12 The Duel

Chapter 12. THE DUEL On the Black Rat, Jim was about to make his escape when a blur of colored feathers zipped by, dropping something onto the floor in front of him. The Key of Souls! As Jim stuffed the key into his belt, a gunshot whizzed past his head and cut a rope clean in two. "Hold it right there, laddie!" a voice creaked. "Ye

第十二章。在黑鼠号上的决斗，吉姆正要逃跑时，一团彩色羽毛嗖地一闪而过，把什么东西掉在了他面前的地板上。 灵魂的钥匙！正当吉姆把钥匙塞进腰带时，一声枪响从他头上呼啸而过，把一根绳子切成了两截。 “别动，小伙子！”一个声音沙哑地说。 “你们

woke me from me slumber, and ye seems to be takin' things tha' don't belong to ye." He turned to see a hunched, peg- legged figure, waving a flintlock in his direction. Jim took a deep breath and grabbed a cutlass from a nearby bucket. He'd never had a real duel before, but he'd practiced with his dad, who said he had lots of potential. He hoped that it would be enough.... "Fight me fair, ye curmudgeon! I'm a boy and ye seem to be a man," taunted Jim as he jumped down from the rail.

把我从睡梦中叫醒，你好像拿了不属于你的东西。” 他转过身来，看见一个驼背的、装着假腿的人，正朝他的方向挥动着一支燧发枪。 吉姆深吸了一口气，从附近的水桶里抓起一把弯刀。 他以前从未参加过真正的决斗，但他和他的父亲一起练习过，他的父亲说他很有潜力。 他希望这就够了.... “公平地打我，你这个坏脾气！”“我是个男孩，而你看起来像个男人，”吉姆一边从栏杆上跳下来，一边嘲笑道。

The old pirate chuckled and stuck his flintlock in his belt. He took a swig of grog and drew his sword. The two opponents eyed each other across the deck, gripping their weapons tightly and inching closer. Now that he was a bit nearer, Jim didn't like the look of the old pirate at all. He had a scar that ran across his face, and one ear was hanging off. He was panting heavily, drool oozing from his mouth. Jim Lad felt beads of sweat running down his forehead. But before their cutlasses could clash, a great, booming voice echoed through the fog at the far end of the deck.

老海盗咯咯地笑着，把燧发枪插在腰带上。 他喝了一大口烈酒，拔出了剑。 两个对手隔着甲板对视了一下，紧紧握着武器，慢慢靠近。 吉姆现在离他更近了一点，他一点也不喜欢老海盗的样子。 他脸上有一道伤疤，一只耳朵耷拉下来。 他喘着粗气，嘴里淌着口水。 吉姆·拉德感到汗珠顺着额头流下来。 但在他们的弯刀碰撞之前，一个巨大的、低沉的声音在甲板另一端的雾中回响。

"YOU'LL LEAVE HIM FER ME!" ordered Captain Twirlybeard, striding toward them, a cutlass in each hand. His motley crew of ghost pirates followed behind him. If Jim was sweating at the thought of fighting the peg-legged pirate, he was terrified at the prospect of taking on Twirlybeard. Whatever potential his dad thought he might have, it probably wasn't enough to take on one of the most fearsome pirates who had ever lived. But before Jim could think about it properly, two cutlasses came flying toward him. It took all his strength to parry them. He lost his footing and fell to the deck,

“你们把他留给我！”旋须船长命令道，两手各拿一把弯刀，大步朝他们走来。 他那群形形色色的幽灵海盗跟在他后面。 如果说吉姆一想到要和瘸腿海盗战斗就会汗流浃背，那么他一想到要和旋转胡子较量就会感到害怕。 不管他父亲认为他有多大的潜力，可能都不足以对付有史以来最可怕的海盗之一。 但吉姆还没来得及好好想想，两把弯刀就朝他飞来了。 他用尽了全力才躲开他们。 他一失足，跌到甲板上，

then scurried behind the mast as one of Twirlybeard's blades cut a great chunk from the timber. Jim took a swing at his foe, but Twirlybeard effortlessly brushed it aside. "That all ye got, boy?" He grinned. "This won't take long!" Jim Lad leaped for the rigging and climbed up with one hand while parrying blows with the cutlass in the other. "GET DOWN WERE AND FIGHT, YE VARMINT!" yelled Twirlybeard. "OR I'LL BE COMING TO GET YE!" Throwing down one of his cutlasses, he began to climb after Jim. The rigging groaned under his mighty bulk.

然后赶紧跑到桅杆后面，这时旋须的一把刀刃从木头上砍下了一大块。 吉姆向他的敌人挥了一拳，但旋转胡子毫不费力地把它挡在了一边。 “这就是你的全部能耐，孩子？”他咧嘴一笑。 “不会花很长时间的！”吉姆·拉德跳上索具，一只手爬了上去，另一只手拿着弯刀挡了一下。 “下来战斗，你这个恶棍！”旋转胡子喊道。 “不然我就来抓你了！”他扔下一把弯刀，开始向吉姆爬去。 索具在它巨大的身躯下发出呻吟声。