Chapter 6

6 The Truth About Dave Pigeon 'Of course he is!' Mickey shook his head. 'But he's your son!' 'And that's exactly why he can't be a racing pigeon.' Mickey leaned in. He came up so close to my earhole I could feel his beak in my feathers. 'I'm not a racing pigeon.' There was silence. 'Of course you are!' I burst out laughing, spitting over the floor. 'You're the legendary racing pigeon, Mickey Lightning.'

“他当然是！”米奇摇了摇头。 “可他是你的儿子！”“这正是他不能成为赛鸽的原因。”米奇靠了过去。 它靠近我的耳孔，我能感觉到它的喙在我的羽毛上。 “我不是赛鸽。”一阵沉默。 “你当然是！”我突然大笑起来，吐了一地唾沫。 你是传奇赛鸽，米奇·闪电

In a small voice, he said, 'I'm a utility pigeon. Just like Dave's mother. And just like Dave. We aren't racing pigeons. We're built to taste good.' 'A utility pigeon?' I said. 'I guess that would explain why cats like to eat Dave. But how on pigeon's earth did you manage to become the best racing pigeon known to pigeonkind?' 'I trained, son,' Mickey said. 'I wanted to be more than just a pigeon in a pie, so I trained for years and years until I was good enough. He shrugged as if there was nothing to it. I felt my heart plummet to my claws and right through the floor. 'We don't have years and years, Mickey! Dave is racing

他低声说：“我是一只实用鸽子。 就像戴夫的妈妈一样。就像戴夫一样。 我们不是赛鸽。我们生来就是好吃的。“一只信鸽？”我说。 “我想这可以解释为什么猫喜欢吃戴夫。 但是你究竟是怎样成为鸽类中最优秀的赛鸽的呢？“我受过训练，儿子，”米奇说。 “我不只是想成为馅饼里的一只鸽子，所以我训练了一年又一年，直到我足够好。” 他耸了耸肩，好像这没什么大不了的。 我感到我的心猛地一沉，直穿地板。 “我们没有那么多年，米奇！”戴夫正在比赛。

the day after tomorrow. 'I know!' 'We have to tell him.' 'NO!' Mickey said, grabbing me. 'The only thing getting him through is that he thinks he is a racing pigeon.' The idea of lying to Dave made me feel sick to my stomach. He was my best friend. 'His wing is badly damaged. He's got a new one but the Vet Man thinks he shouldn't be racing with it any time soon.' 'Since when did Humans know more about feathers than pigeons?' Mickey scoffed. Dave and Mickey were starting to sound more alike than ever. 'I know this is hard,' Mickey continued.

后天。“我知道!”“我们必须告诉他。“不!”米奇说着抓住了我。 “唯一能让他撑过去的是，他认为自己是一只赛鸽。”一想到要对戴夫撒谎，我就觉得很不舒服。 他是我最好的朋友。“他的翅膀严重受损。 他有一个新的，但兽医认为他不应该在短时间内与它比赛。“从什么时候开始，人类比鸽子更了解羽毛了？”米奇嘲笑。 戴夫和米奇的声音越来越像了。 “我知道这很难，”米奇继续说。

'I will try my very best to get him into shape before the race but you know him. If we tell him this now he will give up before he even starts.' 'If we tell him, we can call off this silly race before he humiliates himself.' Mickey shook his head. 'I know that parrot and he's vicious. He will destroy you all if you call off the race.' 'Are you two coming?' Jet yelped from the kitchen. 'Dave's found a stash of toffee biscuits and he's eating them all.' 'That's not true,' Dave hooted, poking his head out around the corner. His beak was covered in biscuit crumbs and goo. 'They're chocolate biscuits.'

“我会尽我最大的努力让他在比赛前恢复状态，但你了解他。 如果我们现在告诉他，他还没开始就会放弃。“如果我们告诉他，我们就可以在他出丑之前取消这场愚蠢的比赛。”米奇摇了摇头。 “我认识那只鹦鹉，它很恶毒。 如果你们取消比赛，他会把你们都消灭的。“你们俩一起来吗？ ”杰特在厨房里大叫。 戴夫发现了一堆太妃糖饼干，他把它们都吃光了。“那不是真的，”戴夫喊道，从拐角处探出头来。 他的嘴里沾满了饼干屑和粘稠的东西。 “是巧克力饼干。”

'We're coming,' Mickey squawked back. He turned to me, grabbing my wings. 'Don't tell anyone the truth about Dave.' Torn between wanting to protect my friend and not wanting to lie to him, I made a decision. 'Fine. But you'd better not let Dave down.' 'Pigeon's Promise,' Mickey said. 'Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a peanut in my eye.'

“我们来了。”米奇尖声回答。 他转向我，抓住我的翅膀。 “不要把戴夫的真相告诉任何人。”在想要保护我的朋友和不想对他撒谎之间纠结，我做了一个决定。 “好。但你最好别让戴夫失望。“鸽子的诺言，”米奇说。 “我发誓，我希望去死，把花生塞进我的眼睛。”

That night we feasted with Mickey, Jet, Gary, Fluffle the iguana and Cricket-Ball Face the rabbit. Gary was beside himself to be in the same room as the Mickey Lightning, let alone sharing dinner with him. Everyone laughed and danced and binged on biscuits and when darkness fell,

那天晚上，我们和米奇、杰特、加里、鬣蜥绒毛和兔子“板球脸”一起吃了一顿大餐。 和米奇·闪电在同一个房间里，加里简直要发疯了，更不用说和他共进晚餐了。 大家又笑又跳，大吃饼干，夜幕降临时，