Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Hugo's plan worked. Gertie's blue eyes popped open as they stared out the window at the massive zeppelin. It sat on its airfield, tied down by thick white ropes. It reminded Hugo of a spectacular beast, with metal bones showing through silver skin. But Gertie had a different idea.

第三章雨果的计划成功了。 格蒂瞪大了蓝眼睛，盯着窗外巨大的齐柏林飞艇。 它停在它的机场上，用粗白绳拴着。 它使雨果想起了一种壮观的野兽，从银色的皮肤里露出金属骨头。 但是格蒂有不同的想法。

"Oogo, it looks like a giant sausage!" Hugo laughed; she had a point. But that giant sausage happened to be the biggest airship ever built. At least a hundred crewmen scurried around it. The zeppelin was so huge that the men looked like flies buzzing around an elephant. Hugo gave Gertie a little lesson about zeppelins. Some people called them airships or dirigibles, he explained, but he liked the word zeppelin. The word was actually the name of the brilliant man who figured out how to get these huge airships to fly, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Hugo pointed out the little car that hung from the bottom of the zeppelin, right behind its nose. That was the control car, the Hindenburg's cockpit, where the captain and his crew steered the ship. The passenger compartment was just behind, tucked into the ship's belly.

“乌哥，它看起来像一根巨大的香肠!”雨果笑了;她说得有道理。 但那个巨大的香肠恰好是有史以来建造的最大的飞艇。 至少有一百名船员在它周围忙碌。 齐柏林飞艇太大了，那些人看起来就像苍蝇围着大象嗡嗡叫。 雨果给格蒂上了一堂关于齐柏林飞艇的小课。 他解释说，有些人称它们为飞艇或飞艇，但他喜欢齐柏林这个词。 这个词实际上是一个聪明的人的名字，他想出了如何让这些巨大的飞艇飞行，费迪南德·冯·齐柏林伯爵。 雨果指了指挂在齐柏林飞艇底部的小车，就在它的机头后面。 那是控制室，也就是兴登堡号的驾驶舱，船长和他的船员在那里驾驶着这艘船。 客舱就在后面，塞在船的肚子里。

Gertie turned to Hugo. "Where are its wings?" "It doesn't need them," he explained. "It's filled up with gas — a special kind of air — that makes it rise into the sky." "Like a balloon," Gertie said happily. "Yes," Hugo said, even though that wasn't really right. The Hindenburg's sausage body was actually made of a very light metal. And then the

格蒂转向雨果。“它的翅膀在哪里?”“它不需要它们，”他解释说。 “它充满了气体——一种特殊的空气——使它升向天空。” “像个气球，”格蒂高兴地说。 “是的，”雨果说，尽管这并不完全正确。 兴登堡号的香肠机身实际上是由一种非常轻的金属制成的。 然后是

metal frame was covered with a strong fabric. But Gertie was close enough. Hugo pointed out the four powerful engines that were bolted to the Hindenburg's body. Once the Hindenburg was in the air, the engines would rev up, and giant propellers would push the airship forward. "Oogo, are we really going to fly?" Gertie asked. "We are," Hugo said, barely believing it himself. Just three weeks before, they'd been thousands of miles away, in the East African country of Kenya. They'd moved there from New York City a year ago. Mom and Dad were science professors. They had always wanted to study the lions in Kenya's Thika Valley. For years it was just a dream. And then eighteen months ago, Mom's aunt Sylvie died, leaving Mom her life's savings. It wasn't a fortune, but it was more than enough to pay for a year or so in Kenya.

金属框架被一层结实的织物覆盖着。 不过格蒂离得够近了。 雨果指出，兴登堡号的机身上安装了四个强大的发动机。 一旦兴登堡号升空，发动机就会加速，巨大的螺旋桨就会推动飞艇前进。 “乌哥，我们真的要飞吗?”格蒂问。 “是的。”雨果说，他自己也不敢相信。 就在三周前，他们还在数千英里之外的东非国家肯尼亚。 他们一年前从纽约搬到这里。 爸爸妈妈都是科学教授。 他们一直想研究肯尼亚锡卡山谷的狮子。 多年来，这只是一个梦想。 18个月前，妈妈的姨妈西尔维去世了，留给妈妈一辈子的积蓄。 这笔钱算不上一笔巨款，但足够在肯尼亚生活一年左右。

"It will be a family adventure," Mom had said. And what an adventure it had turned out to be. From their front porch, they could watch herds of zebras and giraffes strolling through the high golden grass. At night, roars of lions echoed through the darkness. "And good night to you!" Gertie would holler back at them. Sure, at first Hugo missed his pals and his school and his beloved Yankees. But somehow he was never lonely. He had Gertie to chase after. There was the one-eared baboon that came to visit Hugo every day while he did his schoolwork on the porch. And then there was Panya, the ragged mutt that showed up at their door one day and refused to leave. He was a little guy — panya means mouse in the African language Swahili. But that mousy dog had the brave heart of a lion. He was Gertie and Hugo's fiercest protector. Hugo had seen more in this past year than most people see in their whole lives. He'd watched

“这将是一次家庭冒险，”妈妈说。 这是一次多么大的冒险啊。 从他们的前廊，他们可以看到成群的斑马和长颈鹿在高高的金色草地上漫步。 夜晚，狮子的吼声在黑暗中回荡。 “祝你晚安!”格蒂会对他们大喊大叫。 当然，一开始雨果想念他的朋友、他的学校和他心爱的北方佬。 但不知何故，他从不感到孤独。 他得去追格蒂。 有一只独耳狒狒，每天当雨果在走廊上做功课的时候，它都会来看他。 然后是潘亚，一只衣衫褴褛的杂种狗，有一天出现在他们家门口，拒绝离开。 他是个小个子——panya在非洲语言斯瓦希里语中的意思是老鼠。 但那只胆小的狗却有着狮子般勇敢的心。 他是格蒂和雨果最坚定的保护者。 在过去的一年里，雨果所见的比大多数人一生所见的还要多。 他看着

twenty-foot pythons climbing up trees and mother crocodiles carrying their babies in their wide-open jaws. He'd seen that one-eared baboon outsmart an eight-thousand-pound hippo. But Hugo had never seen anything like the Hindenburg. The zeppelin was known around the world. The Hindenburg was as famous as Hugo's favorite Yankee, Lou Gehrig. But never had Hugo imagined that he'd have the chance to fly on a zeppelin. His New York pals would say he was the luckiest kid on the planet. Hugo felt anything but lucky, though. Because this trip on the Hindenburg wasn't just another family adventure. They were returning to New York City because Gert was very sick. Her illness had struck six months ago. One day Gert was her joyful self. And the next morning she could barely move, and her body burned with fever.

20英尺长的蟒蛇爬上了树，鳄鱼妈妈张开大嘴衔着它们的孩子。 他曾见过一只独耳狒狒比一只八千磅重的河马更聪明。 但雨果从未见过兴登堡号这样的东西。 齐柏林飞艇举世闻名。 兴登堡号和雨果最喜欢的美国佬卢·格里格一样有名。 但雨果从来没有想过他有机会乘坐齐柏林飞艇。 他在纽约的朋友会说他是世界上最幸运的孩子。 然而，雨果一点也不觉得幸运。 因为这次兴登堡号之旅不仅仅是一次家庭冒险。 他们要回纽约，因为格特病得很重。 她的病是六个月前发作的。 有一天，格特还是她快乐的样子。 第二天早上，她几乎不能动了，全身发烧。