13 The Vote

13. THE VOTE "You see," said Jim's mom, "the Pirate Cruncher's allergic to macaws, and these 'ere parrots can help ye all escape." The pirates were barely listening. They had surrounded the cage and were cooing over their long- lost parrots. Some tickled their parrots' heads through the bars. All of the pirates looked very happy.

13. “你看，”吉姆的妈妈说，“海盗克朗奇对金刚鹦鹉过敏，而这些鹦鹉可以帮助你们逃脱。” 海盗们根本没在听。 他们围着笼子，对着失散已久的鹦鹉咕咕叫着。 有些人隔着栅栏挠鹦鹉的头。 所有的海盗看起来都很高兴。

"Do ye remember Banana Bill?" asked Jim. "Aye!" said a wrinkled pirate captain with a threadbare hat and a beard that almost reached the ground. "He were my first mate, so he was. But he disappeared one day. Went lookin' for his parrot, never to return. Fell in them scurvy stomach juices, no doubt, and slipped into the Cruncher's bowels. Shame, he were a lovely chap." "No!" said Jim. "He's alive! He's livin' on an island not far from 'ere, with a thousand parrots!" "And quite a lot of monkeys," added Grandpa.

“你还记得香蕉比尔吗？”吉姆问。 “是啊！”一个满脸皱纹的海盗船长说，他戴着一顶破旧的帽子，胡子几乎长到地上了。 “他是我的大副，没错。 但是有一天他消失了。 去找他的鹦鹉了，再也没回来。 毫无疑问，他掉进了坏血病胃液里，溜进了克朗彻的肚子里。 真可惜，他是个可爱的小伙子。” “不！”吉姆说。“他还活着!他住在离这儿不远的一个岛上，和一千只鹦鹉在一起！”“还有很多猴子，”爷爷补充说。

Jim retold the story of Banana Bill's escape. As he spoke, the old pirates pulled up crates and barrels to sit on, cracked open bottles of grog, and stroked their beards. Then Jim told them Matilda's escape plan. By the time he had finished, every pirate in the Pirate Cruncher's belly was rapt, apart from Grandpa, who had drunk quite a lot of grog and was once again snoring in the back of the car-boat. "We need to vote!" hollered a huge purple-bearded pirate who looked as old as the sea. His hair had gone gray, but a purple hue somehow remained in his beard. "We vote on everythin' down 'ere,

吉姆重述了香蕉比尔逃跑的故事。 他说话的时候，老海盗们拉起板条箱和木桶坐在上面，打开酒瓶，抚摸着胡须。 然后吉姆告诉了他们玛蒂尔达的逃跑计划。 等他吃完的时候，海盗克朗彻肚子里的每个海盗都听得入迷了，只有爷爷例外，他喝了不少烈酒，又在汽车船的后面打起了鼾。 “我们需要投票！”一个长着紫色胡子、看起来像大海一样苍老的大块头海盗喊道。 他的头发已经花白了，但不知怎么的，他的胡子上还留着紫色。 “我们对这里的一切都进行投票，

don't we, lads? So, who's in favor of the plan?" Almost all of the arms shot in the air, along with a few hooks. Only one pirate voted against the plan. He was Alfred of 'Averford West, a pale, bedraggled rogue with a nervous tic and clothes that seemed to wriggle as he walked. "I've never been too keen on the sea," he mumbled nervously. "All that sky and ocean and wide, open beaches. I like it down 'ere in the dark, with my friends." He stroked a rat sitting on his knee, which then disappeared beneath his doublet.

不是吗，伙计们？那么，谁赞成这个计划？”几乎所有的手臂都悬在空中，还有几个钩子。 只有一个海盗投票反对这个计划。 他就是西埃弗福德的阿尔弗雷德，一个脸色苍白、浑身脏兮兮的流氓，神经质地抽搐着，走路时衣服似乎在扭动。 “我从来就不太喜欢大海，”他紧张地嘟囔着。 “所有的天空、海洋和广阔的海滩。 我喜欢在黑暗中和朋友们在一起。” 他抚摸着坐在膝盖上的一只老鼠，老鼠随即消失在他的紧身上衣下面。

"So!" said Purplebeard. "Only one against! We will follow the plan!" The pirates cheered, swinging their bottles of grog in the air and dancing around. "We need to build some rafts," shouted Jim's mom above the merriment. "Cobble together some of this timber and lash it good and strong. Fix up some sails and maybe some oars. How many pirates are ye?"

“原来如此！”紫胡子说。“只有一个反对！”我们将按计划行事！”海盗们欢呼起来，在空中挥舞着酒瓶，跳着舞。 “我们需要搭一些木筏，”吉姆的妈妈在一片欢声笑语中喊道。 “把这些木头拼在一起，把它捆牢。 装上一些帆，也许还装上一些桨。 你们有多少海盗？”