8 Titus makes some coffee

CHAPTER EIGHT Titus makes some coffee Titus was sitting at the small table outside the campervan he called home. Titus could often be found holding important mayoral meetings here, as well as late- night card games with Frank. But just now, he was alone, a piece of paper in front of him, scratching his snout thoughtfully. He was trying to write a book. It was called Memoirs of a Stag. He'd been working on it for about three years. 'Right!' he said, sharpening his pencil. He closed his eyes and hummed. Then he hawed. Then he hummed some more. He sighed. He thwacked at his head with the pencil. Then he said, 'Ah!' and scribbled something down. He did this again and again, each 'Ah!' louder than the one before. After about an hour, he set his pencil down, uttered a loud 'PHEW!' and wiped his brow.

第八章提图斯煮咖啡提图斯坐在他称之为家的露营车外面的小桌子旁。 提图斯经常在这里举行重要的市长会议，也经常在深夜和弗兰克一起打牌。 但此刻，他独自一人，面前放着一张纸，若有所思地搔着鼻子。 他想写一本书。 书名叫《雄鹿回忆录》。 他花了大约三年的时间研究它。 “正确!他边削铅笔边说。 他闭上眼睛哼着歌。 然后他吞吞吐吐。然后他又哼了一些。 他叹了口气。他用铅笔猛击自己的头。 然后他说：“啊！然后随手写了些什么。 他这样做了一遍又一遍，每次“啊！”比上一个更响。 大约过了一个小时，他放下铅笔，大声地发出一声“呸！”擦了擦额头。

It was a lovely morning in July. 'Seven words! A good day's work,' Titus said to himself, settling back into his chair to have a well- deserved nap. He was just in the middle of a delightful dream about the summer he spent fruit-picking in Italy, when the doorbell rang. 'I've brought a visitor,' said Frank. 'She cheers up if you give her coffee, apparently.' Nancy grunted. 'Oh, hello, hello!' cried Titus, leaping from his armchair and clapping his hooves together. 'A coffee drinker, are we? I absolutely LOVE the smell, but if I drink the stuff it plays havoc with my insides, just an absolute disaster for my bum area. But seeing as Frank's a fan, I always keep a stash handy. Now, take a seat and settle down, young fox.' Nancy plonked herself down at the table while Frank

这是七月里一个美丽的早晨。 “七字!“干了一天的活，”提图斯自言自语地说，然后坐回椅子上，好好睡了一觉。 他正在做一个愉快的梦，梦见他在意大利采摘水果的那个夏天，这时门铃响了。 “我带来了一位客人，”弗兰克说。 “显然，如果你给她倒咖啡，她就会高兴起来。”南希哼了一声。 “哦，你好，你好！”提图斯叫道，从扶手椅上跳起来，跺着蹄子。 “我们爱喝咖啡，是吗？” 我非常喜欢这种味道，但如果我喝了这种东西，它会对我的内脏造成严重破坏，对我的屁股区域来说绝对是一场灾难。 但鉴于弗兰克是我的粉丝，我总是随身带着一些。 现在，坐下来，安静下来，小狐狸。”南希扑通一声坐在桌子旁，而弗兰克

busied himself in the campervan. Moments later he emerged with a battered pot, a couple of rusty tin cups, a carrot cake and some biscuits in his talons. He settled it all down in front of Nancy and poured out the hot coffee. Nancy inhaled deeply– Oh, it smelled so wonderful– and drained the cup in one go. 'Got any more?' she said, licking her lips. Frank narrowed his eyes and poured Nancy more coffee. Then he perched on top of the campervan and supped delicately from his own cup. 'So, you're from the Big City, eh?' said Titus. 'I've always wanted to visit. Tell me, is it true about the doughnut shops?' 'What about them?'

他在露营车上忙得不可开交。 过了一会儿，他出来了，手里拿着一个破旧的锅，两个生锈的锡杯，一个胡萝卜蛋糕和一些饼干。 他把这一切都放在南希面前，然后把热咖啡倒了出来。 南希深深地吸了一口气——哦，闻起来真香——一口气把杯子里的水喝光了。 “还有吗？”她舔着嘴唇说。 弗兰克眯起眼睛，又给南希倒了些咖啡。 然后，他坐在露营车上，用自己的杯子小心翼翼地吃着晚饭。 “那么，你是从大城市来的，嗯？”提图斯说。 “我一直想去看看。 告诉我，甜甜圈店的事是真的吗？“他们怎么了？”

'Well… just that such palaces of wonder even exist! Can you really get ones covered in chocolate? And rainbow sprinkles?' Nancy sipped her coffee a little slower this time. 'Yep. They sell them by the dozen. They're all right, I suppose.' Titus groaned. 'Such delights,' he said, licking his lips. 'The dark forces that drove you from the Big City must have been very serious indeed.' Nancy shuddered with pleasure as the effects of the coffee started to whoosh around her body. She relaxed into her chair a little. 'There's this cat, you see,' she said. 'Princess Buttons. She's a nasty piece of work. She wants to get rid of us foxes so she can have the Speedy Chicken bins all to herself.' 'A speedy chicken? Who is this terrifying bird?' asked Titus thoughtfully. 'And why does it want to kill you?' 'No, the cat wants to kill us, not the chicken,' spluttered Nancy. 'A murderous chicken,' murmured Titus, ignoring Nancy completely. 'You poor things.' I know he's kind of kooky, but I can't help but like this guy.

“嗯……就是这样奇妙的宫殿居然存在！”你真的能吃到涂满巧克力的吗？ 彩虹糖屑呢？”南希这次喝咖啡的速度慢了一点。 “是的。他们按打出售。 我想他们还好吧。”提图斯呻吟着。 “真高兴，”他舔着嘴唇说。 “把你赶出大城市的黑暗势力一定非常严重。”南希高兴得打了个寒颤，咖啡的作用开始在她的身体里嗖嗖作响。 她在椅子上放松了一下。 “有只猫，你看，”她说。 “公主按钮。她是个讨厌的家伙。 她想除掉我们这些狐狸这样她就能独享迅捷鸡的垃圾箱了。“一只飞快的鸡？” 这只可怕的鸟是谁？提图斯若有所思地问。 “它为什么要杀你？”“不，是猫想杀我们，不是鸡，”南希气急张张地说。 “一只杀人的鸡，”提图斯低声说，完全不理会南希。 “你们这些可怜的家伙。”我知道他有点古怪，但我忍不住喜欢他。

Titus puffed out his chest. 'You and your brother will be safe from the killer chickens here,' he said kindly. 'And that's a Titus promise.' Nancy sighed and looked closely at Titus. He had kindly eyes, grand antlers and big flappy nostrils. And he was clearly off his head. 'It's not a chicken,' she repeated. 'Anyway… we can't go back to the Big City until Princess Buttons is gone.' 'And when will that be?' asked Titus. 'I don't know,' said Nancy. 'My mates said they'd text me to give me the all-clear. But that massive bird nicked my phone, didn't she?' Nancy was so annoyed by the memory that she banged the table with her fist, sending a custard cream flying. 'Mmmm, yes,' said Titus, removing the custard cream from his ear and putting it into his mouth. 'I am so sorry about Pamela stealing your phone.' Just then, the peace was shattered by a massive Jeep crashing through the forest. PARP, PARP! 'COMING THROUGH!'

提图斯挺起胸膛。 “你和你哥哥在这里不会受到杀鸡的伤害，”他和蔼地说。 “这是提多的承诺。”南希叹了口气，仔细看着提图斯。 他有一双和善的眼睛，大大的鹿角和大大的扇动的鼻孔。 他显然是疯了。 “这不是一只鸡，”她重复道。 “不管怎样……在巴顿公主走之前，我们不能回大城市。””“那什么时候呢？提多问。 “我不知道，”南希说。 “我的朋友们说他们会给我发短信，通知我解除警报。 但是那只大鸟偷了我的手机，不是吗？”南希一想起这事就生气，用拳头猛击桌子，把蛋奶冻打飞了。 “嗯，是的，”提图斯说着，把奶油从耳朵里拿出来放进嘴里。 “帕梅拉偷了你的手机，我很抱歉。”就在这时，一辆巨大的吉普车冲入森林，打破了平静。 PARP, PARP !“穿过!”

The badgers' Jeep bounced and clunked past Titus's caravan before thunking heavily into an oak tree.

獾队的吉普车颠簸着从提图斯的大篷车旁碾过，然后重重地撞在一棵橡树上。