Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 So far, the tour had been nothing short of a stunning SUCCESS IN DIPLOMACY, and Sheila was over the moon. The sun had been shining, showing London off in all its glory. The twenty-one-meow salute had gone purrfectly, although the noise had terrified a nearby human milkman and made him crash his milk float. Lunch had taken place below a cheese shop in Mayfair, and was a magnificent affair, with mountains of Brie, Camembert and gooey tartiflette (a French

到目前为止，这次访问在外交上取得了惊人的成功，希拉欣喜若狂。 太阳一直照耀着，把伦敦的辉煌尽收眼底。 二十一喵的敬礼进行得很完美，尽管噪音吓坏了附近的一个送奶人，把他的牛奶车撞坏了。 午餐是在梅菲尔区（Mayfair）一家奶酪店楼下吃的，那是一顿丰盛的午餐，布里干酪、卡门培尔干酪和粘稠的馅饼（一种法国奶酪）堆积如山

dish of cheese, potatoes, bacon and cream, which Silver loved- 'Unbelievable. I can die a happy cat, and I want to come back French!'). Although Sheila's boss, the stuffy old fusspot Sir Wigbert Fluffypaws the Third, had fallen asleep in his saucer of milk. Early afternoon involved a quick visit to the animal parliament, which was just beneath the human House of Commons. There, they had watched a raging debate about pigeon poo... apparently it was everywhere! THE PIGEON EQUALITY PARTY was up in arms, claiming it wasn't pigeons' fault because not every animal has a litter tray or owners with bags. Now, all that was left before the state banquet was the visit to the TOWER OF LONDON. Toto was as excited as everyone else. Every kitten in the world knew the tale of TOM AND DICK WHITTINGTON, and even with her poor eyesight, she felt sure she'd be able to see some sparkling light reflecting off the

西尔弗喜欢的一盘奶酪、土豆、培根和奶油——“难以置信。” 我可以快乐地死去，我想回到法国！”)。 虽然希拉的老板，又闷又爱大惊小怪的威伯特毛爪三世爵士，已经在他的牛奶碟里睡着了。 下午早些时候，我去了动物议会，就在人类下议院的下面。 在那里，他们观看了一场关于鸽子便便的激烈辩论…… 显然到处都是！鸽子平等党对此表示强烈反对，声称这不是鸽子的错，因为并不是每只鸽子都有一个垃圾托盘，也不是每只鸽子的主人都有垃圾袋。 现在，国宴之前剩下的就是参观伦敦塔了。 托托和大家一样兴奋。 世界上的每只小猫都知道汤姆和迪克·惠廷顿的故事，即使她的视力不好，她也确信她能看到一些闪闪发光的光反射在眼睛上

sapphires. Though she couldn't help wondering why Larry hadn't mentioned that he looked after one of the keys before. Top secret, I suppose, she thought to herself. Toto also couldn't help but think that one day she might be the holder of that key when Larry retired. And maybe, just maybe, she could try the collar on? OK, it wasn't strictly in the Ninja code, but there was no harm in being stylish! The French ambassador, Monsieur Raton Laveur, was very stylish. He was a charming white rat, dressed impeccably in a cream pin-striped suit. Silver told Toto that Monsieur had much better dress sense than the Home Secretary, sleepy Sir Fluffypaws the Third, who was an old ginger cat with a massive moustache. He was dressed in an old-fashioned three-piece woollen suit and sported a monocle. In addition to these two, the party was made up of:

蓝宝石。不过她不禁想知道，为什么拉里以前没有提过他保管过其中一把钥匙。 我想这是最高机密吧，她心想。 托托也不禁想到，有一天当拉里退休时，她可能就是那把钥匙的持有者。 也许，只是也许，她可以试试项圈？ 好吧，这并不是严格意义上的忍者规则，但是保持时尚并没有什么害处！法国大使拉顿·拉沃尔先生非常时髦。 他是一只迷人的小白鼠，穿着一套无可挑剔的奶油色细条纹西装。 西尔弗对托托说，先生的穿着品味比内政大臣，睡眼朦胧的绒毛鹦鹉三世爵士要好得多，那是一只长着浓密胡子的姜黄色老猫。 他穿着一套老式的三件套羊毛西装，戴着一副单片眼镜。 除了这两个人之外，这个聚会还包括：

A dozen or so of Monsieur Laveur's staff, who were a mixture of equally well- turned-out cats and rats Sheila and her squad of beefy-looking Alsatian police dogs Larry and Toto, of course, plus Silver and Socks- both of whom said they had come along to help their sister. But she thought it was more likely just for a chance to have a sneaky peek at the mystical collar The group left the animal parliament via the drains, which was the quickest exit to the river while keeping out of sight of humans. They emerged just under a pier where Londoners, TOURISTS- AND ANIMALS!- could catch the boat up and down the river.

拉沃尔先生的十来个工作人员，他们是同样漂亮的猫和老鼠的混合，希拉和她那一队看起来很健壮的阿尔萨斯警犬拉里和托托，当然，还有西尔弗和索克斯——他们俩都说他们是来帮助他们的妹妹的。 但她认为，更有可能的是，它们只是想偷偷看一眼这个神秘的项圈。这群动物从排水沟离开了动物议会，这是人类看不到的情况下通往河流的最快出口。 他们出现在一个码头下面，那里有伦敦人、游客——还有动物！——可以在河的上游和下游抓住船。

THE ANIMAL PIER WAS ON THE LEVEL BELOW THE HUMANS' one, and it was a hub of activity. Animals of all shapes and sizes, locals and

动物码头在人类码头的下面一层，是一个活动中心。 各种形状和大小的动物，本地动物和

tourists alike, were waiting to board the next vessel, and busy-looking water voles in uniform were issuing tickets.

游客们都在等着登上下一艘船，穿着制服的水鼠们在忙着售票。