thirty-seven

it was really an amazing sight, and in two or three minutes, as soon as the people below realized thatthis now couldn’t possibly be a bomb, they came pouring out of the shelters and the subways to gape atthe marvel. the streets for half a mile around the building were jammed with men and women, andwhen the word spread that there were actually living things moving about on the top of the great roundball, then everyone went wild with excitement.

‘it’s a flying saucer!’ they shouted.

‘they are from outer space!’

‘they are men from mars!’

‘or maybe they came from the moon!’

and a man who had a pair of binoculars to his eyes said, ‘they look pritt-ty peculiar to me, i’ll tellyou that.’

police cars and fire engines came screaming in from all over the city and pulled up outside theempire state building. two hundred firemen and six hundred policemen swarmed into the building andwent up in the elevators as high as they could go. then they poured out on to the observation roof –which is the place where tourists stand – just at the bottom of the big spike.

all the policemen were holding their guns at the ready, with their fingers on the triggers, and thefiremen were clutching their hatchets. but from where they stood, almost directly underneath the peach,they couldn’t actually see the travellers up on top.

‘ahoy there!’ shouted the chief of police. ‘come out and show yourselves!’

suddenly, the great brown head of the centipede appeared over the side of the peach. his black eyes,as large and round as two marbles, glared down at the policemen and the firemen below. then hismonstrous ugly face broke into a wide grin.

the policemen and the firemen all started shouting at once. ‘look out!’ they cried. ‘it’s a dragon!’

‘it’s not a dragon! it’s a wampus!’

‘it’s a gorgon!’

‘it’s a sea-serpent!’

‘it’s a prock!’

‘it’s a manticore!’

three firemen and five policemen fainted and had to be carried away.

‘it’s a snozzwanger!’ cried the chief of police.

‘it’s a whangdoodle!’ yelled the head of the fire department.

the centipede kept on grinning. he seemed to be enjoying enormously the commotion that he wascausing.

‘now see here!’ shouted the chief of police, cupping his hands to his mouth. ‘you listen to me! iwant you to tell me exactly where you‘ve come from!’

‘we‘ve come from thousands of miles away!’ the centipede shouted back, grinning more broadlythan ever and showing his brown teeth.

‘there you are!’ called the chief of police. ‘i told you they came from mars!’

‘i guess you’re right!’ said the head of the fire department.

at this point, the old-green-grasshopper poked his huge green head over the side of the peach,alongside the centipede’s. six more big strong men fainted when they saw him.

‘that one’s an oinck!’ screamed the head of the fire department. ‘i just know it’s an oinck!’

‘or a cockatrice!’ yelled the chief of police. ‘stand back, men! it may jump down on us anymoment!’

‘what on earth are they talking about?’ the old-green-grasshopper said to the centipede.

‘search me,’ the centipede answered. ‘but they seem to be in an awful stew about something.’

then miss spider’s large black murderous-looking head, which to a stranger was probably the mostterrifying of all, appeared next to the grasshopper‘s.

‘snakes and ladders!’ yelled the head of the fire department. ‘we are finished now! it’s a giantscorpula!’

‘it’s worse than that!’ cried the chief of police. ‘it’s a vermicious knid! oh, just look at itsvermicious gruesome face!’

‘is that the kind that eats fully-grown men for breakfast?’ the head of the fire department asked,going white as a sheet.

‘i‘m afraid it is,’ the chief of police answered.

‘oh, please why doesn’t someone help us to get down from here?’ miss spider called out. ‘it’smaking me giddy.’

‘this could be a trick!’ said the head of the fire department. ‘don’t anyone make a move until isay!’

‘they‘ve probably got space guns!’ muttered the chief of police.

‘but we‘ve got to do something!’ the head of the fire department announced grimly. ‘about fivemillion people are standing down there on the streets watching us.’

‘then why don’t you put up a ladder?’ the chief of police asked him. ‘i’ll stand at the bottom andhold it steady for you while you go up and see what’s happening.’

‘thanks very much!’ snapped the head of the fire department.

soon there were no less than seven large fantastic faces peering down over the side of the peach – thecentipede‘s, the old- green- grasshopper‘s, miss spider‘s, the earthworm‘s, the ladybird‘s, thesilkworm‘s, and the glow-worm‘s. and a sort of panic was beginning to break out among the firemenand the policemen on the rooftop.

then, all at once, the panic stopped and a great gasp of astonishment went up all round. for now, asmall boy was seen to be standing up there beside the other creatures. his hair was blowing in the wind,and he was laughing and waving and calling out, ‘hello, everybody! hello!’

for a few moments, the men below just stood and stared and gaped. they simply couldn’t believetheir eyes.

‘bless my soul!’ cried the head of the fire department, going red in the face. ‘it really is a little boy,isn’t it?’

‘don’t be frightened of us, please!’ james called out. ‘we are so glad to be here!’

‘what about those others beside you?’ shouted the chief of police. ‘are any of them dangerous?’

‘of course they’re not dangerous!’ james answered. ‘they’re the nicest creatures in the world!

allow me to introduce them to you one by one and then i‘m sure you will believe me.’

‘my friends, this is the centipede, and let me make it knownhe is so sweet and gentle that (although he’s overgrown)the queen of spain, again and again, has summoned him by phoneto baby-sit and sing and knit and be a chaperonewhen nurse is off and all the royal children are alone.’

(‘small wonder,’ said a fireman, ‘they’re no longer on the throne.’)‘the earthworm, on the other hand,’

said james, beginning to expand,

‘is great for digging up the land

and making old soils newer.

moreover, you should understand

he would be absolutely grand

for digging subway tunnels and

for making you a sewer.’

(the earthworm blushed and beamed with pride.

miss spider clapped and cheered and cried,

‘could any words be truer?’)

‘and the grasshopper, ladies and gents, is a boonin millions and millions of ways.

you have only to ask him to give you a tune

and he plays and he plays and he plays.

as a toy for your children he’s perfectly sweet;there’s nothing so good in the shops –

you‘ve only to tickle the soles of his feet

and he hops and he hops and he hops.’

(‘he can’t be very fierce!’ exclaimed

the head of all the cops.)

‘and now without excuse

i’d like to introduce

this charming glow-worm, lover of simplicity.

she is easy to install

on jour ceiling or your wall,

and although this smacks a bit of eccentricity,it’s really rather clever

for there after you will never

you will never never never

have the slightest need for using electricity.’

(at which, no less than fifty-two

policemen cried, ‘if this is true

that creature’ll get some fabulous publicity!’)‘and here we have miss spider

with a mile of thread inside her

who has personally requested me to say

that she‘s never met miss muffet

on her charming little tuffet –

if she had she‘d not have frightened her away.

should her looks sometimes alarm you

then i don’t think it would harm you

to repeat at least a hundred times a day:

“i must never kill a spider

i must only help and guide her

and invite her in the nursery to play.” ’

(the police all nodded slightly,

and the firemen smiled politely,

and about a dozen people cried, ‘hooray!’)

‘and here’s my darling ladybird, so beautjul, so kind,my greatest comfort since this trip began.

she has four hundred children and she’s left them all behind,but they’re coming on the next peach of the can.’

(the cops cried, ‘she’s entrancing!’

all the firemen started dancing,

and the crowds all started cheering to a man!)‘and now, the silkworm,’ james went on,

‘whose silk will bear comparison

with all the greatest silks there are

in rome and philadelphia.

if you would search the whole world through

from paraguay to timbuctoo

i don’t think you would find one bit

of silk that could compare with it.

even the shops in singapore

don’t have the stuff. and what is more,

this silkworm had, i’ll have you know,

the honour, not so long ago,

to spin and weave and sew and press

the queen of england’s wedding dress.

and she’s already made and sent

a waistcoat for your president.’

(‘well, good for her!’ the cops cried out,

and all at once a mighty shout

went up around the empire state,

let’s get them down at once! why wait?’)

三十七

这可真是个令人诧异的景象。两三分钟以后，人们一旦醒悟过来，认为这不可能是颗炸弹的时候，便拥出掩体和地铁，张着大嘴望着这个奇异的东西。大厦周围半英里的大街上，男男女女，挤了个水泄不通。当传出话来，说大圆球上其实还有活着的东西时，人人都激动得像是疯了似的。

“是飞碟！”

“他们是从外层空间来的！”

“他们是火星人！”

“他们也可能是从月球上来的！”

一个拿着望远镜的男人说：“告诉你们吧，他们是非常奇怪的人哩。”

警车和消防车，从全市四面八方呼啸而来，停在了帝国大厦外面。二百名消防队员和六百名警察，蜂拥进入帝国大厦，坐着电梯到了最高的地方，接着，四散在楼顶上面观察起来。那地方也就是游人观光的地方，就在尖塔底部。

所有警察都准备好了枪，手指头扣在扳机上面。消防队员也紧紧抓着斧头。不过，他们所站的地方，恰巧是大桃的正下方。实际上，从那里是看不到顶上的游客的。

“喂，喂，上面听好了！”警长吆喝着，“出来叫我们瞧瞧。”

突然，蜈蚣那棕色的大脑袋从桃边上探了出来。一双眼睛又大又圆，仿佛两块大理石似的。他朝下望着警察和消防队员，接着，那张狰狞丑陋的面孔上，大嘴咧开，笑了起来。

几乎就在同时，警察和消防队员大喊道：“当心！是条龙！”

“不是龙，是黄皮妖！”

“是海蛇！”

“是转山精！”

“是妖怪！”

三个警察和五个消防队员昏死过去，被抬出了现场。

“是个大鼻子鬼魅！”警长喊道。

“是个四不像妖精！”消防队长说。

蜈蚣不断地笑着，对自己引起的这场混乱，仿佛十分高兴似的。

“喏，注意！”警长把手放在嘴边，当做喇叭喊道，“你们听我说！我要你们准确告诉我，你们是从哪儿来的！”

“我们从好几千英里以外的地方来！”蜈蚣朝下叫着。这时，他咧嘴笑得更厉害了，连棕色牙齿也露了出来。

“那好啊！”警长说，“我说过你们是从火星上来的嘛！”

“叫我看，你说得没有错儿！”消防队长说。

就在这个节骨眼儿上，绿色老蚱蜢那硕大的绿脑袋也从桃边探了出来，就在蜈蚣脑袋的旁边。看见他的当儿，又有六个身强力壮的大汉晕了过去。

“那是个猪精！”消防队长尖叫起来，“我就知道是个猪精！”

“要不就是个鸡身蛇尾的大妖怪！”警长大声说，“靠后站，伙计们。他随时都可能对准我们的脑袋跳下来！”

“他们到底在说什么呢？”绿色老蚱蜢冲蜈蚣说。

“我怎么知道呢。”蜈蚣说，“不过，他们好像是为了什么事儿，忧虑得厉害。”

接着，蜘蛛小姐那黑不溜秋、杀气腾腾的大脑袋，也在蚱蜢一旁露了出来。在生人看来，这也许是最最叫人害怕的东西了。

“哎呀，我的老天！”消防队长喊叫起来，“我们完蛋了！是个大蝎子精！”

“比蝎子精还厉害！”警长叫道，“是个吃人肉的妖魔！哦，瞧瞧她那凶神恶煞似的脸，可真叫人毛骨悚然啊！”

“她就是那个把成人当早饭吃的妖魔吗？”消防队长问，脸色白得像一张纸似的。

“恐怕是这样。”警长回答。

“哦，劳驾，怎么没有什么人来帮我们从这儿下去呢？”蜘蛛小姐朗声说，“我都头晕了。”

“这大概玩的是个花招，”消防队长说，“我不说话，谁也别动！”

“他们也许有太空枪哩！”警长嘟嘟囔囔地说。

“可我们还是得采取什么行动啊！”消防队长一本正经地宣布道，“下边街道上，大约有五百万人在看着我们哩。”

“那么，你干吗不把梯子竖起来？”警长问他，“我站在底下扶着，你上去看看出了什么事儿。”

“那就谢谢了！”消防队长抢白道。

不一会儿，在桃边往下瞧的，起码就有七张怪模怪样的脸：蜈蚣的、绿色老蚱蜢的、蜘蛛小姐的、蚯蚓的、瓢虫的、蚕儿的，还有萤火虫的。而在房顶上的警察和消防队员，却开始惊慌失措起来。

然而顷刻之间，惊慌消失了，周围响起了一片诧异的惊叹声。这会儿，有个小男孩在上面，就站在那些怪物旁边。风儿吹动着他的头发，他笑容满面，挥舞着双手，高声说道：“喂！大家好！”

有一会儿，底下的人们只是站在那里，目瞪口呆，简直不相信自己的耳朵。

“我的老天哪！”消防队长说着，脸涨得通红，“真是个男孩子，对不对？”

“快别怕我们啦！”詹姆斯朗声说，“我们到这儿来，感到非常高兴！”

“你旁边那些东西是怎么回事儿？”警长喊道，“他们有谁会伤人吗？”

“他们当然不伤人啦！”詹姆斯回答，“他们是全世界最可爱的生物！请允许我一一向你们介绍，那时，你们就相信我说的话了。”

朋友，朋友，这是蜈蚣，

温柔体贴，虽说臃肿。

西班牙女王电话召他，

看孩、唱歌、织织缝缝，

以免孤独，照看皇童。

“真奇怪，”消防队员说，

“他们早已不在皇宫。”

蚯蚓在旁，功劳辉煌，

挖掘土地，旧土变松。

你晓得，他愿铺设地铁，

把下水道来疏通。

红脸自豪的蚯蚓露出笑容。

蜘蛛小姐，拍手称颂：

“这些话儿多么动听！”

这是蚱蜢，女士先生，

他的能耐，千种万种。

只要求他，就会弹奏。

弹得完美，弹得好听。

玩具店里，数他受宠，

戳戳脚跟，跳个不停。

警长听罢说：

“那他不算凶猛！”

下面介绍萤火虫，

艰苦朴素好作风。

墙上还是天花板，

安装起来不费功。

虽说听起来有点怪，

节约电来他聪明。

五十二名警察大声说：

“叫人人都知道萤火虫！”

这位就是蜘蛛姑娘，

肚里丝儿一英里长。

她私下里告诉我：

“从没遇到麻菲姑娘。

就是遇到也没把她吓跑。”

虽说长了怪模样。

一天说上一百遍，

碰到她来不必惊慌：

“多会儿也别弄死蜘蛛，

该帮她到我们幼儿园。”

消防队员微微笑，

警察都把头来点。

“好哇！好哇！多好哇！”

十几个人儿齐声喊。

这是瓢虫，善良娇美，

旅途之上，给我安慰。

她生了四百个小孩子，

留在他乡一大堆。

不过要是有可能，

下次坐着桃子把她追。

警察听了大声叫：

“瓢虫瓢虫可真妙！”

消防队员齐跳舞，

人群里头都欢呼。

詹姆斯往下接着说：

这是吐丝的蚕儿，

不管费城和罗马，

吐的丝儿数她佳。

乌拉圭、廷巴图，

人人都来把她夸。

就是新加坡的商店里，

也没有蚕丝跟她比。

再有我想告诉你，

近来蚕儿享盛誉。

英国女王要出嫁，

是她吐丝做嫁衣。

她还做好了一件马甲，

送给你们总统试一下。

警察听了高声喊：

“好啊，蚕儿，真好啊！”

突然爆发一阵呼喊，

霎时传遍帝国大厦：

“接他们下来，还要等什么！”