Chapter 4

ChAPTER FOUR It soon became apparent that getting inside Madame Maude's compartment was going to be a tricky business indeed. For starters, she didn't have a regular one like everybody else.

第四章 很快大家就发现，要进莫德夫人的包厢实在是件难办的事。 首先，她不像其他人那样有个普通包厢。

"Oh no!" Simon had said, when Kate had asked him. "She's got the entirety of Suite No. 7 to herself." "This is rubbish, Roo," said Kate. They were sitting outside on the tiny iron balcony at the end of the dining car, snow whizzing past their dangling feet. It was cold, but the only place they could talk properly without being overheard. "How are we going to find out what Madame Maude and her cranky cat are up to?" Kate dug The Special Correspondent Manual out of her coat, careful not to let any of the insides blow away in the icy wind. "Let's see what our friend Catherine has to say about distractions..."

“哦天哪！” 凯特问西蒙的时候，西蒙是这么说的。 “整个7号套房都被她一个人包下了。” “这太离谱了，小鲁，”凯特说。 他们正坐在餐车尽头狭小的铁艺阳台上，雪花呼呼地从他们晃荡的脚边飞过。 这里很冷，但也是他们能好好说话、不被别人偷听的唯一地方。 “我们要怎么才能弄清楚莫德夫人和她那只坏脾气的猫在搞什么鬼呀？” 凯特从外套里掏出《特派记者手册》，小心翼翼地不让内页被寒风刮走。 “我们来看看咱们的朋友凯瑟琳对转移注意力这事儿有什么说法……”

DISTRACTIONS Using distractions to hunt down a tricky story is high- level correspondenting. You might need to distract someone for just a second while you slide an important document out of their desk drawer and into your pocket, or perhaps you require them to leave a room of Top Secret and potentially scandalous archives unattended. Either way, frst you must decide what your distraction will be. Here's how: Who are you distracting? MALAME MAIDE!! What are they like? EVIL, ANGRY, HiGhLy PRIVATE. What are their interests? CATs? jups gegg.

转移注意力 用转移注意力的方法挖到难搞的新闻，是高级记者的本事。 你可能只需要分散对方几秒钟的注意力，就能把重要文件从他的办公桌抽屉里揣进自己口袋，或者让对方离开满是顶级机密、说不定还藏着丑闻的档案室，没人看守。 不管是哪种情况，你首先得确定要用什么方法转移注意力。 方法如下： 你要转移谁的注意力？ 莫德夫人！！ 她是什么样的人？ 邪恶、易怒、极其注重隐私。 她的兴趣是什么？ 猫？ 跳蛋。

EXAMPLES Oxford, England- 1997. I used a mechanical "babbling bilderwing" to engross naturalist C. A. Bloom, giving me time to photograph his poisonous invention (see Fig. 2). Milan, Italy- 1967. Glamorous targets of Operation "Fancy" were so distracted by the height and decor of this specially made cake, they failed to notice a camera hidden inside the top layer.

示例 英国牛津——1997年 我用一个会“嘎嘎叫的机械翼龙”吸引了博物学家C·A·布鲁姆的注意，让我有时间拍下他的毒药发明（见图2）。 意大利米兰——1967年 “华美行动”的迷人目标们被这个定制蛋糕的高度和装饰完全吸引了，完全没注意到顶层藏着一台相机。

"What's most valuable to Madame Maude?" mused Rupert. "Anything she can get her hands on, by the look of things!" "I've got it!" he squeaked. "You've seen the way she fusses over Master Mimkins. I bet she'd follow him anywhere." "But how do we make Master Mimkins move? What are you sugges—" "I'm a mouse," said Rupert, "and Master Mimkins is a cat." Kate looked at him. And then it dawned on her. "Oh, Roo, you can't!" she breathed. "We can't use YOU as a distraction!"

“莫德夫人最看重的东西是什么？”鲁珀特琢磨着。 “看那样子，凡是她能拿到的东西她都看重！” “我有办法了！” 他尖声叫道。 “你也见过她多宝贝 Mimkins 主人的。 我敢说他去哪她就会跟到哪。” “可我们要怎么让 Mimkins 主人动起来呀？ 你是想——” “我是老鼠，”鲁珀特说，“而Mimkins主人是猫。” 凯特看着他。 然后她突然反应过来了。 “哦小鲁，你不能这么做！” 她屏住了呼吸。 “我们不能拿你当诱饵啊！”

Rupert drew himself up to his full height, which was about half a centimetre taller than usual. "I may be a small mouse, but I've got the heart of a really big one. And I've got more brains in the end of my tail than that cat's got in its whole lavender- shampooed head! I would take it as an insult to my intelligence if you thought Master mughead Mimkins could outsmart me!" "He could never outsmart you, Roo," said Kate, "but he could catch you. Then what would I do?!" But five minutes of a very persuasive mouse later, the pair were back inside their compartment, planning a scribbly but brilliantly foolproof plan.

鲁珀特把身子挺到最高，比平时差不多高出了半厘米。 “我虽然是只小老鼠，但我有大老鼠的勇气。 我尾巴尖上的脑子都比那只洗薰衣草香波的猫整个脑袋里的多！ 要是你觉得那个笨蛋Mimkins主人能耍过我，那简直是侮辱我的智商！” “他肯定耍不过你，小鲁，”凯特说，“但他能抓住你啊。 那我怎么办啊？！” 不过这只老鼠足足劝了她五分钟之后，俩人就回到了自己的包厢，正赶着写一份乱糟糟但绝对万无一失的计划。