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uching the surface。
〃there it is。〃
he thrust in a hand and pulled it out in his closed fist。
〃two of them together；〃 he cried。 〃look。 two of them； on top of each other。〃
〃why ？〃 asked maria…nunziata。
〃male and female stuck together；〃 said libereso。 〃look what they are doing。〃 and he tried to put the frogs into maria…nunziatas hand。 maria…nunziata wasnt sure if she was frightened because they were frogs； or because they were male and female stuck together。
〃leave them alone；〃 she said。 〃you mustnt touch them。〃
〃male and female；〃 repeated libereso。 〃theyre making tadpoles。〃 a cloud passed over the sun。 suddenly maria…nunziata began to feel anxious。
〃its late。 the signoras sure to be looking for me。〃
but she did not go。 instead they went on wandering around though the sun did not e out again。 and then he found a snake： it was a tiny little snake behind a hedge of bamboo。 libereso wound it round his arm and stroked its head。
〃once i used to train snakes。 i had a dozen of them； one was long and yellow； a water snake。 but it shed its skin and escaped。 look at this one opening its mouth； look how its tongue is forked。 stroke it； it wont bite。〃
but maria…nunziata was frightened of snakes too。 then they went to the rock pool。 first he showed her the fountains； and opened all the jets； which pleased her very much。 then he showed her the goldfish。 it was a lonely old goldfish； and its scales were already whitening。 at last； maria…nunziata liked the goldfish。 libereso began to move his hands round in the water to catch it； it was very difficult； but when hed caught it maria…nunziata could put it in a bowl and keep it in the kitchen。 he managed to catch it； but didnt take it out of the water in case it suffocated。
〃put your hands clown here； stroke it；〃 said libereso。 〃you can feel it breathing； it has fins like paper and scales that prickle。 not much though。〃
but maria…nunziata did not want to stroke the fish either。
in the petunia bed the earth was very soft； and libereso dug about with his fingers and pulled out some long； soft worms。
but maria…nunziata ran away with little shrieks。
〃put your hand here；〃 said libereso； pointing to the trunk of an old peach tree。 maria…nunziata did not understand why； but she put her hand there； then she screamed and ran to dip it in the pool。 for when she had pulled her hand away it was covered with ants。 the peach tree was a mass of them； tiny black 〃argentine〃 ants。
〃look；〃 said libereso and put a hand on the trunk。 the ants could be seen crawling over his hand but he didnt brush them off。
〃why ？〃 asked maria…nuuziata。 〃why are you letting yourself get covered with ants ？〃
his hand was now quite black； and they were crawling up his wrist。
〃take your hand away；〃 moaned maria…nunziata。 〃youll get them all over you。〃
the ants were crawling up his naked arm； and had already reached his elbow。
now his whole arm was covered with a veil of moving black dots； they reached his armpit but he did not brush them off。
〃get rid of them； libereso。 put your arm in water！〃
libereso laughed； some ants now even crawling from his neck on to his face。
〃libereso！ ill do whatever you like！ ill accept all those presents you gave me。〃
she threw her arms round his neck and started to brush off the ants。
smiling his brown and white smile； libereso took his hand away from the tree and began nonchalantly dusting his arm。 but he was obviously touched。
〃very well； then； ill give you a really big present； ive decided。 the biggest present i can。〃
〃whats that ？〃
〃a hedgehog。〃
〃mammamia！ the signora！ the signoras calling me！〃
maria…nunziata had just finished washing the dishes when she heard a pebble beat against the window。 underneath stood libereso with a large basket。
〃maria…nunziata； let me in。 i want to give you a surprise。〃
〃no； you cant e up。 what have you got there ？〃
but at that moment the signora rang the bell； and maria…nunziata vanished。
when she returned to the kitchen； libereso was no longer to be seen。 neither inside the kitchen or underneath the window。 maria…nunziata went up to the sink。 then she saw the surprise。
on every plate she had left to dry there was a crouctfing frog； a snake was coiled up inside a saucepan； there was a soup bowl full of lizards； and slimy snails were making iridescent streaks all over the glasses。 in the basin full of water swam the lonely old goldfish。
maria…nunziata stepped back； but between her feet she saw a great big toad。 and behind it were five little toads in a line； taking little hops towards her across the black and white tiled floor。
．．
迷人的花园
小！说
作者：卡尔维诺
译者：阮一峰
吉尔凡尼罗和赛瑞娜沿着铁路线散步。脚下是波光粼粼、沉郁碧蓝的大海；头上是片片白云、明净的天空。炽热的铁轨闪着微光。在铁道旁散步有很多乐趣，可以玩很多游戏——他和她手拉手走在两根并排的铁轨上，尽力不掉下来；或者一起从一根枕木跳到另一根上，脚不能落在枕木之间的石块上。吉尔凡尼罗和赛瑞娜本来是出来捉螃蟹的，现在他们决定沿铁路线一直走到隧道，去考察一下。吉尔凡尼罗喜欢和赛瑞娜一起玩，因为她和别的女孩不一样，不会被玩笑吓坏或者弄哭了。每当吉尔凡尼罗说“去那里”或者“这么做”，赛瑞娜总是没有意见地服从。
乒！他们同时抬头张望。一根电话线从电线杆上掉下来，断开了，听起来就象一只铁鹳突然关上它的长嘴巴。他们聚精会神地注视着。没看见这一幕多可惜呀！现在，它可不会再发生了。
“有火车来了，” 吉尔凡尼罗说。
赛瑞娜并没有从铁轨上下来。“哪儿？”她问。
吉尔凡尼罗经验十足地看看四周。他指着黑洞洞的隧道，那里面原来清清楚楚，才一会就被从石头上升腾的无形的热汽搞得一片模糊。
“那边，” 吉尔凡尼罗说。他们好象已经听到了从黑暗的隧道里，传来的一声喷气声，好象看见喷着火和烟的火车突然出现在他们面前，车轮吞噬着铁轨朝他们猛冲过来。
“我们怎么办，吉尔凡尼罗？”
从这儿直到海边都长着巨大的灰芦荟，周围是密不透风的荨麻，沿着山坡向上是一道蔓延的树篱，上面长满浓密的树叶却没有花朵。现在还没有火车的迹象；也许虽然它还在行驶，但已拉上了刹车，在来到他们面前时，突然停下来。不过吉尔凡尼罗已经在树篱下发现了一个口子。“这边，”他叫道。
树篱下是一根弯曲的旧铁轨做的栅栏，有一段扭曲了，就象白纸卷起了一个边角。吉尔凡尼罗钻进了这个洞里，一半已经看不见了。
“帮我一把，吉尔凡尼罗。”
他们发现来到了一个花园的角落里，脚下就是一个花坛，头发上沾满了干树叶和苔藓。周围一片静寂；没有一片树叶在晃动。
“来吧，” 吉尔凡尼罗说，赛瑞娜点头作为回答。
这里有巨大的肉色老桉树和弯弯曲曲的石子路。吉尔凡尼罗和赛瑞娜掂起脚尖在路上走，留心不破坏路上的石子。万一主人突然出现呢？
每件东西都是那么漂亮：狭窄的拐角，高高的弯曲的桉树叶和条块状的天空；但一想到这并非他们的花园，说不定什么时候就会被赶走，不免让人提心吊胆。但没有任何动静。在一个拐角，叽叽喳喳的麻雀从一丛杨梅上飞上了天空。然后一切又恢复了安静。也许它是一个被废弃的花园呢？
大树的树荫到头了，他们发现自己处在开阔的天空下，面前的花坛里是排列整齐的牵牛花类植物，前面是道路、栏杆和一排排的黄杨树。花园的尽头是一幢别墅，闪光的窗玻璃后面是橘黄色的窗帘。
真是安静极了。两个孩子小心地踩着石子，爬着前进，也许窗户会突然打开，生气的小姐和先生出现在阳台上，放出大狗冲过来。他们看见一辆手推车停在水渠旁。吉尔凡尼罗抓起它的把手，把它推在前面，每动一下，它就吱吱嘎嘎得好象在吹口哨。赛瑞娜坐在车里，他们缓慢的前进，吉尔凡尼罗沿着花坛和喷泉，推着她和车。
每当赛瑞娜时不时指着一朵花，压低了声音说：“那朵”， 吉尔凡尼罗就放下手推车，采下它，交给她。一会她就有了一束美丽的花。
渐渐地走完了石子路，他们来到一块铺着砖头和灰泥板的空地。中间有一个巨大的空的长方形：一个游泳池。他们爬到池边，池中注满清水，蓝色的瓷砖砌成了一排排蓝线。泡在这里面该是多美的一件事啊！
“我们下去吗？” 吉尔凡尼罗问赛瑞娜。如果他不直接说“下去”，而是问她的话，那就表明这是一个相当危险的主意。但池水是那样清澈碧蓝，赛瑞娜一点也不害怕。她跳下手推车，把她的花束放在里面。他们本来穿的就是可以下水的衣服，因为直到刚才他们还是出来捉螃蟹的。吉尔凡尼罗跳了进去，不是从跳水板，而是池边，因为担心水花声太大。他慢慢地往下潜，眼睛睁得大大的，只看见从瓷砖上映出的蓝色。他粉红的手掌就好象金鱼。这里和海水下不一样，那里都是不定形的黑绿色的阴影。一个粉色的影子出现在他的上方：赛瑞娜！他拉起她的手，他们浮出水面，心里慌慌张张的。不，根本就没有人看见他们，但是这一切也并非象他们刚才想象得那么美好；他们总是有种不舒服的感觉，他们没有使用这些的权利，也许说不定什么时候就会被赶走。
他们从水里爬出来，发现在游泳池旁有一张乒