Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Unsinkable. Unsinkable. George whispered those words like a prayer, over and over in his mind. He thought of Mr. Andrews, of how sure he was of this ship. But the longer he stared at that water, that foaming green water, rising higher every second, the more certain he became: The Titanic was in trouble. "We must go up," Marco said to Aunt Daisy. "We find a way."

第十一章永不沉没。永不沉没的。 乔治像祈祷一样在心里一遍又一遍地低声说着这些话。 他想起了安德鲁斯先生，想起了他对这艘船多么有把握。 但他盯着海水看的时间越长，那冒着泡沫的绿色海水每秒钟都在涨得更高，他就越确信:泰坦尼克号出事了。 “我们必须上去，”马可对黛西阿姨说。 “我们会找到办法的。”

But she shook her head, holding up Phoebe's bright blue coat and her life jacket. "My niece, Phoebe," Aunt Daisy said. "She's down here…." George could see she was fighting back tears. George had never seen her look so sad and helpless, not even when Uncle Cliff died. "She came down here looking for me," George said. "We can't find her." Marco's amber eyes became very intent. "An idea," he said. He knelt down and spoke to Enzo in Italian. The boy smiled and nodded. Then Marco hoisted the little boy up onto his shoulders. Enzo took a huge breath and screamed, "Phoebe! "PHOEBE!" People stopped talking and stared up at the boy with the foghorn voice. "Phoebe! "PHOEBE!" As a hush fell over the crowd, George heard a faint voice.

但她摇了摇头，举起菲比的亮蓝色外套和救生衣。 “我的侄女，菲比，”黛西阿姨说。 “她在下面....”乔治看得出她强忍着眼泪。 乔治从来没有见过她如此悲伤和无助，即使是在克里夫叔叔去世的时候。 “她到这儿来找我，”乔治说。 “我们找不到她。”马可琥珀色的眼睛变得非常专注。 “一个主意，”他说。他跪下来，用意大利语对恩佐说话。 男孩微笑着点了点头。 然后马可把小男孩举到自己的肩膀上。 恩佐深深地吸了一口气，尖叫道:“菲比!“菲比!”人们停止了谈话，抬头盯着这个声音像雾角一样的男孩。 “菲比!“菲比!”当人群安静下来时，乔治听到一个微弱的声音。

"I'm here! I'm here!" The crowd parted, and Phoebe appeared, her spectacles crooked, her face pale. She staggered forward and threw her arms around George, burying her face in his chest. "I found you," she whispered. George didn't bother arguing over who did the finding. And anyway, his words were stuck in his throat. So he just held her tight. It took some time for Phoebe to calm down enough to tell her story: that yes, she had been looking for George and heading for the baggage hold, that she got caught in the crowd of people rushing toward the back of the ship. "It was like a stampede," she said. As Phoebe talked, Aunt Daisy helped her into her coat and life jacket. Enzo held Phoebe's hand, like they were old friends. And the strange thing was that it felt that way, like they'd known Marco and Enzo forever. Maybe that's what happened when you got trapped in a flooding ship together. George started to feel calmer with Phoebe close to him.

“我在这里!我在这里!”人群散开了，菲比出现了，她的眼镜歪了，脸色苍白。 她摇摇晃晃地向前，伸出双臂搂住乔治，把脸埋在他的胸膛里。 “我找到你了，”她低声说。 乔治懒得争论是谁发现的。 不管怎样，他的话哽在喉咙里了。 所以他紧紧地抱着她。 菲比过了一段时间才平静下来，讲述了她的故事:是的，她一直在寻找乔治，并前往行李舱，她被困在了向船尾冲去的人群中。 “就像踩踏一样，”她说。 菲比说话时，黛西阿姨帮她穿上外套和救生衣。 恩佐握着菲比的手，就像老朋友一样。 奇怪的是，这种感觉就像他们认识马可和恩佐很久了。 也许你们一起被困在一艘被洪水淹没的船上时就是这样。 有菲比在他身边，乔治开始觉得平静下来。

But then came a deep booming sound, a kind of groaning that echoed up all around them. At first George thought maybe the engines had started up again. But no, this wasn't the sound of the Titanic's mighty engines. The entire ship catapulted forward. People fell, toppling like dominoes. George was thrown into the wall. Screams and shouts echoed through the hallway. He managed to grab Enzo by the life jacket as he went sailing by him. Enzo just giggled as he fell into George's lap. To him this was a fun game. George hoped he never figured out that it wasn't. "What was that?" Phoebe gasped, digging her fingers into George's arms. Nobody answered. But they all knew. The Titanic was sinking. "We will go up," Marco said. "How?" Aunt Daisy said. Phoebe grabbed George's hand. "You, Georgie," she said. "What?" George said.

这时传来一种低沉的轰隆声，一种呻吟声，在他们周围回荡。 起先，乔治以为发动机又发动起来了。 但不，这不是泰坦尼克号强大的引擎发出的声音。 整艘船向前弹射。 人们倒下了，像多米诺骨牌一样倒下了。 乔治被扔到了墙上。 尖叫声和喊叫声在走廊里回荡。 当恩佐从他身边驶过时，他成功地抓住了他的救生衣。 恩佐倒在乔治的腿上，咯咯地笑着。 对他来说，这是一个有趣的游戏。 乔治希望他永远不会明白这不是真的。 “那是什么?”菲比喘着气，把手指伸进乔治的怀里。 没有人回答。但他们都知道。 泰坦尼克号正在下沉。“我们要上去，”马可说。 “如何?”黛西姨妈说。菲比抓住乔治的手。 “你，乔吉，”她说。“什么?”乔治说。

"Phoebe's right," Aunt Daisy said. "You know the ship better than anyone." She turned to Marco. "He's explored every inch." George couldn't believe it. They were counting on him? But what if he made a mistake? What if they all got lost? "You can do it," Phoebe whispered. And so George closed his eyes, picturing Mr. Andrews's blueprints in his mind. And he remembered: the escape ladders. He remembered what Mr. Andrews had told him: The ladders are in the stokers' quarters, and they run up three decks. He pointed toward the front of the ship. "This way," he said.

“菲比说得对，”黛西阿姨说。 “你比任何人都了解这艘船。” 她转向马可。“他探索过每一寸土地。” 乔治简直不敢相信。 他们还指望着他? 但如果他犯了错呢? 如果他们都迷路了怎么办? “你能做到的。”菲比低声说。 于是，乔治闭上眼睛，在脑海中描绘着安德鲁斯先生的蓝图。 他想起了逃生梯。 他想起安德鲁斯先生对他说过的话:梯子在司炉工人的房间里，有三层楼高。 他指着船的前部。 “这边走，”他说。