Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 The gang thanked Matilda and bid her farewell. 'GREATEST CHEESE SANDWICH EVER!' shouted Silver as they left. They scurried across the pavement to the manhole that would bring them back to subterranean London. From there Catface said they could make it to Buckingham Palace pretty quickly. As they neared the manhole, however, they heard a shout: 'STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!'

大家向玛蒂尔达道谢，向她告别。 “史上最好吃的奶酪三明治！”他们离开时西尔弗喊道。 他们匆匆穿过人行道，奔向将他们带回地下伦敦的人孔。 猫脸说，从那里他们可以很快到达白金汉宫。 然而，当他们走近井口时，他们听到一声喊叫：“以法律的名义停车！”

'YIKES!' screamed Catface as he shot six feet up in the air in surprise. 'Cats, get below ground! NOW!' The cats ran for cover, but not before they glanced over their shoulders to see three scary-looking police dogs chasing them with teeth bared. One by one, they dropped down into the sewers, with Catface holding the lid for them. Just as the dogs reached the manhole, Catface landed next to the cats, the cover clanking tightly shut behind him. 'Phew,' he said, 'that was close! Still I think we're saf— OH FOR GOODNESS' SAKE! You don't even have retractable claws; how did you manage that?' he shouted at the dogs, who had somehow got the manhole cover open with their teeth and were about to drop down into the sewer to give chase. 'Guys, those teeth look awfully big. Socks gulped. 'What's the plan?' 'Long term: give me a minute,' replied Toto.

“呀! !猫脸惊叫道，他突然飞到六英尺高的空中。 “猫，躲到地下去！”现在!”猫们跑去找掩护，但他们回头一看，看到三只面目狰狞的警犬正露着牙齿追着他们。 他们一个接一个地掉进了下水道，猫脸帮他们扶着盖子。 就在狗们到达井口时，猫脸落在了猫的旁边，盖子在他身后哐当地关上了。 “呸，”他说，“好险啊！我仍然认为我们是安全的——哦，看在上帝的份上！你甚至没有可伸缩的爪子；你是怎么做到的？他对那两只狗喊道。那两只狗不知怎么用牙齿把井盖撬开了，正准备跳进下水道去追赶。 “伙计们，这些牙齿看起来太大了。 袜子一饮而尽。“计划是什么？”“长期的，给我一分钟，”托托回答。

'SHORT TERM: RUUUNNN!' The gang set off with the ginormous dogs in pursuit. Toto probably could have fought the dogs, but she couldn't bear the thought of disobeying Larry. He hadn't wanted her to attack the dogs at the Tower, he'd wanted her to run. And it seemed like a sensible idea to keep on the right side of the law, especially when she was trying to prove their innocence! But the dogs were closing in fast. 'Catface, you need to come up with something- I mustn't fight them!' Toto yelped. 'Think, old man, think...' Catface muttered to himself in response, before clicking his claws, picking up a rusty metal rod from the floor and banging on the pipes that ran along the top of the sewer. 'KITTENS, FOLLOW ME!' I know it seems weird, Toto told her brothers, 'as usual. But he must know what he's doing, so follow him!'

“短期：ruuunnn !”那伙人出发了，巨大的狗在后面追赶。 托托也许可以和狗打架，但她无法忍受违背拉里的想法。 他不想让她攻击塔里的狗，他想让她逃跑。 遵守法律似乎是一个明智的主意，尤其是当她试图证明他们的清白的时候！但警犬正在迅速逼近。 “猫脸，你得想个办法——我不能跟他们打！”托托在吠。 “想想，老头子，想想……”猫脸自言自语地回答，然后咔哒咔哒地用爪子从地上捡起一根生锈的金属棒，敲打着下水道顶部的管道。 “小猫，跟我来！”“我知道这看起来很奇怪，”托托对她的兄弟们说，“像往常一样。 但他一定知道自己在做什么，所以跟着他！”

'On my count, dive into the small tunnel coming up on the right,' Catface instructed. 'Three... two... one!' THE CATS ALL LANDED IN A HEAP IN THE TUNNEL. 'This isn't a plan!' cried Silver. 'Now they'll definitely get u—' Before he could finish his sentence a torrent of water rushed past in the main tunnel, carrying with it the surprised police dogs, who howled as they were washed away.

“听我数，潜入右边的小隧道。”猫脸指示道。 “三…两个……一个!”猫都在隧道里堆成一堆。 “这不是一个计划！”西尔弗叫道。 “现在他们肯定会把你——”他的话还没说完，一股洪流就从主隧道里冲了过去，带着吃惊的警犬，它们被冲走了，嚎叫着。

WHOOOOSH

WHOOOOSH

'I TOLD YOU!' A gleeful Catface clapped his hands and danced on the spot. 'How did you...?' Toto asked in disbelief at her wise friend. 'Oh, it's a code a bit like Morse that I invented with Matilda a long time ago, back when I wasn't welcome in my dad's kingdom of Ratborough. If I was in trouble near here, I'd bang on the pipes, take cover and she'd do the rest. And by "the rest", I mean she'd flush her human's toilet, which comes right down this tunnel, washing away anything in its path. I do hope that water was clean!' 'Will they be OK? They were only doing their jobs,' asked a concerned Toto. 'They'll be fine, just a bit soggy, and two miles away! Now, my friends, there's not moment to lose- we must make haste.' The rest of the journey to the palace went smoothly

“我告诉过你！”一个高兴的猫脸拍着手，在现场跳舞。 “你是怎么……？”托托难以置信地问她聪明的朋友。 “哦，这是一种有点像莫尔斯电码的密码，是我和玛蒂尔达很久以前发明的，那时我在我父亲的拉特伯勒王国不受欢迎。 如果我在这附近遇到麻烦，我就会猛敲管子，找个掩护，剩下的就交给她了。 我说的“其余的”是指她会冲她人类的厕所，就在这条隧道里，冲走路上的任何东西。 我真希望水是干净的！“他们会没事吗？” “他们不过是在做他们的工作，”托托关切地问。 “他们会没事的，只是有点湿，而且还有两英里远！”现在，我的朋友们，一刻也不能耽搁了——我们必须抓紧时间。”前往宫殿的其余旅程进行得很顺利