Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun was shining, just the odd small white cloud scudding high across the sky. It was not the sort of day that Charlie felt like facing pretty certain death. But we don't always get what we want in life. And Charlie was finding that out the hard way. 'This really, really, REALLY does not feel safe at all, guys.' The four were at the top of Bandit's Hill. Bandit's Hill was the hill in their local park. It was high and steep, and commanded beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. But Charlie didn't really care that the hill commanded beautiful views of the surrounding countryside right now, thank you very much, because right now Charlie was at the very top of the hill, sitting in a dilapidated old go-kart.

第七章这是一个美丽的星期六早晨。 太阳照耀着，只有一小朵奇怪的白云在天空中飘过。 这可不是查理想要面对死亡的那种日子。 但我们并不总能得到我们想要的。 查理经历了惨痛的教训才明白这一点。 “伙计们，这真的，真的，真的一点都不安全。”这四个人在强盗山的山顶上。 土匪山是他们当地公园里的一座山。 它又高又陡，可以看到周围乡村的美景。 但查理并不在乎在山上可以看到周围乡村的美景，非常感谢，因为此时查理正站在山顶上，坐在一辆破旧的卡丁车里。

Wogan's dad had made the go-kart a few years ago, and Wogan's dad was not a good go-kart maker. In fact, it would be fair to say that Wogan's dad was the worst go-kart maker ever to actually make a go-kart.fn1 He had essentially attached a pair of wheels to each end of a box. There wasn't even a steering wheel. There was, however, a brake, which was just a stick that, when pushed, merely dragged along the ground. Or, more accurately, there had been a brake, but Flora had spent the last twenty minutes carefully unscrewing it. When the go-kart

沃根的爸爸几年前做了一辆卡丁车，而沃根的爸爸并不是一个好的卡丁车制造者。 事实上，公平地说，沃根的父亲是有史以来最糟糕的卡丁车制造商。他实际上是在盒子的两端各安了一对轮子。 甚至连方向盘都没有。 然而，有一个刹车，它只是一根棍子，当被推动时，只是沿着地面拖着。 或者，更准确地说，是有一个刹车，但弗洛拉花了二十分钟小心翼翼地拧开了它。 当卡丁车

was finally brake-less, Flora announced that the experiment was ready. Staring down at the very steep, very long and very bumpy descent in front of him gave Charlie a weird feeling in his stomach and his bum. Ahead of him he saw, at best, severe injury, and, at worst, a tragic end to his brief life. And one child in hospital was enough for his parents, Charlie thought. 'You want me to go down the hill in this… this box-on-wheels WITHOUT any brakes? That is deadly dangerous, Flora.' 'Don't be daft, Charlie!' said Flora. 'It is not deadly dangerous!' It was deadly dangerous. 'But this thing,' said Charlie, pointing around him at the go-kart, 'is an absolute deathtrap.' 'Oh, Charlie!' said Flora. 'It is not an absolute deathtrap!' It was an absolute deathtrap. 'Look,' continued Flora. 'It's the only way to find out for certain whether my theory is correct. We need you to be scared. If it had brakes, you wouldn't be scared.' 'But I don't want to die,' said Charlie in a small voice.

终于没有刹车了，弗洛拉宣布实验准备好了。 看着眼前陡峭、漫长、颠簸的下坡路，查理的肚子和屁股都有一种奇怪的感觉。 在他面前，往好了说，他会受重伤，往坏了说，他短暂的生命会悲惨地结束。 查理想，一个孩子住院对他的父母来说已经足够了。 “你想让我开着这个……这个没有刹车的带轮子的箱子下山？” 那太危险了，弗洛拉。“别傻了，查理！”弗洛拉说。 “没有致命的危险！”这是致命的危险。 “但这东西，”查理指着他周围的卡丁车说，“绝对是一个致命的陷阱。“哦，查理！”弗洛拉说。 “这并不是一个绝对的死亡陷阱！”这绝对是一个致命的陷阱。 “瞧，”弗洛拉接着说。这是唯一能确定我的理论是否正确的方法。 我们需要你害怕。如果它有刹车，你就不会害怕了。“可我不想死，”查理小声说。

'Pull yourself together, Charlie,' said Flora, sounding increasingly exasperated. 'Do you really think I would put you in any real danger just to prove a theory?' 'I guess not…' She absolutely would. 'Exactly. Do you think Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were scared when they went to the moon? Probably, but they did it anyway, because it was for the good of mankind. And if we can prove my theory and actually observe you change into an animal, it will be like landing on the moon, Charlie.' Mohsen and Wogan just stood there in noticeable silence. Their faces, though, betrayed a mixture of guilt, fear and panic. 'OK… OK. Let's do it,' said Charlie, deeply uncertain. It was impossible to say no to Flora. 'Awesome! You're super-brave, Charlie! I knew you'd do it! You're a hero.' Against his better judgement, Charlie felt a glow in his chest and started blushing at Flora's words. 'Pass me the helmet!' said Charlie. 'Passing you the helmet, sir!' said Flora.

“打起精神来，查理，”弗洛拉说，听起来越来越恼怒了。 “你真的认为我会为了证明一个理论而把你置于真正的危险之中吗？”“我想不会……”她绝对会的。 “没错。你认为尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和巴兹·奥尔德林去月球时害怕吗？ 也许吧，但他们还是这么做了，因为这是为了人类的利益。 如果我们能证明我的理论，并且真的观察到你变成一只动物，那就像登陆月球一样，查理。”莫森和沃根只是静静地站在那里。 然而，他们的脸上却混杂着内疚、恐惧和恐慌。 “好……好。“就这么办吧。”查理说，心里很不确定。 对弗洛拉说不是不可能的。 “太棒了!你太勇敢了，查理！我就知道你会的！你是个英雄。”查理虽然没有做出更好的判断，但他感到胸中一阵红晕，听到弗洛拉的话，他开始脸红。 “把头盔递给我！”查理说。 “把头盔递给你，先生！”弗洛拉说。

Charlie tied the helmet on, and gripped the side of the deathtrap go-kart. He let go for a short moment to give a proud salute to his friends. Mohsen and Wogan gave solemn, mournful salutes back. Flora bent behind the go-kart and gripped it, ready to start pushing. Charlie swallowed, a ball of terror rolling in his stomach. There was a moment of perfect silence. The world held its breath.

查理系好头盔，抓住那辆死亡陷阱卡丁车的侧面。 他松开了手，向他的朋友们骄傲地行了个礼。 莫森和沃根也向他们敬礼，庄严而悲伤。 弗洛拉在卡丁车后面弯下腰，抓住它，准备开始推。 查理咽了口唾沫，一团恐惧在他的胃里翻滚。 有那么一刻鸦雀无声。 全世界都屏住了呼吸。

Just the wind softly ruffling Charlie's hair. Parp! That was Charlie, accidentally letting out a little terror-fart. Flora, who was bent down directly behind Charlie's bum, grimaced. 'Ugh, Charlie!' But then, with as much strength as he could muster, Charlie shouted through his fear. 'Go!' At Charlie's word, Flora began running as fast as she could, pushing the go-kart and Charlie down the hill. Almost immediately Charlie was going so fast that Flora couldn't keep up and had to let go. She

只有风轻轻地拨动着查理的头发。 Parp !那是查理，不小心放了个恐怖屁。 伏在查理屁股后面的弗洛拉做了个鬼脸。 “呃,查理!”但随后，查理鼓起了最大的力量，克服了恐惧，大声喊道。 “走吧!”听了查理的话，弗洛拉开始拼命地跑，推着卡丁车和查理下山。 查理几乎立刻就跑得太快了，弗洛拉跟不上，只好放手。 她