Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 It was the strangest day in Ratborough's history. The good rats of the town were just a bit confused. On the balcony of the palace, their king was parading his son- who was supposed to be banished- plus two cats and two snakes, as heroes! It was Brian of all people, or of all snakes, who had suggested it in the sewers on the way home.

这是拉特伯勒镇历史上最奇怪的一天。 镇上的好老鼠们只是有点困惑。 在宫殿的阳台上，他们的国王带着他的儿子——他应该被驱逐——以及两只猫和两条蛇，作为英雄游行！在回家的路上，在下水道里提出这个建议的，不是所有的人，就是所有的蛇，是布莱恩。

'Your Highness,' he'd said to the king, who was riding on his back through the tunnels, 'when we get to Ratborough, it might look a little odd to your folk that we're now friends, seeing as the last they heard you were about to take me on with a toothpick. I just wouldn't want you to look... well... silly. Unkingly. Weak. Dare I say, an idiot—' 'Yes, yes, I see,' interrupted the king, 'that

“殿下，”他对骑在他背上穿过隧道的国王说，“当我们到达拉特伯勒时，你的人可能会觉得我们现在是朋友有点奇怪，因为他们上次听说你要用牙签来对付我。 我只是不想让你看… 嗯…愚蠢的。Unkingly。弱。 我敢说，一个白痴——”“是的，是的，我明白了，”国王打断了他的话，“那个

is a good point. What do you suggest we say?' 'How about that you, your son and I fought, and that you two were so good, I admitted defeat. And then in my exhausted state you took mercy on me and, together with the cats, helped me rescue my true love, thus cementing an eternal friendship between rats and snakes... TA-DA!'

说得好。你建议我们说什么？“你、你儿子和我打了一架，你们两个打得那么好，我都认输了。” 然后，在我筋疲力尽的时候，你怜悯了我，和猫一起帮助我拯救了我的真爱，从而巩固了老鼠和蛇之间永恒的友谊…… 哈哈!”

'I like it, and it's almost the truth,' said the king. 'Apart from the quite important bit about you and Catface not defeating him,' said Silver. 'I seem to remember you lasted approximately ten seconds—' 'Yes, yes, well, we can gloss over that... What they won't know won't hurt them!' said the king. 'What about me, Father?' said Catface. 'Am I welcome home?' 'After all we've been through tonight, my boy, I've never been more proud of you. I'm sorry for everything. I was just jealous of you, at home up there on the streets, with all those surface dwellers. Tell me, are cats as cool as they look?'

“我喜欢，这几乎是事实。”国王说。 “除了你和猫脸没有打败他这一点很重要之外。”西尔弗说。 “是的，是的，好吧，我们可以掩盖这一点……” 他们不知道的事就不会伤害他们！国王说。 “我怎么办，爸爸？”猫脸说。 “欢迎我回家吗？”“今晚我们经历了这么多，我的孩子，我从来没有像现在这样为你感到骄傲。” 我为这一切感到抱歉。我只是嫉妒你，在街上的家里，和那些地面居民在一起。 告诉我，猫真的像它们看起来那么酷吗？”

'Father,' Catface said, smiling at Toto and Silver, 'cool doesn't even come close! The town square had been decked out in all its ratty finery, and was filled with rats cheering and dancing and waving flags with the Rattinoff coat of arms. Rat trumpeters were tooting a jaunty tune, while little rats played games in the park surrounded by delicious-smelling food stalls. 'You have to hand it to rats,' said Silver to Toto, as they gazed over the scene from the balcony of the cola bottle palace, 'they know how throw a party... I HAVE to get myself one of those scrap burgers before we leave.

“爸爸，”猫脸对托托和西尔弗微笑着说，“酷还差得远呢！城里的广场上已经装饰得富丽堂皇，到处都是老鼠，它们欢呼着，跳舞着，挥舞着拉蒂诺夫纹章上的旗帜。 老鼠的号手们吹奏着欢快的曲子，小老鼠们在公园里玩着游戏，周围是气味鲜美的小吃摊。 “你得把它交给老鼠，”西尔弗对托托说，这时他们正站在可乐瓶宫殿的阳台上望着眼前的景象，“它们知道怎样办晚会…… 在我们离开之前，我得给自己买一个废汉堡。

'Today marks a brave new day in the history of rats, cats and snakes,' proclaimed the king to his people. 'From this day forth, we are no longer enemies, and our friends Brian and Brenda are awarded the keys to the city!' 'Not your father's brightest idea,' whispered Brian to Catface. 'I've gone right off rats, but Brenda loves them. She won't need feeding for a while, but I wouldn't exactly invite her to visit!' 'Right,' said Catface, looking pale. 'I'll... er... mention it to Father later.' 'And for the mighty Toto and her brother, Silver,' continued the king, 'we accord them the highest honour in the kingdom of the rats: THE CROWN OF CHEESE!'

“今天是鼠、猫和蛇历史上崭新的一天，”国王向他的人民宣布。 “从今天起，我们不再是敌人，我们的朋友布莱恩和布伦达将获得这座城市的钥匙！”“这不是你父亲最聪明的主意，”布赖恩对猫脸小声说。 “我对老鼠上瘾了，但布伦达喜欢老鼠。 她暂时不需要喂食，但我不会邀请她来拜访！“好吧，”猫脸说，脸色苍白。 “我要……呃…以后再向父亲提这件事。“至于伟大的托托和她的哥哥西尔弗，”国王继续说道，“我们要把老鼠王国里最高的荣誉授予他们：乳酪王冠！”