21-THE SECRET OF A NOBLEMOUSE

THE SECRET OF A NOBLEMOUSE Before we could stop him, Trap raced down the stairs leading to the basement. A little wooden door slammed shut behind him. "That's it!" I squeaked. "I've had enough of this! We're leaving!" I grabbed Benjamin's paw and headed for the door. "For once you're right, big brother. Let's go!" my sister agreed. "I've got enough pictures for my story anyway." SQUEEEEEAK!

一只高贵老鼠的秘密我们还没来得及阻止他，特拉普就跑下了通往地下室的楼梯。 一扇小木门在他身后砰地关上了。 “就是这样!”我发出“吱吱”的响声。“我受够了!”我们离开!”我抓住本杰明的爪子朝门口走去。 “这一次你说对了，大哥。 我们走吧!”姐姐同意了。 “反正我有足够的照片来写我的故事。” SQUEEEEEAK !

Suddenly, a deafening scream made our fur curl. I threw open the door to the cellar. "Trap! Trap! What happened?" I squeaked. My cousin came running up the stairs. He was covered in inky black soot. "I found it, I found it!" he shouted, bouncing up and down like a basketball in the New Mouse City Cross Island Tournament. He danced a jig right there on the steps. Then he pointed to a wooden trunk. The initials on it read T.V.T. "Look, I found this trunk right next to a big basket of coal," he whooped.

突然，一声震耳欲聋的尖叫把我们吓得毛骨悚然。 我猛地打开地窖的门。 “陷阱!陷阱!发生了什么事?”我发出“吱吱”的响声。 我的表弟跑上了楼梯。 他浑身都是墨黑的煤烟。 “我找到了，我找到了!”他喊道，像新老鼠城跨岛锦标赛上的篮球一样跳上跳下。 他就在台阶上跳吉格舞。 然后他指着一个木头箱子。 上面的首字母是T.V.T. “看，我在一大篮煤旁边发现了这个箱子，”他叫道。

"T.V.T. It has to be Trip von Trappen's!" Hopping up and down with excitement, he opened the trunk and peered inside. He took out a small picture of a chubby mouse with curly whiskers. I had to admit, he did sort of look like my cousin. Trap dug deeper inside the trunk. "Wow! Look at this!" he cried, pulling out a faded old letter. He cleared his throat and began to read solemnly: "In the year 1605, during the Age of the Rat, under the rule of the Most Excellent, Most Noble, Most Magnificent Grand Duchess Cheesey Lou Linda, the title of Noblemouse is hereby given to Trip von Trappen..." Trap stopped reading. He let out a loud sigh. "Just a noblemouse?"

“T.V.T.一定是特里普·冯·特拉彭的!”他兴奋得跳上跳下，打开箱子往里看。 他拿出一张小照片，上面是一只长着卷曲胡须的胖乎乎的老鼠。 我不得不承认，他确实有点像我的堂兄。 陷阱在树干里挖得更深了。 “哇!看这个!”他叫道，掏出一封褪了色的旧信。 他清了清嗓子，开始庄严地宣读:“在1605年，鼠王时代，在最杰出、最高贵、最伟大的奶酪女大公卢·琳达的统治下，特授予特里普·冯·特拉朋贵族鼠的称号……” 陷阱停止了阅读。他大声叹了口气。 “只是一只高贵的老鼠?”

he whined. "I was hoping for something a little more regal. Like a duke or a baron or something." I chuckled. Trap was so into this royalty stuff. I'm surprised he hadn't started to wear a crown on his head! My cousin continued reading. "The title of Noblemouse is hereby given to Trip von Trappen, famous throughout the land for his services as a—" All of sudden, Trap turned as pale as a mouse who just swallowed a whole tray of rat poison. He began to sweat. He rolled up the letter and tucked it into his pocket. "Wait a minute! You haven't finished reading," Thea pointed out. My cousin just shook his head. "Never mind, I'll read it to you later," he coughed. Of course, my sister did not like to be put

他嘟哝道。“我希望看到一些更帝王的东西。 像公爵或男爵之类的。” 我咯咯地笑了。特拉普对皇室很感兴趣。 我很惊讶他还没有开始在头上戴王冠!表妹继续读。 "贵人鼠的称号授予特里普·冯·特拉彭，他的服务在全国闻名"突然间，特拉普脸色苍白，就像一只刚吞下一整盘老鼠药的老鼠。 他开始出汗。他把信卷起来塞进口袋里。 “等一下!”你还没读完呢。”西娅指出。 我表弟只是摇了摇头。 “没关系，我一会儿读给你听。”他咳嗽着说。 当然，我妹妹不喜欢这样

off. She leaped to her feet. "What does it say, Trap?" she squeaked, "Put your paws down! Let me see!" She reached for the letter, but my cousin pushed her away. Soon the two were wrestling on the cellar floor. I shook my head. Why did they always have to act like a couple of cranky mouslets? It was so embarrassing! Once I had to pull them apart at my poor Uncle Chester's funeral My sister had insisted that Uncle Chester had liked her best. Naturally, Trap disagreed, and a fight broke out. This time, I decided I wasn't going to get involved. Eventually, Thea got her paws on the letter.

掉了。她跳了起来。 “上面说什么，特拉普?”她尖声说，“把爪子放下!让我看看!”她伸手去拿那封信，但我表妹把她推开了。 不久，两人在地下室扭打起来。 我摇了摇头。为什么他们总是表现得像一对暴躁的老鼠? 太尴尬了!有一次，在可怜的切斯特叔叔的葬礼上，我不得不把他们分开。我姐姐坚持说切斯特叔叔最喜欢她。 特拉普自然不同意，于是一场打斗爆发了。 这一次，我决定不掺和进去。 最后，西娅拿到了那封信。

"Your forefathers are my forefathers, too!" she cried. Then she read aloud the rest of the letter, "The title of Noblemouse is hereby given to Trip von Trappen, famous throughout the land for his services as a toilet bowl cleaner." At this point, Trap was sobbing away. "A toilet bowl cleaner!" he choked. "How humiliating! Now I can't tell anyone about my royal background. What a shame. What a dreadful shame!"

“你的祖先也是我的祖先!” 然后她大声朗读了信的其余部分:“贵妇人的称号在此授予特里普·冯·特拉彭，他以清洁马桶而闻名于世。” 这时，特拉普在抽泣。 “马桶清洁器!”他哽咽着说。 “多么耻辱!现在我不能告诉任何人我的皇室背景。 真可惜。多么可怕的耻辱!”