3 Panic!

3. PANIC! Though it had been almost a month since the robbery at the museum, Dull-on-Sea was still in a panic. Now everybody seemed to be in a hurry. Shopkeepers shut their shops early. Police cars hurtled along with sirens blaring. And the tourists had all gone home weeks before. Rumors of marauding pirates can have that effect on a little seaside town.

3. 恐慌!虽然距离博物馆的劫案已经过去将近一个月了，但杜伦-海仍然处于恐慌之中。 现在每个人似乎都很匆忙。 店主们早早就关门了。 警车鸣笛疾驰而过。 游客们几周前就都回家了。 海盗劫掠的谣言会对一个海滨小镇产生这样的影响。

Worst of all, the police were still baffled. Chief Inspector Klewless had made a list of all the things he knew for certain— it wasn't very long. Raid on archaeological dig— May 14 Raid on museum—June 12 Both raids happened under a full moon Nothing seen on camera Next full moon TOMORROW!

最糟糕的是，警方仍然感到困惑。 总探长克利夫勒斯把他确信无疑的事情都列了一张单子——并不长。 5月14日对考古挖掘的袭击，6月12日对博物馆的袭击，两次袭击都发生在满月的时候。

Since the robbery, the residents of Dull-on-Sea had been making sure every- thing they owned was under lock and key. The bank had no space left in its vault, and every safety-deposit box was full. On the way home from school, Matilda and her mom walked past the bank, where a line of people clutched their valuables. The line stretched around the corner, down the hill, around another corner, and along the seafront. Everyone in the line looked nervously out to sea and muttered unintelligible nonsense about pirates. Mrs. Penelope Wise, the bank manager, was trying to

自从抢劫案发生后，钝滨海的居民们一直把他们所有的东西都锁得严严实实。 银行的金库已经没有空间了，每个保险箱都满了。 在放学回家的路上，玛蒂尔达和她的妈妈走过银行，那里排着队的人抓着他们的贵重物品。 队伍绕了一个拐角，下了山，又绕了另一个拐角，一直延伸到海滨。 队伍里的每个人都紧张地望着大海，咕哝着关于海盗的莫名其妙的废话。 佩内洛普·怀斯夫人，银行经理，想

persuade people to go home since the bank had no more room. "It's a good thing we don't have anything valuable in our house," said Matilda's mom as they climbed on the bus. The bus was jam-packed, but they squished themselves between people on their way to the hardware store to stock up on padlocks. The traffic was crawling along. Hun- dreds of cars wound around the traffic circle and spewed out along the main road, blocking the bus lane. People beeped their horns and shouted out of car windows, desperate to get to Do-It-All World. At the Do-It-All World bus stop, a man from the store got on the bus.

说服人们回家，因为银行没有更多的空间了。 “幸好我们家里没有值钱的东西，”玛蒂尔达的妈妈在他们爬上公共汽车时说。 公共汽车上挤满了人，但他们在去五金店买挂锁的路上挤在了人群中间。 车辆缓慢前行。 数百辆汽车绕在交通圈周围，沿着主干道喷涌而出，堵塞了公共汽车车道。 人们按喇叭，对着车窗大喊大叫，不顾一切地想去“万能世界”。 在Do-It-All World公共汽车站，一个商店的男人上了公共汽车。

"I'm sorry to tell you that we've completely sold out of padlocks... and window locks... and door chains... and door bolts... and hammers... and nails.... Oh, and mini-safes." A crowd of people waiting to get off the bus let out a loud moan before ambling back to their seats. A few more people climbed aboard, laden with bags, and stood in the aisle looking smug. "I couldn't get a mini-safe, so I'm going to glue my doors shut!" said a lady beside Matilda, clutching two plastic bags full of superglue. "Those pirates will never get in if I glue the doors shut!" "What if they come down the chim- ney?" said her friend, a bag of cement

“我很遗憾地告诉你，我们的挂锁已经卖完了…… 还有窗户锁……还有门链…… 还有门闩……和锤子…… 和指甲……哦，还有迷你保险箱。” 一群等着下车的人发出一声响亮的呻吟，然后慢吞吞地回到座位上。 又有几个人扛着行李爬上飞机，站在过道上，一脸得意。 “我买不到迷你保险箱，所以我要用胶水把我的门关上！”玛蒂尔达身边的一位女士说，手里拿着两个装满强力胶的塑料袋。 “如果我用胶水把门关上，那些海盗就进不来了！”“要是它们从烟囱里掉下来怎么办？”她的朋友说，他是一袋水泥