ she looked up at james, and she smiled,and james smiled back at her. they sat down on the deck together, both of them chewing away happily.
‘you know, james,’ the ladybird said, ‘up until this moment, i have never in my life tasted anythingexcept those tiny little green flies that live on rosebushes. they have a perfectly delightful flavour. butthis peach is even better.’
‘isn’t it glorious!’ miss spider said, coming over to join them. ‘personally, i had always thought thata big, juicy, caught-in-the-web bluebottle was the finest dinner in the world - until i tasted this.’
‘what a flavour!’ the centipede cried. ‘it’s terrific! there’s nothing like it! there never has been!
and i should know because i personally have tasted all the finest foods in the world!’ whereupon, thecentipede, with his mouth full of peach and with juice running down all over his chin, suddenly burstinto song:
‘i‘ve eaten many strange and scrumptious dishes in my time,like jellied gnats and dandyprats and earwigs cooked in slime,and mice with rice - they’re really nicewhen roasted in their prime.
(but don’t forget to sprinkle them with just a pinch of grime.)‘i‘ve eaten fresh mudburgers by the greatest cooks there are,and scrambled dregs and stinkbugs’ eggs and hornets stewed in tar,and pails of snails and lizards’ tails, and beetles by the jar.
(a beetle is improved by just a splash of vinegar.)‘i often eat boiled slobbages they’re grand when served besideminced doodlebugs and curried slugs. and have you ever triedmosquitoes’ toes and wampfish roes most delicately fried?
(the only trouble is they disagree with my inside.)‘i‘m mad for crispy wasp-stings on a piece of buttered toast,and pickled spines of porcupines. and then a gorgeous roastof dragon’s flesh, well hung, not fresh -it costs a pound at most.
(and comes to you in barrels if you order it by post.)‘i crave the tasty tentacles of octopi for teai like hot-dogs, i love hot-frogs, and surely you’ll agreea plate of soil with engine oil’sa super recipe.
(i hardly need to mention that if s practically free.)‘for dinner on my birthday shall i tell you what i chose:
hot noodles made from poodles on a slice of garden hose -and a rather smelly jellymade of armadillo’s toes.
(the jelly is delicious, but you have to hold your nose.)‘now comes,’ the centipede declared, ‘the burden of my speech:
these foods are rare beyond compare - some are right out of reach;but there’s no doubt i’d go withouta million plates of each
for one small mite,
one tiny bite,
of this fantastic peach!’
everybody was feeling happy now. the sun was shining brightly out of a soft blue sky and the daywas calm. the giant peach, with the sunlight glinting on its side, was like a massive golden ball sailingupon a silver sea.
十八
一分钟以后，他们便来到了外面，站在仙桃顶上的桃把附近。强烈的阳光中，他们不安地眨巴着眼睛，朝四周望去。
“出了什么事儿？”
“咱们这是在哪儿？”
“可这是不可能的呀！”
“简直不可思议！”
“也真可怕！”
“我给你们说过，咱们是在颠上颠下嘛。”
“我们到了大海上啦！”詹姆斯朗声说。他们确实到了大海上面。只见波涛湍急，海风呼啸，仙桃急速地离开海岸，陆地也消逝在视线之外。周围是漆黑的大海，深深的，仿佛要吃人的样子。细碎的浪花，在仙桃四周拍打着。
“可这是怎么一回事儿呢？”大伙叫嚷起来，“田野在哪儿？森林在哪儿？英国又在哪儿？”包括詹姆斯在内，谁也弄不明白，这样的事情究竟是怎么发生的。
“女士们、先生们，”绿色老蚱蜢说，极力不让声音显出失望和恐惧，“恐怕咱们的处境不大妙呀。”
“不大妙？”蚯蚓叫道，“我亲爱的老蚱蜢，咱们完蛋了。咱们每一个人都要完蛋了！你晓得，尽管我眼睛瞎，这一点我还是看得清楚的。”
“我的靴子掉下来了！”蜈蚣大声说，“不穿靴子，我就游不了泳了！”
“我根本就不会游泳！”瓢虫说。
“我也不会！”萤火虫说。
“我也游不了！”蜘蛛小姐说，“我们三个姑娘，谁也游不了一下。”
“不过，你们用不着游泳啊。”詹姆斯平静地说，“咱们这不是漂得很好嘛。早晚会有船过来，把咱们接走的。”
大家都十分诧异地盯着詹姆斯。
“你敢说咱们沉不下去吗？”瓢虫问。
“当然我敢说啦。”詹姆斯答道，“你们自己去看吧。”
他们于是跑到仙桃边沿，瞧着底下的海水。
“这孩子说得还算不错。”绿色老蚱蜢说，“咱们漂得挺好。现在，咱们都得坐下来，一点儿不要出声。到时候，一切都会平安无事的。”
“真是一派胡言！”蚯蚓叫道，“到时候，什么也不会平安无事的。这你知道得很清楚！”
“可怜的蚯蚓，”瓢虫冲着詹姆斯的耳朵悄声说，“他喜欢把一切事情都说成是场灾难。他不愿意快活，他只有心里感到沮丧时才快活。喏，你说奇怪不奇怪？不过，依我看，当个蚯蚓就够叫人沮丧的了，你说对不对？”
“仙桃要是不沉的话，”蚯蚓说，“咱们要是不淹死的话，那么，咱们也都得饿死。从昨天早上起，咱们就没有东西吃了，你们难道不明白？”
“天哪，他说得对呀！”蜈蚣叫道，“这一回蚯蚓可说对了！”
“当然我说得对啦。”蚯蚓说，“再说，周围也不可能找到什么东西吃呀。咱们会越来越瘦，越来越渴，都会慢慢地饿死，可怕地饿死的。我现在就快死了。没有东西吃，我身上都瘦了一圈儿。就我个人来说，我倒宁愿淹死。”
“可是，天哪！你想必是看不见东西！”詹姆斯说。
“我是瞎子，这你很清楚。”蚯蚓抢白道，“故意奚落人家，这用不着。”
“我不是这个意思。”詹姆斯赶紧说，“对不起，可你难道没有看见……”
“看见？”可怜的蚯蚓高声说，“我眼睛瞎，怎么能看见呢？”
詹姆斯慢条斯理地深深吸了一口气。“难道你不明白，”他耐心地说，“我们这儿有足够的东西，能吃好几个礼拜吗？”
“在哪儿？”他们说，“在哪儿呢？”
“喏，当然是吃桃子啦！这条船的材料，整个儿都是吃的东西。”
“对呀，对呀！”他们叫嚷起来，“可咱们从来就没有想到过！”
“我亲爱的詹姆斯，”绿色老蚱蜢把一条腿爱抚地放在詹姆斯肩膀上，说，“没有了你，我们简直不知道该怎么办。你这么聪明。女士们、先生们，咱们又获救啦。”
“咱们当然是没有获救的呀！”蚯蚓说，“你们简直是疯啦！船是不能吃掉的！只有这条船，才能把咱们浮在海面上呀！”
“要是不吃，咱们就会饿死的！”蜈蚣说。“要是吃了，咱们就会淹死的！”蚯蚓高声说。
“哦，天哪，天哪，”绿色老蚱蜢说，“这么说，咱们还不如以前啦！”
“咱们吃上一点儿不成吗？”蜘蛛小姐问，“我肚子饿得要命。”
“咱们想吃多少就吃多少。”詹姆斯答道，“在这个大仙桃上，吃上好几个礼拜，才能吃出一个小洞来。这你们当然是明白的啦？”“老天哪，他又说对啦。”绿色老蚱蜢拍着巴掌说，“能吃上好几个礼拜哩。当然能吃上的呀！不过，可别在甲板上到处都吃出好多洞来。依我看，还是只从那个通道上挖着吃吧。也就是我们刚才上来的那个通道。”
“好主意。”瓢虫说。
“你干吗还是愁眉苦脸的呢，蚯蚓？”蜈蚣问，“有什么难处吗？”
“难处是……”蚯蚓说，“难处是……喏，难处是，根本就没有什么难处。”
大伙儿都放声大笑起来。“快活一点儿，蚯蚓！”他们说，“过来吃吧！”他们于是都走到通道入口，挖着吃起来。大块大块的桃肉，金灿灿的，满是水分。
“哦，好极了！”蜈蚣把桃肉塞进嘴里，说。
“真—好吃！”绿色老蚱蜢说。
“简直难以想象！”萤火虫说。
“啊，天哪！”瓢虫煞有介事地说，“真是琼浆玉液的味道啊！”她抬头望了詹姆斯一眼，微笑起来，詹姆斯也朝她回望了一眼。于是，两人一块儿坐在了甲板上，快活地吃起桃子来。“我说，詹姆斯，”瓢虫说，“直到这一刻为止，我一生当中，除了那些玫瑰丛里的绿色小飞虫，还没有吃过别的东西。他们味道虽说极为鲜美，可是，仙桃就更好吃了。”
“太了不起啦！”蜘蛛小姐走到他们跟前说，“就我个人来说，吃到仙桃以前，我还一向觉得，捕在网里的绿头大苍蝇，水分很多，才是天下最好的美餐哩。”
“味道有多好！”蜈蚣喊叫道，“简直棒极了！有什么能比得上仙桃哇！从来就没有过！这我应当知道的，因为，我吃过世上各种最好吃的食品！”于是，嘴里满含着桃肉、下巴上流着桃汁的蜈蚣，引吭高歌起来：
生来吃过多少珍奇佳肴，
唾沫爆炒蚊子和蚰蜒，
老鼠米饭真正鲜。
（吃前别忘放上尘土面。）
吃过厨师高手做的面包虫，
炒垃圾、臭虫蛋，沥青炒黄蜂，
壁虎尾、小甲虫，
吃了一桶又一桶。
（甲虫要是放上醋，味道特别浓。）
吃过清水煮烂泥，
碎蚁蛉、鼻涕虫加咖喱，
还有鱼子、蚊子腿，
油煎的味道了不起。
（可惜跟我胃口不相宜。）
喜欢蜂刺面包抹奶油，
豪猪里脊要风干，
火烤龙肉挂得高，
外卖只要一镑钱。
（要是邮购还得按桶算。）
章鱼须，当早茶，
我爱你热狗、热青蛙。
要是机油拌上泥土块，
来上一盘乐哈哈。
（不用说，这样一文不用花。）
生日晚宴吃什么？
皮管上煮狮子、狗毛、热面条，
再来犰狳脚趾的胶冻，
的的确确好味道。
（胶冻味道虽然好，
鼻子也得捏得牢。）
“喏，喏，”蜈蚣道，
下面话儿最要紧：
这些菜肴很难比，
有些根本找不到。
只要吃上仙桃一小口，
千般美味宁可都不要。
这会儿，人人喜形于色。湛蓝柔和的天空，艳阳高照，十分静谧。大仙桃的一侧闪烁着阳光，仿佛金黄色的大球，游弋在银色的海面上。