sixteen
and now the peach had broken out of the garden and was over the edge of the hill, rolling andbouncing down the steep slope at a terrific pace. faster and faster and faster it went, and the crowds ofpeople who were climbing up the hill suddenly caught sight of this terrible monster plunging downupon them and they screamed and scattered to right and left as it went hurtling by.
at the bottom of the hill it charged across the road, knocking over a telegraph pole and flattening twoparked cars as it went by.
then it rushed madly across about twenty fields, breaking down all the fences and hedges in its path.
it went right through the middle of a herd of fine jersey cows, and then through a flock of sheep, andthen through a paddock full of horses, and then through a yard full of pigs, and soon the wholecountryside was a seething mass of panic-stricken animals stampeding in all directions.
the peach was still going at a tremendous speed with no sign of slowing down, and about a milefarther on it came to a village.
down the main street of the village it rolled, with people leaping frantically out of its path right andleft, and at the end of the street it went crashing right through the wall of an enormous building and outthe other side, leaving two gaping round holes in the brickwork.
this building happened to be a famous factory where they made chocolate, and almost at once agreat river of warm melted chocolate came pouring out of the holes in the factory wall. a minute later,this brown sticky mess was flowing through every street in the village, oozing under the doors ofhouses and into people’s shops and gardens. children were wading in it up to their knees, and somewere even trying to swim in it and all of them were sucking it into their mouths in great greedy gulpsand shrieking with joy.
but the peach rushed on across the countryside – on and on and on, leaving a trail of destruction inits wake. cowsheds, stables, pigsties, barns, bungalows, hayricks, anything that got in its way wenttoppling over like a ninepin. an old man sitting quietly beside a stream had his fishing rod whisked outof his hands as it went dashing by, and a woman called daisy entwistle was standing so close to it as itpassed that she had the skin taken off the tip of her long nose.
would it ever stop?
why should it? a round object will always keep on rolling as long as it is on a downhill slope, and inthis case the land sloped downhill all the way until it reached the ocean – the same ocean that jameshad begged his aunts to be allowed to visit the day before.
well, perhaps he was going to visit it now. the peach was rushing closer and closer to it everysecond, and closer also to the towering white cliffs that came first.
these cliffs are the most famous in the whole of england, and they are hundreds of feet high. belowthem, the sea is deep and cold and hungry. many ships have been swallowed up and lost for ever onthis part of the coast, and all the men who were in them as well. the peach was now only a hundredyards away from the cliff – now fifty – now twenty – now ten – now five – and when it reached theedge of the cliff it seemed to leap up into the sky and hang there suspended for a few seconds, stillturning over and over in the air.
then it began to fall…
down…
down…
down…
down…
down…
smack! it hit the water with a colossal splash and sank like a stone.
but a few seconds later, up it came again, and this time, up it stayed, floating serenely upon thesurface of the water.
十六
这会儿，仙桃冲出园子，来到了小山边沿，滚着蹦着沿着山坡直奔而去，疾飞似的，叫人胆战心惊，而且越滚越快。朝山上爬来的人群，突然瞥见了有个叫人害怕的庞然大物朝身上砸来，都尖叫着躲向两边。仙桃滴溜溜滚了过去。
在山脚下面，仙桃跨过路面飞奔向前，撞倒了一根电线杆，压平了两辆小汽车。接着，仙桃疯也似的滚过了大约二十块农田，一路上，压倒了所有的栏杆和篱笆。它穿过一群良种泽西乳牛群，穿过一群绵羊，穿过满是马匹的驯马场，又穿过到处都是猪的院子。不一会儿，这一带乡村便沸腾起来，吓破了胆的牲畜纷纷朝四面八方逃窜。
然而，仙桃还在飞快地滚动，没有一丝停下来的迹象。又滚了一英里，来到了一个村子里。
仙桃从村子的大街上滚过，人们疯狂地左蹦右跳，给它让路。到了大街尽头，它迎面穿透了一座大房子墙壁，又从另一边滚出来，在墙上留下了两个张着大嘴的圆窟窿。
凑巧，这座房子是一家生产巧克力的著名工厂。于是，融化了的热气腾腾的巧克力糖浆，河流一样从工厂墙壁上喷涌出来。一分钟以后，黏黏糊糊的棕色糖浆，便流遍了村子的大街小巷，从房子门底下冒出来，流到人家的店铺和花园里。深及膝盖的糖浆里，孩子们蹚着玩，有些孩子还想在里面游泳呢。所有的孩子都贪婪地大口大口地吞食着糖浆，高兴地尖叫起来。
然而，仙桃还在乡下一带滚动着。它滚呀，滚呀，滚呀，后面留下的是累累伤痕。什么牛棚呀，马厩呀，猪圈呀，平房呀，草垛呀，一切的一切，只要挡住它的去路，就像九柱戏里的木柱一样，都给撞得东倒西歪。一个坐在河边钓鱼的老头儿，在仙桃过处，给碰掉了手里的鱼竿。仙桃路过的当儿，一个叫黛茜·恩威斯尔的女人站得很近，结果鼻子尖儿上给蹭去了一层皮。
仙桃停不住了吗？
怎么能停住呢？圆圆的东西，只要在斜斜的山坡上，就会一直滚下去。而实际上，那一带是一溜斜坡，一直到大海，也就是，詹姆斯前一天还央求两个姨妈带他去的地方。
喏，也许他这会儿要去那个地方啦。仙桃一秒钟一秒钟地接近大海，也越来越接近那些首先要碰到的巍然挺立的白色峭壁。
那些峭壁在全英国是最最有名的，足有几百英尺高。峭壁下方，是冰冷而饥饿的深海。
沿海岸这一带，有不少船只被吞没，船上的人也同归于尽了。这会儿，仙桃离峭壁只有一百码，只有五十码，只有二十码，只有十码，只有五码了，可是，到达峭壁时，仙桃却似乎跃入了天空，在天上停了几秒钟的工夫，仍然不停地转动着。
接着，仙桃开始往下落……
它落啊……
落啊……
落啊……
落啊……
落啊……
只听得“扑通”一声，仙桃碰到了海面，溅起了巨大的浪花，石头般地沉了下去。
然而，几秒钟以后，仙桃又浮出了水面。不过，这一次没有再沉下去，而是静静地漂浮在海面上。
