Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO A WATERY SURPRISE Mollie and Peter were flung off the chair into the water. Binky grabbed the back of the chair, and reached his hand out to the children. They clambered back on to the chair, which was bobbing about on the waves, soaking wet. Binky turned to Mollie. 'What did I tell you?' he said angrily. 'Didn't I say it was Disappearing Island? Now see what's happened! It's gone and disappeared, and we've fallen into the sea! A nice pickle we are in- all wet and shivery!' Mollie went red. How she wished she hadn't wanted to go to Disappearing Island! 'Well, I didn't know it was going to disappear so suddenly,' she said. 'I'm very sorry.'

第二章水中的意外莫丽和彼得被从椅子上抛到水里。 Binky抓住椅背，向孩子们伸出手。 他们爬回到椅子上，椅子在海浪上上下晃动，浑身湿透了。 宾基转向莫丽。“我怎么跟你说的？”他生气地说。 “我不是说过那是消失岛吗？” 现在看看发生了什么！它不见了，我们掉到海里去了！我们正处在一个美妙的困境中——浑身湿漉漉的，浑身发抖！”莫丽脸红了。 她多么希望自己没有想去消失岛啊！“嗯，我不知道它会这么突然地消失，”她说。 “我很抱歉。”

'Not much good being sorry,' said Peter gloomily, squeezing the water out of his clothes. 'How are we going to get to land? As far as I can see there is water all round us for miles! The chair's wings are wet, and it can't fly.' The three of them were indeed in a dreadful fix! It was fortunate for them that the chair was made of wood, or they would not have had anything to cling to! They bobbed up and down for some time, wondering what to do. Suddenly, to their great surprise, a little head popped out of the sea. 'Hallo!' it said. 'Are you wanting help?' 'Yes,' said Binky. 'Are you a merman?' 'I am!' said the little fellow. The children looked down at him, and through the water they could see his fish-like body covered with scales from the waist downwards and ending

“抱歉也没有用。”彼得沮丧地说，把衣服上的水挤出来。 “我们怎么上岸呢？” 就我所能看到的，我们周围几英里都是水！椅子的翅膀湿了，飞不起来了。”他们三个真是陷入了可怕的困境！幸运的是，这把椅子是木头做的，否则他们就没有东西可以依附了！他们上下浮动了一段时间，不知道该怎么办。 突然，让他们大吃一惊的是，一个小脑袋从海里蹦了出来。 “喂!它说。“你需要帮助吗？”“是的，”宾基说。 “你是人鱼吗？”“是的！”小家伙说。 孩子们低头看着他，透过水，他们可以看到他像鱼一样的身体，从腰部以下到末端长满了鳞片

in a silvery tail. 'Do you want to be towed to land?' 'Yes, please,' said Binky joyfully.

银色的尾巴。“你想被拖着降落吗？”“好的，谢谢。”宾基高兴地说。

'That will cost you a piece of gold,' said the merman. 'I haven't any with me, but we will send it to you as soon as we get home, promised Binky. The merman swam off and came back riding on a big fish. He threw a rope of seaweed around the back of the chair and shouted to Binky to hold on to it.

“那得花你一块金子，”人鱼说。 “我没带钱，但我们一到家就会寄给你。” 人鱼游走了，骑着一条大鱼回来了。 他把一根海草绳绕在椅背上，大声叫宾基抓住它。

Then the fish set off at a great speed, towing the chair behind it with Binky and the children safely on it! The merman rode on the fish all the way, singing a funny little watery song. It was a strange ride!

然后，鱼以极快的速度出发了，拖着后面的椅子，Binky和孩子们安全地坐在椅子上！人鱼一路上骑在鱼身上，唱着一首有趣的小水歌。 这是一次奇怪的旅行！

Soon they came to land, and the children dragged the chair out of the water on to the sunbaked sand. 'Thank you,' they said to the merman. 'We will send you the money as soon as we can.' The merman jumped on the fish again, waved his wet hand, and dived into the waves with a splash.

很快他们就上岸了，孩子们把椅子从水里拖出来，放在被太阳晒得焦黑的沙滩上。 “谢谢你，”他们对人鱼说。 “我们会尽快把钱寄给你的。”人鱼又跳到鱼身上，挥挥湿手，扑通一声跳入水中。