4 Emergency Meeting

4. EMERGENCY MEETING Harvey Carrot, mayor of Dull-on-Sea, had called an emergency meeting. All the councilors were there and the Town Hall was packed with townsfolk. Norbert Grimes, senior rat catcher for the town's pest-control department, had spent all morning trying to rid the building of rats. He

4. 杜尔-昂-海市长哈维·胡萝卜召集了一次紧急会议。 所有的议员都到齐了，市政厅里挤满了市民。 诺伯特·格莱姆斯是该镇虫害防治部门的高级捕鼠员，他花了整个上午的时间试图清除大楼里的老鼠。 他

had a large wriggling sack slung over his shoulder and was prowling the perimeter of the hall with a net, peering into corners and under benches. Jim Lad had tagged along with Matilda and was sitting near the back of the hall with her parents. He had promised to report back to the rest of the Jolley- Rogers. Matilda could see her neighbors, Mrs. Bevan from eighty-seven and Mr. Shaw from thirty-four, along with plenty of school friends sitting alongside their parents. She smiled and waved to Ruby, the girl she sat next to in class. "People of Dull-on-Sea," the mayor began, "thank you for attending this

他肩上挎着一个大麻袋，不停地蠕动着，用一张网在大厅周围徘徊，窥视角落和长凳下面。 吉姆·拉德跟在玛蒂尔达后面，和她的父母坐在大厅后面。 他答应回来向乔利-罗杰斯的其他人汇报情况。 玛蒂尔达可以看到她的邻居，87年的贝文太太和34年的肖先生，还有许多同学坐在他们父母旁边。 她微笑着向坐在她旁边的女孩露比挥了挥手。 “钝海镇的人们，”市长开始说，“感谢你们参加这次会议

emergency meeting. You may have noticed that we have a bit of a problem with rats." "They chewed holes in my washing!" shouted Sheila Wobley. "The vermin stole my sandwiches!" added Mr. Shaw, who had taken his wife for a disastrous rat-infested picnic the previous day. "They've nibbled the corners of all our bottom-shelf books!" wailed Bunty Bookish, the librarian. "Yes, yes, we know the rats are causing no end of problems," grumbled the mayor. "Our very reliable pest- control expert, Mr. Grimes,

紧急会议。你可能已经注意到，我们这儿的老鼠有点问题。” “它们在我的衣服上咬洞！”希拉·沃利喊道。 “这些害虫偷走了我的三明治！”肖先生补充道。前一天，他带妻子去野餐，那里老鼠横行，真是糟糕极了。 “它们把我们书架最底层的书的角都咬了！”图书管理员邦蒂·布克什哀号道。 “是的，是的，我们知道老鼠造成了没完没了的问题，”市长抱怨道。 “我们非常可靠的害虫防治专家格兰姆斯先生，

has been working flat out, but he has never seen an infestation like this. For every rat he catches, another two appear!" At the back of the hall, bent double and swinging his net beneath a bench, Norbert Grimes scowled. He came from a long line of rat catchers. The Grimes family had been proud rat catchers for centuries. He had never been defeated by rats before. "I pay my taxes!" shouted Mrs. Bevan, who liked to regularly write letters of complaint to the council. "I expect Dull- on-Sea to be pest free!" "Me too!" shouted Mrs. Bumble. "Fix this!" grumbled Mr. Shaw. "ORDER! ORDER!" hollered the mayor, ruffled by the unrest in the hall.

一直在努力工作，但他从未见过这样的侵扰。 每抓一只老鼠，就会出现两只！”诺伯·格莱姆斯站在大厅后面，弯着腰，在一张长凳下面挥动着他的网，他皱起了眉头。 他出身于捕鼠世家。 几个世纪以来，格兰姆斯家族一直以捕鼠为生。 他以前从来没有被老鼠打败过。 “我交了税！”贝万太太喊道，她喜欢定期给委员会写投诉信。 “我希望钝海镇没有害虫！”“我也是！”班布尔太太喊道。 “修理这个！”肖先生抱怨道。 “订单!肃静！”市长喊道，他被大厅里的骚动激怒了。

"I know you are all very, very unhappy, but what should we do?" As the townsfolk sat in silence, scratching their heads, Matilda heard the click-clack of footsteps approaching. They stopped outside the doors and there was a pause. TAP TAP TAP Everyone stopped scratching their heads and turned to look. "Erm, please enter," said the mayor. The doors swung open and revealed a raggedy figure wearing a tattered tailcoat,

“我知道你们都非常非常不高兴，但是我们该怎么办呢？”当镇上的人安静地坐着，抓耳挠腮时，玛蒂尔达听到了脚步声走近的咔嗒声。 他们在门外停了下来，停了一会儿。 每个人都停止了挠头，转过头去看。 “嗯，请进来，”市长说。 门开了，露出一个衣衫褴褛的人，穿着一件破燕尾服，