Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 It was only nine in the morning, and the temperature in Aswan was well over ninety. In the airport, Amy felt sweat snake down her back, and she shrugged off her backpack and looped it over a shoulder. With every step, it bumped into her waist pack. She wasn't about to complain. If she did, Dan would just throw her a look of disgust and call her a wimp, and she wouldn't be responsible for her actions. Then again, he probably wouldn't call her names. They weren't talking to each other. Slam, slam, went her backpack against her waist pack. She trudged after the others. Nellie was first, heading toward the taxi stand. Theo had called Hilary for help, and she'd recommended the Old Cataract Hotel, "where Grace always

第十七章此时才早上九点，阿斯旺的气温已经超过90度了。 在机场，艾米感到汗流浃背，她耸耸肩，把背包挎在肩上。 每走一步，它都会撞到她的腰袋。 她没打算抱怨。 如果她这样做了，丹只会厌恶地看她一眼，叫她窝囊废，而她不会为自己的行为负责。 话说回来，他可能不会骂她。 他们没有互相交谈。 砰，砰，她的背包贴着她的腰包。 她吃力地跟在其他人后面。 内莉走在最前面，朝出租车站走去。 西奥打电话给希拉里寻求帮助，她向她推荐了老瀑布酒店，“格蕾丝总是。

stayed in Aswan, ducks… darling Saladin, do get your claws out of my arm, thank you…." Dan was after her, putting as much distance between himself and Amy as possible. Theo walked in front of Amy, digging for the sunglasses in his shirt pocket. Crowds of tourists waiting for luggage milled about, and a tour guide called out, "This way, people!" as another large clump of tourists moved toward a row of buses. Theo dropped his sunglasses and leaned over to pick them up. Amy felt someone bump into her from behind as she stopped short. She felt the chafing from the waist pack, and she reached down to move it slightly. To her surprise, she brushed a hand. "Hey!" She felt her waist pack being tugged. The crowd pressed in on her. She couldn't turn, and she couldn't move forward. Amy started to panic. "Help!" she cried, but nobody heard her. Theo didn't turn. He was waving at Nellie. She felt as though she were being squeezed by a roomful of writhing snakes. She couldn't get her breath. It was so hot, and the moving bodies around her trapped her. She couldn't break free. "H-h-help!"

呆在阿斯旺，鸭子们……亲爱的萨拉丁，把你的爪子从我胳膊上拿开，谢谢....” 丹在追她，尽量和艾米保持距离。 西奥走到艾米前面，在衬衫口袋里摸索着那副太阳镜。 等待行李的游客成群结队地走来走去，当另一大群游客走向一排公共汽车时，一名导游喊道：“大家往这边走！” 西奥把墨镜掉在地上，弯腰捡了起来。 艾米突然停下来，感到有人从后面撞了她一下。 她感到腰间的包在摩擦，于是她伸出手去轻轻地挪动它。 令她吃惊的是，她刷了一只手。 “嘿!”她感到自己的腰袋被人拽了一下。 人群围住了她。 她无法转身，也无法前进。 艾米开始恐慌起来。“救命！”她喊道，但没人听见。 西奥没有转身。他在向内莉挥手。 她觉得自己好像被一屋子扭动的蛇挤压着。 她喘不过气来。 天气太热了，周围移动的尸体把她困住了。 她无法挣脱。“H-h-help !”

Her voice was so puny, barely a squeak. Ahead, she saw Dan turn. His eyes met her panicked ones. He knew immediately she was in trouble. He started to force his way back to her. "Dan!" She tried to move toward him and almost fell. "Dan, help! My waist pack!" Suddenly, his arm popped through the crowd and he yanked on her wrist. He pulled her as hard as he could, knocking a woman out of their way. Amy felt the pressure on her waist pack ease. She twisted around and scanned the crowd. Instead of writhing snakes, she saw sweaty tourists anxious for ground transportation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone move, but it was only an older couple, a fat man in a straw hat and his wife looking down and searching through her bulging tote bag. Amy saw the light glint on her silver snake ring. "Hurry, you two!" Theo stood at the cab, the door open. Amy tumbled into the backseat next to Dan.

她的声音很微弱，几乎连吱吱声都没有。 在前面，她看见丹转过身来。他的目光与她惊恐的目光相遇。 他立刻知道她有麻烦了。 他开始向她挤回去。 “丹!”她试图向他靠近，却差点摔倒。 “丹,帮助!我的腰袋！”突然，他的手臂从人群中伸出来，猛拉她的手腕。 他用尽全力拉着她，把一个女人推开了。 艾米感到腰间的压力减轻了。 她转过身来扫视人群。 她看到的不是扭动的蛇，而是汗流浃背的游客，他们焦急地等待地面交通工具。 她从眼角看到有人在动，但那只是一对老夫妇，一个戴草帽的胖子和他的妻子低头在她鼓鼓的大手提袋里搜寻。 艾米看到她的银蛇戒指上闪烁着光芒。 “快点，你们两个！”西奥站在出租车旁，车门开着。 艾米跌坐到丹旁边的后座上。

"Hey, someone tried to saw this off from behind," Dan said. Amy unbuckled the waist pack with shaking fingers. She saw the mark of a knife trying to slice through the canvas. At the sight of the fresh cut, a chill went down her back. "That was close." "You've got to watch your belongings in crowds," Theo said. "I'm glad you reacted so quickly, Amy." "It was Dan, actually," Amy said. "Yeah, I managed to do something right," Dan said. Theo looked out the window. "Why don't we drop our bags at the hotel and catch a boat over to Agilika Island right away?" "Wait," Dan said. "I thought Philae was the name of the island. That's where the guidebook said the temple was." "Philae is the name of the site, but Agilika is the island," Theo said. "Philae Island has been completely underwater since the 1960s." "What?" Amy blurted. The Clue was underwater?

“嘿，有人想从后面把它锯掉，”丹说。 艾米用颤抖的手指解开腰袋。 她看到一把刀试图切开帆布的痕迹。 看到刚刚割下的伤口，她的背上一阵寒意袭来。 “好险啊。”西奥说：“在人群中，你得注意自己的随身物品。” “我很高兴你反应这么快，艾米。” “其实是丹，”艾米说。 “是的，我设法做对了一件事，”丹说。 西奥向窗外望去。 “我们为什么不在旅馆放下行李，然后马上搭船去阿吉利卡岛呢？”“等等，”丹说。 “我以为菲莱是这个岛的名字。 旅游指南上说寺庙就在那里。” “菲莱是这个地点的名字，但阿吉利卡是那个岛，”西奥说。 “菲莱岛自20世纪60年代以来一直完全被淹没在水下。” “什么?”艾米脱口而出。线索在水下？

"That's when the High Dam was built. Even before that, after the building of the first dam back in 1902, the island was submerged during certain parts of the year. People would actually look down at it through the water." "So what happened to the buildings on the island?" Amy asked. "They were saved and moved to Agilika," Theo explained. "The island was landscaped to look exactly like Philae. It's as close as you can get to an authentic experience. The only thing that's changed is the island itself. You'll see the Temple of Isis just as it existed on Philae." "Do you mean that the original island of Philae still exists, it's just under the Nile?" Dan asked. Theo nodded. "Under the lake that was created by the dam. But there's nothing to see on it now." Theo and Nellie began to talk, and Amy spoke in a low tone to Dan. Since he'd practically saved her life, it was hard to stay as mad at him. "We still have a chance," she whispered. "The poem said the rosy pillar would cast a shadow at noon. Since the buildings are positioned exactly

“那是高坝建成的时候。 甚至在此之前，1902年第一座大坝建成后，该岛在一年中的某些部分被淹没。 人们实际上会透过水往下看。” “那么岛上的建筑后来怎么样了？”艾米问。 “他们得救了，搬到了阿吉利卡，”西奥解释说。 “这座岛被美化得和菲莱号一模一样。 这是你能得到的最真实的体验。 唯一改变的是岛屿本身。 你会看到伊西斯神庙，就像在菲莱上一样。” “你的意思是原来的菲莱岛还存在，它就在尼罗河下面？”丹问道。 西奥点点头。“在大坝形成的湖泊下面。 但是现在上面什么也看不见了。” 西奥和内莉开始说话，艾米低声对丹说话。 既然他几乎救了她的命，我就很难再继续生他的气。 “我们还有机会，”她低声说。 诗中说玫瑰色的柱子会在正午投下阴影。 因为这些建筑的位置都很精确

the same, the same shadow will fall on the same place on the 'long protecting arm'— whatever that is. If we're lucky, Katherine's clue will still be there." "Either that, or we need to stop at Snorkels-R- Us," Dan said. The taxi drew up in front of the Old Cataract Hotel, a beautiful spot right on the Nile. Theo offered to take care of storing their bags and "distribute a little baksheesh." When he headed back to the cab, a bellman ran up and handed him a small slip of paper. Theo read it and frowned, then slipped it into his shirt pocket. "What was that?" Amy asked as he slid into the front seat. "Nothing. Just… a welcome greeting from the front desk." Dan reached over the seat and grabbed it out of Theo's pocket. He scanned it quickly. "Some welcome." He showed it to Amy and Nellie. An Egyptian drawing of Osiris, god of the underworld, was at the top. Underneath was written:

同样的，同样的影子会落在“长保护臂”上的同样的地方——不管那是什么。 如果幸运的话，Katherine的线索还在。” “要么这样，要么我们就得停在浮潜- r - Us，”丹说。 出租车停在老瀑布酒店前，这是尼罗河上一个美丽的地方。 西奥主动提出帮他们保管行李，并“分发一点零花钱”。 当他回到车上时，一个行李员跑过来递给他一张小纸条。 西奥看了看，皱了皱眉头，然后把它塞进衬衫口袋里。 “那是什么？”他坐进前座时，艾米问道。 “没什么。只是前台的欢迎问候。” 丹把手伸到座位上，从西奥的口袋里拿了出来。 他迅速浏览了一下。“一些受欢迎的。” 他把它拿给艾米和内莉看。 最上面是一幅埃及人画的冥界之神奥西里斯。 下面写着：