1018

day 58

第一章

Here Comes Charlie

Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever get to taste a bit of chocolate. The whole family saved up their money for that special occasion, and when the great day arrived, Charlie was always presented with one small chocolate bar to eat all by himself. And each time he received it, on those marvellous birthday mornings, he would place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for the next few days, he would allow himself only to look at it, but never to touch it. Then at last, when he could stand it no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of the paper wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate, and then he would take a tiny nibble — just enough to allow the lovely sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue. The next day, he would take another tiny nibble, and so on, and so on. And in this way, Charlie would make his sixpenny bar of birthday chocolate last him for more than a month.

But I haven't yet told you about the one awful thing that tortured little Charlie, the lover of chocolate, more than anything else. This thing, for him, was far, far worse than seeing slabs of chocolate in the shop windows or watching other children munching bars of creamy chocolate right in front of him. It was the most terrible torturing thing you could imagine, and it was this:

In the town itself, actually within sight of the house in which Charlie lived, there was an ENORMOUS CHOCOLATE FACTORY!

Just imagine that!

And it wasn't simply an ordinary enormous chocolate factory, either. It was the largest and most famous in the whole world! It was WONKA'S FACTORY, owned by a man called Mr Willy Wonka, the greatest inventor and maker of chocolates that there has ever been. And what a tremendous, marvellous place it was! It had huge iron gates leading into it, and a high wall surrounding it, and smoke belching from its chimneys, and strange whizzing sounds coming from deep inside it. And outside the walls, for half a mile around in every direction, the air was scented with the heavy rich smell of melting chocolate!

Twice a day, on his way to and from school, little Charlie Bucket had to walk right past the gates of the factory. And every time he went by, he would begin to walk very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around him.

Oh, how he loved that smell!

And oh, how he wished he could go inside the factory and see what it was like!

-END-

每年，只有在他生日的那一天，查理·巴克特才能尝到那么一小块巧克力。为了这一特殊的时刻，全家人得勒紧裤带省下钱来，到了这个的日子，查理总能得到一小块巧克力独自享用。每当他在那些美妙的生日早晨得到那块巧克力以后，他总是小心地把它放到一只小木盒里，他对它宝贝极了，就好像那是一块金子。接下来的几天里，他只允许自己瞧瞧它，可决不去碰它。最后，直到自己再也熬不住时，他才揭开一点点巧克力包装纸，露出一点点巧克力，然后咬下那么一点点──刚够让舌头慢慢地品尝到那可爱的甜味。第二天，他再咬下那么一点点，就这样一天只吃一点点。这样的吃法，查理足足可以把他的这块只值六便士的生日巧克力吃上一个多月。

不过，我还没有告诉你们一件令小查理最难以忍受的事。小查理是这么爱吃巧克力，每当他看见商品橱窗里的巧克力，或是眼睁睁地看着其他孩子当着他的面大嚼奶油巧克力时，他就感到很不好受；可是最让他受不了，也是你们能想象的最折磨人的却是这么一件事：

在这座城里，确切地说，从查理住的房子里就能看到，有一座极大的巧克力工厂！

想想这是什么滋味吧！

更何况，这不是一座一般的巧克力工厂。它是世界上最大最有名的工厂！这就是旺卡工厂，是一个有史以来最伟大的巧克力发明家和制造商威利旺卡所开的工厂。它是一个巨大的、奇妙的工厂！门口有高大的铁门，四周高墙环绕，烟囱里喷出滚滚浓烟，厂子深处传出奇怪的嘘嘘声。围墙外面方圆半英里的地方都可以闻到一股浓郁的香味，那是融化了的巧克力的香味。

每天上学和放学，小查理两次路过这座工厂。每当经过工厂大门时，他就放慢脚步，走得很慢很慢，头仰得高高的，用鼻孔深深地深深地吸进周围那股芳香的巧克力香味。

噢，他是多么喜欢这股气味啊！

啊，他又是多么渴望能走进这家工厂，看看里面究竟是什么样子！