8 Monkeys!

8. MONKEYS! For a while, nothing happened. Then the smell of squished banana began to attract swarms of flies and bees. Jim quite liked bees, but not when they were crawling all over his banana-covered feet. Jim's dad was chomping on the last of the un-squished bananas when Matilda spotted a monkey peeking up at her from behind a palm leaf. Then Jim pointed out two more

8. 猴子!有一段时间，什么也没发生。 然后，压扁香蕉的气味开始吸引成群的苍蝇和蜜蜂。 吉姆很喜欢蜜蜂，但当蜜蜂在他满是香蕉的脚上爬来爬去的时候，他就不喜欢了。 吉姆的爸爸正在大嚼最后一根没压碎的香蕉，这时玛蒂尔达发现一只猴子正从一片棕榈叶后面偷看她。 然后吉姆又指出了两个

scurrying around on the forest floor, chattering excitedly. "And there's another!" cried Matilda as a monkey, hanging by its tail, untied one of the vines that held the net aloft. The next moment, the net lurched sideways as the vine fell free. More monkeys then clambered onto the net above them, deftly unpicking the knots. "I think they're trying to help us!" said Jim. Matilda watched the monkeys, her eyes following the length of the vines they were untying. The vines rose upward into the branches and then fell down to

在森林的地面上跑来跑去，兴奋地叽叽喳喳。 “还有一个！”玛蒂尔达喊道，一只猴子被尾巴吊着，解开了一根把网挂在高处的藤蔓。 接着，藤蔓掉了下来，网也歪了。 更多的猴子爬上它们上方的网，熟练地解开结。 “我想他们是想帮助我们！”吉姆说。 玛蒂尔达注视着猴子们，眼睛顺着他们正在解开的藤蔓望去。 藤蔓向上缠绕在树枝上，然后又垂下来

the forest floor, where hordes more monkeys were now running around, whooping and hollering. Some of them seemed to be carrying spears. She spotted another monkey behind a tree, with a tricorn hat on its head. It might have been carrying a funny-shaped stick, but the stick looked a lot like a musket. "Um... I think they're trying to release us, Jim. But I'm not sure they're trying to 'help' us."

森林的地面上，成群的猴子在那里跑来跑去，又叫又叫。 他们中有些人似乎拿着长矛。 她发现树后面还有一只猴子，头上戴着三角帽。 它可能带着一根形状滑稽的棍子，但这根棍子看起来很像一支火枪。 “嗯……我觉得他们想放了我们，吉姆。 但我不确定他们是否在试图‘帮助’我们。”

"Maybe they've got more bananas!" said Jim's dad. The net shifted again. Matilda gasped. "It's a long way down. I really hope the ground's soft." The net swung sideways suddenly and a monkey flew past them, dangling from a vine. More vines whooshed by, and all the monkeys below them disappeared into the undergrowth. "At least we'll get away from these bees," said Jim. The next moment, the branch directly above them let out an almighty creak and the net dropped.

“也许他们有更多的香蕉！”吉姆的爸爸说。 网又移动了。玛蒂尔达气喘吁吁地说。 “下去的路很长。我真希望地面是软的。” 网突然向旁边一甩，一只猴子从他们身边飞过，悬在一根藤蔓上。 更多的藤蔓呼啸而过，下面所有的猴子都消失在灌木丛中。 “至少我们可以远离这些蜜蜂，”吉姆说。 下一刻，他们正上方的树枝发出一声巨大的吱吱声，网掉了下来。

THUMP! They all landed in a heap, still entangled in the remnants of the net. Bones was sitting on Matilda. Matilda was lying on Jim. Jim was lying on his dad. "It's at times like this I'm glad you have such a big tummy," Jim said to his dad, who was flat out on his back. Mr. Jolley- Rogers groaned a little as his arms flopped out to his sides. Bones growled.

重打!它们都落在地上，堆成一堆，还被网的残余物缠在一起。 骨头坐在玛蒂尔达身上。 玛蒂尔达躺在吉姆身上。吉姆躺在他爸爸身上。 “在这种时候，我很高兴你有这么大的肚子，”吉姆对他的爸爸说，他的爸爸躺在地上。 乔利-罗杰斯先生微微哼了一声，双臂耷拉到身体两侧。 骨头咆哮道。

The monkeys were back, murmuring and pointing as they surrounded their captives. Some of the monkeys had spears, and the largest monkey wielded a rusty

猴子们又回来了，围着它们的俘虏叽叽喳喳地指指点点。 有些猴子拿着长矛，最大的那只猴子挥舞着一把生锈的枪