Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Amy's brother was never comfortable in a new place until he committed an act of cluelessness. In Tokyo, it happened the morning after their arrival at the Thank You Very Much Hotel. "Dan, you can't just take that— it's stealing," Amy said, watching him struggle to fit a hotel ashtray in his back pocket. "They won't know it's missing!" Dan protested. "I need it for my collection." Dan collected everything. If it fit in a house and wasn't chained to the floor, he had a collection for it. "Your sister is correct," Uncle Alistair said sternly, stopping to lean on his walking stick on the way to the front door. He smelled of aftershave and powder. On the trip in from the

艾米的弟弟在一个新地方从来都不舒服，直到他做出了一件愚蠢的事。 在东京，这件事发生在他们抵达“非常感谢”酒店后的第二天早上。 “丹，你不能就这么拿走——这是偷窃，”艾米说，看着他费力地把酒店的烟灰缸塞进后口袋。 “他们不会知道它不见了！”丹抗议。 “我需要它作为我的收藏。” 丹收集了所有的东西。如果它适合放在房子里，而且没有拴在地板上，他就会收集它。 “你姐姐说得对。”阿利斯泰尔叔叔严厉地说，一边停下脚步，拄着拐杖朝前门走去。 他身上有须后水和爽身粉的味道。 在旅途中从

airport, he had bought Amy and Dan a few changes of clothes and insisted they freshen up and have a long sleep. Amy had not slept for a nanosecond. For one thing, she was too nervous. For another, Dan kept muttering "Mrrp" in his sleep. He was really missing Saladin. But that hadn't curbed his obsession for collecting. Amy held out her palm. Reluctantly, Dan put the ashtray in it. "Okay, but can you get me a Thank You Very Much Hotel matchbook, then?" he asked. Amy returned the ashtray to a table in the lobby, with Dan skulking behind. They still couldn't pronounce the hotel's real name. Instead, they nicknamed it after the only phrase any of the staff ever said to them. Picking up a matchbook from the front desk, Amy smiled at the desk clerk. "Thank you very much!" the clerk said. As they walked back toward the door, Dan eyed Alistair, who was looking away from them. "Let's escape," Dan murmured. "We have to find our peeps. Nellie and Saladin."

在机场，他给艾米和丹买了几件换洗的衣服，坚持让他们梳洗一下，好好睡一觉。 艾米一刻也没睡。 首先，她太紧张了。 另一方面，丹在睡梦中不停地喃喃自语“Mrrp”。 他真的很想念萨拉丁。 但这并没有抑制他对收藏的痴迷。 艾米伸出手掌。丹不情愿地把烟灰缸放了进去。 “好吧，那你能帮我拿一个非常感谢酒店的火柴盒吗？”他问道。 艾米把烟灰缸放回大厅的一张桌子上，丹躲在后面。 他们还是念不出酒店的真名。 相反，他们用工作人员对他们说过的唯一一句话给它起了个绰号。 艾米从前台拿起一个火柴盒，朝前台职员微笑。 “非常感谢！”店员说。 当他们朝门口走去的时候，丹看到了阿利斯泰尔，他正把目光从他们身上移开。 “我们逃吧，”丹低声说。 “我们必须找到我们的同伴。 奈莉和萨拉丁。”

"Are you crazy?" Amy whispered back. "Uncle Alistair paid for this hotel stay. He knows Japanese, and he's going to help us around town." "You like him!" Dan said in horror. "He's turned your mind!" Amy whirled on him. "I don't like him or trust him. But without him we're stuck, Dan. So we have to pretend, at least until Nellie finds us." "Or we find her!" Dan grumbled as he and Amy headed toward Alistair at the front entrance. Together they stepped out into a crisp, sunny day. To their left, people in manga-hero costumes greeted shoppers in front of a gleaming high-rise shopping center. The scent of some strange blossom wafted from a park, which was across a busy street filled with car and bike traffic. Tokyo reminded Amy of New York City, without all the people yelling at each other. Dan's eyes were cast upward, gawking at a steel structure that rose above the park. "Cool, someone brought over the Eiffel Tower and painted it red and white!" Alistair smiled. "The Tokyo Tower is taller than

“你疯了吗？”艾米小声回答。 "阿利斯泰尔叔叔付了住宿费。 他懂日语，他会在镇上帮我们。” “你喜欢他！”丹惊恐地说。 “他改变了你的想法！”艾美转过身来。 “我不喜欢他，也不相信他。 但没有他我们就进退两难了，丹。 所以我们得假装，至少要等到内莉找到我们。” “不然我们就找到她！”丹嘟囔着，和艾米朝门口的阿利斯泰尔走去。 他们一起走出去，来到了一个清爽、阳光明媚的日子。 在他们的左边，穿着漫画英雄服装的人在一座闪闪发光的高层购物中心前迎接购物者。 公园里飘来一股奇怪的花香，公园对面是一条挤满了汽车和自行车的繁忙街道。 东京让艾米想起了纽约，没有那么多人互相吼叫。 丹的眼睛向上看，呆呆地盯着公园上方的一座钢结构建筑。 “酷，有人把埃菲尔铁塔搬过来，把它涂成了红白相间！”Alistair笑了。 “东京塔比

its Parisian counterpart, but also lighter, due to advances in steel construction— advances that were developed, may I add, by an Ekat engineer. My illustrious family. And you see that tall apartment tower with curved sides? It suggests a Japanese flower found in great abundance in Shiba Park. The brainchild of a Janus architect—" "Wait, that park has flowers made of steel?" Dan said. "I know someone with a brain made of tin," Amy replied, then turned back to Alistair. "How do you know so much about your family?" "Someday I will show you my collection," Alistair said. "But let's get to the task at hand. It is a ten-minute cab ride to the Metropolitan Library." "Library. Woo-hoo. Can't wait," Dan said, absently fingering his matchbook. "Hey, I know. You guys go. I'll pick up some snapper sushi and take a cab to the airport. I'll meet you later." "What makes you think Saladin is at the airport?" Alistair asked, walking toward the street. "I figure two things could have happened," Dan

但也更轻，因为钢结构的进步——我可以补充一句，这些进步是由一位Ekat工程师开发的。 我显赫的家族。你看到那座曲面公寓大楼了吗？ 它暗示了在柴公园发现的一种大量的日本花。 一个Janus建筑师的创意——”“等等，那个公园里有钢做的花？”丹说。 “我认识一个脑子像锡做的人，”艾米回答，然后转身对阿利斯泰尔说。 “你怎么知道这么多关于你家庭的事？”“总有一天我会给你看我的收藏，”阿利斯泰尔说。 “但是让我们开始手头的任务吧。 乘出租车到大都会图书馆要十分钟。” “图书馆。啊。我等不及了，”丹说，心不在焉地抚摸着他的火柴盒。 “嘿，我知道了。你们去吧。 我买些鲷鱼寿司，然后打车去机场。 待会儿见。”“你凭什么认为萨拉丁在机场？”阿利斯泰尔朝街道走去，问道。 “我想可能会发生两件事，”丹说

said. "One— the Kabras brainwashed Nellie and are leading her around town trying to find us. Or Two—Nellie managed to subdue them with superior ninja training techniques she didn't realize she had picked up by mental telepathy from me. Actually, I'm betting on One. Either way, Saladin would…" Dan's face darkened. "I— I can't stop thinking of him, still on that conveyor belt, all alone, going round and round…" "I know you love your pet," Alistair said. "But you must think of your own safety first. The Kabras will expect you to come to Japan. They may also expect you to go to the airport in search of your beloved feline and babysitter—" "Au pair," Dan corrected him. "You simply cannot risk walking into a trap," Alistair continued. It made Amy sick not to know where Nellie and Saladin were, too. She'd been trying to contact Nellie on her cell phone since they arrived. She hated telling Dan not to go after them. But Alistair's advice made sense. "Knowing Natalie and Ian," Amy said, following Alistair toward a

说。“第一——卡布拉给内莉洗了脑，带着她在城里到处找我们。 第二，内莉用高超的忍者训练技巧制服了他们，她没有意识到她是从我那里学来的心灵感应。 事实上，我赌1。 不管怎样，萨拉丁都会……”丹的脸阴沉了下来。 “我——我一直在想它，它还在传送带上，孤零零地，转来转去……”“我知道你爱你的宠物。” “但是你必须首先考虑自己的安全。 卡布拉会期待你来日本的。 他们可能还希望你去机场找你心爱的猫和保姆——”“互惠生，”丹纠正他。 “你不能冒险走进陷阱，”阿利斯泰尔继续说道。 艾米也不知道内莉和萨拉丁在哪里，这使她感到恶心。 自从他们到达后，她一直试图用手机联系内莉。 她讨厌告诉丹不要去追他们。 但阿利斯泰尔的建议是有道理的。 “我知道娜塔莉和伊恩，”艾米说，跟着阿利斯泰尔走向一个

taxi stand, "they'll find us." "But—" Dan protested. "We have to move forward," Amy said. "Nellie will land on her feet." Dan sighed. "Saladin, too, I guess. I mean, being a cat and all…" As they threaded their way through the plaza, Dan kept lighting matches and blowing them out. "Will you stop it?" Amy said. "Why?" Dan said, lighting another match. "It's fun. It keeps my mind off the fact that here we are ignoring the only two people we really like, plus we're in the land of ninjas and Mothra and really cool martial arts, and we're going to spend another day in a library." As he approached a waiting taxicab, Alistair said something to the driver in rapid, fluent-sounding Japanese and signaled Amy and Dan to climb in. They sped through the traffic, passing rows of modern steel buildings and an occasional ornate ancient pagoda surrounded with gardens. "Why can't we stay in one of those cottages?" Dan asked. "They are ancient temples," Alistair replied.

出租车站，“他们会找到我们的。” “可是——”丹抗议道。“我们必须向前走，”艾米说。 “内莉会安然无恙的。” 丹叹了口气。“我猜也是萨拉丁。 我是说，作为一只猫……”当他们穿过广场时，丹不停地点燃火柴，然后把它们吹灭。 “你能停下来吗？”艾米说。 “为什么?”丹说着，又点燃了一根火柴。 “这很有趣。这让我忘记了一个事实，我们在这里忽略了我们唯一喜欢的两个人，而且我们在忍者、摩斯拉和非常酷的武术的土地上，我们还要在图书馆里再呆一天。” 当他走近一辆等着的出租车时，阿利斯泰尔用快速流利的日语对司机说了些什么，并示意艾米和丹上车。 他们在车流中疾驰而过，经过一排排现代化的钢结构建筑，偶尔还会看到一座被花园环绕的华丽古塔。 “我们为什么不能住在那些小屋里呢？”丹问道。 “它们是古老的庙宇，”阿利斯泰尔回答。