Ch5-Leave Now!

CHAPTER FIVE Leave Now! "Excuse me, young lady!" Mr. Nicolay said. "This is not a time for play." "I'm not playing, sir," said Annie as she and Jack stood at the front of the crowd. "We're friends of Tad and Willie's, and Willie just told us to come here to the president's office. He wants to introduce us to his dad."

第五章马上离开！“对不起，小姐！”尼古拉说。 “现在不是玩的时候。” “我不是在玩，先生，”安妮和杰克站在人群前面说。 “我们是泰德和威利的朋友，威利叫我们到总统办公室来。 他想把我们介绍给他爸爸。”

Mr. Nicolay scowled. "I'm afraid Mr. Willie misspoke. The president does not have time to meet you now," he said. "He is in a private meeting with delegates from California, Indiana, and Maine."

尼古拉皱起了眉头。“恐怕威利先生说错了。 总统现在没有时间会见你。” “他正在与来自加州、印第安纳州和缅因州的代表举行私人会议。”

"Maybe later, then?" said Annie. "Not maybe later," said Mr. Nicolay. "After this meeting he is scheduled to have a meeting with his generals, and then a meeting with the Department of the Navy." "Excuse me—" a man in the crowd called out. "But I heard the president say he'd like to meet us!" Jack broke in. "I can't imagine why he said that," said Mr. Nicolay, shaking his head. "Following all the meetings I just listed, President Lincoln will meet with foreign diplomats, then with a group of senators, and then with reporters from the New York Times." "Mr. Nicolay! Listen to me!" someone shouted. "So, sir," Annie interrupted, "you're saying he'll have no free time at all today?" "Oh, he might have a free moment," said Mr. Nicolay. "But should that miracle occur, the president will go for a horseback ride in the country—and have a private meeting with himself!" "Got it," said Annie. She took a deep breath. "Well, maybe you can just answer one question

“那么以后再说吧？”安妮说。 “也许以后不会，”尼古拉说。 “在这次会议之后，他计划与他的将军们开会，然后与海军部开会。” “对不起——”人群中的一个男人喊道。 “但是我听到总统说他想见我们！”杰克闯了进来。 “我无法想象他为什么这么说，”尼古拉摇着头说。 他说：“在我刚才列出的所有会晤之后，林肯总统将会见外国外交官，然后会见一群参议员，然后会见纽约时报的记者。” “Nicolay先生!听我说！”有人喊道。 “那么，先生，”安妮打断他说，“你是说他今天没有空闲时间？”“哦，他可能有空，”尼古拉说。 “但如果奇迹发生了，总统将去乡下骑马，并与自己举行一次私人会议！”“明白了，”安妮说。 她深吸了一口气。“好吧，也许你可以只回答一个问题

for us. Do you know if the president collects feathers?" Mr. Nicolay threw up his hands. "This is no time for silly questions," he said. "Our country is divided, young lady. We are on the brink of war." "What do you mean, sir?" one of the men in the crowd shouted. "What's the news from Fort Sumter?" "Yes! What do you know that we don't know?" a lady called. Everyone started shouting at once. "That's it! Leave now, everyone!" Mr. Nicolay said. "The president is busy! He works night and day for you and for the unity of this nation!" As the crowd shouted back at the secretary, Jack tugged on Annie's sleeve. "Let's get out of here," he said. "We should wait for Willie," said Annie. "I don't think Willie can help us," said Jack. "Come on. Let's go back to the tree house and look at our research book. Maybe we can think of something else." "Okay," said Annie, sighing.

对我们来说。你知道总统收集羽毛吗？”尼古拉先生举起双手。 “现在没有时间问愚蠢的问题，”他说。 “我们的国家分裂了，小姐。 我们正处于战争的边缘。” “你这是什么意思，先生？”人群中的一个男人喊道。 “萨姆特堡那边有什么消息吗？”“是啊!你知道什么我们不知道的？”一位女士喊道。 每个人都立刻大叫起来。 “就是它!大家马上离开！”尼古拉说。 “总统很忙！”他夜以继日地为你们工作，为这个国家的团结工作！”当人群冲着秘书喊回时，杰克拽了拽安妮的袖子。 “我们离开这里吧，”他说。 “我们应该等威利，”安妮说。 “我不认为威利能帮助我们，”杰克说。 “来吧。我们回到树屋看看我们的研究书吧。 也许我们可以想想别的办法。” “好吧，”安妮叹了口气说。

She and Jack hurried along the hallway, then down the stairs to the first floor. They wove through the crowd, then escaped out the main door. "Phew! That place is nuts!" said Jack as they walked between the tall white columns of the White House. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Willie?" said Annie. "I'm sure," said Jack. He hurried down the carriageway. "Even if Willie took us back to the office to meet his dad, we wouldn't be alone with the president. Lots of other people would be there, too. We couldn't ask him for a feather. And we sure couldn't give him any hope. Everyone would laugh." "You're right," said Annie. Jack shook his head. "How can the president even think in that place, with Tad jumping on him, his relatives visiting, his secretary yelling—" "And a thousand people scheduled to meet with him," said Annie. "And another thousand who are trying to meet with him!" said Jack.

她和杰克匆匆走过走廊，然后下了楼梯来到一楼。 他们穿过人群，然后从大门逃了出去。 “唷!那地方太疯狂了！”当他们走过白宫高耸的白色圆柱时，杰克说。 “你确定我们不用等威利吗？”安妮说。 “我肯定，”杰克说。他沿着行车道匆匆而下。 “即使威利带我们回办公室见他爸爸，我们也不会单独和总统在一起。 很多其他人也会去的。 我们不能向他要一根羽毛。 我们也不能给他任何希望。 每个人都会笑。”“你说得对，”安妮说。 杰克摇了摇头。“总统在那种地方怎么能思考呢，泰德扑在他身上，他的亲戚们来拜访他，他的秘书大喊大叫——”“还有一千人计划和他见面，”安妮说。 “还有一千人想要见他！”杰克说。

They had arrived back at the tree house. "Whew. No wonder the president needs to take a ride in the countryside by himself," Jack said. He grabbed the sides of the ladder. "Let's go up and look at the book." "Wait," said Annie. "I have a good idea." "What?" asked Jack. "Right now we really need to have our own meeting with Abraham Lincoln, alone," said Annie. "Right?" "Yes… so?" said Jack. "So if that's the one thing we need, our book can't really help," said Annie. "But I know something that can." "What?" said Jack. Annie reached into her apron pocket. She pulled out the bottle and read the label aloud: " 'Take a sip. Make a wish for one thing to help you on your mission. Remember: Trust the magic.'" Annie looked up at Jack. "So why don't we make a wish to have a private meeting with Abraham Lincoln?" "Isn't it too soon to use our only magic?" said Jack.

他们回到了树屋。 “呼。难怪总统需要自己去乡下兜风，”杰克说。 他抓住梯子的两边。 “我们上去看看这本书吧。” “等等，”安妮说。“我有个好主意。” “什么？”杰克问。“现在我们真的需要单独和亚伯拉罕·林肯开个会，”安妮说。 “对吧?”“是的……那又怎样？”杰克说。 “所以如果这是我们唯一需要的东西，我们的书也帮不上什么忙，”安妮说。 “但我知道有什么办法可以。” “什么？”杰克说。安妮把手伸进围裙口袋。 她拿出瓶子，大声读着标签：“喝一小口。 许个愿，让一件事帮你完成任务。 记住：相信魔法。’”安妮抬头看着杰克。 “那么，我们为什么不许个愿，和亚伯拉罕·林肯私下见面呢？”“现在使用我们唯一的魔法是不是太早了？”杰克说。