Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 THREE DAYS EARLIER, MONDAY, MAY 3 7:00 P.M. RHEIN-MAIN AIRFIELD FRANKFURT, CERMANY Hugo held his four-year-old sister, Gertie, tightly in his arms. They were standing in the airport

第二章三天前，星期一，五月三日下午七时 德国法兰克福，莱茵美因机场雨果紧紧地抱着他四岁的妹妹格蒂。 他们站在机场

waiting room. Within the hour, they'd be flying to America on the Hindenburg. Now they just had to have their bags inspected by the mean-looking German guards. "No matches or lighters will be permitted on the Hindenburg!" a soldier barked out in English and German. The guards talked in a way that made every word sound like a curse. "Why are they so worried about matches?" Mom asked nervously. Mom wasn't the jittery type — she'd shoo a deadly snake from their kitchen as if it were a ladybug. But none of them had ever flown before. And the idea of rising more than six hundred feet into the sky and then flying across the Atlantic Ocean was making her nervous. Dad gave Mom a pat on the arm. "It's just because the Hindenburg is powered by hydrogen gas. It's very flammable."

等候室。一小时之内，他们就会乘坐兴登堡号飞往美国。 现在他们只需要让面目狰狞的德国卫兵检查他们的行李。 “兴登堡号上不准携带火柴和打火机!”一名士兵用英语和德语喊道。 守卫们说话的方式使每个字听起来都像是诅咒。 “他们为什么这么担心火柴?”妈妈紧张地问。 妈妈不是那种神经质的人——她会把一条致命的蛇从厨房里赶出去，就好像它是一只瓢虫一样。 但他们都没有坐过飞机。 一想到要升到六百多英尺的高空，然后飞越大西洋，她就紧张起来。 爸爸拍了拍妈妈的胳膊。 “这只是因为兴登堡号是由氢气驱动的。 它非常易燃。”

"Please don't remind me," Mom said, looking queasy. Dad put an arm around Mom's shoulders and pulled her close. "You don't have to worry," he said. "The Germans have a perfect safety record with their zeppelins. Right, Hugo?" He shot Hugo a look that said, I need some help here. "It's true, Mom," Hugo chimed in. He'd learned all he could about the Hindenburg and its sister ship, the Graf Zeppelin. Now he tried to remember some of the amazing facts he'd read. "The Hindenburg made thirty-four trips across the Atlantic last year," he said, using his most expert voice. "And the Graf Zeppelin has flown more than a million miles without one problem. Really, Mom. The Hindenburg is the safest way to travel." Mom perked up a little bit.

“请不要提醒我，”妈妈说，看起来很不舒服。 爸爸伸出一只胳膊搂住妈妈的肩膀，把她拉近。 “你不用担心，”他说。 “德国人的齐柏林飞艇有着完美的安全记录。 雨果?”他看了雨果一眼，好像在说:“我这里需要帮助。” “是真的，妈妈。”雨果插嘴说。 他已经了解了兴登堡号及其姊妹舰齐柏林伯爵号的一切情况。 现在他试着回忆他读过的一些惊人的事实。 “兴登堡号去年在大西洋上航行了三十四次，”他用他最熟练的声音说。 齐柏林伯爵号已经飞行了100多万英里，没有出现任何问题。 妈妈,真的。兴登堡号是最安全的旅行方式。” 妈妈兴奋了一点。

"That's good," she said. "But I'd still rather be on a nice big ship." "Like the Titanic?" Dad said, raising an eyebrow. Who could forget the celebrated ocean liner that had hit an iceberg and sunk twenty-five years ago? Mom frowned, but Dad had made a good point. Thousands of people had died in shipwrecks over the years. And not one person had been killed on a German passenger airship. Of course, there had been some grisly accidents on military airships over the years — fiery explosions and deadly crashes. The most terrible was the disaster of a U.S. Navy airship that had happened just a few years ago. The Akron had been flying off the coast of New Jersey when it was swept into a violent thunderstorm. It crashed into the ocean and more than seventy men were killed. But German airships, known as zeppelins, were different. They were famous for their safety.

“那很好，”她说。“但我还是宁愿在一艘漂亮的大船上。” “像泰坦尼克号那样?”爸爸扬起眉毛说。 谁能忘记25年前撞上冰山沉没的那艘著名远洋客轮呢? 妈妈皱起眉头，但爸爸说得很有道理。 多年来，成千上万的人死于海难。 德国客轮上没有一人死亡。 当然，这些年来军用飞艇也发生过一些可怕的事故——剧烈的爆炸和致命的坠毁。 最可怕的是美国海军的一场灾难 几年前发生的海军飞艇事件。 “阿克伦”号在新泽西州海岸附近飞行时遭遇了一场猛烈的雷暴。 飞机坠入大海，70多人遇难。 但德国的齐柏林飞艇却不同。 他们以安全著称。

German pilots were the very best in the world. Hugo really didn't have the slightest worry about the Hindenburg. What he was worried about, as usual, was his little sister. Gertie wasn't feeling so well today. And now she was all teary over their dog, Panya. It turned out dogs weren't allowed in the passenger areas of the Hindenburg. A few minutes ago, a member of the zeppelin's crew had come to take their little mutt away. Panya would spend the voyage in the Hindenburg's cargo hold. Hugo didn't know who howled louder when Panya was carried off — the dog or Gertie. Gertie looked at Hugo. "I miss Panya," she said, her lip trembling. "I have an idea," Hugo said, straightening one of Gertie's curly pigtails. "Let's go look at the zeppelin." If anything could get Gertie's mind off Panya, it was the hindenburg.

德国飞行员是世界上最好的。 雨果一点也不担心兴登堡号。 像往常一样，他担心的是他的小妹妹。 格蒂今天不太舒服。 现在她为他们的狗潘亚而泪流满面。 事实证明，狗是不允许进入兴登堡号乘客区的。 几分钟前，齐柏林飞船上的一名船员来带走他们的小杂种狗。 潘亚将在兴登堡号的货舱里度过这次航行。 当潘亚被带走时，雨果不知道是狗还是格蒂叫得更大声。 格蒂看着雨果。“我想念潘亚，”她说，嘴唇颤抖着。 “我有个主意，”雨果说着，拉直了格蒂的一条卷曲的辫子。 “我们去看看齐柏林飞艇吧。” 如果有什么能让格蒂忘掉潘尼亚，那就是兴登堡号了。