3 An Audience

3. AN AUDIENCE "Ahoy, Matilda!" Jim Lad yelled from the prow of the Jolley-Rogers' amphibious truck. A few hours earlier, Jim had sent Squawk, the Jolley-Rogers' macaw,

3. 观众：“你好，玛蒂尔达！”吉姆·拉德在乔利-罗杰斯的水陆两栖卡车的船头喊道。 几个小时前，吉姆送了乔利-罗杰斯家的金刚鹦鹉Squawk，

to visit Matilda with news of their imminent arrival. Matilda was waiting on the beach as the truck chug-chug- chugged its way through the surf and onto the sand, shedding seaweed, salt water, and shellfish. Jim's mom had decided it would be a good idea to anchor the Blackhole offshore because she didn't want Dull-on- Sea's rats coming aboard. Jim jumped off the truck as it came to a halt and gave Matilda the biggest pirate hug he could muster before they both ran off across the beach, giggling and weaving between the few tourists that were left in Dull-on-Sea. The rats didn't seem to like the beach, so a few locals were taking refuge there

带着他们即将到来的消息去拜访玛蒂尔达 玛蒂尔达在海滩上等着，卡车嘎吱嘎吱地冲过海浪，冲到沙滩上，溅起海藻、海水和贝类。 吉姆的妈妈决定把“黑洞”号停泊在近海是个好主意，因为她不想让“钝昂海”的老鼠上船。 卡车停了下来，吉姆跳了下来，给了玛蒂尔达一个最大的海盗拥抱，然后他们俩跑过海滩，咯咯地笑着，在剩下的几个游客中间穿梭。 老鼠似乎不喜欢海滩，所以一些当地人在那里避难

too, enjoying the warm but slightly overcast weather. Bones chased after Jim and Matilda, barking excitedly, his wooden leg leaving a trail of evenly spaced hollows in the sand. Nugget hoisted herself out of her car seat and climbed onto the prow of the truck. She swung her fiddle to her shoulder, held her bow aloft, and started to play. Matilda stopped dead. "Is that Nugget!" "Yeah," said Jim. "It's 'orrible! I have to put my 'eadphones on to drown it out!" "It's BEAUTIFUL!" said Matilda. "Let's go and listen!" Jim, confused, took a moment to fully understand what Matilda had said.

也享受着温暖但略阴的天气。 骨头追着吉姆和玛蒂尔达，兴奋地叫着，他的木腿在沙滩上留下了均匀间隔的凹痕。 金块从汽车座椅上爬了出来，爬上了卡车的船头。 她把小提琴甩到肩上，高高举起弓，开始演奏起来。 玛蒂尔达突然停了下来。“那是金块吗？”“是的，”吉姆说。 “这是‘orrible !我得戴上耳机才能把声音盖住！”“真漂亮！”玛蒂尔达说。 “我们去听听吧！”吉姆很困惑，花了一点时间才完全理解玛蒂尔达所说的话。

But before he could answer, Matilda was gone, running across the beach toward Nugget. By the time Jim caught up with her beside the truck, Nugget had an audience, mostly made up of gawping, swaying children.

但他还没来得及回答，玛蒂尔达就走了，穿过海滩朝努格特跑去。 当吉姆在卡车旁追上她时，纽格特已经有了一群观众，大部分都是呆呆地看着她，摇摇晃晃的孩子。

Jim's mom and dad looked just as confused as him, and Jim's dad had already stuffed his ears with corks. "Would it be OK if I record you playing?" Matilda asked when Nugget paused to scratch her nose. Nugget looked pleased: finally, someone appreciated her music! The rest of the Jolley-Rogers looked aghast.

吉姆的爸爸妈妈看起来和他一样困惑，吉姆的爸爸已经用软木塞塞住了耳朵。 “我可以录下你的演奏吗？”努格特停下来搔鼻子时，玛蒂尔达问道。 金块看起来很高兴：终于有人欣赏她的音乐了！乔利-罗杰斯乐队的其他人都惊呆了。

"Aye!" said Nugget with an enormous grin. "That'd be just fine!" Matilda's mom had recently given her an old phone, and Matilda took it everywhere. It was just the thing for recording Nugget's music. With renewed gusto, Nugget played the three songs that Grandpa Rogers had been teaching her. They weren't perfect, but Matilda and the other children were entranced. When Nugget finished (and she only stopped because she had run out of tunes), all the children were a little dazed. They looked at one another, overcome by what they had heard. Then there was a smattering of applause, and they all

“是啊！”纳格特咧开嘴笑着说。 “那太好了！”玛蒂尔达的妈妈最近给了她一部旧手机，玛蒂尔达走到哪里都带着它。 那是用来录纽格特音乐的。 纳格特重新兴致勃勃地演奏了罗杰斯爷爷教她的三首歌。 它们并不完美，但玛蒂尔达和其他孩子都很着迷。 当纳格特唱完之后（她停下来只是因为她的曲调用完了），所有的孩子都有点头晕。 他们面面相觑，被所听到的一切所征服。 接着响起了一阵掌声，大家都