Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 'Finally, I get to avenge my great-great-great-great great-great...' (once again this was repeated for thirty seconds, to the point where everyone was getting a little embarrassed) '...great-grandfather, and wipe Tom's heir from the face of the earth. Then nothing will stop me from mobilising every rat and pigeon in the country to rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs!' 'Coo, coo, excuse me, do you think we could we chip in?'

第九章终于，我要为我的曾-曾-曾-曾-曾-曾-（这句话又重复了30秒，最后大家都有点尴尬）“……把汤姆的继承人从地球上抹去。 那就没有什么能阻止我动员全国的每一只老鼠和鸽子起来拿回他们应得的东西！“咕，咕，对不起，你觉得我们能凑钱吗？”

The tension was momentarily dampened as everyone looked around to where two pigeons were nesting in the rock face above the viaduct. 'COO-EE, YES, UP HERE, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU- the name's Cora. This is my husband, Michael.' Michael simply nodded his head in a pigeon-like way. 'Now, we just couldn't help overhearing you mentioned pigeons, and as MEMBERS OF THE

当每个人都环顾四周，看到两只鸽子在高架桥上方的岩石表面筑巢时，紧张的气氛暂时缓和了下来。 “嗬——嗬，是的，在这儿，抱歉打扰你——我叫科拉。” 这是我丈夫，迈克尔。”迈克尔只是像鸽子一样点了点头。 “现在，我们只是无意中听到你提到鸽子，作为THE的成员

PIGEON EQUALITY PARTY, we thought we should let you know that WE ALL REJECTED THE LEGEND OF OLD TOM'S COLLAR YEARS AGO. We're quite happy as we are, thank you very much, all getting on nicely. So, if you'd be so kind, PLEASE LEAVE ALL THE PIGEONS OUT OF IT. Now, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Come on now, Michael, I've got a seed risotto on the hob... ta ra, everyone!' Cora disappeared back into the nest and, after nodding a couple of times, Michael followed suit. All the animals below didn't quite know what to do or where to look! Toto piped up first. 'Err, right, OK, so back to it. Let's say the plan worked, what then?' she asked, knowing that if he opened up, she might find a way to get to Roderick. I have to be honest, I haven't really given the next stage of the plan an awful lot of thought. He sighed,

鸽子平等党，我们认为应该让你们知道，多年前我们都拒绝了老汤姆衣领的传说。 我们现在很开心，非常感谢，一切都很好。 所以，如果你愿意的话，请不要把所有的鸽子都扯进来。 现在，我不打扰你继续做你的事了。 来吧，迈克尔，我的灶台上有种子烩饭… 大家好！”科拉消失在鸟巢里，迈克尔点点头，也跟着消失了。 下面所有的动物都不知道该做什么，也不知道该往哪里看！托托先尖声说。 “嗯，好吧，回到正题上来。 假设计划成功了，然后呢？她问，知道如果他敞开心扉，她也许能找到罗德里克。 老实说，我还没有认真考虑下一阶段的计划。 他叹了口气,

still distracted by the pigeons' interruption, and momentarily letting his guard down. 'I don't know. Get a nice castle, start a family... But never mind that!' he yelled, shaking his head. 'All that matters is this!' He pointed to the collar he was proudly wearing. 'ALL THESE STUPID RATS WILL FOLLOW ME AND DO WHAT I TELL THEM TO DO SO LONG AS I HAVE OLD TOM'S COLLAR IN MY POSSESSION. 'Yes, I've been meaning to ask you about that.' Toto desperately tried to think of something else to ask the mighty rat. 'We, err, umm, all understand the promise of revenge your ancestor made, but why has it taken six hundred years for your family to come back?' 'It's all down to that idiot,' he said, pointing to Catface. 'Oh dear, I had a feeling this might be the case. Meow culpa.' Catface grimaced. 'For years I have been plotting how to get close

仍然被鸽子的打扰分散了注意力，暂时放松了警惕。 “我不知道。建一座漂亮的城堡，组建一个家庭…… 不过没关系！他摇着头喊道。 “最重要的是这个！”他指着他自豪地戴着的衣领。 “只要老汤姆的项圈还在我手里，这些愚蠢的老鼠就会跟着我，听我的话。 “是的，我一直想问你这件事。”托托拼命地想找点别的事来问这只强大的河鼠。 “我们，呃，嗯，都理解你祖先的复仇承诺，但为什么过了六百年你的家人才回来？”“都怪那个白痴，”他指着猫脸说。 “哦，天哪，我就有一种感觉。 猫叫疏忽。”凹凸扮了个鬼脸。 “多年来，我一直在谋划如何接近她

to Old Tom's Collar, but like my forefathers, I found every option was hopeless. THE SAPPHIRES AND THE RIDDLE WERE SO WELL GUARDED, they were impossible to get to. So, I've been masquerading as the French Ambassador for the last year, biding my time, seeing where and when I could make my move. And all the while seeing relations between cats and rats improve every day, thanks to you, Toto, Catface, and your merry band of friends. I knew I had to act soon, or it would be too late. Everyone is getting on so well, it's sickening! Then I went to see Catface play in Paris, and over a baked Camembert he told me that, as ambassador, I should request to see the collar when I visited. A request from a diplomat couldn't be turned down...' 'Sorrrrryyyy again,' groaned Catface. 'And that's when my plan was hatched. From there it was easy: I sent Cyril drugged blood biscuits

但和我的祖先一样，我发现每种选择都是没有希望的。 蓝宝石和谜语被守卫得非常严密，根本不可能拿到。 所以，去年我一直伪装成法国大使，等待时机，看看何时何地可以行动。 一直以来，猫和老鼠之间的关系每天都在改善，这都要感谢你，托托，猫脸，还有你那群快乐的朋友。 我知道我必须尽快行动，否则就太迟了。 每个人都相处得这么好，真让人恶心！后来我去巴黎看猫脸的演出，吃着烤卡门培尔奶酪，他告诉我，作为大使，我访问时应该要求看看他的衣领。 外交官的请求无法拒绝。“又对不起了。”猫脸呻吟道。 就在那时，我的计划诞生了。 从那以后事情就简单了：我给西里尔寄去了下药的血饼干

anonymously. The fool couldn't resist them. I waited for him to pass out, then I broke into his bedroom, stole the key, retrieved MY collar, put the key back, and waited for the perfect crime to be pinned on Cyril and Larry. That buffoon Fluffypaws has been looking for an excuse to get rid of the ninjas and the ravens, when they are the only thing 'keeping animals and humans alike safe and sound. His idiocy has served my purpose. With Larry out of the way I could break into his safe, and voila! The perfect crime was committed!' Larry was seething with rage, but it was Catface who spoke next. 'HANG ON, YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR?' Catface looked aghast. 'Of course not- I kidnapped him ages ago, sent him to Corsica (to be fair he's having a great life, chargrilled tuna every day), and since then I've taken

匿名。那个傻瓜无法抗拒他们。 我等他昏倒，然后闯进他的卧室，偷了钥匙，找回我的衣领，把钥匙放回原处，然后等着西里尔和拉里犯下完美的罪行。 小丑绒毛爪子一直在找借口摆脱忍者和渡鸦，而它们是唯一能保护动物和人类安全的东西。 他的愚蠢达到了我的目的。 不让拉里挡道我就能撬开他的保险箱，瞧！犯下了完美的罪行！”拉里气得直冒火，但接下来说话的是猫脸。 “等等，你的意思是说你实际上不是法国大使？”猫脸吓呆了。 “当然不是——我多年前绑架了他，把他送到科西嘉岛（公平地说，他现在过得很好，每天都吃炭烤金枪鱼），从那以后，我就拿走了