33 We Have Lift Off

Chapter 33 We Have Lift Off As they began to fall, Peanut, Rockwell and Little- Bit pressed their buttons simultaneously, and immediately the rockets at the base of their backpacks roared into action. Hot, powerful bursts of yellow and orange pastel dust shot vertically downwards from the jets, slowing the three children's descent and filling their bodies with a strange feeling of weightlessness. "YEEEEEE-HAAAAWWWWW!" cried Little-Bit as she hovered in mid-air. "JET-PACKS! THESE ARE THE BEST DRAWINGS YOU'VE EVER DONE, PEANUT!" "MY TUMMY FEELS FUNNY," said a rather green- looking Rockwell. Peanut looked back up at the ledge they'd been standing

第33章 我们起飞了 就在他们开始下落，花生、罗克韦尔和小 不点同时按下了按钮，背包底部的火箭立刻轰鸣着启动了。 滚烫强劲的黄橙彩粉从喷口垂直向下喷出，减慢了三个孩子的下降速度，还给他们全身带来奇妙的失重感。 “耶——哈——！”小不点悬在空中大喊。 “喷气背包！ 这是你画过最棒的画了，花生！” “我的肚子怪怪的，”脸色发白的罗克韦尔说道。 花生回头望向他们刚才站着的岩架

on only a moment before. They were, by now, a good ten metres below Mr White and Alan, who were both looking down in astonishment from the top of the building. "OK! JUST TIP YOURSELF FORWARDS TO GO DOWN, LEAN LEFT TO TURN LEFT, AND RIGHT TO TURN RIGHT," shouted Peanut as she began to descend in a smooth, zigzag pattern through the sky "FOLLOW ME!" Little-Bit did as she was told, and slotted nicely into Peanut's slipstream, following her every turn like a duckling trailing her mother. Meanwhile, Rockwell, who had now added a somewhat startled expression to his green-tinged face, tipped too far forwards and did a full somersault, before shooting straight up at about seventy miles an hour and disappearing into a cloud. "ER, PEANUT!" shouted Little-Bit looking heavenward. "I DON'T THINK ROCKY'S GOT THE HANG OF THIS." A few seconds later, a loud cry of "WHOA!"

才不过一小会儿之前 这会儿他们已经落到怀特先生和艾伦下方十米处，两人正站在楼顶惊讶地往下看。 “好啦！ 前进就身体前倾，左转往左靠，右转往右靠，”花生一边喊，一边顺着天空滑出流畅的之字下落，“跟着我！” 小不点照着做，稳稳跟在花生身后，像鸭宝宝跟鸭妈妈一样，每个转弯都跟得严严实实。 这会儿罗克韦尔本来脸就发白，还添了一脸惊慌，他前倾太猛翻了个跟头，接着以七十英里时速直冲上天，消失在云里。 “喂，花生！”小不点抬头朝天上喊。 “我觉得洛基还没摸清楚怎么用呢。” 几秒钟后，一声大喊传来：“哇哦！

preceded Rockwell's re-entry. He came flying out of the cloud, thrashing around like he was riding a bucking bronco at the funfair. Following a series of inelegant, jerky movements, he managed to gain a semblance of control over his jet-pack and fall into line behind the other two. They continued their long descent without further incident until they were about fifteen metres above the sidewalk, at which point all three pencil-drawn jet-packs slowly started to disintegrate. First, the rockets themselves began spluttering, then the shoulder straps started to crumble. "I think it's because we had to press the buttons at the top, said Peanut. "Only a slight touch, but it started the process. Hang in there, guys. We're nearly down now. By the time they were a couple of metres from the ground, the straps had disappeared entirely, closely followed by the rest of the packs. Fortunately, their forward momentum meant that they could safely jump the last metre, and make a reasonably dignified, if speedy, running landing. "Thank the Maker!" said Rockwell, as he knelt down and kissed the concrete. "Never have I been so glad to be on the ground. Although," he added, grabbing his shoeless foot, "I think I've taken some skin off! Ouch!" "Give me a second," said Peanut, pulling Little Tail from her bandolier, "and I'll draw you another shoe." As Peanut sketched, Little-Bit and Rockwell took a

紧接着罗克韦尔就冲出来了 他从云里飞出来，乱扑腾得就像在游乐园骑野马 一阵笨拙慌乱的折腾后，他总算勉强控制住喷气背包，跟在了另外两人身后 他们一路往下落没再出意外，等到离人行道还有十五米左右时，这三个铅笔画的喷气背包慢慢开始散架 先是火箭本身开始噼啪乱响，接着肩带开始碎裂 “我想这是因为我们刚才在顶端按了按钮，花生说 “只是轻轻碰了一下，却已经启动了消散过程 再坚持一下，伙计们 我们马上就到地面了 等他们离地面只剩两米的时候，肩带已经完全消失，紧接着背包的其余部分也不见了 幸运的是，向前的冲力让他们可以安全跳下最后一米，就算速度快，也还算体面地跑着落地了 “谢天谢地！”罗克韦尔说着跪下来亲吻了水泥地面 “我从来没这么开心能站在地面上 不过，”他抓着自己没穿鞋的脚补充道，“我好像擦破一块皮 哎哟！” “等我一下，”花生说着从弹带上抽出小尾笔，“我给你画只新鞋子。” 花生画画的时候，小不点和罗克韦尔趁这功夫

moment to take in their surroundings. They were standing on a wide pavement next to a busy road, in front of the very grand entrance to the huge building they'd just visited. Despite being enveloped by a large plume of steam coming from a manhole cover in front of them, Little-Bit could just about make out the words embossed in gold on the art deco facade twenty metres above their heads. "Peanut," said Little-Bit. "I think we've just jumped from the top of the Empire State Building."

好好打量了一番周围的环境。 他们站在宽阔的人行道上，旁边就是车水马龙的马路，面前就是他们刚离开的那栋大楼气派非凡的入口。 虽然面前井盖冒出的一大团蒸汽挡住了视线，小不点还是勉强看清了二十米高装饰立面上烫金刻着的字样。 “花生，”小不点说。 “我们刚刚居然从帝国大厦的顶楼跳下来了。”