THE TAILOR OF GLOUCESTER（6）

Whenever the tailor muttered and talked in his sleep, Simpkin said “Miaw-ger-r-w-s-s-ch!” and made strange horrid¹ noises, as cats do at night.
For the poor old tailor was very ill with a fever, tossing and turning in his four-post bed; and still in his dreams he mumbled— “No more twist! no more twist!”
All that day he was ill, and the next day, and the next; and what should become of the cherry-coloured coat? In the tailor’s shop in Westgate Street the embroidered² silk and satin lay cut out upon the table — one-and-twenty button-holes — and who should come to sew them, when the window was barred, and the door was fast locked?
But that does not hinder the little brown mice; they run in and out without any keys through all the old houses in Gloucester!
Out of doors the market folks went trudging³ through the snow to buy their geese and turkeys, and to bake their Christmas pies; but there would be no Christmas dinner for Simpkin and the poor old Tailor of Gloucester.
The tailor lay ill for three days and nights; and then it was Christmas Eve, and very late at night. The moon climbed up over the roofs and chimneys, and looked down over the gateway⁴ into College Court. There were no lights in the windows, nor any sound in the houses; all the city of Gloucester was fast asleep under the snow.
And still Simpkin wanted his mice, and he mewed as he stood beside the four-post bed.
But it is in the old story that all the beasts can talk, in the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the morning (though there are very few folk that can hear them, or know what it is that they say).

当裁缝在睡梦中喃喃自语的时候，辛普金就会“喵——呼噜噜”地叫，并发出可怕的怪
音。
可怜的裁缝病了，发着烧，摇头晃脑，在床上翻来覆去，咕哝着梦话：“没有捻线了！
没有捻线了！”
裁缝病了一整天。第二天，第三天，都没有好转。接下来，那件樱桃色外套怎么办
呢？在西门大街的裁缝店里，裁好的绣花绸缎摆在工作台上，还有二十一个纽扣扣眼。但
是，窗户已经关上，门也已经锁上，谁来接着缝制这件外套呢？
门窗锁了，也锁不住棕色的小老鼠呀，他们不用任何钥匙就能在格洛斯特的所有老房
子里自由出入！
大街上，赶集的人们踩着雪去买鹅和火鸡，准备烤制圣诞馅饼。可是，辛普金和可怜
的裁缝将不会有圣诞节的晚餐了。
裁缝病了，在床上躺了整整三天。这时，已是圣诞节前一天的深夜。月亮已经爬上屋
顶和烟囱，俯视着大学校园的大门。整个格洛斯特市在大雪中沉睡。屋里一片黑暗，寂静
无声。只有辛普金仍然对那些老鼠念念不忘，在床前喵喵地叫着。
不过，根据一个古老的传说，在圣诞节前夜到圣诞节早上这段时间，所有的动物都能
开口说话，虽然几乎没有人能听到或听懂他们说些什么。