1 The Museum

Chapter 1 THE MUSEUM Sitting in the cozy control room of the Dull-on-Sea Museum, Arthur Poppycock bit into his double-chocolate muffin and slurped his coffee. "Mmmm, how delicious," he mumbled as soggy crumbs tumbled down his chin.

阿瑟·波比科克坐在海滨钝海博物馆舒适的控制室里，咬着双层巧克力松饼，啜着咖啡。 “嗯，真好吃。”他咕哝着，湿漉漉的面包屑顺着他的下巴滚落下来。

Being a security guard was the best job Arthur had ever had. Endless cups of coffee, as many muffins as he could eat (without Mrs. Poppycock reminding him of his pant-button problem), plenty of time to read VW Beetle Monthly, and hours of silence to tackle his beloved crosswords. But best of all, thought Arthur, nothing EVER happens in Dull-on-Sea. CREAK! "What was that?"

当保安是亚瑟做过的最好的工作。 喝不完的咖啡，吃不完的松饼（没有废话太太提醒他裤子扣子的问题），有足够的时间阅读大众甲壳虫月刊，还有几个小时安静地玩他喜欢的填字游戏。 但最重要的是，阿瑟想，在钝海什么事也没发生过。 吱嘎吱嘎!“那是什么？”

CLANK! "Probably a cat in the alley," Arthur muttered. He switched to the alley camera, but there was nothing on the screen. CLUNK! "Or a very big mouse..." CRASH! "I'd better check," he told himself.

叮当作响!“可能是巷子里有只猫。”阿瑟喃喃地说。 他切换到小巷的摄像头，但屏幕上什么也没有。 呯!“或者一只非常大的老鼠……” 崩溃!“我最好检查一下，”他对自己说。

The only bad thing about his job at the Dull-on-Sea Museum, apart from the itchy sweater and having to polish his shoes every day, was that Arthur was a little bit afraid of the dark. Everything looked spooky beyond the glow of his flashlight. There were funny shadows everywhere: statues... sculptures... stuffed animals. paintings... and...

阿瑟在海滨钝海博物馆工作，除了毛衣发痒、每天都得擦亮鞋子之外，唯一的缺点就是有点怕黑。 在他手电筒的光芒下，一切都显得阴森森的。 到处都是有趣的影子：雕像…… 雕塑……毛绒动物玩具。 绘画……和…

P... P... Pl... Pl... PIR... PIRATES!

P…P…Pl……Pl……PIR…… 海盗!