5 The Blackhole

5. THE BLACKHOLE It was nine o'clock on Saturday morning, and Matilda was waiting at the end of the harbor wall, clutching a satchel stuffed with newspaper clippings. She had caught a bus to town with her dad, who had popped into the hardware store to see if they had more padlocks in stock— just in case the pirates had any interest in lawn mowers.

5. 黑洞星期六上午九点钟，玛蒂尔达正等在港口的墙头，手里攥着一个装满剪报的书包。 她和父亲搭上了一辆去镇上的公共汽车，父亲突然走进五金店，看看他们是否还有挂锁存货——以防海盗们对割草机感兴趣。

Matilda saw the sails of the Blackhole appear on the horizon, and her heart skipped a beat. Jim Lad would be in the crow's nest with Bones, his wooden- legged dog. She wondered if he could already see her through his telescope. She waved just in case. "They were still sold out of padlocks," Dad groaned as he returned with a still- empty bag. "I'll have to use your bike lock to secure the shed, if we're going to keep my lawn mower safe from pirates. Talking of pirates, are those the Jolley-Rogers heading our way?"

玛蒂尔达看到黑洞的帆出现在地平线上，她的心跳了一下。 吉姆·拉德会和他的木腿狗骨头在鸦窠里。 她想知道他是否已经能通过望远镜看到她了。 她挥挥手以防万一。“挂锁还是卖光了，”爸爸呻吟着，拎着一个空袋子回来了。 “如果我们要保护我的割草机不被海盗偷走，我就得用你的自行车锁锁住车棚。 说到海盗，那些乔利-罗杰斯号是朝我们这边来的吗？”

He sat beside Matilda on a bench, and they watched together as the Blackhole neared. They could see tiny figures aloft, furling sails and being thrown from side to side as the hull rolled in the surf. Even with the ship in view, it seemed like an eternity to Matilda before the Blackhole eventually arrived in Dull-on- Sea, waves breaking across her bow as she turned in to the harbor. All the sails were furled and Matilda could hear the slow, rhythmic chug of the engine. Jim's little sister, Nugget, was at the wheel, standing on a barrel of grog.

他坐在玛蒂尔达旁边的长凳上，他们一起看着黑洞靠近。 他们可以看到空中有一些小小的身影，它们卷起帆，随着船体在海浪中翻滚，被从一边甩到另一边。 即使看到了这艘船，对玛蒂尔达来说，在黑洞号最终抵达杜伦海之前，似乎过了很长一段时间，当她转向港口时，船头上的波浪被打破了。 所有的帆都卷了起来，玛蒂尔达能听到引擎缓慢而有节奏的轰鸣声。 吉姆的小妹妹纳格特站在一桶酒上，坐在驾驶座上。

"AHOY!" yelled Jim Lad, who was balancing on a yard, steadying himself by holding on to a rope. Matilda jumped up from the bench and ran along the harbor wall, keeping pace with the ship. Bones was barking excitedly from the crow's nest. Jim grabbed another rope and slid from a great height down onto the bowsprit. "MATILDA!" he shouted with a broad, gap-toothed grin.

“啊哈！”吉姆·拉德喊道，他正抓住一根绳子，站在院子里保持平衡。 玛蒂尔达从长凳上跳起来，沿着港口的墙跑着，跟在船的后面。 骨头在鸦窠里兴奋地叫着。 吉姆抓起另一根绳子，从很高的地方滑到船头斜桅上。 “玛蒂尔达！”他咧着牙咧嘴笑着喊道。

He scuttled toward the deck and ducked beneath the rail. When he reappeared, he was holding a coil of rope across one arm, and in his other hand he had a knotted ball, which formed the end of the rope. "CATCH, TILLY!" The knotted ball bounced along the cobbles, and Matilda grabbed hold of it and pulled more rope toward her. She wrapped it around a mooring and held tight, nervously waiting for the Blackhole to pick up the slack. At the stern, Jim's dad jumped ashore with another coil, shouting directions to Nugget, who was belting out a sea chantey as she steered the ship against the harbor

他急忙跑向甲板，钻到栏杆下面。 当他再次出现时，他一只手臂上拿着一卷绳子，另一只手拿着一个打结的球，这是绳子的末端。 “抓,蒂莉!”打结的球沿着鹅卵石弹来弹去，玛蒂尔达抓住它，拉了更多的绳子给她。 她把它缠在一个系泊处，紧紧地握着，紧张地等待着黑洞来接住松弛的绳索。 在船尾，吉姆的父亲用另一根绳子跳上岸，大声向纳格特发出指示，纳格特正高唱着一首海上圣歌，把船驶向港口