George was in favor of ripping up the pantry floor. He ran and got his hammer, his screw driver, and an ice pick.
乔治很高兴能有机会毁灭这食品贮藏室的地板。他跑出去带回了他的锤子，螺丝刀和碎冰锄。
"Oh, all right," said George. "I see that nobody in this house cares anything about Stuart but me."
“噢，好的，”乔治说。“我看这房子里除了我，根本没人在乎斯图亚特。”
"We will not rip up this floor till we have had a good search," announced Mr. Little. "That's final, George! You can put that hammer away where you got it."
“在我们彻底调查完之前，不要毁坏这些地板，”利特尔先生宣布。“够了，乔治！你可以把那锤子什么的都放回原来的地方去了。”
Mrs. Little began to cry. "My poor dear little son!" she said. "I know he'll get wedged somewhere."
利特尔太太开始哭了。“我那可怜的，亲爱的小儿子！”她说。“我就知道他会钻到那里去的。”
"I'll have this old floor up in double-quick time," he said, inserting his screw driver under the edge of the first board and giving a good vigorous pry.
“我要把这些老地板飞速地掀开，”他说着，把他的螺丝刀插到第一块地板的边缘，用力地撬起来。
"Maybe we ought to lower some food to him," suggested George. "That's what the State Police did when a man got stuck in a cave." George darted into the kitchen and came running back with a dish of applesauce. "We can pour some of this in, and it will run down to where he is." George spooned out a bit of the applesauce and started to poke it into the hole.
“可能我们该给他吃点儿食物，”乔治建议。“当有个人陷到一个洞里时州警察就是这么做的，”乔治冲进厨房，跑着带回了一小碟苹果酱。“我们可以把一些果酱倒在这里，他就会跑出来吃了。”乔治倒了一点儿苹果酱出来，然后就往洞口里察看着。
"Just because you can't travel comfortably in a mousehole doesn't mean that it isn't a perfectly suitable place for Stuart," said Mr. Little. "Just don't get yourself all worked up."
“你不能舒服地在耗子洞旅行，并不等于斯图亚特也不能，”利特尔先生说。“你千万不要这么想。”
"Stop that!" bellowed Mr. Little. "George, will you kindly let me handle this situation? Put that applesauce away immediately!"
“不许那么做！”利特尔先生怒吼，“乔治，你就不能行行好，让我来处理这件事？立刻把那苹果酱拿开！”
Mr. Little glared fiercely at George.
利特尔先生狠狠瞪了乔治一眼。
"I was just trying to help my own brother," said George, shaking his head as he carried the sauce back to the kitchen.
“我只是在试着救我自己的弟弟，”乔治说着，摇摇脑袋，把苹果酱带回厨房去了。
"Let's all call to Stuart," suggested Mrs. Little. "It is quite possible that the mousehole branches and twists about, and that he has lost his way."
“让我们来喊斯图亚特吧，”利特尔太太建议。“很可能那老鼠洞里的岔道太多，所以他迷路了。”
"Very well," said Mr. Little. "I will count three, then we will all call, then we will all keep perfectly quiet for three seconds, listening for the answer." He took out his watch.
“这主意好，”利特尔先生说，“我要数三个数，接着我们就一起喊，然后我们再完全静默三秒种，听听是否有回答。”他摘下了他的手表。
Mr. and Mrs. Little and George got down on their hands and knees and put their mouths as close as possible to the mousehole. Then they all called: "Stooooo-art!" And then they all kept perfectly still for three seconds.
利特尔先生和太太，还有乔治都双手着地跪在那里，把他们的嘴尽可能地朝向那个老鼠洞。然后他们一起喊：“斯图—亚特！”接着他们都完全静默了三秒种。
Stuart, from his cramped position inside the rolled-up shade, heard them yelling in the pantry and called back, "Here I am!" But he had such a weak voice and was so far inside the shade that the other members of the family did not hear his answering cry.
在卷起的窗帘里挣扎的斯图亚特，听到他们在贮藏室的喊叫便回答道，“我在这里！”但他的声音太小，又被窗帘挡住了，所以家里人都没听到他的喊叫。
It was no use. No answer was heard. Mrs. Little went up to her bedroom, lay down, and sobbed. Mr. Little went to the telephone and called up the Bureau of Missing Persons, but when the man asked for a description of Stuart and was told that he was only two inches high, he hung up in disgust. George meantime went down cellar and hunted around to see if he could find the other entrance to the mousehole. He moved a great many trunks, suitcases, flower pots, baskets, boxes, and broken chairs from one end of the cellar to the other in order to get at the section of wall which he thought was likeliest, but found no hole. He did, however, come across an old discarded rowing machine of Mr. Little's, and becoming interested in this, carried it upstairs with some difficulty and spent the rest of the morning rowing.
这没有用。还是听不到任何回答。利特尔太太跑进她的卧室，躺下来小声哭起来。利特尔先生跑向电话，给失踪人员登记处打电话，可是当接线员要求叙述一下斯图亚特的长相，并被告知他只有两英寸高时，便厌恶地挂断了电话。那时乔治正在下面的地窖里检查着，想找找是否还有别的老鼠洞出口。他搬开了许多的大衣箱，手提箱，花盆，篮子，盆子，破椅子，把它们不停地从地窖这边挪到另一边，只为找到他认为最可能有洞口的地方，可却一个洞都没发现。不过，在翻找的过程中，他碰巧发现了利特尔先生的一个废旧的划船机，立刻来了兴趣，就费了许多气力把它搬到楼上，把早上剩下的时间都用来坐在上面划船上了。
"Again!" said Mr. Little. "One, two, three -- Stooooo-art!"
“再来一遍！”利特尔先生说。“一、二、三——斯图—亚特！”
When lunchtime came (everybody had forgotten about breakfast) all three sat down to a lamb stew which Mrs. Little had prepared, but it was a sad meal, each one trying not to stare at the small empty chair which Stuart always occupied, right next to Mrs. Little's glass of water. No one could eat, so great was the sorrow. George ate a bit of dessert but nothing else. When lunch was over Mrs. Little broke out crying again, and said she thought Stuart must be dead. "Nonsense, nonsense!" growled Mr. Little.
到了午饭时间（每个人都忘了吃早饭），他们才摆上了利特尔太太早就炖好的小羊羔肉。那真是一顿悲伤的午饭，每个人都试图不去注意那张放在利特尔太太的水杯附近的，斯图亚特常坐的空空的小椅子。没有一个人想吃饭，因为他们都沉浸在强烈的悲痛之中。乔治除了一点儿餐后甜点外什么都没吃。午餐结束后，利特尔太太放声痛哭起来，并说她认为斯图亚特一定是死了。“你胡说，胡说！”利特尔先生吼叫。
But George had already run into the living room and had begun to darken it, to show his respect for the dead. He pulled a cord and out dropped Stuart onto the window sill.
可是乔治已经跑进了起居室，开始去拉窗帘，表示他对死去的兄弟的沉痛哀悼了。他拉了一下绳子，斯图亚特便从窗帘里掉到了窗台上。
"George!" shouted Mr. Little in an exasperated tone, "if you don't stop acting in an idiotic fashion, I will have to punish you. We are having enough trouble today without having to cope with your foolishness."
“乔治！”利特尔先生用一种愤怒的语调说，“如果你不停止你这种白痴式的行动的话，我一定会惩罚你的。我们今天的麻烦已经够多的了，不能再去容忍你的愚蠢了。”
"Well, for the love of Pete," said George. "Look who's here, Mom!"
“噢，感谢老天，”乔治说。“看谁在那里，妈妈！”
"If he is dead," said George, "we ought to pull down the shades all through the house." And he raced to the windows and began pulling down the shades.
“如果他死了，”乔治说，“我们该把房子里的窗帘都拉下来。”他往窗子那里跑去，准备去拉窗帘。
"It's about time somebody pulled down that shade," remarked Stuart. "That's all I can say." He was quite weak and hungry.
“终于有人拉那窗帘了，”斯图亚特说。“我只能说这些了。”他很虚弱，也很饿。
Mrs. Little was so overjoyed to see him that she kept right on crying. Of course, everybody wanted to know how it had happened.
看到他后，利特尔太太欣喜若狂，忍不住又哭起来。当然，每个人都想知道事情是怎么发生的。
"It was simply an accident that might happen to anybody," said Stuart. "As for my hat and cane being found at the entrance to the mousehole, you can draw your own conclusions."
“这只是一个小事故，可你们任何人都会这么想的，”斯图亚特说。“因为我的帽子和手杖在老鼠洞口被发现，所以你们才得出了你们自己的结论。”