Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 But the blast had not come from Kohl's pistol. It seemed to have come from somewhere above, somewhere deep within the zeppelin. Kohl himself looked startled — and confused. Had the zeppelin been struck by lightning? Hugo looked out the windows, but he saw no clouds.

但爆炸并不是科尔的手枪发出的。 它似乎是从上面的某个地方，在齐柏林飞艇的深处传来的。 科尔本人看起来很吃惊，也很困惑。 齐柏林飞艇被闪电击中了吗? 雨果向窗外望去，但他没有看到云。

What he could see were the faces of the men standing on the ground. They were gaping at the Hindenburg, their eyes wide with shock and horror. Some of the ground crew were actually sprinting away, as if they were running for their lives. And then came a violent jerk. The tail of the zeppelin suddenly dropped down, dumping Hugo and everyone else onto the floor. They all went

他所能看到的是站在地上的人的脸。 他们目瞪口呆地望着兴登堡号，眼睛瞪得大大的，充满了震惊和恐惧。 一些地勤人员实际上在飞快地跑开，好像是在逃命。 然后是一阵猛烈的抽搐。 齐柏林飞艇的尾部突然掉了下来，把雨果和其他人都摔在地上。 他们都去了

sliding back, a wave of frantic people rolling down the sloping floor. Elbows jabbed at Hugo. A sharp heel kicked his forehead. Someone's knee pressed so hard on his neck he couldn't breathe. He wound up against the back wall, mashed behind at least ten bodies and a jumble of overturned tables and chairs. He squirmed and rolled and pushed until he freed himself from the heap. But he had barely caught his breath when he glanced up toward the ceiling and saw something that made his blood freeze. It was a sight more terrifying than a cobra coiled in his bed or even a Nazi with a pistol. It was fire. Fire on an airship filled with millions of cubic feet of flammable hydrogen gas. And then, with a thundering whoosh, the room exploded into flames. The blast of searing heat knocked Hugo back. His head hit the floor with a sickening thud. Oily

一群疯狂的人从倾斜的地板上滚下来。 胳膊肘戳向雨果。一只锋利的脚后跟踢了他的前额。 有人的膝盖压在他脖子上，压得他无法呼吸。 他紧贴着后墙，被压在至少十具尸体和一堆翻倒的桌椅后面。 他扭动着，翻滚着，推着，直到他从那堆东西中解脱出来。 但他刚喘过气来，就朝天花板瞥了一眼，看到了什么东西，吓得他的血液都凝固了。 这景象比蜷缩在床上的眼镜蛇，甚至比拿着手枪的纳粹还要可怕。 是火。一艘充满数百万立方英尺可燃氢气的飞艇着火了。 接着，随着一声雷鸣般的呼啸，整个房间燃起了火焰。 热浪把雨果打了个措手不及。 他的头撞在地板上发出一声令人作呕的巨响。 油性

black smoke rushed up his nose and down his throat. Hugo gagged and coughed. His mind screamed in panic, Get out! Get out! Get out! In just seconds, the Hindenburg would burst into a giant ball of flames. Where were Mom and Dad and Gertie? People were running out of the lounge, screaming and shouting. "Hurry!" "We're crashing!" "It's the end!" Hugo felt as if he were caught in a stampede. Then someone grabbed Hugo by the back of his jacket and freed him from the crushing crowd. It was Mr. Singer, with Marty right behind him. Hugo had lost sight of them, but now Marty clamped hold of his hand as though she'd never let go. Hugo hoped she never would. Mr. Singer looked frantically around.

黑烟从他的鼻子里窜上来，又窜到他的喉咙里。 雨果又呛又咳嗽。他的心在恐慌中尖叫:出去!滚出去!滚出去!几秒钟后，兴登堡号就会爆炸成一个巨大的火球。 爸爸妈妈和格蒂去哪儿了? 人们尖叫着从休息室里跑出来。 “快点!”“我们崩溃!”“结束了!”雨果觉得自己好像陷入了一场踩踏。 然后有人抓住雨果的后夹克衫，把他从拥挤的人群中解救出来。 是辛格先生，马蒂就在他后面。 雨果已经看不见他们了，但现在马蒂紧紧抓住他的手，仿佛她永远不会放手。 雨果希望她永远不会。 辛格先生疯狂地环顾四周。

"This way," he said, pushing them both back toward the windows. "Sir, I have to find my family!" Hugo said. "They'll find a way out, Hugo. And they'd want you to get out, too. There isn't any time." Mr. Singer grabbed a toppled chair. "Duck!" he called out as he swung the chair up and smashed it against the windows. The glass shattered. They were close to the ground, Hugo could see, about fifteen feet up. Scraps of burning fabric filled the sky. It looked as if it were raining fire. He could see that some people from the zeppelin had already escaped. Sailors from the crew were braving the flames to help them get away. A young sailor stood just below them, looking up with open arms. "Jump!" he cried. "Hurry!" Mr. Singer helped Marty climb up to the window ledge. "Go! We'll be right behind you!"

“这边走。”他说着，把他们俩推回到窗前。 “先生，我必须找到我的家人!”雨果说。 “他们会找到出路的，雨果。 他们也会希望你出去的。 没有时间了。”辛格抓住一把倒在地上的椅子。 “快躲!”他一边叫一边把椅子甩起来，重重地砸在窗户上。 玻璃碎了。雨果看得出，他们离地面很近，大约有十五英尺高。 燃烧的布料碎片满天飞舞。 看起来好像下起了火雨。 他可以看到齐柏林飞船上的一些人已经逃走了。 船员们冒着火焰帮助他们逃离。 一个年轻的水手站在他们下面，张开双臂抬头望着他们。 “跳!”他叫道。“快点!”辛格先生帮助马蒂爬上窗台。 “去!我们就在你后面!”

Marty took one last look at Hugo and her father. Then she closed her eyes and leaped. The sailor caught her and ran away carrying her in his arms. "Your turn!" Mr. Singer shouted to Hugo. But just then a dark shape appeared from out of the smoke. It was Kohl! Hugo had been right. Nothing was going to stop Kohl from finding his prey. And now he really did look like a vicious predator. There was blood dripping from a gash in his cheek. His eyes looked almost bright red — like his fury was boiling inside him. Kohl pointed his pistol at Mr. Singer. This time Hugo had no doubt he was going to shoot. "I know what you did!" Kohl bellowed, his voice rising up above the crackling fire and the groaning of the airship. "Hand the papers over to me now!"

马蒂最后看了雨果和她的父亲一眼。 然后她闭上眼睛跳了起来。 水手抓住她，抱着她跑了。 “轮到你了!”辛格先生对雨果喊道。 就在这时，一个黑影从烟雾中出现了。 是科尔!雨果是对的。 没有什么能阻止科尔找到他的猎物。 现在他真的看起来像一个凶残的掠食者。 血从他脸颊上的一个伤口里滴落下来。 他的眼睛几乎是鲜红的——好像他的怒火在他心里沸腾。 科尔用手枪指着辛格。 这一次，雨果毫不怀疑他要开枪了。 “我知道你做了什么!”科尔吼道，他的声音盖过了噼啪作响的火苗和飞艇的呻吟声。 “现在把卷子给我!”