Chapter 5

5 The Legend of Mickey Lightning Dave's dad, aka Mickey Lightning, was nothing like I remembered. When we were younger, just little squabs hunting around under park benches for croissants, we would watch his dad train for races. His chest would ripple as the muscles under his feathers stretched, pushing him forward as he rocketed up into the sky at the speed of lightning.

戴夫的爸爸，又名米奇·闪电，和我记忆中的他完全不一样。 当我们还小的时候，我们还只是在公园长凳下找牛角面包的小乳鸽，我们会看他爸爸训练比赛。 随着羽毛下的肌肉伸展，他的胸部会起伏，推动他向前，以闪电般的速度飞向天空。

Now, as Mickey stepped into view, I could see the feathers around his chest were stumpy and straggly with age. His voice was gruff, like sandpaper. And he'd started to lose the feathers on his crown. But the pigeon standing in the studio was definitely Dave's father. 'Mickey Lightning is your dad?' Jet barked. The grey in Dave's face faded as he pressed closer to the glass to watch his dad stretch out the parrot's scarlet wings. He paled from grey pigeon, to not so grey pigeon, to even less grey pigeon, all the way to white dove, as we listened to Mickey and Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot break into a fit of giggly screeches

现在，当米奇出现在我的视野里时，我可以看到他胸前的羽毛由于年龄的增长而变得粗壮而杂乱。 他的声音沙哑，像砂纸一样。 他的王冠上的羽毛也开始脱落。 但站在画室里的鸽子绝对是戴夫的父亲。 “米奇·闪电是你爸爸？”飞机吠叫。 戴夫靠近玻璃，看着爸爸展开鹦鹉猩红色的翅膀，脸上的灰色褪去了。 当我们听着米奇和凶鬼鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维乌斯发出一阵咯咯的尖叫时，他的脸色从灰鸽子变成了不那么灰的鸽子，再变成了不那么灰的鸽子，最后变成了白鸽

over a joke about a chicken and a duck. 'Dad?' Dave whispered, his eyes wide in disbelief. As he pushed closer, his new wing clicked and snapped out, whacking the glass door so that it shot open. Both Dave and Jet bowled into the studio, all feathers and paws. For a moment there was silence as we stared at Dave's dad and he stared right back at us. 'What are you scurvy lot doing here?'

因为一个关于鸡和鸭的笑话。 “爸爸?”戴夫低声说，难以置信地睁大了眼睛。 当他靠得更近时，他的新翅膀咔哒一声伸出来，撞在玻璃门上，门被撞开了。 戴夫和杰特都神气十足地走进演播室。 我们盯着戴夫的爸爸，他也盯着我们，沉默了一会儿。 “你们这些坏血病人在这儿干什么？”

Opprobrious Vastanavius the Parrot squawked just as Jet started yowling hysterically. I tried to pull Dave back as the parrot's shipmate crew howled and shrieked, crashing towards us, trying to push us out of the room. Mickey stood still, unmoving. I grabbed Dave by the wing as he continued to stare at his dad. 'Let's go!' 'Are you OK?' I asked Dave. He'd been chirping away about the best ingredients for a good macaroni and strawberry trifle all the way back to the safety of Pawsville. 'Of course I'm fine, Skipper,' Dave squawked, his feathers all huffy and fluffy,

当杰特开始歇斯底里地嚎叫时，那只可恶的鹦鹉瓦斯塔纳维乌斯开始尖叫。 我试着把戴夫拉回来，鹦鹉的船员们嚎叫着冲向我们，试图把我们赶出房间。 米奇一动不动地站着。 我抓住戴夫的翅膀，他继续盯着他爸爸。 “我们走吧!“你还好吗？”我问戴夫。 在返回安全的鲍斯维尔的路上，他一直在叽叽喳喳地说着做通心粉和草莓松糕的最佳原料。 “我当然很好，船长，”戴夫尖声说，他的羽毛都是蓬松的，

which meant he was anything but fine. I'm the finest I've ever been. Finey, finey, finey fine.' He pecked at the harness of his new wing to slide it off. His beak got trapped under the leather strap and as I went to help, he pulled away hard, pinging it in his face. 'I need to rest, Skipper,' he said, nuzzling his bruised beak in his good wing. 'The key to winning a race is staying as still as possible, don't you know?' He slunk towards the back of the vet's. Me and Jet waited in the reception area, by the abandoned scooter. We heard the clang of Dave's cage where I knew he'd crumpled into his sawdust bed. 'What's going on?' Jet whispered. Why

这意味着他一点也不好。 我是最棒的。 很好，很好，很好。”他啄了啄新翅膀上的挽具，想把它滑下来。 它的喙卡在皮带下面，当我去帮忙的时候，它用力抽开皮带，在它的脸上砰砰作响。 “我需要休息，船长。”他说着，用他那伤痕累累的喙蹭着他那完好的翅膀。 “赢得比赛的关键是尽可能保持静止，你不知道吗？”他偷偷溜到兽医诊所的后面。 我和杰特在接待处等着，就在那辆废弃的摩托车旁边。 我们听到戴夫笼子的叮当声，我知道他已经瘫倒在他的木屑床上了。 “出什么事了？”飞机低声说。 为什么

won't Dave talk about his dad?' We settled on a worn dog bed by the window and drank water from a dog bowl. It would be down to me to tell Jet about my friend and his father. 'Dave adored his dad,' I started. 'They were inseparable.' I told Jet about how we used to help Mickey train, how we would pretend to race him and how he would let us win. 'As word spread about Mickey's talent, he hit the big time. Humans were paying lots of money to see him race and Mickey chose the life of a racer pigeon over living at home with Dave and the family.' I sighed. 'One of the last things he told Dave was to

戴夫不谈谈他爸爸吗？”我们在窗边一张破旧的狗床上安顿下来，用狗碗喝水。 我得把我朋友和他父亲的事告诉杰特。 “戴夫很崇拜他的爸爸，”我开始说。 “他们形影不离。”我告诉杰特我们过去是如何帮助米奇训练的，我们是如何假装和他赛跑的，他是如何让我们赢的。 随着有关米奇才华的消息传开，他一举成名。 人们花了很多钱看它比赛，米奇选择了赛鸽的生活，而不是和戴夫一家住在一起。”我叹了口气。 他告诉戴夫的最后一件事就是