03-02-04-牙齿和爪子 [9]
孩他的头舒服地枕在手上。他比昨天干多了，但还是赤身裸体。
“你在这儿做什么？”范·切尔气愤地问。
“你告诉过我我不能呆在树林里，”男孩平静地说。
“但我没告诉你来这儿。我姑妈看见你会怎样？她会怎么想？”
范·切尔赶紧用报纸盖住这位不速之客的光身子。正在这时姑妈进了房间。
“这是个可怜的孩子，”范·切尔马上解释。“他迷了路——也失去了记忆。他不知道他是谁，从哪儿来。”
范·切尔小姐很感兴趣。“他的名字可能在内衣上，”她说。
“他连内衣也丢了，”范·切尔说。报纸从男孩的光身子上滑了下来，范·切尔赶忙又把报纸盖在男孩的身上。
范·切尔小姐是一个和善的老妇人，她为这个裸露无助的孩子感到难过。
“我们得帮助他，”她说。她让管家去邻居家借些衣服。
一会儿男孩变得干净整洁，穿上了衬衣、裤子和鞋。范·切尔认为他和以前一样古怪，就像一只狼，但是范·切尔小姐认为他很可爱。
“在我们知道他到底是谁以前得给他起个名字，”她说。“我想该叫加布里埃尔·欧内斯特。这是合适的好名字。”
范·切尔同意。但是他不敢说这个男孩是个适宜的好孩子。范·切尔的老狗一看见男孩就吓得跑掉了，不愿意回屋里。范·切尔决定马上去见坎宁安。
正当他准备好去车站时，姑妈正忙于筹办在教堂举行的儿童茶会。
“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特将帮我照看小家伙们。”她高兴地说。
范·切尔到了伦敦，坎宁安开始不想谈此事。“你会认为我疯了，”他说。
“可是你看见了什么？”范·切尔问。
“我看见了一件事情——一件让人难以相信的事情。在我拜访你的最后一个晚上我一半隐在树丛里看日落。突然我看见了一个裸着身体的男孩。我对自己说，可能他刚在某个地方的池塘里游过泳。他站在山坡上，也在看日落。过后太阳落山了，光线渐去了。就在同一时刻发生了一件非常惊奇的事——男孩也消失了。”
“什么？他就那样消失了？”范·切尔激动地说。
“不，比那可怕得多。在男孩呆过的山坡空地上，我看见了一只灰黑色的大狼，长着白色的长牙和黄色的眼睛。你会认为我疯了——”
但是范，切尔没再等，他拚命往车站跑。他不知道能做什么。我不能给姑妈捎口信，他想。我能说什么？“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特是个狼人”？姑妈会认为我在开玩笑。我必须在太阳下山前到家。
他上了火车。在令人难受的缓慢中火车把他带到了离家几里的车站。他乘出租车向村子驶去。
“带我去教堂——要快！”他命令说。出租车在安静的乡村路上行驶，在西边太阳越落越低，天空也随着变粉变紫。
他赶到教堂时姑妈正在端走没吃的蛋糕和三明治。
“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特在哪儿？”范·切尔尖叫。
“他正送小杰克·图布回家，”姑妈平静地说。“天太晚，我不想单独让可爱的小家伙回家。今晚天空很美吧？”
可是范·切尔没时间谈论美丽的天空，他像一阵风在通向图布家的窄路上奔跑。路的一旁是快速流动的河水，另一旁是黑漆漆的山坡。再过一分钟我就能赶上他们，范·切尔想。
太阳下山了，整个世界变得灰暗、寒冷。范·切尔听见一声恐怖、短促的尖叫，于是他知道他来得太晚了。
没人再看见小杰克·图布或加布里埃尔·欧内斯特。在路上人们找到了加布里埃尔·欧内斯特的衣服。
“可怜的小杰克掉到河里了，”范·切尔小姐说。“亲爱的加布里埃尔·欧内斯特脱掉衣服跳进河里，想去救他。”
图布夫人还有11个孩子，她没有为丢失的儿子哭得太久。可是范·切尔小姐却为加布里埃尔·欧内斯特难过。
“他在教堂里该有个纪念碑，”她说。她亲自选择词句：
加布里埃尔·欧内斯特，
一个不相识的男孩
勇敢地把自己的生命
献给了别人。
范·切尔通常照姑妈的意愿做事，但是他拒绝为加布里埃尔·欧内斯特的纪念碑捐一分钱。
■ Tobermory
I t was a cold，rain－washed afternoon in late August．Lady Blemley and her guests were sitting round the teatable．Everyone was listening open－mouthed to Mr Cornelius Appin.
Although he was one of her guests，Lady Blemley did notknow Mr Appin well．She had invited him to stay at Blemley House because she had heard that he was clever．But until teatime that day he had not done or said anything clever．Hedid not play tennis，or sing，or make intelligent conversation．But now Mr Appin was describing a most extraordinary discovery and the other guests were listening with deep interest．'Are you telling us that you have found a way of teachinganimals to talk？'Sir Wilfrid was saying．'And our dear oldTobermory is your first successful student？'
'I have studied this problem for seventeen years，'saidMr Appin，'but I didn't have any real success until eight ornine months ago． Of course， I have studied thousands of animals，but recently I have worked only with cats．A cat，of course，is a wild animal who agrees to live with you．All catsare intelligent，but naturally some cats are more intelligent than others．When I met Tobermory a week ago，I realized at once that here was an extraordinarily intelligent cat，a veryspecial cat indeed．In Tobermory，I found the student I needed．With him I have succeeded in my plan．'
Nobody laughed，and nobody actually said'Rubbish'，al-though Clovis's lips moved silently…
'And have you really taught Tobermory，'asked MissResker，'to say and understand short，easy words？'
'My dear Miss Resker，'said Mr Appin patiently，'weteach little children and very slow，stupid adults in that way．But Tobermory is a most intelligent cat．He can speak Englishas well as you or I can．'
This time Clovis said'Rubbish！'aloud．
Sir Wilfrid was more polite，but it was clear that he didnot believe Mr Appin's story．
'Shall we bring the cat in here and hear him forourselves？'said Lady Blemley．
Sir Wilfrid went off to look for Tobermory．
'Mr Appin will try to be clever，'said Miss Resker happily，'but if we watch him carefully，we shall see his lips move．'
In a minute Sir Wiflrid returned， looking very excited．
'It's true，you know！'he said．'I found Tobermory sleeping in the smoking-room，and called out to him to come for his tea．He lifted his head and opened one eye．I said，“Come on，Toby，don't keep us waiting！”and he said calmly，“I'll come when I'm ready！”I couldn't believe my ears！'
The guests all started talking at once，while Mr Appin satsilently and looked very pleased with himself indeed
“你在这儿做什么？”范·切尔气愤地问。
“你告诉过我我不能呆在树林里，”男孩平静地说。
“但我没告诉你来这儿。我姑妈看见你会怎样？她会怎么想？”
范·切尔赶紧用报纸盖住这位不速之客的光身子。正在这时姑妈进了房间。
“这是个可怜的孩子，”范·切尔马上解释。“他迷了路——也失去了记忆。他不知道他是谁，从哪儿来。”
范·切尔小姐很感兴趣。“他的名字可能在内衣上，”她说。
“他连内衣也丢了，”范·切尔说。报纸从男孩的光身子上滑了下来，范·切尔赶忙又把报纸盖在男孩的身上。
范·切尔小姐是一个和善的老妇人，她为这个裸露无助的孩子感到难过。
“我们得帮助他，”她说。她让管家去邻居家借些衣服。
一会儿男孩变得干净整洁，穿上了衬衣、裤子和鞋。范·切尔认为他和以前一样古怪，就像一只狼，但是范·切尔小姐认为他很可爱。
“在我们知道他到底是谁以前得给他起个名字，”她说。“我想该叫加布里埃尔·欧内斯特。这是合适的好名字。”
范·切尔同意。但是他不敢说这个男孩是个适宜的好孩子。范·切尔的老狗一看见男孩就吓得跑掉了，不愿意回屋里。范·切尔决定马上去见坎宁安。
正当他准备好去车站时，姑妈正忙于筹办在教堂举行的儿童茶会。
“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特将帮我照看小家伙们。”她高兴地说。
范·切尔到了伦敦，坎宁安开始不想谈此事。“你会认为我疯了，”他说。
“可是你看见了什么？”范·切尔问。
“我看见了一件事情——一件让人难以相信的事情。在我拜访你的最后一个晚上我一半隐在树丛里看日落。突然我看见了一个裸着身体的男孩。我对自己说，可能他刚在某个地方的池塘里游过泳。他站在山坡上，也在看日落。过后太阳落山了，光线渐去了。就在同一时刻发生了一件非常惊奇的事——男孩也消失了。”
“什么？他就那样消失了？”范·切尔激动地说。
“不，比那可怕得多。在男孩呆过的山坡空地上，我看见了一只灰黑色的大狼，长着白色的长牙和黄色的眼睛。你会认为我疯了——”
但是范，切尔没再等，他拚命往车站跑。他不知道能做什么。我不能给姑妈捎口信，他想。我能说什么？“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特是个狼人”？姑妈会认为我在开玩笑。我必须在太阳下山前到家。
他上了火车。在令人难受的缓慢中火车把他带到了离家几里的车站。他乘出租车向村子驶去。
“带我去教堂——要快！”他命令说。出租车在安静的乡村路上行驶，在西边太阳越落越低，天空也随着变粉变紫。
他赶到教堂时姑妈正在端走没吃的蛋糕和三明治。
“加布里埃尔·欧内斯特在哪儿？”范·切尔尖叫。
“他正送小杰克·图布回家，”姑妈平静地说。“天太晚，我不想单独让可爱的小家伙回家。今晚天空很美吧？”
可是范·切尔没时间谈论美丽的天空，他像一阵风在通向图布家的窄路上奔跑。路的一旁是快速流动的河水，另一旁是黑漆漆的山坡。再过一分钟我就能赶上他们，范·切尔想。
太阳下山了，整个世界变得灰暗、寒冷。范·切尔听见一声恐怖、短促的尖叫，于是他知道他来得太晚了。
没人再看见小杰克·图布或加布里埃尔·欧内斯特。在路上人们找到了加布里埃尔·欧内斯特的衣服。
“可怜的小杰克掉到河里了，”范·切尔小姐说。“亲爱的加布里埃尔·欧内斯特脱掉衣服跳进河里，想去救他。”
图布夫人还有11个孩子，她没有为丢失的儿子哭得太久。可是范·切尔小姐却为加布里埃尔·欧内斯特难过。
“他在教堂里该有个纪念碑，”她说。她亲自选择词句：
加布里埃尔·欧内斯特，
一个不相识的男孩
勇敢地把自己的生命
献给了别人。
范·切尔通常照姑妈的意愿做事，但是他拒绝为加布里埃尔·欧内斯特的纪念碑捐一分钱。
■ Tobermory
I t was a cold，rain－washed afternoon in late August．Lady Blemley and her guests were sitting round the teatable．Everyone was listening open－mouthed to Mr Cornelius Appin.
Although he was one of her guests，Lady Blemley did notknow Mr Appin well．She had invited him to stay at Blemley House because she had heard that he was clever．But until teatime that day he had not done or said anything clever．Hedid not play tennis，or sing，or make intelligent conversation．But now Mr Appin was describing a most extraordinary discovery and the other guests were listening with deep interest．'Are you telling us that you have found a way of teachinganimals to talk？'Sir Wilfrid was saying．'And our dear oldTobermory is your first successful student？'
'I have studied this problem for seventeen years，'saidMr Appin，'but I didn't have any real success until eight ornine months ago． Of course， I have studied thousands of animals，but recently I have worked only with cats．A cat，of course，is a wild animal who agrees to live with you．All catsare intelligent，but naturally some cats are more intelligent than others．When I met Tobermory a week ago，I realized at once that here was an extraordinarily intelligent cat，a veryspecial cat indeed．In Tobermory，I found the student I needed．With him I have succeeded in my plan．'
Nobody laughed，and nobody actually said'Rubbish'，al-though Clovis's lips moved silently…
'And have you really taught Tobermory，'asked MissResker，'to say and understand short，easy words？'
'My dear Miss Resker，'said Mr Appin patiently，'weteach little children and very slow，stupid adults in that way．But Tobermory is a most intelligent cat．He can speak Englishas well as you or I can．'
This time Clovis said'Rubbish！'aloud．
Sir Wilfrid was more polite，but it was clear that he didnot believe Mr Appin's story．
'Shall we bring the cat in here and hear him forourselves？'said Lady Blemley．
Sir Wilfrid went off to look for Tobermory．
'Mr Appin will try to be clever，'said Miss Resker happily，'but if we watch him carefully，we shall see his lips move．'
In a minute Sir Wiflrid returned， looking very excited．
'It's true，you know！'he said．'I found Tobermory sleeping in the smoking-room，and called out to him to come for his tea．He lifted his head and opened one eye．I said，“Come on，Toby，don't keep us waiting！”and he said calmly，“I'll come when I'm ready！”I couldn't believe my ears！'
The guests all started talking at once，while Mr Appin satsilently and looked very pleased with himself indeed