Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Gertie dropped off to sleep in Hugo's arms, and Hugo leaned back against the wall. He looked around the room, wondering if he would spot any celebrities. Hugo had seen photos of famous athletes and millionaires posing on the famous airship.

第四章格蒂在雨果的怀里睡着了，雨果靠在墙上。 他环视了一下房间，不知道能不能看到什么名人。 雨果看过著名运动员和百万富翁在著名飞艇上摆姿势的照片。

But from what Hugo could see, most people looked like rich businessmen and fancy-looking ladies. No Yankees, that was for sure. As he scanned the room, he caught sight of a group of uniformed men standing near the exit. They were Nazi soldiers, the men closest to Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler. Each man wore a black leather coat with a bloodred band on his left arm. The armbands were decorated with a hooked black cross — a swastika, the symbol of the Nazis. Hugo shuddered. Hitler and his Nazis were dangerous, Mom and Dad had said, even evil. And the sight of those men gave Hugo a bad feeling — dark and shadowy — like when he saw hippos lurking in the waters of the Thika River near their farm. The hippos looked tame, with their blubbery bodies and fat noses. But in a blink, the four-ton monsters could explode out of the water and chomp you in half.

但在雨果看来，大多数人看起来都像有钱的商人和漂亮的女士。 没有北方佬，这是肯定的。 当他扫视房间时，他看见一群穿制服的人站在出口附近。 他们是纳粹士兵，是最接近德国领导人阿道夫·希特勒的人。 每个人都穿着一件黑色皮衣，左臂上系着一条血红色的带子。 臂章上装饰着一个黑色的钩形十字架，这是纳粹的标志。 雨果战栗。爸爸妈妈曾经说过，希特勒和他的纳粹是危险的，甚至是邪恶的。 看到这些人，雨果就有一种不祥的感觉——黑暗而朦胧——就像他看到河马潜伏在他们农场附近的锡卡河的水中一样。 河马长着胖胖的身体和胖胖的鼻子，看起来很温顺。 但一眨眼，这些四吨重的怪物就会从水里炸出来，把你咬成两半。

Hugo was so deep in his frightening thoughts that at first he didn't notice that Mom and Dad were now standing right in front of him. Mom smiled at the sight of Gertie sleeping so peacefully. "The inspection took forever," Dad said. "I'm surprised the guard didn't look inside my ears." "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Mom said to Hugo. "You're pale as a ghost. You look like you just found a cobra in your bed." Hugo's mind swung from Nazis to the giant snake he'd discovered curled up on his pillow not so long ago. The startled serpent had flared its hood and bared its gleaming fangs as it prepared to leap up and bite Hugo on the neck. Luckily, Panya had come to the rescue. The little mutt had a bark so strange and ferocious that he could scare away the most fiendish beast. "Garoo, garoo, garoo, garoo!" Even now Hugo could still picture the petrified snake as it practically flew out of the room.

雨果沉浸在可怕的想法中，起初他没有注意到爸爸妈妈就站在他面前。 看到格蒂睡得那么安详，妈妈笑了。 “检查花了很长时间，”爸爸说。 “我很惊讶警卫没有往我耳朵里看。” “亲爱的，怎么了?”妈妈对雨果说。 “你脸色像鬼一样苍白。你看起来好像刚在床上发现了一条眼镜蛇。” 雨果的思绪从纳粹转到了不久前蜷缩在枕头上的那条巨蛇。 那条受到惊吓的蛇张开了它的兜帽，露出了闪闪发光的毒牙，准备跳起来咬雨果的脖子。 幸运的是，潘亚来救了他。 那只小杂种狗的叫声奇怪而凶猛，连最凶恶的野兽也能吓走。 “Garoo, Garoo, Garoo, Garoo !”即使到现在，雨果还能想象那条石化了的蛇几乎飞出房间的样子。

"I'm fine," Hugo said. "I just wish we were already in New York." "Me, too," Dad said. "But we should try to enjoy this voyage. I think it's going to be unforgettable." Hugo didn't doubt that was true.

“我很好，”雨果说。“我真希望我们已经到了纽约。” “我也是，”爸爸说。“但我们应该尽量享受这次航行。 我认为这将是令人难忘的。” 雨果毫不怀疑这是真的。