Chapter57

　　When he reached the yard in front of thehouse, he flung him to the ground, put a foot on his neck, and said to himroughly: "It is late now and it's time for bed.

　　Tomorrow we'll settle matters. In themeantime, since my watchdog died today, you may take his place and guard my henhouse.“No sooner said than done. He slipped a dog collar around Pinocchio's neck and tightened4 it so that it would not come off. A long iron chain was tied tothe collar.

　　The other end of the chain was nailed tothe wall.

　　"If tonight it should happen torain," said the Farmer, “you can sleep in that little doghouse near-by,where you will find plenty of straw for a soft bed. It has beenMelampo's bedfor three years, and it will be good enough for you. And if, by any chance, anythieves should come, be sure to bark! “After this last warning, the Farmer wentinto the house and closed the door and barred it.

　　Poor Pinocchio huddled5close to the doghouse more dead than alive from cold, hunger, andfright. Now and again he pulled andtugged6at the collar which nearly choked him and cried out in a weakvoice:

　　"I deserve it! Yes, I deserve it! Ihave been nothing but atruant7and a vagabond. I have never obeyed anyone and I have always doneas I pleased. If I were only likes many others and had studied and worked and stayedwith my poor old father, I should not find myself here now, in this field andin the darkness, taking the place of farmer’s watchdog. Oh, if I could startall over again!

　　But what is done can't beundone8, andI must be patient! “After this little sermon to himself, which came from the verydepths of his heart, Pinocchio went into the doghouse and fell asleep.

　　到了家门口，他把木偶扔在空场上，用一只脚踏住他的脖子，对他说：
　　“现在太晚了，我要去睡觉。明天再跟你算账。我那只守夜的狗正好今天死了，你这就来代替它。你给我当守夜的狗。”
　　说到做到，他在木偶脖子上套上一狗颈圈，上面全是铜钉。他把颈圈收紧，叫木偶的头钻不出来。颈圈上系着一根很长的铁链，铁链一头拴在墙上。
　　“要是今夜下雨，”农民说，“你可以到这木板狗屋里去，那里头有很多干草，可以当床睡。我那可怜的狗在那里都睡了四年啦。如果不幸有小偷来，你记住了，要竖起耳朵听着，汪汪地叫。”
　　农民吩咐完，就进屋把门关上，还用粗链子拴好，于是空场上就剩可怜的皮诺乔一个人趴着，又冷，又饿，又怕，半死不活的。他不断生气地把手插到勒住他喉咙的颈圈里，哭着说：
　　“我这是活该！……真倒霉，我这是活该！我任性，只想闲逛……我只想听坏朋友的话，因此总是失去幸福。如果我是个好孩子，像别的孩子一样，如果我想读书想劳动，如果我同我的可怜爸爸一起在家，那我这会儿就不会在这儿田野当中，做一只狗给一个农民看门了。噢，我能重新做人就好了！……可现在迟了，没法子，我只好忍耐！”
　　他发泄了真正出自内心的一口怨气以后，走进狗屋，躺下就睡着了。

1marionette

n.木偶

参考例句：

With this marionette I wish to travel through the world.我希望带着这个木偶周游世界。

The development of marionette had a great influence on the future development of opera.木偶戏的发展对以后的戏曲有十分重要的影响。

2flickering

   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。

The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

3sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。

Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

4tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。

His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

5huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。

We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

6tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。

A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7truant   

n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课

参考例句：

I found the truant throwing stones in the river.我发现那个逃课的学生在往河里扔石子。

Children who play truant from school are unimaginative.逃学的孩子们都缺乏想像力。

8undone
   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。