Dennis and the Dream Factory (Ⅱ)丹尼斯和梦工厂（Ⅱ）

向红选译

Dennis decided to make his first dream and make mess1. When the bottle broke， the dream mix was released2 and filled the room. Dennis then jumped onto the conveyor belt. It carried him out of the room， into a dark tunnel3. When he heard some gnomes coming， Dennis climbed out and hid behind a pile of bags. The sign above the door read， “Packing Room.”

丹尼斯決定先制造一个梦境然后引起混乱。当瓶子打碎的时候，混合的梦境被释放出来，弥漫在整个房间里。丹尼斯趁机跳到一个传送带上。传送带将他带出了这个房间，进入了一个黑暗的隧道。听到有小矮人们走过来时，丹尼斯爬了出去，藏在一堆袋子后面，门上的牌子写着“打包间”。

Just then a gnome driving a small car went into the room. Dennis saw his chance to get out of the room. He hid between two bags. He ran to another room. The room was small， and there was little light. There was only one gnome inside， and he sat at the conveyor belt， stamping4 each paper as it passed.

就在这时，一个小矮人开着一辆小汽车进入这个房间。丹尼斯看准了离开这个房间的时机，他躲到两个包之间，然后跑到了另一个房间。这个房间很小，几乎没有光。里面只有一个小矮人，他坐在传送带旁边，给每一张经过的纸盖章。

“Hello，” said Dennis.

丹尼斯问候道：“你好。”

“I am the Stamper. I have to stamp to the papers and I cannot miss a single one. No one can look at these papers. Now stop bothering5 me because you make me miss.”

“我是盖印人，我要给这些纸盖章，一张都不能漏掉。任何人都不能看这些纸上的内容。现在请不要打扰我，因为你会让我的工作出纰漏的。”

“Well...what kind of papers are they？” asked Dennis.

丹尼斯问道：“好吧，这些都是什么纸？”

“Employee contracts6！No one may look！” shouted the Stamper. “I dont even look at them.”

盖印人喊道：“雇佣合同。任何人都不能看，甚至连我都没看过。”

“You dont look？ But youre approving7 them. How can you do that？”

“你都没看过？但是你却在批阅。你怎么做到的？”

“All these papers need approving， and without me they would not get approved.”

“所有纸张都需要批阅，没有我，这些东西就不会被批准。”

“Youre not even reading them，” answered Dennis. “Dont you think its irresponsible8？ Dont you think its silly9？ Dont you think its...wrong？”

“可是你都没读过它们的内容，你不觉得你这样很不负责任吗，你不觉得你这样做很愚蠢吗？你不觉得你这样做……是不对的吗？”丹尼斯说。

Stamper froze10 for a few seconds， then shook his head and went on stamping again. The door opened and a dozen gnomes with uniforms ran in. They grabbed11 Dennis and picked him up.

盖印人愣了一会儿，然后摇头继续盖章。这时候，门开了，一群穿着制服的小矮人冲进来，他们抓住丹尼斯并逮捕了他。

“Weve found you！Youre going to see Remmy.”

“终于找到你了，我们要带你去见雷米。”

“We had a deal， Dennis. Why did you leave your spot on the factory line？ It took us a long time to fix the mess you made，” Remmy said angrily12.

雷米愤怒地说：“我们之间说好的，丹尼斯。为什么你要离开你的工作岗位？我们花了很长时间来解决你制造的混乱。”

Dennis didnt know what to say. His eyes were feeling very heavy. He tried his best to keep his eyes open and listen but it was getting harder and harder. DC leaned over and whispered13 in his ear. “Let yourself fall asleep.”

丹尼斯不知道该说些什么，他感觉他的眼皮很重。他盡量睁开眼睛仔细听，但是眼皮越来越重。DC探过身子，在他耳边轻声说：“让自己睡着。”

“What？” Dennis whispered back.

“什么？”丹尼斯小声问道。

“Its the only way. I have your dream mixed here. If you fall asleep， he will force to talk to you inside your dream，” said DC.

“这是唯一的方式。我可以把你的梦境混合一下。如果你睡着了，他会强行在你的梦中与你说话。”DC说。

Inside his dream， Remmy was standing in an open field. He was larger than the other gnomes， with green eyes.

在梦中，雷米站在一片很开阔的场地中。他比其他的小矮人都要大很多，眼睛还是绿色的。

“Do you really think that you can battle me in a dream？ I am Remmy， master of all dreams and creator of nightmares14！” shouted Remmy.

“你以为你真能在梦境中和我抗争吗？我是雷米，是所有梦境的主人、噩梦的创造者！”雷米吼道。

“I just want to go home，” shouted Dennis. “I dont want to fight anyone.”

“我只是想回家，不想和任何人斗争。”丹尼斯大叫着。

“I decide where you go， and you are not leaving.” Shackles15 turned out of nowhere and locked around Dennis arms and legs.

“我才能决定你去哪，你不准离开。”手铐脚镣凭空出现，锁住了丹尼斯的手和脚。

“You see， you will never get away. I can do whatever I want here. I can even be bigger if I want！” Remmy was larger in size right before Dennis eyes.

“瞧，你永远逃不掉的。我可以为所欲为，只要我想我就可以变得无限大！”说着，雷米在丹尼斯的眼前变得更大了。

“What can you do？！” laughed Remmy.

“你能怎么办？”雷米嘲笑道。

“I can count wolves，” A wolf came out next to Dennis， shouting at Remmy.

“我可以数狼。”一匹狼出现在丹尼斯旁边，朝着雷米咆哮。

“Wolves？” asked Remmy with a bit of doubt in his voice.

“狼？”雷米带着疑惑问道。

“Yes， wolves，” answered Dennis.

“没错，狼。”丹尼斯回答道。

Wolves started coming out by the hundreds.

然后，数以百计的狼群出现了。

“What are you doing？！” cried Remmy， “Get them away from me！”

雷米喊道：“你在干什么？快把它们从我身边弄走。”

“Youve got to get out of here. Now its your chance. It looks like Remmy is stuck in a nightmare，” said DC.

“你得赶快离开，这是你的机会。雷米好像被噩梦困住了。”DC说。

Dennis ran straight out of the room and down the hallway. He came back. He pulled down the sock and climbed inside. Then， he took all the socks in his drawer， brought them outside into the garbage can outside.

丹尼斯径直跑出这个房间，沿着通道一直往下跑。他终于回来了。他拉下袜子，从通道里面爬出来，然后他从抽屉里把所有的袜子都拿出来，带到外面扔进垃圾桶里。

“Hi， Dennis， I told you a good news，” said DC， as he climbed up onto the bed. “Remmy is gone. Now that Im in charge of the factory！The funny thing about that is that the contract was never stamped. First time its ever happened.”

“你好呀，丹尼斯，我告诉你一个好消息。”DC一边说一边爬上床，“雷米不在了。现在我是这个工厂的主人！更有趣的一件事是，你的雇佣合同没有盖章，以前从来没发生过这种事情的。”

Dennis smiled and was ready to sleep. That night he dreamt of gnomes， and socks， and beautiful colors， and smelt of peppermint16.

丹尼斯笑了，然后去准备睡觉了。这个夜晚他梦到了很多小矮人、袜子，各种各样的颜色，还有淡淡的薄荷味。

（英语原文选自：freechildrenstories.com）

【Notes】

1. make mess 弄得一团糟，制造混乱

2. release  v. 释放;放开;发泄

3. tunnel  n. 隧道;坑道;洞穴通道

4. stamp  v. 标出;盖章于……

5. bother  vt. 烦扰，打扰;vi. 操心，麻烦;烦恼

6. employee contract劳动合同

7. approve  vt. 批准;赞成

8. irresponsible  adj. 不负责任的;不可靠的

9. silly  adj. 愚蠢的;不明事理的;没头脑的

10. freeze  v. （使）冻结;惊呆;使定格;僵硬

11. grab  v. 攫取;抓住

12. angrily  adv. 愤怒地

13. whisper  v. 耳语;私下说，密谈

14. nightmare  n. 恶梦;梦魇般的经历

15. shackle  n. 束缚;桎梏;脚镣

16. peppermint  n. 薄荷;胡椒薄荷;薄荷糖（等于mint）