Chapter 3 We decide what to take 
　  
　　The following evening，we discussed what we wanted to take with us．Harris said，'Now get me a piece of pa-per，J．，and write everything down．George，you get a pencil，and I'll make the list．' 
　　That's Harris-he tells everybody what to do，and they do all the work．I remember that my Uncle Podger was like Harris… 
　　Everybody in the house had to help when Uncle Podger did a job．When they bought a picture once，Aunt Podger asked，'Now，where shall we put this？' 
　　'Oh，I'll do it．Don't worry about it．I'll do it all myself，'he said．And then he took off his coat to begin．He sent one of the girls out to buy some nails，and then he sent one of the boys to tell her how big the nails ought to be．'Now，Bill，you go and get my hammer，'he shouted．'And bring me a ruler，Tom．And Jim，I need a ladder-and a kitchen chair，too．Maria，you stay here to hold the light-and Tom，come here！You can give me the picture．' 
　　Then he lifted the picture up…and he dropped it．He tried to catch the glass…and he cut himslef．He looked for something to put round his finger，and he could not find anything．So he danced round the house，and he shouted at everybody． 
　　Half an hour later，the finger had been tied up，they had bought new glass，and everythng was ready．Uncle Podger tried again．Everybody stood round him．They were all ready to help．Two people held the chair， a third helped him to get on it，a fourth gave him a nail，and a fifth passed him the hammer．He took the nail…and he dropped it！ 
　　'There，'he said sadly．'Now the nail's gone．' 
　　So everybody got down on the ground to look for it．At last we found the nail，but then he lost the hammer． 
　　'Where's the hammer？What did I do with the hammer？There are seven of you there，and you don't know where the hammer is！' 
　　We found the hammer for him，but then he lost the place on the wall where he was going to put the picture．So each one of us had to get up on the chair and look for the place．And each one of us thought that it was a different place．Then Uncle Podger tried again himself．This time he fell off the chair on to the piano．His head and his body hit the piano at the same time．The music was beautiful，but Uncle Podger's words were not！Aunt Maria was not pleased．She said that she did not want the children to listen to those terrible words．She added calmly，'The next time that you are going to put a picture on the wall，please tell me．Then I can arrange to go and spend a week with my mother．' 
　　Uncle Podger got up and tried again，and at midnight the picture was on the wall．It was not very straight，and everyone was very tired and unhappy．Uncle Podger looked at the picture proudly and said，'You see，it was only a little job！'… 
　　Harris is like that．So I told him that George would write down the list，and I would do the work．He could get the pencil and the paper． 
　　The first list was too long．So we started again． 
　　'Now，'George said，'we don't want to take a tent．We can put a cover over the boat at night．It will be like a little house，lovely and warm and comfortable．It's much easier than a tent．' 
　　Then we made a list of all the clothes we needed．George told us that he knew all about this kind of thing-and we be-lieved him．We discovered later that this was not true． 
　　Next we talked about the food． 
　　'First，breakfast，'George began．'We need eggs，cold meat，tea，bread and butter，of course．And for dinner we can take cold chicken legs，tomatoes，cold meat，fruit，cakes，chocolate…We can drink water．'then he added，'And we can take a bottle of whisky，too-for when we are sick，you know．' 
　　We did not wish to talk about being sick．But later，we were glad we had taken the whisky． 
　　So we made our list，and it was a long one． 
　  
3 准备行装 
　  
　　第二天晚上，我们又开始讨论需要带些什么东西。哈里斯说：“来，给我一张纸，杰，你来把需要的东西都记下来。乔治，你去拿笔，我就可以列清单了。” 
　　这是哈里斯一贯的作风：他总是告诉大家要干什么活，让大家忙得不亦乐乎。我不由记起来浦杰叔叔也和哈里斯一样…… 
　　浦杰叔叔要是干点什么活，一家人都得帮忙。有一次他们买了一幅画，浦杰婶婶问：“把画挂在什么地方？” 
　　“哦，我来吧，你们谁也甭操心，全交给我一个人得了。”他说着，脱掉外套，就要干活。他先叫了一个女孩子去买钉子，马上又支使一个男孩子赶去告诉她钉子要多大的。“去，比尔，给我拿把锤子，”他喊着，“汤姆，去把尺子拿来。还有吉姆，我还需要个梯子——再要一把厨房里的椅子。玛丽亚，别走开，给我拿着灯照亮——还有，汤姆，快过来，你把画递给我。” 
　　说着，他把画举起来，没想到一下又给掉了，他赶紧去抓玻璃，却又把手割破了。他想找点东西把手指包上，可什么也找不着。就这样，他满屋子乱蹦乱跳，冲着每一个人嚷嚷。 
　　他花了半个小时才把手指包扎好；随后玻璃也买回来了，万事俱备。浦杰叔叔要再干一次，大家都围着他站着，随时帮忙。两个人扶着椅子，第三个人扶他上去，第四个人给他递钉子，第五个人把锤子递给他。他拿着钉子……可这回钉子又掉了。 
　　“你瞧，”他伤心地说，“钉子又掉了。” 
　　于是大家全趴在地上找。最后好不容易找到了钉子，可接着又把锤子弄没了。 
　　“锤子哪里去了？我刚才拿锤子干吗来着？你们七个人都在这儿，居然没一个知道锤子哪去了！” 
　　大家把锤子找到了给他，可是他刚才在墙上准备挂画的记号又找不着了。大家轮流爬上椅子去找那个地方，可每个人找的都不一样。浦杰叔叔自己又找了一遍，结果这次从椅子上摔下去，摔在钢琴上，整个身体，从头到脚都压在上面。音乐真是美妙，但叔叔说的话可不那么好听。玛丽亚姑姑不高兴了，她说她可不想让孩子们听见那些粗话。接着又冷冷地加了一句：“往后你再挂个画什么的，最好先告诉我一声，我好收拾东西去妈妈家住上一星期。” 
　　浦杰叔叔爬上椅子，又试一次。直到半夜，画才算是挂上去了，可还不太直，一家人也都精疲力尽，满心不悦。浦杰叔叔却看着画，不无骄傲地说：“瞧瞧，小事一桩。” 
　　哈里斯就象浦杰叔叔那样。所以我对他说，由乔治列清单，我来说要什么，而他去拿笔和纸。 
　　我们列的第一个清单太长了，只得又重新开始。 
　　“你瞧，”乔治发话了，“咱们不要带帐篷了，晚上可以在船上支个顶篷，当盖子，就象个小房子，又暖和，又可爱，又舒服，却比帐篷简单多了。” 
　　我们又列了个单子，记下要带的衣服。乔治告诉我们这些事他全通晓——我们信了他的话，后来才发现并非象他说的那样。 
　　再接下来，我们讨论吃的东西。 
　　“首先是早餐，”乔治说，“当然了，要有鸡蛋、冷肉、茶、面包和黄油。正餐可以带上冷鸡腿、西红柿、冷肉、水果、蛋糕、巧克力……再喝点水。”说着又加了一句：“咱们带上一瓶威士忌吧——病了就用得着了。” 
　　我们都不愿意谈到生病。但是后来，我们还真庆幸带了威士忌。 
　　这就是我们列的单子，长长的一串。 
　　　    


 