Chapter 78

　　We are tired of hearing you bragging4 aboutyourself,you little turkey cock! You may not be afraid of us,but remember weare not afraid of you, either!

　　You are alone, you know, and we are seven.""Like the sevensins," said Pinocchio, still laughing.

　　"Did you hear that? He has insulted us all. He has called ussins.""Pinocchio, apologize for that, or lookout!""Cuck--oo!" said the Marionette, mocking them with histhumb to his nose.

　　"You'll be sorry!""Cuck--oo!""We'll whipyou soundly!""Cuck--oo!""You'll go home with a brokennose!""Cuck--oo!""Very well, then! Take that, and keep itfor your supper,"called out the boldest of his tormentors.

　　And with the words, he gave Pinocchio a terrible blow on the head.

　　Pinocchio answered with another blow, and that wasthe signal for thebeginning of the fray5.In a few moments,the fight raged hot and heavy on both sides.

　　Pinocchio, although alone, defended himself bravely.

　　With those two wooden feet of his, he worked so fastthat hisopponents kept at a respectful distance.

　　Wherever they landed, they left their painful markand the boys couldonly run away and howl.

　　Enraged at not being able to fight the Marionette at closequarters,they started to throw all kinds of books at him.

　　Readers, geographies, histories, grammars flew in all directions.

“别到这儿来夸口，别到这儿来斗嘴！……你要是不怕我们，我们也不怕你！记好了，你只有一个，我们有七个。”
　　“七个什么，七个大罪①，”皮诺乔大笑着说。
　　“你们听见了吗，他侮辱我们大伙儿，他管我们叫七个大罪！……”
　　“皮诺乔！你侮辱了我们，要你向我们道歉……要不你就倒霉！……”
　　“咕咕！”木偶叫着，用食指刮刮鼻尖，表示讥笑他们。
　　“皮诺乔，你没有好结果！……”
　　“咕咕！”
　　“我们要像揍驴子那么揍你！……”
　　“咕咕！”
　　“你要带着个打扁的鼻子回家！……”
　　“咕咕！”
　　“我们这就来揍你一个咕咕！”这帮小坏蛋当中最凶的一个叫道。“受用受用这个吧，今天晚上就不用吃晚饭了。”
　　他说着就给了木偶脑袋上一拳头。
　　老话说，一报还一报，因此可以想象到，木偶马上就回敬他一拳头。这么你一拳来我一拳去，这场架就越打越大，越打越厉害了。
　　皮诺乔虽然只有一个，可自卫得像个英雄似的。他用两只硬绷绷的木头脚踢得那么利索，叫他那些敌人离得远远的不敢走近。凡是他的脚所碰到之处，马上就留下纪念品——一大块乌青。
　　孩子们眼看不能同木偶肉搏，气得要命，心想最好还是扔东西，就打开书包，开始向他扔语文课本、文法书、小戒尺、小零碎、图瓦尔的故事书、巴契尼的《小鸡》以及其他教科书。

4 bragging    

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

·He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句

·Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

5fray 

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

·Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？

·Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。