5 The Piper

5. THE PIPER A crowd had gathered outside the Town Hall, spilling from its doors to witness the Pirate Piper deliver on his promise. At its center was Captain Horatio Rattus, pipe in hand. He held the instrument to his lips, waiting a few moments to add to the drama and suspense.

5. 吹笛人一群人聚集在市政厅外，从门口涌出来，要见证海盗吹笛人履行他的诺言。 霍雷肖·拉图斯船长站在中间，手里拿着烟斗。 他把乐器举到唇边，等了一会儿，再增加一点戏剧性和悬念。

The crowd was silent, barely breathing, as he began to play. The soft notes that left the pipe floated on the morning breeze, spreading through the town. Almost immediately came the scratching and squeaking of a thousand rats, scurrying through alleyways and sewers, over rooftops and gardens, bursting from drains and bins and shops and houses. They swarmed toward the Pirate Piper. The crowd gasped and held on to one another as the rats ran toward them, but the Piper skipped across the town square and disappeared from view with the rats

当他开始演奏时，人群安静下来，几乎没有呼吸。 从烟斗里飘出来的轻柔的音符随着晨风飘荡，传遍了整个城镇。 几乎立刻就传来了一千只老鼠的抓挠和吱吱声，它们在小巷和下水道里窜来窜去，越过屋顶和花园，从排水沟、垃圾箱、商店和房子里窜出来。 他们蜂拥向海盗吹笛手。 老鼠跑向人群时，人群屏住呼吸，互相抓着对方，但吹笛手跳过城镇广场，和老鼠一起消失在人们的视线中

thronging behind him, as thousands more joined the furry congregation. The crowd remained silent, listening to the pipe in the distance as it traveled street by street through Dull-on-Sea. They heard it travel up the hill, along the cliff tops on the edge of town, and down the other side of the hill, where they caught a glimpse of the piper, encircled by thousands of dancing rats, before he disappeared from sight once again. Then the music grew louder again as the Pirate Piper returned to the center of town. He led the rats along the main street and down to the waterfront, where the wharves and docks were awash with fur and the pattering of claws.

成千上万的人加入了毛茸茸的集会，簇拥在他身后。 人群保持沉默，听着远处的笛声，它穿过了一条又一条的街道。 他们听见它爬上了山，沿着城镇边缘的悬崖顶端，又从山的另一边下来，在那里他们瞥见了风笛手，他被成千上万只跳舞的老鼠包围着，然后又从视线中消失了。 当海盗吹笛手回到镇中心时，音乐又变得更响了。 他领着老鼠沿着主要街道走到海滨，那里的码头和码头上到处都是皮毛和爪子的啪嗒声。

An hour earlier, Captain Horatio Rattus had arrived unnoticed while almost every resident of Dull-on-Sea was at the emergency meeting. His hulking ship, the Black Death, with its patched sails, frayed lines, and flaking paint, looked down- at-the-heels when moored beside the sparkling yachts and fishing boats in the harbor. It cast dark shadows across their varnished decks. Now the Pirate Piper skipped along the rail of his ship, merrily dancing and playing his pipe, while the rats watched and listened, mesmerized. Three gangplanks creaked as thousands

一小时以前，霍雷肖·拉图斯船长在没有人注意到的情况下来了，当时几乎所有的海之滨的居民都在参加紧急会议。 他那艘笨重的船“黑死病”号，船帆打了补丁，缆绳磨损，油漆剥落，停泊在港口里闪闪发光的游艇和渔船旁边，显得很可怜。 它把黑影投在漆过的甲板上。 这时，海盗吹笛手沿着船舷跳来跳去，欢快地吹着他的笛子，老鼠们看着，听着，听得入迷了。 三个跳板吱吱作响

of rats scurried aboard, following wooden walkways into three enormous crates, which were waiting on the deck. When the last of the rats had entered the crates to join the writhing, wriggling mass of fur and tails, the Pirate Piper unsheathed a knife from his belt and severed a rope. Block and tackle rattled and squealed as ropes spun, pulling the hatches on each crate closed before hoisting them high into the air. The rats were trapped, suspended in the Black Death's rigging.

一群群的老鼠顺着木质通道跑上了甲板，钻进了三个巨大的板条箱里。 当最后一只老鼠进入板条箱，加入那一团扭动的皮毛和尾巴时，海盗吹笛手从腰带上抽出一把刀，割断了一根绳子。 绳索旋转时，滑车和滑车发出吱吱嘎嘎的声音，把每个板条箱的舱口拉上，然后把它们高高举起。 老鼠被困住，吊在黑死病的索具上。