Chapter 15

ChAPTER FIFTEEN Kate knew she was right! They had found what they were looking for- or perhaps it was the other way round. For the first time, the birds fell silent. "You've been playing tricks on explorers this whole time! Luring them out here, making them delirious, stealing their things!" Kate was getting more confident.

第十五章 凯特就知道自己猜对啦！ 他们找到了一直在找的东西——或者说，是那东西主动找上了他们。 鸟儿们第一次全都安静了下来。 “原来一直都是你们在捉弄探险家们！” “把他们引到这儿来，把他们搞得神志不清，还偷他们的东西！” 凯特越来越有底气了。

"And all the while, there is no silver wibbler- at least, not really! That's the secret of the silver wibbler- that there isn't one at all!" Rupert gasped. Bertie looked as if he was going to faint from the shock of it all. "Well rattle my ribs and call me a radish," said the long-legged green bird slowly, casually flicking a firefly off its wing. "You sure are a smart one, girlie. You're ding-dang right, but-" it looked her dead in the eye- "can you blame us?" "I mean, I like a devious prank as much as the next precocious child, reasoned Kate, "but haven't you taken it a bit far...? Stealing all our things and-"

“而且根本就没有什么银晃晃水鸟——至少不是真的存在！” “银晃晃水鸟的秘密就是，它根本就不存在！” 鲁珀特倒抽了一口凉气。 伯蒂看起来像是要被这惊天真相吓得晕过去了。 “哎呀呀，可真是惊掉我下巴，你可太聪明了，”长腿绿鸟慢悠悠地开口，随手弹掉了翅膀上的一只萤火虫。 “你可真是个小机灵鬼，小姑娘。 你说得半点没错，但是——”它直直地盯着凯特的眼睛——“你能怪我们吗？” “我是说，我和别的聪明小孩一样，也喜欢有意思的小恶作剧，”凯特讲道理道，“但你们是不是做得有点太过分了……？ 偷了我们所有的东西，还——”

The bird erupted into caws and cackles. "OH, HOOO HOOOO! Let me tell you something. We're just your average brood of humble-drum jungle birds. Regular as pigeons, really." "But more stylish, interrupted the silver bird. "That's us. We got a certain feathery flair. But once people came sneaking about, poking our bums with their telescopers and micro-mobiles and

绿鸟突然嘎嘎大笑着叫了起来。 “哦，呼哈哈哈哈！ 我跟你说啊。 我们就是普通的一群丛林小鸟，普普通通的。 真的，就和街上的鸽子没两样。” “但我们比鸽子时髦多啦。”银鸟插嘴道。 “那可不是嘛。 我们的羽毛可是自带时髦感的。 可自从有人偷偷摸摸跑到这儿来，用望远镜戳我们屁股，用什么微型设备对着我们，还

trying to make us eat tuna sandwiches like dafty duckies in a pond so that they could package us up into boxes, we wasn't going to sit on our wings and do nothing to defend ourselves." Kate paused. Here she was in the middle of an unknown and unplotted jungle, tied up in slimy rope by three bird-bandits, with no chance of escape. And she couldn't blame them. Not one bit. "I don't blame you," said Kate. "A-and, and neither do I!" said Bertie, his voice wavering. "I want to be a better explorer than C. A. Bloom. I don't want to put you in a box or poke your bum with a telescope!"

想让我们像池塘里的傻鸭子一样吃金枪鱼三明治，好把我们装进箱子里带走，我们总不能扑扇着翅膀啥也不做，就等着被欺负吧。” 凯特愣住了。 她现在在一片没人知道、从来没被画进地图的丛林里，被三个鸟大盗用黏糊糊的绳子绑着，根本逃不掉。 可她没法怪这些鸟儿。 一点都怪不起来。 “我不怪你们。”凯特说。 “我、我也不怪你们！”伯蒂开口，声音还抖抖的。 “我想做比C·A·布鲁姆更厉害的探险家。 我不会把你们装进箱子里，也不会用望远镜戳你们的屁股！”

For the first time, the green bird broke into a smile. Its long wings shone in the moonlight. It looked strange, spectacular and wild. "Loose the gooses," it instructed the others, who, in a flash, slashed the rope from around the Swindlers. Kate couldn't believe it! "We're free!" gasped Bertie, as Toot and the silver bird slid the swag back towards them. "Lucky you," said the silver bird. "Use your freedom wisely," said the green bird. "If you so much as whisper our secret in your sleep, we'll be on you like a leech in a jacuzzi." "Toot, agreed Toot.

绿鸟第一次露出了笑容。 它长长的翅膀在月光下闪闪发亮。 它看起来又奇特，又耀眼，又充满了野性。 “把他们放了吧。”它对其他鸟儿吩咐道，其他鸟立刻动作飞快地割断了绑着这几个“大骗徒”的绳子。 凯特简直不敢相信！ “我们自由了！” 伯蒂喘着气说，这时图图和银鸟把他们的行李包滑到了他们面前。 “你可真走运。”银鸟说。 “好好用你的自由。”绿鸟说。 “你们要是睡觉说梦话都敢把我们的秘密漏出去半个字，我们就会像热水池里的水蛭一样死死黏住你们。” “图图。”图图赞同地应声。

"My lips are sealed!" said Bertie eagerly. "I don't want to swindle or swipe any more! As soon as we get back I'm going to break all my jars and rip up all my bird books and-" "Boy," interrupted the green bird, "you wanna be a real hero?" Bertie nodded. "Then quit your terrarium living. Wake the wild within you! Waggle that caboose. Learn to say, "No, SIR"!" And with that...

“我肯定守口如瓶！”伯蒂忙不迭地说。 “我再也不骗东西、不偷东西了！ 等我们一回去，我就把我所有的罐子都砸了，把我所有的鸟类书都撕了，还要——” “小子，”绿鸟打断了他，“你想当真正的英雄吗？” 伯蒂连忙点头。 “那就别缩在你的小玻璃房里过日子了。 唤醒你骨子里的野性吧！ 大胆迈开步子。 学着说‘不，先生！’” 话音刚落……