15 Hi-Fi

15. HI-FI Mayor Harvey Carrot didn't realize how sophisticated Matilda's plan was— or that it hadn't played itself out yet. She had enlisted the help of Norbert Grimes and her dad, experts in rat catching and stereos respectively. Matilda had given her dad some very detailed instructions when she had dropped by his office earlier that day. She knew that the

15. 高保真的市长哈维·胡萝卜没有意识到玛蒂尔达的计划有多么复杂——或者它还没有发挥作用。 她得到了诺伯特·格莱姆斯和她父亲的帮助，他们分别是捕鼠专家和音响专家。 那天早些时候，玛蒂尔达去她父亲的办公室拜访时，给了他一些非常详细的指示。 她知道

Pirate Piper's ship would lie empty in the harbor while he held the children in the cave and chased Jim Lad around the dunes, and this was crucial to her plan. She had asked her dad to call Norbert Grimes, but to tell nobody else of the plan, and most definitely, definitely, definitely, not to tell Mom. An hour or so earlier, while the Pirate Piper was still playing his pipe to the children in the cave, Matilda's dad had parked his car on the wharf. He was wearing black gloves, black sneakers, black socks, black jeans, black underpants, and a black sweater his wife had given him as a Christmas present three years earlier. He'd never worn it because it was a bit

海盗派珀把孩子们关在山洞里，在沙丘上追逐吉姆·拉德，他的船会空着停在港口，这对她的计划至关重要。 她让父亲给诺伯特·格莱姆斯打电话，但不要告诉其他人这个计划，而且绝对、绝对、绝对不要告诉妈妈。 大约一个小时前，海盗吹笛手还在洞穴里给孩子们吹着笛子，玛蒂尔达的爸爸已经把车停在码头上了。 他戴着黑色手套，黑色运动鞋，黑色袜子，黑色牛仔裤，黑色内裤，还有一件黑色毛衣，那是他妻子三年前送给他的圣诞礼物。 他从来没穿过，因为有点

clingy, especially around his tummy, but he had seen plenty of spy movies, and he knew that espionage and sneaking about called for appropriate clothing, even if it did make him feel a bit self-conscious. It was also the first time he'd worn the black leather gloves his mother-in-law had bought him for his fortieth birthday. "Good evening!" said Arthur Poppy- cock, arriving for his shift. "New sweater? What are you doing here?" Matilda had mentioned this in her plan, and her dad was expecting Arthur to arrive. "Oh, I just thought I'd do a bit of fishing," he said. "By the way, have you heard that double-chocolate brownies are

他很粘人，尤其是在肚子上，但他看过很多间谍电影，他知道间谍活动和偷偷摸摸需要合适的衣服，即使这让他觉得有点难为情。 这也是他第一次戴上他岳母在他四十岁生日时给他买的黑色皮手套。 “晚上好！”阿瑟·波比考克来换班时说。 “新毛衣吗?你在这里做什么？”玛蒂尔达在她的计划中提到了这一点，她的父亲正等着亚瑟的到来。 “哦，我只是想钓点鱼，”他说。 “对了，你听说过双层巧克力布朗尼吗？

on sale at Super-Duper Market? Buy one, get one free, apparently. And their finest spiced rum is half-price too. You'd better be quick— they close soon." "Oh, that is interesting," said Arthur. He dropped his bag in the harbor office and rushed up the street. "Keep an eye on the harbor, could you please? I'll be back in half an hour!" Matilda's dad was very impressed with his daughter's attention to detail.

在超级超市打折吗？ 显然，买一送一。 他们最好的五香朗姆酒也是半价。 你最好快点——他们很快就关门了。” “哦，真有意思。”阿瑟说。 他把包丢在港务办公室，然后冲到街上。 “请你留意一下港口，好吗？” 我半小时后回来！”玛蒂尔达的父亲对女儿对细节的关注印象深刻。

He unloaded his car, pushed his wheelbarrow up the rearmost gang plank of the Pirate Piper's ship, and set about the work Matilda had asked him to do. A few minutes later, Norbert Grimes joined him below deck, glancing nervously at his watch.

他把车上的东西卸了下来，推着手推车爬上海盗吹笛手那艘船最后面的甲板，开始做玛蒂尔达让他做的工作。 几分钟后，诺伯·格莱姆斯来到甲板下，紧张地看了看表。

"Looks like you know what you're doing," he squeaked, admiring the coils of wire and brass plugs that Matilda's dad was connecting so adeptly. "I'd better get to work." By the time Arthur Poppycock arrived back at the harbor office, laden with two bulging Super-Duper Market shopping bags, Matilda's dad was relaxing on a dock, waiting for a nibble on his fishing line. A short while later, he saw the Pirate Piper appear, marching across the wharf in a rage. The piper boarded the Black Death, then reappeared moments later, pipe pressed to his lips and followed by a plague of rats, which was just what Matilda had said would happen.

“看来你知道自己在做什么，”他尖声说，欣赏着玛蒂尔达的爸爸熟练地连接着的线圈和黄铜插头。 “我得去工作了。”当亚瑟带着两个鼓鼓的超级超级超市购物袋回到港口办公室时，玛蒂尔达的爸爸正在码头上休息，等着有人来咬他的鱼线。 过了一会儿，他看见海盗吹笛手出现了，怒气冲冲地穿过码头。 风笛手登上了“黑死病”号，过了一会儿，他又出现了，烟斗贴在嘴唇上，接着是一场老鼠的瘟疫，这正是玛蒂尔达所说的。