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At twelve o'clock the room was too hot，and the sun was still shining．

'Well，it will rain this afternoon，then，'we told ourselves．

The rain never came．

The next morning，we read that it was going to be sunny and very hot．So we dressed in light clothes，and we went out．Half an hour later，it began to rain hard，and a very cold wind blew up．And this went on all day．We came home with colds，and we went to bed…

But on the morning of our holiday it was bright and sunny，and George could not make us unhappy．So he went to work．

Harris and I finished the rest of the breakfast．Then we car-ried all our luggage into the road．We tried to get a taxi．Usual-ly taxis come along every three minutes．In fact，there are usu-ally too many taxis．However，that morning we waited twenty minutes for a taxi．A crowd of interested people collected to watch us．I think it was because we had so much luggage．There was a big suitcase，a small bag，two baskets，several blan-kets，some fruit in a brown paper bag，some pans，some umbrel-las and four or five coats and raincoats．After a very long time，a taxi arrived and stopped for us．We packed our things into it，kicked two of Montmorency's friends out of the taxi，and started on our holiday The crowd of peopel waved goodbye to us．

5 开始度假

第二天早晨，是波贝丝太太把我叫醒的。她叫道：“先生，知道吗，快九点了！”

“什么？”我叫了一声，跳下床，叫醒哈里斯，告诉他快九点了。

他却说：“我还以为你让咱们六点起床呢。”

“没错！”我回答。

“那你怎么不叫我起来？”他问，“瞧，十二点以前咱们甭想上船了。”

说到这儿我们才明白过来，看看乔治，他还在睡觉呢！看到别人还在酣睡，我却起了床，我立刻怒火中烧。我们决定把乔治弄醒。我俩“噌”地蹿过去，一下子把被单拽了下来，哈里斯用鞋打他，我对着他的耳朵大喊，他才悠悠醒转过来。

“干—什—么？”他说话了。

“起床了，你这个又肥又懒的家伙！”哈里斯说，“差一刻就十点了。”

接着我们洗漱，准备停当，这才想起来牙刷已经都装起来了。大家下楼又从箱子里翻出来。

终于一切都安顿好了。哈里斯说：“今天早餐咱们要好好吃一顿才会有劲。”一边吃着饭，乔治一边拿出报纸给大家念些有趣的新闻——有人在河里淹死了；还有天气预报，预报说：“有雨，寒冷，由阴湿转晴，有雷，风向偏东。”天气预报总是让我十分恼火，他们告诉你的天气和昨天的一样、和前天的一样，就是和今天的情况不一样，总是错误的消息。我还记得一年秋天，我去度假……

那一次度假，报纸上天气预报总是不准。星期一预报说：“预计今日大雨，并伴有雷电。”因此我们没有出去。整整一天，眼看着大家都出了门，兴高采烈地笑着，天上阳光灿烂，万里无云。

“哈哈！”我们看着那些人说，“去吧，反正回来的时候肯定给淋得湿透。”

我们笑起来，坐到火炉边看书。

中午十二点了，屋里热得让人受不了，太阳还是那么明亮耀眼。

“你看着吧，下午准下雨，”我们彼此安慰着说。

雨却始终没有来。

第二天早晨，报上讲会是个很热的大晴天。我们穿得轻飘飘地出了门。刚过了半个小时，大雨倾盆，加上阵阵的刺骨寒风，整天没有停。回到家里我们都伤风了，赶紧上床睡觉……

但我们度假的那天早晨，天气晴朗，阳光普照，乔治也没法烦我们了，所以他上班去了。

哈里斯和我吃完早餐，把所有的行李搬到路上，我们想等辆马车。通常三分钟就会来一辆。马车很多，可那天早晨我们等了足足二十分钟也不见一辆。一群人围过来，兴致勃勃地看着我们俩，我想是因为行李太多的缘故：一个大箱子，一个小包，两个篮子，几张毯子，几只锅，几把伞，四、五件外套和雨衣，牛皮袋里有些水果。过了好长时间，才来了一辆马车。我们把东西放到车上，把“元帅”的两个朋友轰出车外，便开始了我们的旅行，一大群人向我们挥手道别。 At Kingston our boat was waiting for us．Harris and I put all our things into it，and we moved off along the River Thames．Montmorency was at the front of the boat．We travelled along the river without any accidents．Well，there was only one little accident．That was when the boat hit the river bank，and Harris fell over backwards．When we came to Hamp-ton Court Palace，Harris asked me if I had ever been in the maze there．He told me a story about it…

He went into the maze once，to show a friend the way．He had studied a map of the maze，and so he knew it was very easy to get out of it again．Harris said to his friend，'We'll just go in and walk around for ten minutes，and then we'll come out and get some lunch．It's easy，you see．You just keep taking the first turning to the right．'

Soon after they had gone in，they met some people．These people said that they had been there for three quarters of an hour．They said they wanted to get out．Harris said，'Follow me！I'm going out myself in about ten minutes．'

The people all said that Harris was very kind，and they began to follow him．

As they were going along，they collected other people who wanted to get out．In the end，all the people in the maze were following Harris．There were about twenty of them．Some of them had thought that they were never going to see their friends and their families again．One woman was carrying a baby．She held on to Harris's arm because she did not want to lose him．

Harris continued to turn to the right，but it seemed to be a long way．At last，Harris's friend said to him，'This must be a very big maze．'

'One of the biggest in Europe，'Harris answered．

'Yes，it must be，'his friend continued，'because we've walked about three kilometres already．'

Harris began to think that it was rather strange，but he went on．After some time，they came to a piece of cake on the ground．Harris's friend said that they had passed the piece of cake earlier．Harris replied，'No！lmpos-sible！'

The woman with the baby said，'No，I took it from the baby，and I threw it there myself．It was just before we met you．In fact，I wish I never had met you，'she added．

Harris got angry then，and he took out his map．He showed it to the people，but one man said，'A map's no good when you don't know where you are．'

So then Harris said that the best thing was to go back to the entrance and start again．Everybody agreed，and they all turned and followed Harris the other way．

After ten minutes they found themselves in the centre of the maze．Harris was going to pretend that he wanted to be in the centre，but the crowd looked dangerous．So Harris decided to say that it was an accjdent．

Anyway，now they knew where they were on the map，and it looked easy．So they all started off again for the third time．

And three minutes later，they were back in the centre again．

After that，every time they tried again，they arrived back in the centre．Harris took out his map again，but this made the crowd angry．They told him what to do with his map．Harris felt that the crowd was not very grateful to him．

Then they all started to shout，and in the end the keeper came．He climbed up a ladder，and he called to them，'Wait，there！l'll come and get you．'

But he was a young keeper，and he was new to the job，so when he got into the maze，he could not find them．

Then he got lost．From time to time，they saw him as he ran past，on the other side of the hedge．He shouted，'Wait there！I'm coming！'

Then，five minutes later，he appeared again in the same place．He asked them why they had moved．

They had to wait for one of the old keepers to come back from lunch and let them out…

Harris said that it was a fine maze，and we agreed that we would try to get George into it on the way back．

6 在河上

船在金斯顿等我们。哈里斯和我把行李搬上船，然后沿着泰晤士河出发了，“元帅”站在船头。一路上没有什么意外。嗯，只有一个小小的意外：小船撞到了岸上，哈里斯仰面摔了一跤。当我们经过汉普顿宫，哈里斯问我有没有到过那里的迷宫，还给我讲起以前的故事……

他进过一次迷宫，是为了给朋友当向导。他曾经仔细研究过迷宫的地图，因此他以为走出来是件十分简单的事。他对朋友说：“咱们进去只消十分钟就能走出来去吃午饭。这没什么难的。你瞧，只要记住总是在第一个转弯处往右走就行了。”

他们一进去就遇到不少人。他们说已经在里面转了三刻钟，非常想出去。哈里斯说：“跟我来，我自己只消十分钟就能走出去。”

他们一听都说哈里斯心真好，大家便跟着他走。

他们一边绕，一路上又带上了不少人，也是想走出迷宫的。后来迷宫里所有的人都跟着哈里斯走，至少有二十人，其中有的人甚至担心今生今世再也见不到自己的朋友和家人了。一个妇女抱着孩子，紧紧揪着哈里斯的胳膊，生怕把他丢了。

哈里斯坚持向右转，可路看起来越走越长。后来哈里斯的朋友说：“这个迷宫实在大得很。”

“是全欧洲最大的呢！”哈里斯回答说。

“是，一点不错，”朋友接着说，“咱们差不多走了快三公里了。”

哈里斯也开始觉得有点奇怪，可是他还坚持这样走。走了一会儿，人们看到地上有块蛋糕，哈里斯的朋友说他们刚才曾经走过这里。哈里斯说：“不，不可能的！”

抱着孩子的女人说：“肯定是的。是我从孩子手里拿下来的，是我亲手扔在这儿的，就在刚遇到你之前。哼！我可真希望从来没碰上你！”她又加了一句。

哈里斯气坏了，拿出地图，给人们看。可一个人却说：“可你连咱们在哪儿都不知道，要地图又有什么用呢？”

因此哈里斯说最好的办法就是回到入口处重新开始。大家一致同意，便向后转，又跟着哈里斯向相反的方向走去。

十分钟以后，他们发现走到迷宫中间了。哈里斯本打算哄骗大家他是有意这样走的，可是他看到众怒难犯，哈里斯只好说这是个意外。

不管怎么说，大家总算知道自己现在在地图上什么位置了，那么一切简单多了，他们又第三次重新开始。

可是三分钟以后，他们又回到原来的中心。

后来，每一次努力都是以回到迷宫的中心而告终。哈里斯又拿出地图来看，这下子大家全火了，他们叫他拿了这幅地图见鬼去吧！哈里斯觉得这群人真不知道感恩戴德。

最后人们吵成一团，后来还是管理员来了。他爬上梯子，对人群叫道：“在那儿等着，我来帮你们出去。”

可是这个年轻人偏偏又是个新手，他进了迷宫找不到那群人，结果自己也迷了路。大家不时看见他在围墙那边跑来跑去，还大声叫喊着：“你们都别动，我来了！”

五分钟以后，他又在原来的老地方出现了，还问大家为什么又动了位置。

他们只好等着那位年老的管理员吃完中午饭回来，才把他们领出去。

哈里斯说那个迷宫的确很不错，我们一致同意回来的路上让乔治也进迷宫逛一逛。Harris told me about the maze as we were passing through Molesey lock．Our boat was the only one in the lock that day．Usually it is very busy．On Sundays，when the weather is fine，there are boats everywhere．Everybody comes down to the river．They wear brightly coloured clothes，and the river is full of colour-yellow，and blue，and orange，and green，and white，and red and pink．

At Hampton Harris wanted to get out and have a look at the church there，but I refused to stop．I have never liked visiting churches，but Harris loves them．He said，'I've looked forward to visiting Hampton Church ever since we decided to make this trip．'He added，'I only came on the trip because I thought we were going there！'

I reminded him about George．I said，'We've got to get the boat up to Shepperton by five o'clock to meet him．'

Then Harris got angry with George．'Why does George have to play around all day？Why has he left us with this big，heavy boat to tow up and down the river？Why couldn't George come and do some work？Why didn't he take a day's holiday and come down with us？The bank！Ha！What good is he at the bank？'He stopped for a moment and then he continued，'I never see him doing any work there．He sits behind a bit of glass all day，and he pretends to do something．What's the good of a man behind a bit of glass？I have to work．Why can't George work？What does he do at the bank？What good are banks，anyway？They take all your money，and then，when you write out a cheque，they send it back！They say you've spent all your money！What's the good of that？If George was here，we could go to see that church．Anyway，I don't be-lieve he's at the bank．He's playing about somewhere，that's what he's doing．And we've got to do all the work！… I'm going to get out and have a drink！'

I told him that there were no pubs nearby，and then he started shouting about the river．'What good is the river？We'll all die of thirst！No pubs！'（It's better to let Harris go on shouting when he gets angry．Then he gets tired，and he is quiet afterwards．）

I reminded him that we had water in the boat．Then he started shouting about water．He said drinks like that made people ill．

However，he said that he must drink something．He climbed onto the seat and he bent down to get the bottle out of the bas-ket．It was at the bottom，and he had to bend down，lower and lower．At the same time，he was trying to steer the boat，and he pulled the wrong rope．The boat turned sharply and bumped into the bank of the river，and Harris fell into the basket．He stood there on his head，and he held on to the side of the boat．His legs were in the air．He could not move in case he fell over．He had to stay there until I could catch his legs and pull him back．And that made him more angry．

We stopped under the trees by Kempton Park，and we had lunch．It is very pretty there，on the grass by the river，under the trees．We had an excellent meal，and Harris calmed down and began to enjoy himself again．

By half past three，we had reached Sunbury lock．Then we went up to Walton，which is quite an interesting place．Julius Caesar stayed there with his soldiers．Queen Elizabeth I，she was there too．You can never get away from that woman．She was everywhere．

Next we came to Halliford and Shepperton．There is an old church at Shepperton，and I was worried in case Harris wanted to go and visit it．I saw him looking towards it as we came near，but I moved the boat quickly，and Harris's cap fell into the water．We had to get it back，of course．Luckily，he was very angry with me，and so he forgot about his church．

As we came up to the lock at Weybridge，we saw something brightly coloured on one of the lock gates． When we looked closer，we saw that it was George．Montmorency started to bark madly．I shouted，and Harris called out wildly．George waved his cap and yelled back to us．The lock-keeper ran out because he thought someone had fallen in the water．He seemed annoyed when he saw that no one had fallen in．

7 哈里斯生气了

哈里斯谈起在迷宫的事时，我们正驶过莫尔赛水闸。那天在水闸就我们一只船。通常那儿很拥挤。星期天或者天气好的话，那儿到处是船。人们都到河上来，穿着色彩艳丽的衣服，一片五光十色——黄的、蓝的、桔红、绿的、白的、红的、粉的。

到了汉普顿，哈里斯想上岸去看看那里的教堂，可我拒绝停下来，我从来不喜欢瞻仰教堂，而哈里斯却为之心仪已久。他说：“咱们计划出游的时候我就一直盼着来看看汉普顿教堂。”他又说：“我之所以来就是因为我想我们要到这儿。”

我提醒他别忘了乔治。我告诉他：“咱们还要在五点钟前赶到谢泼顿和他会合呢。”

于是，哈里斯一下把怒气都转向乔治。“为什么他可以整天晃荡，把这只又笨又沉的船扔下让我们划？为什么乔治不能来干点活呢？为什么不能休一天假，和我们一起行动呢？那个银行！哈！他在那儿有什么好的？”停了一会儿，他又接着说：“我可从来没有见过他在银行里干什么正经事。整天坐在一小块玻璃窗后面，好像在干工作。一个男子汉在那样一块玻璃窗后能有什么出息？我得工作谋生，为什么乔治就不能呢？他在银行做什么？再说银行又有什么好？他们拿了你的钱，可是你开张支票取钱，他们却又给你退回来，说你的钱已经花光了。那都有什么用？要是乔治在这里，我们还能去看看教堂。我根本不相信他在银行里，他一定到什么地方找乐去了，这才象他干的事，把苦差使都丢给我们！……不行，我得上岸去喝一杯。”

我告诉他附近没有小酒馆，他又转过来冲着河咆哮起来。“河有什么好？我们一样要渴死了，连小酒馆也没有。”（哈里斯生气的时候，最好的办法就是让他喊下去。过一会儿，喊累了，他也就安静了。）

我提醒他船上有水喝，他又骂起水来，说人喝了那样的水一定会生病。

可是他说非得喝点什么不可。他爬上座位，弯下腰在篮子里找瓶子。可瓶子在篮子底，他还得往下弯腰，越弯越低，与此同时又要掌舵，因此拉错了绳子。小船猛地打了个转，一下撞在岸上，哈里斯一头栽在篮子里，脑袋倒立着，双手撑在船边，两腿竖在空中。他一动不敢动，生怕翻到水里去。就这样倒立了半天。后来我抱住他的双腿，才把他拖了出来。可是他更加怒火中烧，暴跳如雷。

我们的船停在肯普顿公园附近的绿荫之下，就在那儿开始吃午餐。我们坐在河边的草地上，坐在树下，景致很美。午餐十分丰盛，哈里斯安静下来，心情也舒畅了。

三点半钟，我们到了森伯里水闸，接着又上行到沃尔顿。那是个很有趣的地方，凯撒曾和他的士兵在那里呆过，伊丽莎白一世也是常客。对了，你永远别想甩掉这位女士，她无所不在。

接下去我们到了哈利福德和谢泼顿。谢泼顿有一座古老的教堂，我真担心，怕哈里斯又要去参观。我看他一直呆呆地望着，就把船划得飞快，结果哈里斯的帽子掉进水里去了，我们又折回去。幸运的是，他光顾和我生气了，把教堂的事儿给丢在脑后。

再往上走，到了韦布里奇水闸，我们一眼就看到一扇闸门上有个色彩鲜艳的东西在动，靠近仔细一看才发现是乔治。“元帅”汪汪乱叫着，我尖声叫喊着，哈里斯也手舞足蹈地大声吼着。乔治挥舞着帽子，冲我们打招呼。水闸管理员也跑了出来，还以为有人掉到水里了。可一看没事，他似乎颇为恼怒。We decided that now George was there，he was going to do some work．He did not want to work， of course．'I've had a bad day at the bank，'he explained．

Harris，who is sometimes a little cruel，said，'Ah！And now you're going to have a bad time on the river for a change．A change is good for you．Come on！Get out of the boat and tow！'

George could not refuse，really，but he did say，'Perhaps it would be better if I stayed in the boat and prepared the meal．You two can tow the boat． 'then he added，'It's very difficult to prepare a meal and you both look tired．'

Our only reply was to give him the rope．So he started walk-ing，and he pulled the boat behind him．

Sometimes people forget that they are towing a boat，and later，George told us a story about this…

George had once seen a man and a young lady who were walking by the side of the river．They were pulling a rope behind them and they were talking to each other．They did not notice that there was no boat on the end of the rope．Of course，they probably had a boat on the end of the rope when they started out．But it had disappeared．The two young people were not worried about this．They had their rope．They did not seem to care that there was no boat．George was going to call out to tell them about it But，just then，he had an idea．He took hold of the rope，and he tied it to his own boat．Then he and his three fat，heavy friends sat in the back of their boat，and lit their pipes．And that young man and young woman towed George and his friends up to Marlow．It was when they reached the lock that they looked back．Suddenly they understood that they had been towing the wrong boat．George said，'I've never seen anyone look as sad as those two young people then！'

The young man was a bit annoyed．In fact，he was probably going to say something angry to George and his friends．But just then，the young woman cried wildly，'Oh，Henry，then where's Aunt Mary？'…'Did they ever get the old lady back？'Harris asked．George replied that he did not know．