Ch4-Champion Mushers

CHAPTER FOUR Champion Mashers "Stay with me, boy!" Uncle Joe called after Oki. But the man's voice was lost in the excited barking of the huskies in the yard. "Excuse me, sir," Annie said. "What if we go with him?" "Annie—" said Jack, shaking his head.

第四章冠军击球手“跟着我，孩子！”乔叔叔在奥基后面喊。 但那人的声音被院子里哈士奇兴奋的吠声淹没了。 “对不起，先生，”安妮说。 “我们跟他一起去怎么样？”“安妮——”杰克摇着头说。

The man turned and looked at Annie and Jack as if noticing them for the first time. "Who are you?" he said. "Jack and Annie," said Annie. "We're friends of Oki's, and—and—we're champion mushers." What? thought Jack. Oki's uncle scowled. "Champion mushers? How can that be? You are very young."

那人转过身，看着安妮和杰克，好像是第一次注意到他们。 “你是谁？”他说。“杰克和安妮，”安妮说。 “我们是奥基的朋友，我们是冠军骑手。” 怎么啦？杰克想。奥基的叔叔皱起了眉头。 “冠军参赛的?这怎么可能呢？ 你太年轻了。”

"We are young," said Annie. "But we have great skills. Right, Jack?" She quickly added in a whisper, "Gold dust." Oh, right, thought Jack. He nodded. "We heard that lives were in danger here," said Annie. "So we came from the United States to help." "Help how?" said Oki's uncle. "Take a team of sled dogs and help get the medicine here," said Annie. "Right, Jack?" Jack took a deep breath. He was a little nervous about losing their way and freezing to death, but he nodded again. "We really want to help you," Annie said to Oki's uncle. The man stared at them for a moment, his face lined with grief. "I don't know what to do," he said. "I lost my wife and my two children seven years ago in the flu epidemic. Nome lost more than a thousand people then. I fear it is about to happen again." Tears started down the man's craggy face.

“我们还年轻，”安妮说。 “但我们有很棒的技能。 吧,杰克?”她很快又小声说了一句：“金粉。” 哦，对了，杰克想。他点了点头。 “我们听说这里有生命危险，”安妮说。 “所以我们从美国赶来帮忙。” “怎么帮？”奥基的叔叔说。 “带一队雪橇狗来帮忙把药弄到这里来，”安妮说。 “对,杰克?”杰克深吸了一口气。 他有点担心迷路而冻死，但他又点了点头。 “我们真的很想帮助你，”安妮对奥基的叔叔说。 那人盯着他们看了一会儿，脸上满是悲伤。 “我不知道该怎么办，”他说。 “七年前，我在流感疫情中失去了妻子和两个孩子。 当时没有一个城市损失了一千多人。 我担心这将再次发生。” 泪水从那人嶙峋的脸上流下来。

Jack was stunned. More than a thousand people died? "That won't happen again," Jack vowed. "We'll do everything we can." "Thank you. But please leave my nephew here," said the man. "Do not let him go. Oki and his mother and sister are all I have." "Don't worry. We won't let him go," said Jack. "Take my team. They are good dogs," said Oki's uncle. "They have traveled the trail hundreds of times, delivering mail with me." "We promise we'll take good care of them," said Annie. "Thank you." The man bowed his head. "Thank you." Then he turned and hobbled with his crutch back into his room. Annie took a deep breath. "This is a good plan," she said to Jack. "Right?" "Right," he said. He hoped it was a good plan. He felt terrible for Oki and his uncle. "Gold dust?" said Annie.

杰克惊呆了。一千多人死亡？ “这种事不会再发生了。”杰克发誓。 “我们会尽我们所能。” “谢谢。但是请把我的侄子留在这里。” 不要容他去。Oki和他的妈妈和妹妹是我的全部。” “别担心。我们不会让他走的。”杰克说。 “以我的团队为例。它们是好狗，”奥基的叔叔说。 “他们已经走过这条路几百次了，和我一起送邮件。” “我们保证会好好照顾他们，”安妮说。 “谢谢你。”那人低下了头。 “谢谢你。”然后他转过身，拄着拐杖一瘸一拐地回到自己的房间。 安妮深吸了一口气。“这是个好计划，”她对杰克说。 “对吧?”“对，”他说。 他希望这是个好计划。 他为奥基和他叔叔感到难过。 “金粉？”安妮说。

Jack took off his mitten, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the tiny gold box. He pried open the lid and stared at the glittering dust inside. "It's so beautiful," breathed Annie. Jack poured a bit of the gold dust into the palm of his bare hand. "We wish to be champion dog mushers to save lives," he whispered. Then he tossed the dust into the air. The room filled with a sparkling gold light. The light gathered around Jack and Annie, then quickly faded away. Jack felt a rush of energy. "Wow!" said Annie, grinning. "I'm ready to hit the trail. Are you?" "Yep!" said Jack. "Sure am." He laughed. "Quick, before Oki leaves with the dogs," said Annie. She started for the door. "Wait," said Jack. "The magic works for twelve hours." He looked at a clock on the wall. It was eight-thirty. "We have to be back by eight-thirty tomorrow morning. No later." "Got it!" said Annie. Then the two of them hurried out of the shack into the freezing night.

杰克摘下手套，把手伸进口袋，拿出了那个小小的金盒子。 他撬开盖子，盯着里面闪闪发光的灰尘。 “太美了，”安妮轻声说。 杰克把一点金粉倒在他的手掌上。 “我们希望成为拯救生命的冠军雪橇狗，”他低声说。 然后他把尘土抛向空中。 房间里闪烁着金光。 光线聚集在杰克和安妮的周围，然后很快消失了。 杰克感到一阵能量的涌动。 “哇！”安妮笑着说。 “我已经准备好上路了。 是你呢?”“是的！”杰克说。 “当然。”他笑了。“快，在奥基带着狗离开之前，”安妮说。 她朝门口走去。“等等，”杰克说。 “魔法可以持续12个小时。” 他看了看墙上的钟。 八点半了。“我们必须在明天早上八点半之前回来。 不晚。”“明白了！”安妮说。 然后他们俩匆匆走出小屋，走进冰冷的黑夜。

The huskies were whining and leaping around the moonlit pen as Oki tried to buckle them into their harnesses. "Be still!" he commanded. "Be still!" "Wait, Oki!" said Jack. Wrestling with a dog, Oki looked up at Jack. "Annie and I will look for Gunnar Kaasen!" said Jack. "Your uncle wants us to take the team by ourselves." "By yourselves?" said Oki. "Yes!" said Annie. "You have to stay here. He can't risk losing you." "But how will you do this?" said Oki. "You don't know the dogs or the trail." "We have great skills," said Jack. "And we trust the dogs. Your uncle told us they've traveled the trail hundreds of times." "Yes…but—" said Oki. "Good! Then our job is just to help them do their job," said Annie. "And your job, Oki, is to stay with your uncle and be near your sister and mother," said Jack.

那些哈士奇在月光下的围栏里呜呜叫着，跳来跳去，奥基试图给它们系上挽具。 “别动！”他命令道。“还是!”“等等，奥基！”杰克说。 与狗搏斗时，奥基抬头看着杰克。 “安妮和我去找加纳·卡森！”杰克说。 “你叔叔想让我们自己带队。” “你们自己？”Oki说。 “是的!”安妮说。“你必须留在这里。 他不能冒失去你的风险。” “但是你要怎么做呢？”Oki说。 “你不认识那些狗，也不了解那条路。” “我们有很好的技术，”杰克说。 “我们相信狗。你叔叔告诉我们他们已经走过这条路几百次了。” “是的……但是——”奥基说。“好!然后我们的工作就是帮助他们完成他们的工作，”安妮说。 “而你的工作，奥基，就是和你叔叔待在一起，和你姐姐和妈妈待在一起。”杰克说。