43 The Ladder

Chapter 43 The Ladder Hang on," said Rockwell. "Where's 72? They told us to look up when we got here, and all we've seen is that massive terrifying airship!" Then, perfectly on cue, 72 appeared, hovering just above the steel cables spanning the lake. "Josephine Engelberger, Rockwell Riley, is that you?" they said, loudly. "Yes," shouted Josephine. "We're here! Now what?" "We are going to go to the other side of the lake," the robot explained. "There, you will collect the Jones family, and together we are going to find and capture RAZER 67." "That sounds great," shouted Rockwell. "But I think you might have forgotten a few things. I will list them for you now.

第43章 《梯子》「抓好了，」罗克韦尔说。 「72在哪儿？ 他们让我们到这儿之后往上看，结果我们只看到了那艘超大超吓人的飞艇！」 就在这时，72恰到好处地出现了，就悬在横跨湖面的钢缆上方。 「约瑟芬·恩格尔伯格，罗克韦尔·莱利，是你们吗？」 他们大声问道。 「是我们，」约瑟芬大喊。 「我们在这儿！ 接下来该做什么？」 「我们要去湖的对岸，」机器人解释道。 「到了那儿你们接上琼斯一家，然后我们一起去找到并抓住RAZER 67。」 「听起来很棒，」罗克韦尔大喊。 「不过我觉得你好像忘了好几件事。 我现在给你列出来。」

Number one: what do you mean we are going to go to the other side of the lake? In case you hadn't noticed, you are above those massive steel cables, and we are below them. We will not be going anywhere together. Number two: it's way too high for us to jump down out of this chute and run across the lake. Number three: even if we did manage to jump down without breaking our legs, it would take us much too long to run through the crowd and get to the Joneses. Number four: there is plaster all over the floor. We would almost certainly get stuck in it. Number five: even if we did manage to jump down, run over to the Joneses, grab them and then run back here, there's no way we could climb back up to get into the chute and crawl back to the Spire." Have you finished going through your list, Rockwell Riley?" asked 72. "Not quite," said the boy. "Number six: there is a gigantic black airship above us and I am very scared of it. Just thought I'd tell you, in case you hadn't spotted it. "To be fair," said Josephine to the robot, those are all valid points." Suddenly, 72 rotated ninety degrees, a flap opened up in their base and a long, angular object began to descend from inside, straight through two of the cables and towards Rockwell and Josephine. "It's a ladder," said Rockwell.

第一：你说我们要去湖对岸是什么意思？ 你怕是没注意到，你在那些粗得要命的钢缆上面，我们在钢缆下面啊。 我们根本没法一起走啊。 第二：我们现在站的地方太高了，根本没法从这个溜槽跳下去再跑过湖面。 第三：就算我们跳下去没摔断腿，穿过人群去找琼斯一家也太费时间了。 第四：地上全是石膏。 我们肯定会陷进去的。 第五：就算我们成功跳下去，找到琼斯一家，带着他们回到这儿，我们也爬不回溜槽，爬回尖塔啊。」 「你列完了吗，罗克韦尔·莱利？」72问道。 「还没，」男孩说。 「第六：我们头顶上有一艘巨大的黑色飞艇，我超怕它的。 就是提前告诉你一声，免得你没看见。 「说句公道话，」约瑟芬对机器人说，「这些都说得很有道理。」 突然，72转了九十度，底部打开了一个活门，一个长长的棱角分明的东西从里面伸出来放下去，直直穿过两根钢缆，朝罗克韦尔和约瑟芬过来了。 「是梯子，」罗克韦尔说。

"Affirmative," replied the robot. "Listen to me. When the ladder is level with you, I will stop lowering it. At that point, I want you both to climb onto it and hold tight. Do you understand?" "You want us to climb onto it?" said Rockwell, aghast. "Affirmative. You should be able to stand on the rungs quite comfortably." "We can do that!" shouted Josephine. "Can we?" asked Rockwell. "Yes," said Josephine, confidently. "We can. Before they knew it, the descending ladder stopped right in front of them. After you," said Rockwell. Josephine shuffled forward and stretched out her arms. She grabbed the sides of the ladder and then pulled herself out of the chute, landing her feet on the rungs with impressive agility. "Your turn," she said to the boy "I'll climb up a bit to give you some space." Rockwell grabbed the ladder, took a deep breath and swung his legs out. Unfortunately, his landing wasn't quite as elegant as Josephine's had been and he missed the rungs. As he scrambled to get a foothold, the shoe that Peanut had drawn for him back in New York fell off, landing in the lake with a small, plaster-y splash.

「没错，」机器人回答。 「听我说。 等梯子降到和你们齐平的位置，我就会停下。 到时候，我要你们两个爬上去，抓牢了。 听懂了吗？」 「你让我们爬上去？」罗克韦尔吓了一大跳，说道。 「没错。 你们踩在横档上会很稳的。」 「我们可以的！」 约瑟芬大喊道。 「我们真的可以吗？」罗克韦尔问。 「当然可以，」约瑟芬自信地说。 「我们没问题。 他们还没反应过来，往下降的梯子就已经停在他们面前了。 「你先请，」罗克韦尔说。 约瑟芬挪上前，伸出了双臂。 她抓住梯子两侧，把自己拉出溜槽，脚稳稳落在横档上，动作灵活极了。 「该你了，」她对男孩说，「我往上爬一点给你腾位置。」 罗克韦尔抓住梯子，深吸一口气，把腿伸了出去。 可惜，他落地的动作没有约瑟芬那么优雅，一脚踩空了。 他慌慌张张找落脚点的时候，之前在纽约皮娜给他画的那只鞋掉了，掉进湖里，溅起了一点带石膏的水花。

"What is it with me and shoes?" he wondered aloud. Once Rockwell and Josephine were securely on the ladder, 72 spoke again. "Are you ready?" they asked. As we'll ever be," said Rockwell. "OK Hold tight," shouted the robot. With a jerk, the three of them shot across the lake. Since 72 had dropped the ladder between two of the cables, they could use them as a guide to move with speed and precision in a straight line towards the other side of the lake. Just like 72 had promised! When they were about halfway across, Rockwell spotted the bright orange of Peanut's topknot. In that moment, he was super thankful that it was such a beautiful, distinctive colour. He was also thankful that they appeared to be heading straight for her. Dang, 72 is good! he thought.

「我怎么总和鞋子过不去啊？」他出声念叨。 等罗克韦尔和约瑟芬都稳稳站在梯子上之后，72又开口了。 「你们准备好了吗？」 他们问道。 「只能准备好了，」罗克韦尔说。 「好的，抓牢了！」机器人大喊。 猛地一震，他们三个一下子飞过了湖面。 因为72把梯子放在两根钢缆之间，可以顺着钢缆走，又快又准地直冲向湖对岸。 就跟72承诺的一样！ 他们飞到一半的时候，罗克韦尔看见了皮娜那亮橙色的发髻。 那一刻，他超级庆幸这个颜色这么漂亮又这么显眼。 他也很开心，他们看起来正好径直朝皮娜飞去。 哇，72也太厉害了！ 他心想。

When they were about ten metres away, Rockwell began to try to get the Joneses" attention. "PEANUT! LITTLE-BIT!" he bellowed. He could barely contain his excitement upon seeing them, even under the circumstances. The girls didn't react. They probably couldn't hear him above the panicked noise of the crowd, which had grown to a roar after the shock of seeing the Giant X in the sky. "IT'S ME! ROCKWELL!" he shouted, as 72 slowed down. They were just a couple of metres away now. Peanut looked up and saw Rockwell. The two friends" eyes locked; hers were filled with a mixture of surprise and fear, his with hope, friendship and a touch of worry. Maybe she's still mad at me, he thought. "We've, er, we've come to rescue you," he said, more tentatively now. "That is... if you'll let us?" Suddenly, a huge smile spread across Peanut's face. "Oh, Rockwell," she said with tears in her eyes. "Thank goodness you're still here! I can honestly say that I've never been more pleased to see anyone in my whole life."

当他们距离琼斯姐妹大约十米远时，罗克韦尔开始试着引起她们的注意。 “皮纳特！小不点！” 他大吼道。 哪怕当下情况不妙，看到她们，他也难掩激动。 两个女孩没有反应。 人群惊慌喧哗，刚才大家看到天空中的巨型X，震惊后吵成了一锅粥，她们大概率听不到他的声音。 “是我！我是罗克韦尔！” 他大喊着，此时72号放慢了速度。 现在他们只剩下几米远了。 皮纳特抬起头，看见了罗克韦尔。 两个朋友目光交汇；皮纳特的眼里又惊又怕，罗克韦尔的眼里满是希冀、友善，还有一丝担忧。 他心想，说不定她还在生我的气呢。 “我、呃，我们是来救你们出去的，”他说道，语气比刚才更犹豫了。 “那个……你们愿意跟我们走吗？” 突然，大大的笑容在皮纳特的脸上漾开。 “哦，罗克韦尔，”她眼里含着泪说道。 “谢天谢地你还在这里！ 说实话，我长这么大，从来没有哪次见谁比现在见到你更让我开心啦。”