thirty-nine

and thus the journey ended. but the travellers lived on. every one of them became rich and successfulin the new country.

the centipede was made vice-president-in-charge-of-sales of a high-class firm of boot and shoemanufacturers.

the earthworm, with his lovely pink skin, was employed by a company that made women’s facecreams to speak commercials on television.

the silkworm and miss spider, after they had both been taught to make nylon thread instead of silk,set up a factory together and made ropes for tightrope walkers.

the glow-worm became the light inside the torch on the statue of liberty, and thus saved a gratefulcity from having to pay a huge electricity bill every year.

the old-green-grasshopper became a member of the new york symphony orchestra, where hisplaying was greatly admired.

the ladybird, who had been haunted all her life by the fear that her house was on fire and herchildren all gone, married the head of the fire department and lived happily ever after.

and as for the enormous peach stone – it was set up permanently in a place of honour in central parkand became a famous monument. but it was not only a famous monument. it was also a famous house.

and inside the famous house there lived a famous person –james henry trotter

himself.

and all you had to do any day of the week was to go and knock upon the door, and the door wouldalways be opened to you, and you would always be asked to come inside and see the famous roomwhere james had first met his friends. and sometimes, if you were very lucky, you would find the old-green-grasshopper in there as well, resting peacefully in a chair before the fire, or perhaps it would bethe ladybird who had dropped in for a cup of tea and a gossip, or the centipede to show off a newbatch of particularly elegant boots that he had just acquired.

every day of the week, hundreds and hundreds of children from far and near came pouring into thecity to see the marvellous peach stone in the park. and james henry trotter, who once, if youremember, had been the saddest and loneliest little boy that you could find, now had all the friends andplaymates in the world. and because so many of them were always begging hhn to tell and tell againthe story of his adventures on the peach, he thought it would be nice if one day he sat down and wrote itas a book.

so he did.

and that is what you have just finished reading

三十九

旅行就这样结束了。不过，游客们还仍然活在世上。在新的国度里，他们每一个人都非常富有，也很有成就。

蜈蚣当选为一家高级靴鞋制造厂家的公司副经理，负责营销业务。

蚯蚓，由于他那可爱的粉红色皮肤，受聘于一家制造妇女面乳的公司，在电视上做商业广告。

蚕儿和蜘蛛小姐学会了吐尼龙丝而不是丝以后，合伙开办了一家工厂，为走钢丝的制作绳索。

萤火虫成了自由女神像上那把火炬里的灯光。这样，就替全市每年节约了巨额电费，因此，大家都对他非常感激。

绿色老蚱蜢成了纽约交响乐团的成员，他的演奏受到了大大的欢迎。

瓢虫一辈子提心吊胆，害怕家里失火，害怕丢了孩子们。如今，她跟消防队长结了婚，从此，生活得幸福美满。

至于那个巨大的桃核呢，它已经给安放在中央公园的一个显眼的地方，成了一块声名远扬的纪念碑。不过，它不仅是块纪念碑，同时也是一座赫赫有名的房子。这所赫赫有名的房子里面，就住着一位赫赫有名的人物：

詹姆斯·亨利·特洛特

一个礼拜之内，无论哪一天，你只消去敲敲房门，门总会为你敞开，也总会邀请你进去，参观詹姆斯头一回遇见自己朋友们的这个赫赫有名的房间。有时候，你如果幸运的话，会看见绿色老蚱蜢也在那里，坐在椅子上安详地休息。也许，你会遇到瓢虫，她是顺便来喝杯茶、聊聊天的。你或者也会遇上蜈蚣，他到这里来，是想夸耀夸耀自己刚刚弄到手的，一批特别漂亮的靴子。

不管是礼拜几，总有成百的孩子从远近各处潮水般地涌进市里，观看公园里这颗奇妙的桃核。你们如果还没有忘记的话，詹姆斯·亨利·特洛特原来是世上最伤心、最孤独的小男孩来着，可现如今，他有了全世界的朋友和伙伴。由于不少小朋友总是求他，叫他一而再、再而三地讲述他在仙桃上的历险故事，詹姆斯便想：还不如索性找一天把它写成一本书哪！

于是，他便写了下来。

而这，也就是你们刚刚读完的故事。