顛倒日

Have you ever heard of Back-to-Front Day? It used to be celebrated once a year， you know， just like Easter; but Back-to-Front Day isn't celebrated anymore and that is a great shame， because on Back-to-Front Day the grown-ups had to go to school.

And the children?

They were the masters and mistresses; they were the policemen and bus conductors1); they sat in the offices and telephoned to New York and Paris; they were firemen and drove through the streets with bells clanging; they were doctors and nurses and bakers and butchers2) and long-distance truck drivers.

\"Stand in the corner， Mr. Dryersdust!\" said Marie. Marie was six and she had a class of twenty-three men and fifteen women. They were making much too much noise and not paying attention.

\"Quiet!\" cried Marie. \"Mrs. Oakapple， stop chattering3). Mr. Drumbody， sit up straight. Have you finished your sums4) yet?\"

Granny was late for school. She got into bad trouble with Marie， and as a punishment she was not allowed to draw.

Johnny was a policeman with his helmet balanced on his ears and his coat down to his knees and the bottoms of his trousers rolled up. He stalked5) down the street with huge strides6) and a stern7) expression on his face.

\"Hm， hm， what does this mean?\" he cried sharply. \"Why are you not at school?\"

\"Oh， Constable8)， I ... I ...\" stammered9) the man， \"I had to run an errand10).\"

\"Fiddlesticks11)!\" said Johnny crossly12). He took out his notebook and pencil. \"Name?\" he inquired.

\"Mr. Croop.\"

\"Quite so，\" said Johnny. He wrote it down neatly13)， with two os and then he blew his whistle and at once a police car with a blue flashing light appeared， driven by his friend Ernie.

\"I have a truant14) here，\" said Constable Johnny. \"Drive him straight to school.\"

Mr. Croop was pushed into the car.

\"You haven't heard the last of15) this，\" said Johnny.

He walked on and the next thing he saw was a brazenfaced16) woman coming out of a shop， as if she could do exactly as she pleased.

\"Well， well， well， what's the meaning of this?\" cried Johnny again.

\"Not understand，\" said the woman. She was a foreigner， a tourist who didn't know anything about Back-to-Front Day.

\"Oh，\" said Johnny. \"Get along with you， then.\"

In the offices of the firm Slosh and Splashing there was a tremendous17) bustle18) of activity. Mandy was typing away on a typewriter with a red ribbon19) and Tommy was sitting behind the big desk which had at least four telephones on it， all ringing in turn.

\"Hello，\" said Tommy. \"This is the director speaking.... Yes， of course， twelve cases of paints. I'll get the driver to bring them along at once.\"

And he dialled a number of another telephone: \"Hello， Charlie， just take the truck and deliver twelve boxes of paints to Harry in the high street20).\"

At the hospital two small doctors climbed on one bedside chair together in order to look down Mrs. Allsebest-Ramble's throat， and Nurse Janice stuck a plaster21) on Grandpa Johnson's leg.

But the best part of Back-to-Front Day was the evening because that was when the children put the grown-ups to bed. Very early. They told them a story， too—when the grown-ups had undressed obediently22) and cleaned their teeth and washed their hands.

\"Don't forget your face， Daddy，\" called Caroline.

Then the children went grandly downstairs to watch television， or go to the pictures or drop in23) on Johnny and Darrel and Sandra.

Very， very late at night came the last television news bulletin24)， read by Arthur and Leone.

\"Good evening， boys and girls! Back-to-Front Day has been celebrated today throughout the country. A mother in Birmingham refused to go to school and was arrested by three seven-year-old policemen.

\"In Westminster the Chancellor of the Exchequer got eight out of ten for arithmetic25)， but earned himself a detention26) for singing.

\"A severe27) outbreak of fire in the New Forest was put out by fireman Gary.

\"Her Majesty the Queen did not return to Buckingham Palace until a quarter past five. Her teacher had had to keep her in28) for an hour after school.

\"That was the news. Good-bye!\"

With the familiar notes of the National Anthem， Back-to-School Day came to an end.

It's a pity we don't celebrate Back-to-Front Day any more.

你聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)顛倒日嗎？過(guò)去，人們每年都會(huì)歡慶這個(gè)節(jié)日， 就像每年都要過(guò)復(fù)活節(jié)一樣。可是，現(xiàn)在人們不再過(guò)顛倒日了。這真是一大憾事啊，因?yàn)橐郧霸陬嵉谷者@一天，大人們都得去上學(xué)。

那孩子們呢？

他們當(dāng)起了一家之主；他們來(lái)當(dāng)警察和公共汽車(chē)售票員；他們坐在辦公室里，往紐約和巴黎打電話；他們來(lái)當(dāng)消防員，開(kāi)著消防車(chē)，叮叮當(dāng)當(dāng)一邊拉響火警鈴一邊穿過(guò)大街小巷； 他們來(lái)當(dāng)醫(yī)生、護(hù)士、面包師和肉販，還有長(zhǎng)途貨車(chē)司機(jī)。

“在墻角站著，德賴(lài)爾斯杜斯特先生。”瑪麗說(shuō)。瑪麗六歲，她的班里有23個(gè)男人和15個(gè)女人。 他們吵吵嚷嚷，聲音大得不得了，根本就不理瑪麗。

“安靜！”瑪麗喊道，“奧克阿普爾太太，別再說(shuō)個(gè)沒(méi)完了。德拉姆博迪先生，坐直了！你算術(shù)題做完了嗎？”

奶奶上課遲到了。她和瑪麗發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，因而被罰不許畫(huà)畫(huà)。

約翰尼是個(gè)警察，他的頭盔頂在耳朵上，勉強(qiáng)沒(méi)有掉下來(lái)，警服都到膝蓋了，褲腳卷了起來(lái)。他昂首挺胸走在街上，邁著大大的步子，一臉嚴(yán)肅的表情。

“嗯，嗯，這是怎么回事？”他厲聲喝道，“你怎么沒(méi)去學(xué)校上學(xué)？”

“哦，警官，我……我……”那個(gè)男人結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說(shuō)，“我得辦點(diǎn)事。”

“胡扯！”約翰尼生氣地說(shuō)。他拿出筆記本和鉛筆。“叫什么名字？”他盤(pán)問(wèn)道。

“克魯普先生。”

“沒(méi)錯(cuò)。”約翰尼說(shuō)。他工工整整地畫(huà)了兩個(gè)圈記了下來(lái)，然后吹響警哨，一輛頂著藍(lán)色閃光信號(hào)燈的警車(chē)立刻就來(lái)了，開(kāi)車(chē)的是他的朋友厄尼。

“我這兒有個(gè)逃學(xué)的，”警官約翰尼說(shuō)，“把他直接送到學(xué)校去。”

克魯普先生被推進(jìn)了警車(chē)。

“這事兒還不算完。”約翰尼說(shuō)。

他繼續(xù)巡街，緊接著就看到一個(gè)厚臉皮的女人從一家商店里出來(lái)，好像她喜歡怎樣就可以怎樣似的。

“嘿，嘿，嘿，你這是什么意思？”約翰尼又喊了起來(lái)。

“我不知道啊。”那個(gè)女人說(shuō)。她是個(gè)外國(guó)游客，根本不知道顛倒日是怎么回事。

“呃，”約翰尼說(shuō)，“那你自便吧。”

在斯洛希和斯普拉辛公司的辦公室里，大家正忙得不可開(kāi)交。曼迪正在一臺(tái)裝有紅色色帶的打字機(jī)上打字；湯米坐在一張大桌子后，桌上擺著至少四部電話，電話鈴聲此起彼伏。

“你好，”湯米說(shuō)，“我是經(jīng)理……是的，當(dāng)然了，12箱油漆。我叫司機(jī)馬上送過(guò)去。”

他又撥了另一個(gè)電話號(hào)碼。“你好，查理，現(xiàn)在開(kāi)著貨車(chē)去給商業(yè)街的哈里送12箱油漆吧。”

醫(yī)院里，兩個(gè)小醫(yī)生一起爬上床邊的椅子，檢查奧爾斯貝斯特·蘭布爾太太的喉嚨。賈尼絲護(hù)士給約翰遜爺爺?shù)耐却蛄耸唷?/p>

不過(guò)顛倒日最精彩的部分是晚上，因?yàn)槟莻€(gè)時(shí)候孩子們得讓大人們上床去睡覺(jué)了，而且還得讓他們?cè)缭绲厣洗病：⒆觽円矔?huì)給他們講睡前故事——當(dāng)大人們乖乖地脫了衣服，刷完牙、洗完手之后。

“別忘了洗臉，爸爸。”卡羅琳說(shuō)。

然后，孩子們大搖大擺地下樓去看電視，或者出門(mén)看個(gè)電影，或者去約翰尼、達(dá)雷爾和桑德拉家里串串門(mén)。

晚上很晚很晚的時(shí)候，孩子們還可以看看電視上最后檔晚間新聞，由亞瑟和萊昂內(nèi)播報(bào)。

“男孩們、女孩們，晚上好！今天舉國(guó)上下歡慶顛倒日。伯明翰的一位母親因?yàn)榫芙^去上學(xué)而被三名七歲的警察逮捕。

“在威斯敏斯特，財(cái)政大臣的算術(shù)考了80分，不過(guò)因?yàn)榭荚嚂r(shí)哼歌而被罰課后留校。

“新福里斯特發(fā)生嚴(yán)重火災(zāi)，所幸被消防員加里撲滅。

“尊敬的女王陛下下午5點(diǎn)一刻才回到白金漢宮。她放學(xué)后被老師留校一個(gè)小時(shí)。

“今天的新聞就是這樣。再見(jiàn)。”

伴隨著熟悉的國(guó)歌旋律，顛倒日結(jié)束了。

我們現(xiàn)在不再慶祝顛倒日了，這真是太令人遺憾了。

1.conductor [k#601;n#712;d#652;kt#601;(r)] n. (公共汽車(chē)等的)售票員

2.butcher [#712;b#650;t#643;#601;(r)] n. 肉商，肉販

3.chatter [#712;t#643;aelig;t#601;(r)] vi. 喋喋不休，饒舌

4.sum [s#652;m] n. [~s] 算術(shù)

5.stalk [st#596;#720;k] vi. 昂首闊步地走

6.stride [stra#618;d] n. 大步，寬步；跨步；步幅

7.stern [st#604;#720;(r)n] adj. 嚴(yán)厲的，嚴(yán)格的； 嚴(yán)峻的，嚴(yán)酷的

8.constable [#712;k#652;nst#601;bl， #712;kɑ#720;nst#601;bl] n. (美國(guó)鎮(zhèn)、區(qū)、鄉(xiāng)村等的)警官；治安官；(英國(guó))警察

9.stammer [#712;staelig;m#601;(r)] vi. 結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說(shuō)話，口吃

10.errand [#712;er#601;nd] n. (短程的)差事，差使(如送信、買(mǎi)東西等)

11.fiddlesticks [#712;f#618;dlst#618;ks] int. 胡說(shuō)；討厭

12.crossly [kr#594;sli， kr#596;#720;sli] adv. 惱怒地；異常生氣地

13.neatly [ni#720;tli] adv. 勻整地；勻稱(chēng)地

14.truant [#712;tru#720;#601;nt] n. 逃學(xué)者，曠課者

15.haven't heard the last of: ……的事還沒(méi)有了結(jié)

16.brazenfaced [#712;bre#618;znfe#618;st] adj. 厚臉皮的，無(wú)恥的

17.tremendous [tr#601;#712;mend#601;s] adj. <口> 非常的；驚人的

18.bustle [#712;b#652;sl] n. 忙亂；喧擾

19.ribbon [#712;r#618;b#601;n] n. (打字機(jī)的)色帶

20.high street: <英> (尤指市鎮(zhèn)商業(yè)區(qū)的)大街

21.plaster [#712;plɑ#720;st#601;(r)] n. 熟石膏，燒石膏；膏藥

22.obediently [#601;#712;bi#720;di#601;ntli] adv. 服從地，順從地，忠順地

23.drop in: <口> 順便或偶然訪問(wèn)

24.bulletin [#712;b#650;l#601;t#618;n] n. (報(bào)紙、電臺(tái)、電視臺(tái)的)簡(jiǎn)明新聞，最新消息

25.arithmetic [#601;#712;r#618;θm#601;t#618;k] n. 算術(shù)

26.detention [d#618;#712;ten#643;n] n. (處罰學(xué)生的)課后留校

27.severe [s#618;#712;v#618;#601;(r)] adj. 嚴(yán)重的；危險(xiǎn)的；劇烈的

28.keep in: 把……關(guān)晚學(xué)，罰……課后留校