Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 It was the eagles that started it. Two great birds they were, with huge talons and vicious beaks that looked like they could devour a small child in minutes flat. And there was something in their cold, hard eyes which suggested that was exactly what was on their minds. They swooped out from behind the stage and circled the gawping crowd of children, who seemed to think that this might be part of the entertainment. A second later they realized it most certainly wasn't. The eagles swooped down to attack. Fortunately, the teachers' heads were closest to the eagles' clutching talons. Miss Fyre let out a great scream as one of them became tangled in her hair. Mr Wind came running towards her, flapping his arms.

第十四章是鹰开始的。 它们是两只巨大的鸟，有着巨大的爪子和凶恶的喙，看起来它们可以在几分钟内吃掉一个小孩。 从他们冷酷无情的眼神中可以看出，这正是他们的想法。 他们从舞台后面冲出来，围着一群呆呆地看着的孩子们转，孩子们似乎认为这可能是娱乐的一部分。 一秒钟后，他们意识到肯定不是。 鹰俯冲下来攻击。 幸运的是，老师们的头离老鹰的爪子最近。 弗雷小姐尖叫了一声，其中一根被她的头发缠住了。 风先生朝她跑过来，挥舞着双臂。

'Get back, you feathery fiends!' he screeched. 'Leave her alone, you demonic dive-bombers!' The children began to panic, screaming and running blindly in every direction. Next came two dozen cats and dogs of all shapes and sizes. The dogs barked and yapped, racing round the hall like mad things, while the cats scrambled up the curtains, yowling and looking every bit as panicked as the children. The goat kept bleating furiously from the stage, seemingly enjoying the chaos below. Next to the goat stood Dylan, staring in horror at what was unfolding. As Charlie watched, Dylan jumped down from the stage and began sneaking his way towards the exit. The missing chinchillas had now joined the party and were running between the screaming children's feet. Meanwhile, the goat had followed Dylan off the stage and was now merrily butting the bums of anyone who came near it, knocking some of the Year 2s clear into the air. Between the yapping dogs and the dive-bombing eagles, the butting goat, the screeching cats and the squeaking chinchillas, there seemed to be no escape. The dogs were chasing the cats and now the cats began chasing the chinchillas, which caused even more chaos. The hall was a whirling, barking, screaming tornado of terrified children, panicking teachers and animals going bananas.

“退后，你们这些长羽毛的朋友！”他尖叫道。 “放开她，你们这些恶魔般的俯冲轰炸机！”孩子们开始惊慌起来，尖叫着，向四面八方乱窜。 接下来是二十几只猫和狗，形状各异，大小不一。 狗又叫又叫，像疯子一样在大厅里跑来跑去，猫爬上窗帘，嚎叫着，看上去和孩子们一样惊慌失措。 那只山羊一直在舞台上疯狂地咩咩叫着，似乎很享受下面的混乱。 迪伦站在山羊旁边，惊恐地盯着眼前发生的一切。 在查理的注视下，迪伦从舞台上跳了下来，开始偷偷地向出口走去。 失踪的龙猫现在也加入了队伍，在尖叫的孩子们的脚间跑来跑去。 与此同时，那只山羊已经跟着迪伦下了舞台，现在正兴高采烈地用屁股撞向任何靠近它的人，把一些20年级的学生撞到空中。 在狂吠的狗和俯冲轰炸的鹰、顶着屁股的山羊、尖叫的猫和吱吱叫的龙猫之间，似乎无处可逃。 狗在追猫，现在猫开始追龙猫，这引起了更大的混乱。 大厅里像龙卷风一样旋转着、狂吠着、尖叫着，惊慌失措的孩子们、惊慌失措的老师和发疯的动物们聚集在一起。

'See if you can calm things down,' Charlie yelled to his friends. 'I've got a job to do.' Charlie forced his way through the crowd after Dylan. It was hard to make any progress, though. Everyone in the hall was just running round in circles. Why isn't anybody leaving? thought Charlie. A moment later, he found out. He and Dylan were approaching the main doors, which should have been the obvious way out for the panicking children. There, blocking the doorway, wonky yellow teeth bared, was the missing llama. It looked distinctly unhappy at having been locked in a basement, and seemed to be scanning the crowd for the boy who had done it. As soon as its gaze fell on Dylan, the llama's dark eyes narrowed. Dylan screeched to a halt. The llama pawed the ground for a moment, like an angry bull– then charged.

“看看你们能不能让事情平静下来，”查理对他的朋友们喊道。 “我有工作要做。”查理挤过人群跟在迪伦后面。 然而，很难取得任何进展。 大厅里的每个人都在原地打转。 为什么没有人离开？ 认为查理。过了一会儿，他知道了。 他和迪伦正向正门走去，对于惊慌失措的孩子们来说，这应该是显而易见的出口。 在门口，那只不见踪影的羊驼露出摇摇晃晃的黄牙。 它显然对被锁在地下室很不高兴，似乎在扫视人群，寻找那个做这件事的男孩。 羊驼的目光一落在迪伦身上，它的黑眼睛就眯了起来。 迪伦尖叫着停了下来。 大羊驼像一头发怒的公牛，用爪子抓了一会儿地面，然后冲了上去。

With a high-pitched scream of terror, Dylan fled. The llama gave chase, scattering children hither and thither. MissFyre– hair a tangled mess– and Mr Wind– eyes on stalks– were running round like their bums were on fire, trying to shepherd the children to safety, but the animals were everywhere and still more kept appearing– ones which Charlie had no idea had been missing. Parrots and cockatoos flew overhead, flashes of colour flitting between the lasers, pooping on people below. A huge monitor lizard was skittering and sliding along the floor. Two capybaras were chewing on the black-out curtains. A herd of majestic stick insects was sweeping across the dance floor but nobody noticed them because they looked like sticks. How did Dylan manage to steal all these animals? thought Charlie as he stalked him through the crowd. Well, there was only one way of finding out. Now the llama had left its post at the exit, Dylan had managed to sneak back round, out through the doors and down the corridor. He legged it past the staff room with Charlie in hot pursuit. 'Dylan!' called Charlie. 'Stop!' Dylan swung around wildly. When he saw Charlie, he grimaced. But then a wide smile broke across his face. 'Aww,' said Dylan. 'So cute!' Charlie was somewhat surprised by Dylan's unexpected compliment.

迪伦惊恐地尖叫着逃走了。 大羊驼追来追去，把孩子们弄得四散奔逃。 弗莱小姐——头发乱成一团——风先生——眼睛盯着杆子——像着了火一样跑来跑去，试图把孩子们带到安全的地方，但动物到处都是，而且还不断出现——查理根本不知道它们不见了。 鹦鹉和凤头鹦鹉从头顶飞过，激光之间闪烁着彩色的闪光，在下面的人身上拉屎。 一条巨大的巨蜥在地板上蹦蹦跳跳地滑来滑去。 两只水豚在啃着遮光窗帘。 一群雄伟的竹节虫正横扫舞池，但没有人注意到它们，因为它们看起来像棍子。 迪伦是怎么偷走这些动物的？ 查理跟着他穿过人群，心里想着。 只有一个办法能知道。 现在羊驼已经离开了它在出口的岗位，迪伦成功地溜了回来，穿过大门，穿过走廊。 他快步走过员工室，查理在后面紧追不舍。 “迪伦!查理叫道。“停!”迪伦疯狂地转过身来。 当他看到查理时，他做了个鬼脸。 但随后，他脸上绽开了灿烂的笑容。 “啊，”迪伦说。“好可爱!”查理对迪伦出人意料的恭维有些吃惊。

'Well, uh, thanks, Dylan, that's really nice of you but –' 'Not you, imbecile! Behind you!' Dylan sneered, pointing. Charlie turned to find a pair of penguins a few metres away. His first thought was they were indeed very cute. But then he remembered what the penguins at the zoo had been like. There was something odd about the way these birds were waddling towards them. There was a determination in that waddle, a cold, blood-thirsty look in their eyes. These penguins were looking for revenge. And hell hath no fury like a penguin scorned. 'Dylan!' Charlie shouted. 'Run!' 'Run?' replied Dylan incredulously. 'From these adorable penguins?' 'They are not adorable! They're vicious! Just trust me and run!' The boys both began running and, with a blood- chilling squawk, the penguins gave chase, waddling after them with unnatural speed. Charlie and Dylan raced into the school kitchen and slammed the door behind them. They bolted to the end of the long stainless-steel counter and hid under it, panting heavily. After a moment, they lifted their heads and looked back at the door. A beak suddenly appeared at a window, followed by an emotionless, malevolent eye, scanning the kitchen for the boys. The boys ducked back into their hiding-place.

“嗯，谢谢，迪伦，你真是太好了，但是——”“不是你，笨蛋！”你后面!”迪伦冷笑着指着。 查理转过身来，发现几米外有一对企鹅。 他的第一个想法是它们确实很可爱。 但他想起了动物园里企鹅的样子。 这些鸟摇摇摆摆地朝他们走来的样子有些奇怪。 他们摇摇摆摆的样子有一种决心，眼睛里有一种冷漠、嗜血的神情。 这些企鹅是来复仇的。 地狱里最狂暴的，莫过于被人蔑视的企鹅。 “迪伦!”查理喊道。“跑!”“跑?迪伦难以置信地回答。 “来自这些可爱的企鹅？”“它们一点也不可爱！”他们是邪恶的!相信我，快跑！”两个男孩都开始跑，企鹅们发出一声令人毛骨悚然的尖叫声，开始追赶，以不自然的速度摇摇摆摆地跟在他们后面。 查理和迪伦冲进学校的厨房，砰地关上了门。 他们跑到长长的不锈钢柜台的尽头，躲在柜台下面，喘着粗气。 过了一会儿，他们抬起头，回头看了看门口。 窗户上突然出现了一只鸟嘴，接着是一只冷漠、恶毒的眼睛，在厨房里扫视着两个男孩。 男孩们躲回了他们的藏身之处。

'We're safe in here, aren't we?' Dylan asked, terrified. 'Yes,' replied Charlie. 'Unless they've figured out how to open doors.' Suddenly the door handle rattled. And slowly the door creaked open. 'Clever girl…' Charlie whispered to himself, with a grimace of admiration. And then came the sound of scaly feet slowly slapping against the floor. The penguins were in the kitchen. The slapping came closer. Slap. And closer. Slap. Charlie pointed, indicating to Dylan that they should split up. Dylan nodded and they both skittered across the floor, trying to keep their heads down.

“我们在这里很安全，不是吗？”迪伦惊恐地问。 “是的，”查理回答。“除非他们知道怎么开门。”突然，门把手嘎嘎作响。 门慢慢地吱吱作响地开了。 “聪明的姑娘……”查理低声自言自语，露出钦佩的鬼脸。 然后是有鳞的脚慢慢拍打地板的声音。 企鹅在厨房里。 拍打的声音更近了。巴掌。 越来越近。巴掌。查理指着迪伦，示意他们应该分开。 迪伦点了点头，他们俩在地板上蹦蹦跳跳，努力低着头。