Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 They followed a line of passengers onto the airfield. It was drizzling, but the cold rain hadn't stopped a crowd of people from gathering to watch the zeppelin take off. It was like a party, with photographers snapping pictures and a band playing brassy German tunes. The loud music woke up Gertie, who stared in amazement at the

他们跟着一排旅客上了机场。 虽然下着毛毛雨，但寒冷的雨并没有阻止人们聚集在一起观看齐柏林飞艇起飞。 这就像一个聚会，摄影师们在拍照，乐队演奏着铜管的德国曲调。 响亮的音乐声把格蒂吵醒了，她惊奇地盯着那只狗

Hindenburg. It loomed over them like a silver mountain. A smiling man in a uniform stood in front of a metal staircase. The stairs led up into the belly of the airship. "Willkommen!" he said. "Welcome!" They walked up the stairs — and into another world. To Hugo, it seemed they had entered a fancy hotel from the future. They found their cabin, which was small and very modern. The sleek bunk beds were made with thick blankets and silky sheets. The sink and desk even folded up and down to make extra room. Hugo had never seen anything like it. They left their suitcases and coats in the cabin and did a quick tour of the two floors of the small passenger area. They peeked into the dining room. Long tables were set with white cloths and sparkling dishes and flowers that looked as if they'd just been picked from someone's garden.

兴登堡。它像一座银山笼罩着他们。 一个穿着制服的微笑男子站在金属楼梯前。 楼梯通向飞艇的腹部。 “威尔科曼!”他说。“欢迎!”他们走上楼梯，进入了另一个世界。 对雨果来说，他们仿佛进入了一家来自未来的豪华酒店。 他们找到了他们的小木屋，小而现代。 光滑的双层床上铺着厚厚的毯子和丝绸床单。 为了腾出额外的空间，水槽和桌子甚至可以上下折叠。 雨果从未见过这样的景象。 他们把行李箱和外套留在客舱里，在小客舱的两层楼里快速地转了一圈。 他们偷看了一下餐厅。 长长的桌子上铺着白布，摆着闪闪发光的盘子和鲜花，看起来像是刚从别人的花园里摘下来的。

Down the hall was the lounge. On the wall was a hand-painted mural of the world, with zeppelins zipping across the sky. Hugo wanted to explore every inch of the passenger area. But it was time for the zeppelin to take off. And so they joined a small group of passengers standing along a row of windows. The windows actually slanted down, so they had the perfect view of the action on the airfield. Muscled crewmen were unhooking the ropes that held the zeppelin to the ground. Hugo hadn't noticed that someone had sat down next to him. It was a girl about his age. She had dark blond hair, round brown eyes, and a face scattered with freckles. "First time on a zeppelin?" she asked. "Yes," Hugo answered. "What about you?" She paused for a few seconds, counting silently on her fingers. "It's my eighth time," she said. "Wow!" Hugo said with surprise.

大厅那头是休息室。 墙上是一幅手绘的世界壁画，画着飞艇在天空中飞驰。 雨果想要探索乘客区每一寸地方。 但齐柏林飞艇是时候起飞了。 于是，他们加入了站在一排窗户旁的一小群乘客。 窗户实际上是向下倾斜的，所以他们可以完美地看到机场的情况。 肌肉发达的船员们正在解开把齐柏林飞艇固定在地面上的绳索。 雨果没有注意到有人坐在他旁边。 是一个和他年纪相仿的女孩。 她有一头深金色的头发，一双棕色的圆眼睛，脸上布满了雀斑。 “第一次坐齐柏林飞艇?”她问。 “是的，”雨果回答。“你呢?”她停顿了几秒钟，默默地用手指数着。 “这是我第八次，”她说。 “哇!”雨果惊讶地说。

Eight times? This girl must be a millionaire! Each Hindenburg ticket cost $450, almost as much as a new car. Hugo guessed that Mom and Dad had used the rest of Aunt Sylvie's money to pay for this trip. "I'm Martha Singer," the girl said. "But call me Marty." "Hugo." "That's my father," she said, pointing across the room to a friendly looking man with puffy hair and round glasses. "He works for the Zeppelin Company. They own the Hindenburg." Hugo's mouth dropped open. "Your dad owns the Hindenburg?" "No." She laughed, but not in a way that made Hugo feel dumb. "He just works for the company, in the American office in New York City. We go to Germany a few times a year." "And you always take a zeppelin?" "We do," Marty said. "And every trip I see something different. Last time, I got to see a

八次?这个女孩一定是个百万富翁!每张兴登堡号的票要50美元，几乎和一辆新车一样贵。 雨果猜想爸爸妈妈用了西尔维姨妈剩下的钱来支付这次旅行。 “我是玛莎·辛格，”女孩说。 “叫我马蒂好了。”“雨果”。 “那是我的父亲，”她指着房间另一头一头蓬松头发、戴着圆框眼镜、看上去很友好的男人说。 “他在齐柏林公司工作。 他们拥有兴登堡号。”雨果张大了嘴。 “兴登堡号是你爸爸开的?”“没有。” 她笑了，但笑得并不让雨果觉得自己是个哑巴。 “他只是在纽约的美国办事处为公司工作。 我们每年都会去德国几次。” “你总是乘坐齐柏林飞艇吗?”“是的，”马蒂说。 “每次旅行我都会看到不同的东西。 上次，我看到了一个

whole family of dolphins. They leaped up out of the water when we flew over them." "Maybe they wanted to hitch a ride on the Hindenburg," Hugo said. "Who doesn't?" Marty grinned. A warm feeling filled Hugo's chest, like when he would sip hot chocolate on a freezing New York day. He tried to remember the last time he talked to a kid his own age. Their house in Kenya was surrounded by wilderness, and the nearest village was twenty miles away. Hugo hadn't made any friends in Kenya, unless you counted the oneeared baboon. Hugo had the urge to tell Marty all about that baboon — and other things, too. But now it was Gertie's turn to talk. She turned to Marty and smiled. "You're pretty! You look like a cheetah." This was one of Gertie's games, to match a person to the animal he or she looked like.

整个海豚家族。当我们飞过它们的时候，它们从水里跳了出来。” “也许他们想搭兴登堡号的便车。”雨果说。 “谁不?”马蒂咧嘴一笑。 一种温暖的感觉充满了雨果的胸膛，就像他在纽约寒冷的日子里啜饮热巧克力一样。 他试着回忆最后一次和同龄的孩子说话是什么时候。 他们在肯尼亚的房子四周都是荒野，最近的村庄也在20英里之外。 雨果在肯尼亚没有交任何朋友，除非你算上那只独角狒狒。 雨果有一种冲动，想告诉马蒂关于那只狒狒的一切——还有其他一些事情。 现在轮到格蒂说话了。 她转向马蒂，微笑着。 “你漂亮!你看起来像只猎豹。” 这是格蒂的一个游戏，把一个人和他或她长得像的动物相匹配。

And Marty seemed very happy to be compared to a curious spotted cat. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. She narrowed her eyes and studied Gertie. "And you look like a gazelle with pigtails." Gertie's pale face lit up. Just then a man's voice thundered over the loudspeaker. "Schiff hauf!" Up ship! The men on the airstrip let go of the anchor ropes and leaped backward, away from the zeppelin. Hugo grabbed hold of Gertie, bracing for a sharp jolt as the zeppelin took flight. But he didn't feel a thing. Like a feather lifted by the breeze, the great airship rose silently off the earth. Hugo almost forgot to breathe as the world outside got smaller and smaller. The people on the ground shrank into dots.

马蒂似乎很高兴被比作一只好奇的斑点猫。 “谢谢你!” 她眯起眼睛打量着格蒂。 “你看起来像一头扎着辫子的瞪羚。” 格蒂苍白的脸亮了起来。 就在这时，扩音器里响起了一个男人雷鸣般的声音。 “慕尼黑!希夫hauf”船!飞机跑道上的人松开锚绳，向后跳，离开了齐柏林飞艇。 雨果抓住格蒂，准备承受齐柏林飞艇起飞时的剧烈颠簸。 但他一点感觉都没有。 就像一根羽毛被微风吹动一样，巨大的飞艇无声地离开了地球。 外面的世界变得越来越小，雨果几乎忘了呼吸。 地上的人缩成点点滴滴。