6 Woodhouse's Story

6 Woodhouse's Story Peanut, Little-Bit, Leo and Rockwell all turned to look at Woodhouse. He had climbed up onto one of the benches and was looking out of a porthole. As he turned to face them, his long, thick tail which seemed to have a mind of its own— arranged itself neatly in a circle around him.

6 伍德豪斯的故事 花生、小比特、里奥和罗克韦尔全都转头看向伍德豪斯。 他爬上了一张长椅，正透过舷窗向外望着。 当他转过身面向大家时，他那条仿佛有自己想法的又长又粗的尾巴，乖乖地在他身边盘成了一个整整齐齐的圈。

Rockwell did his best to conceal a shudder. "So how did you end up joining the Resistance, Woodhouse?" asked Peanut, looking at the rat fondly. Unlike Rockwell, she'd always rather liked small, furry animals. Particularly ones that had helped to rescue her father. "Well, it's a long story and not a very happy one, I'm afraid," replied the rat. "We've got time," said Peanut, looking out at the coloured water moving slowly past the portholes. "Dad says it'll take all night to get to the Green Valleys." "That's true, lassie," replied Woodhouse. "But you really should be getting some rest. "Oh, pleeeeeease," said Little-Bit, plaintively. "OK," sighed Woodhouse. "If I must. He jumped down from the bench, tail following him, and stood on his hind legs in the middle of the submarine. He assumed the pose of a Shakespearian actor about to deliver a soliloquy. "My family have lived in Chroma for generations," he began. "Believe it or not, we come from a long line of very noble illustrated rats. The first Woodhouses were drawn by William MacGillivra, the famous eighteenth-century Scottish naturalist, when he visited Chroma as a young man. It's something we've always been very proud of. We're practically rodent royalty." He picked up his tail and coiled the end into a crown shape which he rested on his head.

罗克韦尔努力藏住自己打了个寒颤。 “那你是怎么加入反抗军的呀，伍德豪斯？” 花生问道，温柔地看着这只老鼠。 和罗克韦尔不一样，花生一直都很喜欢毛茸茸的小动物。 尤其是还帮着救过她爸爸的小动物。 “唉，说来话长，恐怕也不是什么开心的故事，”老鼠回答说。 “我们有的是时间呀，”花生一边说，一边望着舷窗外缓缓流过的彩色海水。 “爸爸说我们要走一整晚才能到绿谷呢。” “没错呀，小姑娘，”伍德豪斯回答。 “不过你们真的该休息一会儿了。” “哦，求求你了好不好，”小比特可怜巴巴地央求道。 “好吧，”伍德豪斯叹了口气。 “那我就讲讲吧。” 他从长椅上跳下来，尾巴跟着他落了地，然后直起后腿站在潜水艇的中间。 他摆了个莎士比亚演员要念独白的姿势。 “我的家族在克罗玛已经住了好多代了，”他开口说道。 “信不信由你，我们出身于非常高贵的插画鼠家族。” 最早的一批伍德豪斯家族成员，是十八世纪著名苏格兰博物学家威廉·麦吉利夫雷年轻时游历克罗玛画出来的。 这件事一直是我们全家的骄傲。 我们差不多算是啮齿动物里的贵族啦。” 他叼起自己的尾巴，把尾巴尖盘成皇冠的形状顶在了头上。

My ancestors settled in Warholia and that's where we've remained. Braw rat country, is Warholia. Plenty of water, plenty of food. Lots of nooks and crannies in which we can ply our trade. Most of us are graffiti artists, y'see. We like to work under cover of darkness and brighten up little corners of the city with our art, in areas otherwise ignored by creatives. Many Warholian alleyways feature my tag. I've done my fair share of modelling for other graffiti artists too. One time, I posed on a deckchair wearing a pair of sunglasses for a visiting chap who made many stencils based on my likeness. Banksy, I think his name was."

我的祖先定居在了沃霍尔利亚，我们一直住在那儿。 沃霍尔利亚可是老鼠的好地方。 水源充足，食物也多。 有好多缝隙角落够我们干活谋生。 我们大多数都是涂鸦艺术家哦。 我们喜欢趁着黑夜干活，用我们的作品给城市里被创作者忽视的小角落添点色彩。 沃霍尔利亚好多小巷都留有我的签名呢。 我还给其他涂鸦艺术家当过不少次模特呢。 有一回，我戴着墨镜摆姿势坐在折叠躺椅上，给一位来访的画家当模特，他照着我的样子做了好多模板画。 我记得他名字叫班克西。”

"So, what made you want to rise up against Mr White?" asked Peanut. "The Great Whitewash, that's what," said the rat. "Er, what was the Great Whitewash?" asked Leo. "I think I remember Josephine Engelberger saying something about that," said Peanut. "Mr White got his RAZERs to paint over the beautiful artwork decorating the walls of Warholia, didn't he?" "Aye. All that amazing colour," said Woodhouse, shaking his head. "Gone in a matter of hours. He also outlawed graffti. Suddenly, my family and I were lost. Our entire mode of creativity had been taken away from us. That was when I knew I had to do something." "So, what did you do?" asked Little-Bit. "Well, it took a while, but eventually a friend of mine put me in touch with someone she knew in the Resistance. Within a week, I was standing in a room with the great Mrs Markmaker. That's when she told me about the job." "The job? What job?" asked Peanut.

“那，是什么让你想要起身反抗怀特先生呢？”花生问道。 “就是那场大粉刷，还能有什么，”老鼠说。 “呃，大粉刷是什么呀？”里奥问道。 “我记得约瑟芬·恩格尔伯格好像提过这件事，”花生说。 “怀特先生让他的锐爪部队把沃霍尔利亚墙上所有漂亮的画都刷掉了，对不对？” “没错。” “那么多惊艳的色彩，”伍德豪斯摇着头说。 短短几个小时就全都没了。 他还宣布涂鸦是非法的。 一下子，我和我的家人就走投无路了。 我们整套创作的方式都被夺走了。 那时候我就知道我必须做点什么了。” “那你都做了什么呀？”小比特问道。 “唉，花了好长时间，不过最后我的一个朋友把我介绍给了她认识的反抗军里的人。 不到一周，我就站在伟大的马克梅克夫人的房间里了。 那时候她给我安排了个任务。” “任务？” “什么任务呀？”花生问道。

"I know what job," said Leo. Delivering Post-it notes to the National Portrait Gallery." "Aye, laddie," said Wood- house, nodding. "That's the one. You remember it well. Mrs Markmaker said I should get myself to the old cleaning station outside of Modernia and I'd find someone waiting there who would tell me what to do." "Was it Daddy?" asked Little-Bit. "Aye. Him and his metallic pal, here. Your father gave me a small, yellow piece of paper with a strange drawing on it and told me to head all the way up to the Green Valleys. There, he said, I'd find a narrow pathway that led to a tunnel of trees, at the end of which was a door. I was to go through the door with the note and, keeping out of sight as best I could, find a security guard with a white beard. I then had to give him the note and tell him to pass it on to Leo." At the mention of his name, Leo sat up a bit straighter. Woodhouse winked at him, then continued. "This Leo chap was then to put the note inside a lunch box belonging to someone called Peanut. I had no idea what all this meant. It sounded like some sort of strange code to

“我知道是什么任务，”里奥说。 就是把便利贴送到国家肖像画廊。” “没错，小伙子，”伍德豪斯点着头说。 “就是这个任务。 你记得很清楚嘛。 马克梅克夫人让我去摩登利亚城外的旧清洁站，说那里会有人等着我，告诉我该做什么。” “是爸爸吗？”小比特问道。 “没错。 就是他，还有他这位金属朋友，就在这儿呢。 你爸爸给了我一张小小的黄纸，上面画着奇怪的图案，让我一路前往绿谷。 他说，到了那儿我会找到一条窄路，顺着路走进树木形成的通道，尽头有一扇门。 我要带着纸条进门，尽量躲着别人，找到一个留着白胡子的保安。 然后我把纸条给他，让他转交给里奥。” 一提到自己的名字，里奥不由得坐直了一点。 伍德豪斯冲他眨了眨眼，接着往下说。 “那个里奥要把纸条放进一个叫花生的人的午餐盒里。 我当时完全不知道这一切是什么意思。 这听起来就像是某种奇怪的密码

me. Now, of course, I know that it was referring to you lot: Gary's bairns." "And you did all that every single time? For all of the notes that I collected?" asked Leo, impressed that someone had worked as hard as he had on the Post-it mission. "That I did, laddie. Kept me fit, that's for sure." The rat grabbed his tail with both paws and started to lift it repeatedly above his head as if it were a barbell. "Didn't anybody in the gallery ever spot you?" asked Peanut. "Och, London is full of rats," he replied. "I barely got a second glance. Anyway, nobody would ever suspect a lowly creature such as myself of any wrongdoing. To be honest, most humans don't like rats and steer well clear of us." He looked over at Rockwell, who was unable to suppress his shudder this time. Feeling guilty, the boy got up to walk to the other end of the submarine. As he stood, he glanced towards 67. He could have sworn he saw the RAZER's eye momentarily flick from green to red.

我。 当然啦，我现在才明白，它说的就是你们这群小家伙：加里的孩子们。” “你居然每次都做完了所有这些事吗？ 连我收集的每一张便签都这样吗？”利奥问道，他十分佩服，居然有人和自己一样，为便利贴任务这么拼。 “没错，小伙子，我都做了。 这活儿还让我保持健康，这肯定没错。” 老鼠用两只爪子抓住自己的尾巴，像举杠铃一样，反复把它往头顶抬。 “美术馆里从来没人发现你吗？”花生问道。 “哎呀，伦敦到处都是老鼠，”他回答说。 “根本没人多瞧我一眼。 再说了，谁也不会怀疑我这么不起眼的小家伙会干坏事。 说实话，大多数人类都讨厌老鼠，远远躲着我们。” 他看向罗克韦尔，这回罗克韦尔忍不住打了个寒颤。 男孩心里愧疚，起身走到潜水艇的另一头。 他站起来的时候，往67号瞥了一眼。 他敢发誓，亲眼看到雷泽的眼睛瞬间从绿色闪成了红色。