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But the most exciting thing of all is to let girls tow your boat．Let me tell you about it…First of all，you need three girls．You always need three girls to tow a boat．Two of them hold the rope，and the other one runs here and there and laughs all the time．

They usually begin by tying themselves up in the rope．They get it round their legs，and then they have to sit down to untie it．Next，they get it round their necks．When they finally get it right，they always start by running．They pull the boat much too fast．After a few minutes，they are tired，and so they stop suddenly．They all sit down on the grass，and they start to laugh．Meanwhile，your boat goes out into the middle of the river，and it starts to turn round．Then they stand up and are surprised．

'Oh，look！'they say．'The boat's gone into the middle of the river！'

After this，they pull you along quite well for a time．Then one of them decides to stop for something else．So the boat runs aground in shallow water near the river bank．You jump up，and you push the boat off into deep water．You shout to them，'Don't stop！'

'Yes，what's the matter？'they shout back．

'Don't stop！'you cry loudly．

'Don't what？'

'Don't stop… go on… go on！'

'Go back，Emily，and see what they want，'one of them says．

And Emily comes back and asks，'What is it？Is anything wrong？'

'No！'you shout．'It's all right！But go on！Don't stop！'

'Why not？'

'Because we can't steer the boat if you stop．'

'Why not？'

'You must keep the boat moving！'

'Oh，all right．I'll tell them．Are we doing everything else all right？'

'Oh，yes，very nicely-but don't stop！'

'I see．Oh，give me my hat，please．It's over there．'

You find her hat，and you give it to her．But then another girl comes．She thinks she will have her hat，too．And then they take Mary's hat for her．Mary does not want it，so they bring it back．Then they want a comb．It is about twenty minutes before they start again．Then，at the next corner，they see a cow．You have to stop，and leave the boat，to chase the cow away…

Anyway，this time it was George who towed us on to Penton Hook．There we discussed the important question of where to spend the night．We had decided to sleep on the boat．There-fore we could stay there，or we could go on past Staines．In the end，we decided to continue to Runnymede．

Later we all wished we had stopped at Penton Hook．

8 乔治开始干活

我们说既然乔治现在来了，就得干点活了。他当然不想干，还推托说：“我在银行已经够辛苦的了。”

可哈里斯有时真是冷酷无情，他冷冷地说：“啊哈！那你就换换工作，到河上来辛苦辛苦吧，这对你有好处。去，下船拉纤去！”

说真的，乔治没理由拒绝，可他却说：“我还是在船上吧，我来做饭，你们俩拉纤。”说完又加了一句：“做饭可不容易，你们俩都累了，还是我干吧。”

我们给他的唯一回答是把绳子扔给他。他乖乖地拉起了纤，一边走，一边拉着身后的小船。

有时候，人们会忘记自己身后还拉着船。后来，乔治给我们讲了一段故事，说的就是这事……

有一次，乔治看见一个男人和一个年轻姑娘在河边散步。他们一边拉着身后的绳子，一边聊天，根本没注意到绳子另一端没有拴住船。显然，那纤绳原来是拖着一条船的，但后来却不见了踪影。两个年轻人也没在意，反正手里拽着绳子，他们也不管后面有没有船。乔治正想喊，提醒他们一声，可是他忽然有了一个绝妙的主意。他抓住绳子，系在自己的船上，然后他和三个又胖又重的伙伴坐到船尾，点了烟斗，悠然抽了起来。那一对年轻人就这样把他们四个一直拉到马洛。后来船到水闸时，那一对回过头看了看，这才明白自己拉错了船。乔治说：“我再没见过比他们更难过的表情了。”

那个男的有点火了，可能想骂乔治和他的朋友们一顿。就在那时，姑娘失声喊道：“哎呀！亨利，那玛丽姑姑到哪里去了？”

“后来老太太找到了吗？”哈里斯问。乔治说他也不清楚。

然而最有趣的莫过于姑娘们为你拉纤了。让我说说吧……

首先，你需要三个姑娘。拉一艘船总是需要三个姑娘。两个拉着纤绳，还有一个在周围跑个不停，笑上一路。

通常，她们一开始就给绳子缠住。一会儿缠住了腿，就得坐下来解开；一会儿又缠住了脖子。好不容易都弄停当了，她们就爱跑着走，船也给拉得飞快。没跑几分钟，她们又累了，一下子又停住脚，坐在草地上，笑成一团。就在这当间，你的船跑到了河中央，开始打转。她们却站起来，满脸惊讶之色。

“哦！你瞧，”她们说。“船跑到河心去了。”

接着，她们总算好好地拉上一段。突然有一位想干点别的，不想拉了，于是小船冲进岸边浅水，搁浅了。你们跳起身，把船推回到深水。你高声喊叫：“别停下来！”

“喂，出什么事啦？”她们高声应道。

“别停下！”你大声吼着。

“别什么？”

“别停——继续拉——继续！”

“爱米莉，快回去看看他们到底要什么，”其中一位说道。

接着爱米莉就跑回来，问你们：“怎么了？出什么事了？”

“没事！”你又喊道，“什么事都没有！就是继续拉！别停下！”

“为什么不能停？”

“你们要是停下来，我们就没法掌舵

“为什么不能？”

“你们要让船老动着才行啊！”

“哦，那好吧，我去告诉她们。别的事我们干得还行吧？”

“哦，是的，好极了，可就是别停下来。”

“我明白了。哦，请把我的帽子递给我，就在那边。”

你找到帽子递给她。这时候，另一个姑娘走过来，也要帽子。接着她们把玛丽的帽子也给她拿过去，可玛丽不戴，她们又送回来。一会儿，她们又想要梳子。这样至少过了二十分钟，才又重新上路。可就在下一个路口，她们又碰到一头母牛，没法子只得停下船，你们下了船，去把母牛赶跑……

不管怎么说，这次是乔治把我们拉到了潘登河湾。在那儿我们讨论了在哪儿过夜这个重要问题。大家原来计划在船上睡觉，这样我们要么可以停泊在那里，要么就继续走到斯泰恩斯。最后，我们决定继续划，一直到兰尼米德歇脚。

可是后来我们都希望要是早点停在潘登河湾就好了。　　After some time，Harris and I began to think that Bell Weir lock had disappeared．'Perhaps someone has tak-en it away，'we said．George had towed the boat as far as Staines，and we had towed it from there．It seemed to get heav-ier and heavier．We began to think that we were right and that someone had moved the lock．But，finally，at half past seven，we reached it and got through it．By now we just wanted to eat and to go to bed．So we stopped before we reached Magna Charta Island．It was quite a pretty place and we tied our boat to a big tree．

We were looking forward to having something to eat then，but George said，'No！It's better to put the cover on the boat first，before it gets too dark．All our work will be finished then．We'll be able to sit down and enjoy our meal．'

None of us had realized that it would be so difficult to fix the cover．There were five pieces of metal and you put these into special holes on the side of the boat．The pieces of metal were half circles，and when you had put them into the holes，you just had to pull the cover over them．

We thought it would probably take about ten minutes．

We were wrong．

We took the pieces of metal，and we began to drop them into their holes．You would not expect this to be dangerous work，but it was．

First of all，the pieces of metal would not fit into their holes．We had to jump on them，and kick them，and beat them．And when we got one in，we found that it was the wrong piece of metal for those holes．So we had to take it out again．

At last we got them finished．Then we only had to put the cover on．George took one end，and he fastened it over the front of the boat．Harris stood in the middle of the boat to take the cover from George．I stayed at the back of the boat to take the end of the cover from Harris．

George did his job all right，but it was new work to Harris and he did everything wrong．

I do not know how he did it，and Harris himself could not explain it later．After ten minutes of really hard work，he was inside the cover．He could not get out．He fought the cover hard- and knocked George over．Then George got angry and he began to fight，too．George could not get out of the cover ei-ther．

At the time，I did not know anything about all this．I did not understand what was happening anyway．They had told Mont-morency and me to stand and wait．So Montmorency and I stood there and waited．We could see that the cover was mov-ing about quite violently．However，we thought that it was all necessary for the job．We did nothing because they had told us to wait．

We also heard many bad words coming from under the cover．Montmorency and I decided that this was because the job was very difficult．

We waited for some time，but everything seemed to get worse．Finally George's head appeared over the side of the boat．It said，'We can't breathe under here！Why don't you help us，you great stupid thing！'

So I went and helped them．Harris's face was nearly black，so I was just in time．

It took another half an hour after that to fix the cover．And then we started to prepare supper．We needed some hot water to make tea，so we put the water on the stove at the front of the boat，and we went to the back．We pretended that we were not interested in the water at all．We wanted it to think we did not care if it got hot or not．We began to get the other things out．

That is the only way to get hot water on the river．If the water knows that you are waiting for it，it will never get hot．You have to go away and begin your meal without it．You must not look at it．Then you will soon hear it making a lot of noise，because it wants to be made into tea．

It is also a good idea to talk very loudly to each other．You must say that you do not want any tea，that you do not need any tea，and that you are not going to have any tea．You get very near the water and you shout，'I don't want any tea．Do you，George？'

And George shouts back，'Oh，no．I don't like tea．We'll have milk．'

This makes the water very angry，and it gets hot very fast．

We did this，and，when everything else was ready，the tea was ready，too．Then we sat down to have supper．We really wanted that supper．We needed that supper．And for thirty-five minutes nobody on the boat spoke．

After supper，we sat and smiled at each other．We smiled at Montmorency，too．We loved everybody．We sat back，we lit our pipes，and we began to talk．

George told us about something very funny that happened to his father once…

When he was young，George's father was travelling with a friend．One night they stopped at a little hotel．They spent the evening there with some other young men．After a very happy evening they went to bed．It was late，and，by that time，they（George's father and George's father's friend）were feeling quite happy themselves．Anyway，they were going to sleep in the same room，but in different beds．When they got into the room，they dropped their light，which went out．So they had to undress and get into bed in the dark．They thought they were getting into separate beds．However，because they could not see， they both got into the same one．One of them got in with his head at the top of the bed．The other one got in on the other side of the bed．He lay with his feet by the first one's head．

Nobody spoke for a moment．Then George's father said，'Joe！'

'What's the matter，Tom？'Joe replied，from the other end of the bed．

'Why，there's a man in my bed，'George's father said．'His feet are here，next to me．'

'Well，that's very strange，Tom，'Joe answered，'but there's a man in my bed，too．'

'What are you going to do？'George's father asked．

'Well，I'm going to throw him out，'Joe replied．

'So am I，'George's father said，bravely．

There was a short fight，and then there were two heavy bangs on the floor．After a moment or two，a rather sad voice said，'I say，Tom！'

'Yes？'

'How have you got on？'

'Well，to tell the truth，my man's thrown me out．'

'My man's thrown me out，too…I say，this isn't a very good hotel，is it？'…

At the end of George's story，Harris asked，'What was the name of the hotel？'

'The Riverside，'George replied．'Why？'

'Ah，it isn't the same hotel，then，'Harris answered．

'What do you mean？'George asked．

'Well，it's strange，'Harris said，'but the same thing hap-pened to my father once．I've often heard him tell the story．'

After that，we went to bed，but I slept very badly．

9 在船上的第一夜

不久，哈里斯和我开始怀疑贝尔·韦尔水闸消失了。“也许有谁给挪走了吧，”我们说。因为乔治把我们一直拉到斯泰恩斯，接着我们又拉。船越来越沉，我们认为自己的怀疑没错，肯定有人把水闸挪走了。一直到晚上七点半，我们终于到了，把船拉了过去。我们那会儿只想吃饭、睡觉，所以还没有到大宪章岛我们便停了下来。找了一个风景如画的地方，把船拴到了大树上。

那时我们都盼着吃点什么，可乔治却说：“别忙，最好先把船篷支起来，要不然天就黑了。等到活干完了，再坐下来舒舒服服地吃一顿晚餐。”

我们谁也没想到支个船篷竟那么费事。一共有五个半圆形的铁条，你把它们插进船舷特制的小孔里，把篷布拉好，盖上就行了。

我们想这活用不了十分钟。

但我们错了。

我们拿起铁条要插到船上相对应的插孔里。谁也没想到那是危险的活，但的确如此。

最要命的是那些铁条跟插孔的尺寸根本不符。我们在上面又踩又跳，又踢又打，好不容易插进去了，才发现插错了地方，又得使劲拔出来。

终于弄停当了，只要把篷布打开就行了。乔治拿一头，把前端固定在船头。哈里斯站在中间，从乔治那儿接过篷布，我站在船尾，从哈里斯手里接过另一头。

乔治的活干得不错，可是哈里斯是个生手，一下子全让他搞乱了。

我不知道他怎么搞的，他自己后来也说不明白。他呼哧呼哧摆弄了十分钟，便把自己裹在篷布里怎么也出不来了。他在篷布底下又踢又拽，把乔治也给掀翻了。乔治也火了，拼命挣扎，终于自己也出不来了。

那时候，我什么情况都不知道，反正我也不懂究竟发生了什么。他们让我和“元帅”站着等，所以我们俩一直站在那儿等着。我们都看见了篷布猛烈翻动着，可我们还以为这是一道必要的工序，因此我们不敢插手。本来嘛，是他们让我们等着的。

我们也听得见篷布底下传来好些骂人的脏话。“元帅”和我都以为那是因为活太难干的缘故。

我们等了半天，情况越来越糟糕。最后乔治的脑袋从船的那一边探出来，开口说道：

“你这个大笨蛋！我们在这儿快闷死了，你不能伸伸手吗？”

因此我走过去伸手搭救他们，哈里斯脸上发青，看来我帮得还挺及时。

又忙了半个小时才把蓬盖支好，然后我们开始弄晚餐。我们要用热水沏茶，于是就把水放在船头的炉子上煮，自己到船尾去了，还假装出一副对它根本不感兴趣的样子，让它明白我们才不在乎水什么时候开呢。我们又忙着去干其它的事。

要想在河上烧开水，这是唯一的方法。要是水知道你在等着它开，它就永远不会热。你必须走开，去吃你的饭，好像根本不想喝水，甚至瞧都不瞧一眼，那水很快就弄出咕嘟咕嘟的噪音，急于要泡茶了。

还有个好办法就是大声说话，说你一点不想喝茶，不需要沏茶，也不打算泡茶。你走近水壶，大声说话。

“我可不想喝茶。乔治，你呢？”

乔治也喊：“哦，不，我才不喜欢喝茶呢，咱们喝牛奶吧。”

一听此话，水很生气，很快就沸腾了。

我们就是用了这样的手腕。饭做好了，茶也好了，大家坐下来吃晚餐。我们需要的就是这顿晚餐，所以足足有三十五分钟，整个船上鸦雀无声，谁也不说话。

吃过晚饭，我们笑容可掬地坐下来，甚至对“元帅”，我们也是满面微笑，我们觉得每一个人都那么可亲可爱。大家坐着，向后斜靠着，点着烟斗，聊了起来。

乔治说起了他父亲亲身经历的许多有趣的事儿……

乔治父亲年轻时，一次和一个朋友去旅行。一天他们到了一家客栈，晚上和其他一群年轻人一起度过。时间过得很愉快，大家很高兴，也睡得很晚。乔治的父亲和那位朋友还有点陶陶然，他们打算睡在一个房间里，两张床上。他们走进房间时，蜡烛头掉下来灭了。他们在暗中摸索，脱了衣服，爬上床。他们还以为都上了自己的床，可是因为看不见，还是上了一张床。一个从床头上的，另一个从另一头爬上去，一个的脚正好放在另一个的头边。

有一会儿两人都没说话，后来乔治的父亲说：“乔！”

“怎么回事儿？汤姆？”乔从床另外一头回答。

“唉哟，我床上有人，”乔治的父亲说，“他的脚在我旁边。”

“是吗？真是怪事，汤姆，”乔回答说，“我床上可不也有人嘛。”

“那你打算怎么办啊？”乔治的父亲问。

“哼，我要把他给扔出去，”乔说。

“对，我也这么办，”乔治的父亲壮起胆子说。

短兵相接，只听得地上传来“梆梆”两响，过了一会，传来一个悲切的声音。

“我说，汤姆！”

“嗳，我在这儿。”

“你怎么样了？”

“唉，老实对你说吧，我这边那个人把我扔出来了。”

“我这边的人也把我扔出来了……我说，这可不象是家正经客栈，是吧？”

乔治的故事讲完了，哈里斯问：“那个客栈叫什么名字？”

“河畔客栈，”乔治答道，“怎么了？”

“啊，那不是同一家客栈了，”哈里斯回答说。

“你这话什么意思？”乔治问。

“嗯，真是蹊跷，”哈里斯说，“我父亲也曾遇到过这么一回事，我常听他讲这个故事。”

然后，我们都去上床睡觉，可我睡得特别不踏实。I woke up at six o'clock the next morning，and I found that George was awake，too．We both tried to go to sleep again，but we could not．This was because we did not need to get up early．We could sleep for another two or three hours．But we both felt we would die if we tried to sleep for another five minutes．

George said that the same thing had happened to him a few months before．He told me a story about it…

At that time George had rooms in the house of a lady called Mrs Gippings．One evening his watch stopped at a quarter past eight．He did not realize this then．When he went to bed，he took off his watch，and he did not look at it．

This happened in the winter，so it was dark in the mornings，anyway．When George woke up，he looked at his watch．It was a quarter past eight．

'Good heavens！'George cried．'I have to be at the bank by nine o'clock！'And he threw down the watch and jumped out of bed．He had a cold bath and he dressed．Then he ran and looked at his watch．It had started to go again，and it was twenty to nine．

George took his watch and ran downstairs．The dining-room was dark and silent．There was no fire，no breakfast．George was very angry with Mrs G．He decided to tell her this later，in the evening．Then he caught hold of his coat，his hat and his umbrella，and ran to the front door．lt'was locked！George said that Mrs G．was a lazy old woman．Then he unlocked the door and ran out into the street．

For a few hundred metres he ran as fast as he could．But，suddenly，he noticed that there were not many people about．He also noticed that the shops were not open．It was a very dark and foggy morning．However，it seemed very strange that they had closed the shops because of the fog．He had to go to work，so why should other people stay in bed？