Chapter 16

16 The Final Mile 'By Hamster Paws!' Jet howled, shocked. 'I think Dave might win this.' My heart banged away at a million miles an hour. Up ahead both Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot and Dave were racing straight for Pawsville. Mickey was squawking encouragement to Dave, who seemed to have found a new surge of wing- power. Dave had closed the distance between him and the parrot to just eight beaks.

《最后一英里》——《仓鼠爪子》杰特震惊地嚎叫着。 “我想戴夫可能会赢。”我的心以每小时一百万英里的速度砰砰作响。 在前面，可恶的鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维乌斯和戴夫都在向鲍斯维尔直奔而去。 米奇在大声鼓励戴夫，戴夫似乎找到了一种新的翅膀力量。 戴夫把他和鹦鹉之间的距离缩小到只有八只喙。

Five beaks. Four beaks. Thousands of birds and pets now lined the streets screeching and crowing for both racers. Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot looked back over his shoulder. As he realised Dave was right behind I could see the parrot panic for the first time. He slowed down for a millisecond as Dave rose up beside him. And then he kicked him. 'Dave!' I screeched. Dave veered off course and his new wing caught the TV aerial on a nearby house. The harness stretched as its stitches popped out one by one. Dave dangled from the metal,

五个喙。四个喙。成千上万的鸟儿和宠物现在站在街道两旁，为两位赛车手尖叫和啼叫。 骂人的鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维乌斯回头看了看。 当它意识到戴夫就在它后面时，我第一次看到鹦鹉惊慌失措。 戴夫站在他身边，他放慢了一毫秒的速度。 然后他踢了他一脚。“戴夫!”我尖叫着。 戴夫偏离了航线，他的新机翼被附近一所房子的电视天线卡住了。 挽具一针一针地伸出来，伸展开来。 戴夫吊在金属上，

shrieking for help. 'HELP!' I flew hard, dropping towards my friend. As I pulled up close, the harness ripped against the metal and Dave plunged towards the ground. 'HELP!' I dived at him and clutched at his head with my feet. As my claws gripped his fuzzy head feathers, I slowed, flapping us both down to the ground, where Jet met us. 'Oh, Dave,' Jet said. 'You almost did it.' 'It's not over,' Dave said, through gritted beak.

尖叫着求救。“救命!”我拼命地飞，向我的朋友坠落。 当我靠近时，安全带被金属扯断，戴夫一头栽向地面。 “救命!”我扑向他，用脚抓住他的头。 当我的爪子抓住它毛茸茸的羽毛时，我放慢了速度，拍着我们俩降落到地面，在那里，杰特迎接了我们。 “哦，戴夫，”杰特说。“你差一点就成功了。“还没结束，”戴夫咬牙切齿地说。

He pulled off the last of the shredded feathers on the harness and started running towards Pawsville. Up ahead Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot hadn't yet made it to the finish line. The crowd, having seen the parrot's crafty move in the sky, now cheered for one name and one name alone: DAVE. 'COME ON, DAVE,' I screamed, my throat hurting from cheering for my friend. Dave was almost at Pawsville. As he mounted the kerb, ready to hit the finish line, a dark shadow of a bird swooped over him and crossed the line first. Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot had won. Dave crossed the line a moment after.

他扯下挽具上最后一根碎羽毛，开始向鲍斯维尔跑去。 在前面，可恶的瓦斯塔纳维斯鹦鹉还没有到达终点线。 人群看到鹦鹉在天空中狡猾地移动，现在为一个名字欢呼，只有一个名字：戴夫。 “加油，戴夫，”我尖叫着，嗓子因为为朋友加油而疼。 戴夫快到鲍斯维尔了。 当他登上路边石，准备冲过终点线时，一只黑黑的鸟从他头顶飞过，第一个冲过了终点线。 可恶的鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维斯赢了。 片刻之后，戴夫越过了那条线。

He dropped to the pavement. His broken prosthetic wing and strands of leather harness now hung featherless, dangling off his body. He let out a tiny coo of 'need biscuits urgently' before closing his eyes and rolling on to his tummy. Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot peacocked across the street and back again, punching the air with fisted wings.

他倒在人行道上。 他那断了的假翼和几缕皮挽具现在没有羽毛地挂在身上，晃来晃去。 它轻轻地咕噜了一声“急需饼干”，然后闭上眼睛趴在地上打滚。 可恶的瓦斯塔纳维斯鹦鹉在街对面飞了一圈又飞了一圈，用拳头般的翅膀拍打着空气。

That's when I heard it. 'Dave! Dave! Dave! Dave!' The crowd was not cheering for the winner. They were cheering for Dave. 'Dave!' I said, shoving my friend. 'Listen!' 'Dave! Dave! Dave! Dave!' He sat up. 'Dave, they're cheering for you,' I said, pulling him up to his feet. 'But I lost.' 'You might not have won the race, son.' Mickey said, holding Dave up at his side. 'But listen to the crowd. You're their winner.' Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot screeched at the crowd. 'Why are you

就在那时我听到了。“戴夫!戴夫!戴夫!戴夫!”人群没有为获胜者欢呼。 他们在为戴夫欢呼。 “戴夫!”我说着推了推我的朋友。 “听!”“戴夫!戴夫!戴夫!戴夫!”他坐了起来。 “戴夫，他们在为你欢呼。”我说着，把他拉了起来。 “但是我输了。“你本来可能赢不了比赛的，儿子。”米奇说着，把戴夫抱在身边。 但听听人群的声音。你是他们的赢家。”可恶的鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维乌斯对着人群尖叫。 “你为什么