Chapter 38

　　Tired of waiting, the Assassins called to him mockingly:

　　"Good-by till tomorrow. When we return in the morning,we hopeyou'll be polite enough to let us find youdead and gone and with your mouthwide open."With these words they went.

　　A few minutes went by and then a wild wind startedto blow. As itshrieked and moaned, the poor littlesufferer was blown to and fro like thehammer of a bell.

　　The rocking made him seasick and the noose, becomingtighter andtighter, choked him. Little by little a filmcovered his eyes.

　　Death was creeping nearer and nearer, and the Marionettestill hopedfor some good soul to come to his rescue,but no one appeared. As he was aboutto die, he thoughtof his poor old father, and hardly conscious of what hewassaying, murmured to himself:

　　"Oh, Father, dear Father! If you were only here!"Thesewere his last words. He closed his eyes, openedhis mouth, stretched out hislegs, and hung there, as ifhe were dead.

　　他们最后等得不耐烦了，就向木偶转过脸，冷笑着对他说：“明儿见，等我们明天回到这儿，希望你帮个大忙，已经死掉了，把嘴张得大大的。”
　　他们说着，走了。
　　这时候猛乱起一阵北风，呼呼地怒号，把吊在那里的可怜木偶吹过来吹过去，狠狠地摇得他像过节时丁当丁当摇着的大钟，这样摇啊摇啊，摇得他痛苦万分。喉咙上的活结越收越紧，叫他气也透不出来。
　　他的两眼一点一点发黑。可他虽然感到死期已近，依然希望随时会有人经过，把他救下来，可他等啊等啊，看见还是没人来，一个人也没有，于是就想到他的可怜的爸爸……他半死不活地结结巴巴说：
　　“噢，我的爸爸，要是你在这儿就好了！……”
　　他再也说不出话来。他闭上眼睛，张开嘴巴，伸长两腿，一阵猛烈颤动，吊在那里像是僵硬了。