14 The Rat’s Warning

CHAPTER 14 The Rat's Warning Dragging a ship through the sea is hard work. So after two or three hours, the swallows began

第十四章水鼠的警告在海上拖船是一件艰苦的工作。 所以两三个小时后，燕子开始了

to get tired. Their wings were sore, and they were out of breath. They sent a message down to Doctor Dolittle that they needed to rest. They said they would pull the boat to a nearby island. They could hide it in a bay while they rested. When they were safely in the bay, Doctor Dolittle told the animals that they could go on land. He knew that they would want to stretch their legs. "I'll go look for some water," he said. As they were leaving the ship, Doctor Dolittle noticed hundreds of rats coming up from downstairs. They were leaving the ship as well. A large black rat crept over to the doctor. He coughed a few times, paused to clean his whiskers, and then he spoke. "Excuse me. You must know, Doctor, that all ships have rats on them," he said shyly. "Yes," the doctor said. "I've heard that before." "You must have also heard that rats leave a sinking ship," the rat added.

累了。他们的翅膀酸痛，上气不接下气。 他们给杜立德医生捎了个信，说他们需要休息。 他们说要把船拉到附近的一个岛上。 他们休息的时候可以把它藏在海湾里。 当他们安全抵达海湾后，杜立特医生告诉动物们，他们可以上岸了。 他知道他们会想要活动活动。 “我去找水喝，”他说。 当他们离开船时，杜立德医生注意到几百只老鼠从楼下爬上来。 他们也要离开这艘船。 一只大黑鼠爬到医生身边。 他咳了几声，停下来擦了擦胡子，然后说话了。 “对不起。你必须知道，医生，所有的船上都有老鼠，”他害羞地说。 “是的，”医生说。“我以前听说过。” “你一定也听说过老鼠会离开沉船，”老鼠补充说。

"Yes," the doctor said. "I've heard that, too." "I just wanted you to know that we are leaving this ship. But first I wanted to tell you," the rat said, "that this is not a safe ship. The sides aren't strong enough. Its boards are rotten. This ship will not last another day." "But how do you know?" asked the doctor. "We always know," answered the rat. "We get a tingly feeling in the ends of our tails. The same feeling you get when your foot falls asleep. And we all got the feeling this morning. At first I thought it was my arthritis coming back. I told my brother and he said he felt the same. Anyway, we all agreed that the problem was the ship. You shouldn't sail on it anymore. Now I must be going. We must look for a good place to live on the island. Good-bye!" Doctor Dolittle waved to the rat as he ran off the ship. "Thank you for telling us," he called. So the doctor and his animals left the boat. They carried pots to fill with water. They walked

“是的，”医生说。“我也听说了。” “我只是想让你知道，我们要离开这艘船。 但首先我想告诉你，”老鼠说，“这不是一条安全的船。 两边不够坚固。 它的木板腐烂了。这艘船一天也撑不下去了。” “你怎么知道的？”医生问。 “我们总是知道的，”河鼠回答。 “我们的尾巴末端有一种刺痛的感觉。 和你的脚睡着时的感觉一样。 今天早上我们都有这种感觉。 一开始我以为是关节炎复发了。 我告诉了我哥哥，他说他也这么想。 不管怎样，我们都认为问题出在飞船上。 你不应该再坐它航行了。 现在我得走了。我们必须在岛上找一个好地方住。 再见!”杜立德医生朝老鼠挥了挥手，跑下了船。 “谢谢你告诉我们，”他喊道。 于是医生和他的动物们离开了船。 他们拿着罐子装水。 他们走

quickly along the beach so as not to disturb the resting swallows. "I wonder what this island is called," the doctor wondered. "There are certainly a lot of birds here." "These are the Canary Islands," Dab-Dab said. "Don't you hear the canaries singing?" "Why, yes!" the doctor cried. "How silly of me! I wonder if they can tell us where to find water." So Doctor Dolittle called to the canaries. They were happy to help. They had heard all about Doctor Dolittle from other birds. They showed him around the island, taking him and the animals to waterfalls and green fields. They took them to a fresh spring where they filled their buckets with water. Everyone was quite happy. The pushmi-pullyu liked the green grass much more than the dried apples he had been eating on the boat. Gub-Gub could dig in the ground for tasty roots. They all liked the valley of wild

沿着海滩迅速移动，以免惊扰正在休息的燕子。 “我想知道这个岛叫什么，”医生想。 “这里肯定有很多鸟。” “这是加那利群岛，”达-达说。 “你没听到金丝雀在唱歌吗？”“啊，是的！”医生叫道。 “我真傻！”我想知道他们是否能告诉我们哪里能找到水。” 于是杜立德医生叫金丝雀。 他们很乐意帮忙。他们从别的鸟那里听说了杜立德医生的一切。 他们带他在岛上转了一圈，带他和动物们去看瀑布和绿色的田野。 他们把他们带到一个清泉边，把水桶装满了水。 每个人都很高兴。比起他在船上吃的苹果干，pushmi- pulllyu更喜欢绿草。 哥哥可以在地上挖美味的树根。 他们都喜欢野山谷

sugarcane they found near the fresh spring. Suddenly two swallows flew over to them. They were excited. "Doctor!" they said. "The pirates have arrived in the bay. They are all on your boat right now." "All the pirates are on our boat?" Doctor Dolittle asked. "Yes," the swallows said. "They are stealing everything! We saw them all go downstairs." "If they are all on our boat," Dab-Dab said, "that means their boat is empty!" "You have a good point," said Doctor Dolittle. "That's a splendid idea!" "Idea?" Gub-Gub said. "I didn't hear anyone mention an idea. What are you talking about?" "I'm sorry, Gub-Gub," Doctor Dolittle said. "There's no time to explain everything. We must hurry!" He called all the animals together. They said a quick good-bye to the canaries then ran down the beach.

他们在泉水附近发现了甘蔗。 突然，两只燕子飞向他们。 他们很兴奋。“医生！”他们说。 “海盗已经到了海湾。 他们现在都在你的船上。” “所有的海盗都在我们的船上？”杜立德医生问。 “是的，”燕子说。“他们什么都偷！”我们看见他们都下了楼。” “如果他们都在我们的船上，”哒哒说，“那就意味着他们的船是空的！”“你说得有道理。”杜立德医生说。 “这是个好主意！”“主意吗?”Gub-Gub说。 “我没有听到任何人提出任何想法。 你在说什么？”“对不起，格格。”杜立特医生说。 “没有时间解释一切。 我们必须快点！”他把所有的动物都叫到一起。 他们匆匆告别了金丝雀，然后跑下海滩。

They saw the pirate ship with its red sail standing in the water. Just as the swallows had told them, there was no one on board. So Doctor Dolittle told his animals to walk softly. They all crept to the pirate ship.

他们看见那艘挂着红帆的海盗船停在水里。 正如燕子告诉他们的那样，船上一个人也没有。 所以杜立德医生告诉他的动物们走路要轻柔。 他们都爬到海盗船那里。