# ■ 3 Wings

The next day was very wet. It rained all day and the children could not go to see the Psammead. They stayed at home and wrote letters to their mother. But none of them told her about the Psammead. And the day after that， their Uncle Richard came and took them out，so they did not see the Psammead for two days. But Anthea spent a lot of time think-ing about what to wish for.

The next morning， while Martha was busy with Baby， the children left the house quietly and went to see the Psammead. On the way， Anthea said to the others，' I know what we can ask for—— wings！'

The others were silent for a minute， but then they all agreed that they too would like to have wings.

They found the Psammead easily. ' I wish we all had beauti-ful wings to fly with，'Anthea said.

The Psammead made itself very big and then went small again. The children felt strange for a minute and when they looked， they saw that they had beautiful soft wings of many colours. They moved them about and jumped up and down， and soon they could see the green fields and sunny woodsbelow them and the blue sky above. They could fly！ It was wonderful， and they flew over the woods and trees， the townsand villages， for a long time. But they began to get hungry.

Just then they saw below them some trees full of large red plums. ' We mustn't steal，'Cyril said.

We've got wings，'Jane answered quickly，' so we're birds. It's all right for birds to take things. Birds can't steal. '

So they flew down onto the trees， and they ate as many of the plums as they could.

They were finishing the plums when they saw a very angry little fat man，who was hurrying through the trees. They were his plums and the poor man thought that boys from the village were stealing them. But when he saw that the children had wings， his mouth fell open and his face went green. Anthea did not want to steal anything，of course， so she flew down and pushed some money into his pocket.

Don't be afraid，'she said. ' We've had some of your plums. We thought that it wasn't stealing， but now I'm not so sure. So that was some money to pay for them. '

The little man sat there on the ground and looked up into the sky. 'Talking birds！ Children with wings！ This is a lesson for me. From now on，I'm going to live a better life，'he said. And he went into the house and was very kind to his wife.

Plums are very nice， of course， but you soon feel hungry again. So the children stopped first at one house，then another， to ask for something to eat. They didn't get anything because everyone was afraid of them and screamed and ran away when they saw them. By four o'clock they were getting very tired and hungry，so they flew down onto the roof of a church，to think what to do.

We can't possibly fly all the way home without something to eat，'said Robert.

In the end they decided to take some food from the vicar's house next to the church.

He's a good man. He'll understand. We'll leave some money for the food，'Cyril said，'and a note saying that we're sorry. '

Cyril got in through the window and gave the food to the others， who were outside. There was some cold meat， half a cold chicken， some bread and a bottle of soda-water. Then they all flew back up onto the church roof to eat it. They were very hungry， so they really enjoyed it. But when you are very hungry， and then you eat a big meal and sit in the hot sun on a roof， it is very easy to fall asleep. And so they did— while the sun slowly went down in the west.

They slept for a long time. When they woke up it was dark —and，of course， they had no wings.

We must get home，'Cyril said. ' There's a door over there. That's the way down. '

But when they tried the door，they found that it was locked from the other side. They were on top of the church and they had no wings！ How were they going to get down？

Anthea put her arm round Jane， who was beginning to cry. 'It will only be for one night，'she said.

Then Cyril said，'I know. Let's shout！ The lights are on inthe vicar's house. Someone will hear us and get us down. '

So they shouted and screamed as loudly as they could， and the people in the house heard them. The vicar ran out with his servant.

Someone is murdering somebody in the church！'the vicar said， afraid. 'Perhaps it's the thief who stole the cold chicken and things. '

But they could not understand why the voices were coming from the sky. So the children shouted，' We're up here —on top of the church！'

The two men were still afraid，but，slowly and carefully，they went up the stairs inside the church. When they came to the top， the vicar shouted through the closed door，'How many of you are there？ Have you got guns？'

There are four of us，and， no， we haven't got guns，'Cyril answered.

Slowly， the vicar opened the door.

Good Heavens！'he cried. 'They're children！'

Oh， please take us down，'cried Jane.

So the vicar and his servant took them down and into the vicar's house. Of course， the vicar wanted to know why the children were on the church roof.

We went up there because we wanted to see what it was like，'said Cyril. 'But then we couldn't get down again be-cause the door was locked. 'He didn't say anything about the wings，of course.

But who locked the door？'the vicar asked.

We don't know，'Jane answered. ' But we're not telling you everything. '

Ah！ There's a friend in it， then，'said the vicar's servant man， who was called Beale.

Yes， but we can't tell you about him，' said Anthea， think-ing of the Psammead. ' We really are very sorry， and please，can we go home now？ '

The vicar still did not understand，but he was a kind man， so he sent the children home in a carriage with his servant. Martha，of course， was very angry with them， but Mr Beale explained everything very well. He was a good-looking young man with a nice smile，and after a while Martha forgot to be angry.

So the day ended happily after all.

■ 3 翅膀

第二天外面很溼。雨下了一天，孩子們不能去看賽米德。他們呆在家裡給母親寫信。可誰也沒把賽米德的事告訴她。又過了一天，他們的理查德叔叔來了並帶他們出去了，所以他們兩天沒見賽米德。可安西婭花了很多時間想她該許些什麼願。

再一天的早上，馬莎正忙著照顧小弟弟時，孩子們悄悄離開家去看賽米德。在路上安西婭對大家說：“我知道我們希望要什麼了——翅膀！”

一時別人都沒說話，可然後他們都贊成，他們也願意長出翅膀。

他們沒費勁就找到了賽米德。“我希望我們都有美麗的、可以用以飛翔的翅膀，”安西婭說。

賽米德把自己變得非常大，然後又變小。一時孩子們覺得有些異樣，可當他們一看，他們看見自己已長出了五顏六色的、軟軟的、美麗的翅膀。他們拍著翅膀跳上跳下，很快看見他們下方綠色的田野和陽光照耀著的小樹林以及上方蔚藍色的天空。他們會飛了！這太棒了。他們飛過樹林、城鄉，飛了好久。可他們開始餓了。

正在這時他們看見下面有些樹，樹上滿是又大又紅的李子。“我們可不能偷啊。”西里爾說。

“我們長了翅膀，”簡很快地答道，“所以我們就是鳥。鳥拿點東西沒關係。鳥不會偷。”

所以他們飛下來落在樹上，盡情地大吃李子。

他們正要吃完的時候，突然看見一個非常生氣的小矮胖子。他正急急忙忙地在樹間穿梭。那是他的李子，那可憐的人認為是村裡的孩子們在偷他的李子。但是當他看見這幾個孩子長著翅膀時，他張大了嘴巴，臉色蒼白。安西婭當然不願偷東西，所以她飛下來把一些錢塞在他兜裡。

“別怕，”她說，“我們吃了你的一些李子。我們起初覺得這不是偷，可現在我也不敢那麼肯定。所以那是付給你的些李子錢。”

那個胖子坐在那兒地上，仰望著天空。“會說話的鳥！長翅膀的孩子！這對我可是一課。從今以後，我要過得好點兒，”他說。他進房裡去，對他的妻子很和藹。

李子當然很好吃，可很快你就又餓了，所以孩子們在一幢又一幢房子前停下來，想要些東西吃。他們什麼也沒得到，因為所有的人見到他們時都很害怕，尖叫著跑開了。到4點時他們變得又累又餓，於是就飛落在教堂的屋頂上，想想怎麼辦。

“我們要是沒有東西吃，就不可能飛回家去。”羅伯特說。

最後他們決定從緊挨著教堂的牧師家裡拿些食物。

“他是好人。他會理解的。我們留些食品錢，”西里爾說，“再留張便條說我們很抱歉。”

西里爾從窗子進去，把食物拿給在外邊的其他孩子。有些冷肉、半隻冷雞、一些麵包和一瓶汽水。然後他們全飛回到教堂房頂上吃起來。他們很餓，所以吃得很香。可是當你很餓的時候大吃了一頓、又在屋頂上晒著太陽時，那是很容易睡著的。他們就睡著了——這時太陽慢慢地從西邊落下去。

他們睡了好長時間。他們醒來的時候天黑了——當然了，他們也沒有翅膀了。

“我們得回家了。”西里爾說，“那兒有個門。那是下去的路。”

可他們試著開門時才發現門是從另一面鎖上的。他們在教堂頂上，又沒有了翅膀！他們怎麼下去呢？

安西婭用單臂挽住簡，簡這時已開始哭起來了。“只不過呆一夜，”她說。

接著西里爾說：“我知道了。我們喊吧！牧師的家裡有燈光。會有人聽見並幫我們下去的。”

所以他們用最大的聲音喊叫起來，房子裡的人聽見了他們的叫聲。牧師和他的僕人跑了出來。

“教堂裡有人在殺人！”牧師害怕地說，“可能是偷了冷雞和別的東西的小偷。”

可他們不明白為什麼聲音是從空中傳來的。於是孩子們就嚷：“我們在這兒——在教堂頂上！”

這兩個人還很害怕，可他們慢慢地、小心地從教堂內的樓梯走上來。當他們到了頂上時，牧師在鎖著的門的另一邊叫道：“你們幾個人？有槍嗎？”

“我們四個人；沒有，我們沒有槍。”西里爾回答。

牧師慢慢地打開門。

“天哪！”他叫道，“是些孩子！”

“哦，請帶我們下去吧。”簡哭著說。

牧師和他的僕人帶他們下來，進了牧師屋裡。當然嘍，牧師想知道孩子們為什麼在教堂頂上。

“我們上那兒去是因為我們想看看那是什麼樣子。”西里爾說，“可是我們下不來了，因為門被鎖上了。”關於翅膀的事他當然什麼都沒說。

“可誰鎖的門？”牧師問。

“不知道。”簡說，“可我們不會把一切都告訴你的。”

“啊！那麼是有個朋友參與其中吧。”牧師的男僕說。他叫比伊爾。

“是的，可我們不能告訴你他的事。”安西婭說，想起了賽米德。“我們真的非常抱歉；還有，請問，我們可以回家了嗎？”

牧師仍然不明白，可是他是個好心的人，所以他讓僕人用馬車送孩子們回家。馬莎當然十分生他們的氣，可是比伊爾先生把事情解釋得很好。他是個漂亮的、臉上帶著愉快的笑容的青年，不一會兒馬莎就忘了生氣了。

所以，這一天總算快樂地結束了。