3 Dear Tilly

3. DEAR TILLY It was summer, but the weather was doing its best to make it feel like fall. Matilda was painting at her kitchen table, with the patio door open. She'd just finished a sea monster that she was quite pleased with and was wondering what to paint next.

3. 亲爱的蒂莉：现在是夏天，但天气却竭力使人感觉像是秋天。 玛蒂尔达在厨房的桌子旁画画，天井的门开着。 她刚刚画完一个她很满意的海怪，正在想下一步该画什么。

WOOF! Matilda looked up and saw a dog in the backyard. She didn't even have a dog, so that was strange. Stranger still, Matilda's cat, Fluff, trotted past her and into the garden. Fluff usually hated dogs. Matilda jumped up to see Fluff pushing her face up against the dog's cheeks and curling her tail around his ears. This wasn't any old dog—it was a pirate dog! It was Bones! He was Fluffs sweetheart, and also the faithful

汪!玛蒂尔达抬起头，看见后院有一只狗。 她甚至没有养狗，这很奇怪。 更奇怪的是，玛蒂尔达的猫弗夫从她身边跑过，进了花园。 绒毛通常讨厌狗。玛蒂尔达跳了起来，看到绒毛把脸贴在狗的脸颊上，把尾巴绕在狗的耳朵上。 这不是一只老狗——它是一只海盗狗！是骨头！他是绒毛的心上人，也是忠实的

companion of Matilda's best friend and pirate pen pal, Jim Lad. "Is Jim here?" asked Matilda, a little overcome with excitement because she hadn't seen Jim for a few weeks. "ARE," said Bones, and shook his head. Matilda noticed a roll of paper wobbling on his collar. She bent down and untied it.

玛蒂尔达最好的朋友兼海盗笔友吉姆·拉德的同伴。 “吉姆在这儿吗？”玛蒂尔达问，她有些激动，因为她已经好几个星期没见到吉姆了。 “是的，”骨头说，摇了摇头。 玛蒂尔达注意到他衣领上的一卷纸在晃动。 她弯下腰把它解开。

Dear Tilly, we're stuck in a cave beneath Hag's Head! Please help us! Love, Jim Lad P.S. Map on reverse. P.P.S. Please give Bones a biscuit.

亲爱的蒂莉，我们被困在女巫头下面的山洞里了！请帮助我们！爱你的，吉姆·拉德 地图倒过来。附言：请给骨头一块饼干。

"Oh, no!" Matilda cried. "Bones, can you take me there?" Bones nodded and tapped his wooden leg on the patio. Matilda's dad was building a model airplane in the study, and her mom had caught the bus to town. Matilda ran inside and grabbed her coat, a water bottle, a map, her pocket money (just in case), and a couple of biscuits. "Dad, I'm going out on my bike!" shouted Matilda as she ran past the study door. Her dad was busy trying to unstick a tiny transparent

“哦,不!”玛蒂尔达哭了。“骨头，你能带我去吗？”骨头点了点头，用他的木腿敲了敲院子。 玛蒂尔达的爸爸正在书房里做飞机模型，妈妈已经搭上了去镇上的公共汽车。 玛蒂尔达跑进屋里，抓起她的外套、一个水瓶、一张地图、零花钱（以防万一）和几块饼干。 “爸爸，我要骑自行车出去！”玛蒂尔达跑过书房门口时喊道。 她爸爸正忙着把一个小小的透明玻璃弄开

cockpit canopy from his thumb, but there was glue everywhere, and he could only mumble, "Oh... OK. Don't go too far!" Matilda flipped a biscuit to Bones and pulled her bike out of the shed. She quickly put on her helmet and stuffed everything else in an old backpack. "Would you like a ride?" she said, placing Bones in the basket on her handlebars. Then she hopped on her bike, pushed off through her gate, and sped along the road, pedaling as hard and fast as she could. Fluff watched wistfully from the gatepost.

从他的拇指上抠出驾驶舱的顶篷，但是到处都是胶水，他只能咕哝着：“哦…… 好的。别走得太远！”玛蒂尔达把一块饼干扔给骨头，然后把她的自行车拉出了车棚。 她迅速戴上头盔，把其他东西塞进一个旧背包里。 “你想搭便车吗？”她说着，把骨头放在车把上的篮子里。 然后，她跳上自行车，穿过大门，沿着马路疾驰而去，尽她最大的努力蹬着车。 绒毛在门柱上若有所思地看着。