Pinocchio went straight to the Fairy's house, firmlyresolved toknock at the door.

　　When he found himself there, he lost courage and ranback a fewsteps. A second time he came to the door andagain he ran back. A third time herepeated hisperformance. The fourth time, before he had time to losehiscourage, he grasped the knocker and made a faint soundwith it.

　　He waited and waited and waited. Finally, after a fullhalf hour, atop-floor window (the house had four stories)opened and Pinocchio saw alarge Snail14 look out. A tinylightglowed on top of her head. "Who knocks at thislate hour?" she called.

　　"Is the Fairy home?" asked the Marionette.

　　"The Fairy is asleep and does not wish to be disturbed.

　　Who are you?""It is I.""Who'sI?""Pinocchio.""Who is Pinocchio?""TheMarionette; the one who lives in the Fairy's house.""Oh, Iunderstand," said the Snail. "Wait for me there.

　　I'll come down to open the door for you.""Hurry, I beg ofyou, for I am dying of cold.""My boy, I am a snail and snails15 are never in ahurry."An hour passed, two hours; and the door was still closed.

　　Pinocchio, who was trembling with fear and shiveringfrom the coldrain on his back, knocked a second time,this time louder than before.

他径直上仙女家，决定敲敲门，自己就开门进去。
　　可是一到那里，他觉得勇气没有了，不是去敲门，却是往回跑了二十来步。他第二次走到门口，还是不敢敲门。他第三次走到门口，依然不敢敲门。第四次他才算发着抖，拿起铁门锤，轻轻地把门敲了敲。
　　他等啊，等啊，最后过了半个钟头，最高一层（这是座四层楼房）才打开窗子，皮诺乔看见一只大蜗牛探出头来，头上有盏点亮的小灯。这蜗牛说：
　　“这么晚了，是谁呀？”
　　“仙女在家吗？”木偶问它。
　　“仙女睡了，不要人叫醒她。你倒是谁？”
　　“是我！”
　　“这个我是谁？”
　　“皮诺乔。”
　　“皮诺乔是谁？”
　　“是木偶，原先跟仙女住在一起的。”
　　“啊，我明白了，”蜗牛说，“你等等我，我这就下来给你开门。”
　　“谢谢你快一点，我都要冷死了。”
　　“我的孩子，我是一只蜗牛，蜗牛永远快不了的。”
　　过了一个钟头，过了两个钟头，可门还没有开。皮诺乔又是冷，又是害怕，又是浑身水淋淋，因此直打哆嗦。于是他拿定主意再敲一次门，这回敲得比上一回响。

14 snail    

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

·Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。

·Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

15snails 

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

·I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》

·Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》