Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 3:15 P.M. Nate charged back to the waterfront. His best hope was to catch the Valerie back to Connecticut. He'd figure out what to do when he got there. If he couldn't sneak onto the Valerie like last time, he'd beg the captain to take him. He'd

第七章下午3:15内特冲回了码头。 他最大的希望是赶上瓦莱丽号回康涅狄格。 他到了之后会想办法的。 如果他不能像上次那样溜进瓦莱丽，他会求船长带他去的。 他会

offer to scrub the decks, carry out the dead rats — anything! But Nate was too late. He reached the dock just as the Valerie was sailing away. He tore down the dock, yelling. "Stop! Wait! Come back!" But the sailors couldn't hear him. And even if they could, Nate knew the captain wouldn't turn the ship around for some nobody kid. Now what would Nate do? He stared out into the harbor, as though the answer might be floating in the water. And that's when he spotted them: two enormous sailing ships. They were coming from the south and seemed to be heading right for the city. Nate's heart lifted up: Maybe he'd find a job after all! But as the ships came closer, he realized they were not regular sailing ships like Papa's. They were bigger. They rose proudly out of the water,

主动提出擦洗甲板，搬运死老鼠——什么都可以!但内特来晚了。 他到达码头时，瓦莱丽号正驶离码头。 他冲下码头，大喊大叫。 “停!等等!回来!”但是水手们听不见他的声音。 就算他们能，内特知道船长也不会为了一个无名小卒让船掉头。 内特会怎么做?他凝视着海港，仿佛答案就漂浮在水面上。 就在那时，他发现了它们:两艘巨大的帆船。 他们从南方来，似乎正朝着城市方向前进。 内特的心一亮:也许他终于找到了一份工作!但当船只靠近时，他意识到它们不是像爸爸那样的普通帆船。 它们更大。他们骄傲地浮出水面，

each with twelve sparkling white sails gleaming in the sun. As they turned slightly, Nate saw that both ships had small square openings along the sides. And poking out of each square was the black muzzle of a cannon. They were like gigantic black serpents, peering out from their caves. Flags of England flapped from the ships' masts. They were British warships! Nate stared with a mix of fear and fascination, like the time he found a scorpion in his hammock. All his life he'd been hearing stories about the British navy. It was the mightiest on Earth, with hundreds of warships prowling the seas. The greatest British warship of them all were called men-of-war — floating cities that could hold a thousand men and almost a hundred big cannons. Each cannon could blast a twenty-fourpound ball that would streak through the air faster than a person could blink.

每只帆船上都挂着十二个白帆，在阳光下闪闪发光。 他们微微转过身来，内特看到两艘船的两边都有方形的小开口。 从每一个方框里伸出来的都是黑色的炮口。 他们就像巨大的黑蛇，从洞穴里探出头来。 船上的桅杆上飘扬着英国国旗。 那是英国军舰!内特既害怕又着迷地盯着他，就像他在吊床上发现一只蝎子一样。 他一生都在听有关英国海军的故事。 它是地球上最强大的，有数百艘军舰在海上巡游。 其中最大的英国战舰被称为战船——可以容纳1000人和近100门大炮的浮动城市。 每门大炮能发射出一颗24磅重的炮弹，它在空中飞驰的速度比人眨眼的速度还快。

There was no weapon on Earth as powerful as a big cannon. Nate knew it took five men to load and fire each one. One ball could punch through a stone fortress wall. It could rip through a line of soldiers. It could turn a house to rubble. It could blow a hole in an enemy warship, dooming it to an underwater grave. But the crew of a big warship didn't just fire off one cannonball at a time. They fired dozens of cannons at once, unleashing a crushing wave of metal balls. A man-of-war could destroy a city within hours. Nate's blood turned cold as he watched the two warships stream around the southern tip of the city. A crowd of American soldiers had joined Nate on the dock. They shouted out curses and shook their fists. And then a thundering explosion shook the ground.

地球上没有比大炮更强大的武器了。 内特知道需要五个人来装填和射击。 一颗球就能击穿堡垒的石墙。 它可以撕裂一排士兵。 它可以把房子变成废墟。 它可以在敌人的战舰上炸出一个洞，让它葬身海底。 但是一艘大型军舰上的船员并不是一次只发射一颗炮弹。 他们同时发射了几十门大炮，释放出一波毁灭性的金属球。 一艘军舰能在数小时内摧毁一座城市。 看着两艘战舰在城市的南端川流不息，内特的心都凉了。 一群美国士兵和内特一起站在码头上。 他们大声咒骂，挥舞着拳头。 接着，一声雷鸣般的爆炸震动了大地。

Kaboom! The explosion rattled Nate's bones — and almost sent him leaping into the water in fear. But then he realized that the blast hadn't come from either of the British ships. Across the river, in Brooklyn, big puffs of gray smoke rose up from a hilltop. When the curtain of smoke cleared, Nate could see ten cannons lined up in a row. Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! They blasted away at the British ships. And then came blasts from somewhere closer — on this side of the river. The Americans must have put cannons all around the city. Soldiers were crowding the docks now. Two men stood behind Nate. They screamed out insults to the British ships. "Putting on a little show for us, you devils?" one jeered.

大爆炸!爆炸震得内特的骨头嘎嘎作响，差点吓得他跳进水里。 但随后他意识到，爆炸并非来自两艘英国军舰。 河对岸的布鲁克林，一大片灰烟从山顶升起。 当烟雾消散时，内特可以看到十门大炮排成一排。 大爆炸!大爆炸!大爆炸!他们不停地向英国船只射击。 然后从更近的地方——河的这边——传来一阵阵的爆炸声。 美国人肯定在城市周围都放了大炮。 现在码头上挤满了士兵。 内特身后站着两个人。 他们大声辱骂英国船只。 “给我们来一场小表演，你们这些魔鬼?”一个人嘲笑道。

"We'll blast you up to the moon!" The American cannons thundered and boomed. The air was filled with the sharp metal stink of gunpowder smoke. Soldiers whooped and cheered after every blast. Kaboom! "Huzzah!" Kaboom! "Huzzah!" None of the American cannonballs hit the ships; each splashed down harmlessly in the river. But the soldiers didn't seem to care. They roared and taunted. "Sink those cowards!" But then Nate noticed that the bigger of the British warships had slowed down. A tongue of flame flicked out of one of its cannons. Kaboom! An odd sizzling sound filled the sky overhead. Someone screamed. And then,

“我们要把你炸到月球上去!”美军的大炮轰鸣着。 空气中充满了火药烟雾的尖锐的金属臭味。 每次爆炸后，士兵们都欢呼雀跃。 大爆炸!“万岁!”大爆炸!“万岁!”美国的炮弹没有击中军舰;每个人都在河里溅起无害的水花。 但士兵们似乎并不在意。 他们咆哮着，嘲弄着。“击沉那些懦夫!”但随后内特注意到，较大的那艘英国军舰放慢了速度。 它的一门大炮喷出一道火舌。 大爆炸!一种奇怪的嘶嘶声充斥着头顶的天空。 有人尖叫。然后,