8 The Disappeared

8. THE DISAPPEARED Matilda was woken by her cat, standing on her chest and pawing at the duvet. Her phone was still playing Nugget's music. "What's up, Fluff?" asked Matilda. Fluff jumped from the bed, across the floor, and onto the window ledge, where she paced back and forth, rubbing her sides against the glass and meowing loudly. Matilda rubbed her eyes, rolled out of bed, and joined Fluff at the window. Outside, she could see huddles of people,

8. 失踪的玛蒂尔达被她的猫吵醒了，猫趴在她的胸口，用爪子抓着羽绒被。 她的手机还在放纽格特的音乐。 “怎么了，绒毛？”玛蒂尔达问。 绒毛从床上跳下来，穿过地板，跳到窗台上，在那里来回踱步，用身体摩擦玻璃，大声喵喵叫着。 玛蒂尔达揉了揉眼睛，从床上滚了起来，和毛毛一起来到窗前。 外面，她可以看到拥挤的人群，

chattering and pointing and talking on their cell phones. Matilda thought it was a bit strange to see so many grown-ups on the street in their bathrobes and pajamas. A police car whizzed past, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. She walked downstairs, closely followed by Fluff, and found her mom and dad eating breakfast, whispering anxiously. "Oh, good morning, Matilda!" said her mom with an unconvincing smile.

闲聊，指指点点，用手机聊天。 玛蒂尔达觉得在街上看到这么多穿着浴袍和睡衣的成年人有点奇怪。 一辆警车呼啸而过，蓝灯闪烁，警笛鸣响。 她走下楼梯，绒毛紧跟在后面，发现爸爸妈妈正在吃早饭，焦急地低声说话。 “哦，早上好，玛蒂尔达！”她妈妈带着难以置信的微笑说。

"Would you like some toast?" "Have we got Pirate Pops?" asked Matilda, wearily pulling a chair out from the table. "What's with the worried faces? And the police cars?" "Some children have disappeared," said her mom, looking very concerned. "As soon as we heard, we went to check on

“你想来点吐司吗？”“我们有海盗糖吗？”玛蒂尔达问，疲惫地从桌子上拉出一把椅子。 “这些愁眉苦脸是怎么回事？” 那警车呢？”“有些孩子失踪了，”她的妈妈说，看起来很担心。 “我们一听到消息就去查看

you and were so happy to find you safely tucked up in bed." "Mind you, I'm not sure how you could sleep with that horrible screeching on your phone," added her dad, trying to change the subject. Looking flustered, he missed Matilda's bowl completely and poured a pile of Pirate Pops onto the table. "Oh, um... But your mother told me to leave it on. She said you liked it and it helped you get to sleep. You kids listen to some trash nowadays. I can lend you some real music if you like. I know quite a lot about high- fidelity music, y'know." "So who's missing? Which children!" asked Matilda, ignoring her dad and very

你和我们都很高兴看到你安然地躺在床上。” “请注意，我不知道你怎么能在手机发出可怕的尖叫声的情况下睡觉，”她爸爸补充说，试图转移话题。 他看起来很慌张，完全没有抓住玛蒂尔达的碗，倒了一堆海盗棒棒糖在桌子上。 “哦,嗯…但你妈妈让我开着。 她说你喜欢它，它能帮助你入睡。 你们这些孩子现在都在听垃圾音乐。 如果你喜欢，我可以借给你一些真正的音乐。 我对高保真音乐很了解，你知道。” “那么谁失踪了？”哪几个孩子！”玛蒂尔达问道，不理睬她的父亲

worried about Ruby and her other friends. "Well... we had the radio on earlier, and it's... um... all of them," her mom replied. "All of the children are missing!" Nobody said much after that. They finished their breakfast, and Matilda got ready for school. While she waited for her mom to dry her hair, she had to endure a demonstration of her dad's "high-fidelity music" in the living room. "It's almost like being there!" he exclaimed, playing a jumble of jazz at high volume. "When I close my eyes, I'm transported to the 1950s, in a smoky New York bar, full of cool cats. What do you think, Tilda?"

我很担心露比和她的其他朋友 “嗯……我们之前开着收音机，现在… 嗯…所有的。”她妈妈回答。 “所有的孩子都不见了！”从那以后没人多说什么。 他们吃完早餐，玛蒂尔达准备去上学。 在等妈妈吹干头发的时候，她不得不忍受爸爸在客厅里播放的“高保真音乐”。 “几乎就像在那里一样！”他大声喊道，大声弹奏着混杂的爵士乐。 “当我闭上眼睛的时候，我仿佛回到了20世纪50年代，在一个烟雾缭绕的纽约酒吧里，到处都是酷猫。 你觉得怎么样，蒂尔达？”

"It's not so bad, I suppose," Matilda mumbled. "Could you play Nugget's music? From my phone!" "That screechy racket? On my stereo equipment?" said her dad. "Please?" Matilda held out her phone. Moments later, it was playing

“我想也没那么糟。”玛蒂尔达咕哝着说。 “你能弹奏金块的音乐吗？” 从我的手机里！”“那刺耳的噪音？” 在我的音响设备上？”她爸爸说。 “好吗?”玛蒂尔达拿出她的手机。 片刻之后，它开始播放了