Chapter 2-4

CHAPTER FOUR In which everyone learns the meaning of the interesting word recoil" Florizella got the old cannon ready for firing as Bennett untied Courier and the Sea Serpent watched the pirates getting steadily closer. Florizella cleaned out the deep barrel of the cannon with a mop on a long handle and then unfolded the cannon firing instructions from the box.

第四章 这一章里，大家都弄懂了“后坐力”这个有意思的词是什么意思。弗洛里泽拉把旧大炮准备好，等着开火，这时候贝内特解开了信使的绳子，海蛇正盯着越靠越近的海盗们。 弗洛里泽拉用长柄拖把把大炮的深炮筒清理干净，接着从盒子里掏出大炮的开火说明，展开来看。

Like all instructions, they made no sense at all at first. She had to read and reread them, and then she had to get all the bits lined up. Florizella said what everyone says when they first look at instructions. "There must be a part missing!" "It's all there," the Sea Serpent said irritably. "You just have to do everything in the right order. You have to follow the instructions, and mind the recoil."

和所有说明书一样，乍一看根本没人看得懂。 她读了一遍又一遍，之后还得把所有零件都摆对位置。 弗洛里泽拉说出了所有人第一次看说明书都会说的话。 “肯定少了个零件！” “东西都在呢。”海蛇不耐烦地说。 “你只要按正确的顺序做每一步就行。 你得照着说明书来，还有小心后坐力。”

""Take gunpowder bag and ram it gently down the barrel of the cannon,"" Bennett read out helpfully. "Gently!" he shouted as Florizella shoved it in. "This stuff explodes!" "It's supposed to explode!" she pointed out. "It's gunpowder." "It's supposed to explode when you fire it! Not when you're loading it because you're smashing it about." "Hurry up," Courier said. "They're coming closer." ""Take some wadding,"" Bennett said, reading the instructions. "Whatting?" Florizella asked. "Wadding, like paper or cloth, and you push it in after the gunpowder but before the cannonball, so the cannonball doesn't squash the gunpowder, and make it explode in the barrel." "There's none here," Florizella said, looking into the box. "Nothing." "They're coming into range," Courier warned them. "You've got to hurry."

“‘拿火药袋，轻轻塞进大炮的炮筒里。’”贝内特贴心地读着说明。 “轻点！” 弗洛里泽拉正使劲往里塞的时候，他大喊起来。 这东西会爆炸的！” “它本来就是要爆炸的呀！” 她指出。 “这是火药啊。” “它是要等你开火的时候才爆炸！ 不是你装弹药的时候瞎戳它，就炸了。” “快点呀。”信使说。 “他们越来越近了。” “‘拿一些填弹塞。’”贝内特读着说明书说道。 “填什么？”弗洛里泽拉问。 “填弹塞，就是纸或者布之类的，你把火药放进去之后，塞炮弹之前把它塞进去，这样炮弹就不会压到火药，免得火药在炮筒里炸了。” “这儿没有啊。”弗洛里泽拉往盒子里看了看说。 “啥都没有。” “他们进射程了。”信使警告他们。 “你们得快点了。”

"Your gown, Courier!" Florizella said. "That'd be perfect." With only a second's hesitation Courier ripped off his princess gown, bundled it into a cushion shape and Florizella gently pushed it into the barrel of the cannon with the handle of her mop. Courier helped, wearing only his high hat and his bathing shorts. "I must say, you do have a very individual fashion style," the Sea Serpent remarked, as the three royals rolled the cannon to the front edge of the platform that stretched out over the sea. Bennett pricked the gunpowder bag through the little hole in the top of the cannon, and Florizella poked in the piece of special string that was the fuse so it touched the gunpowder and then she got the matches ready. "Says here, "Stand clear of the recoil,"" Florizella read. "What does that mean?" "Oh! Let me light it! Do let me!" begged Courier. Florizella hesitated.

“你的长袍，信使！” 弗洛里泽拉说。 “那个肯定合适。” 信使只犹豫了一秒，就一把扯下自己的公主长袍，团成靠垫那么大的一团，弗洛里泽拉用拖把柄轻轻地把它塞进了炮筒里。 信使过来帮忙，他身上只戴着高帽子，穿着泳裤。 “不得不说，你的时尚品味可真是独一份啊。”海蛇评论道，这时候三个王室小孩正把大炮滚到延伸到海面上的平台的最前端。 贝内特从大炮顶部的小孔扎破了火药袋，弗洛里泽拉把那根特殊的绳子，也就是引信塞了进去，让它碰到火药，接着她把火柴准备好。 “这儿写着，‘躲开后坐力。’”弗洛里泽拉读道。 “那是什么意思啊？” “哦！让我来点！ 让我点嘛！”信使央求道。 弗洛里泽拉犹豫了。

"He was very brave about being sacrificed," Bennett reminded her. "Go on, then." Florizella handed the matches and the fuse to the little boy. "But what is recoil?" "Take aim!" Bennett said, standing right behind the cannon in order to aim, and looking down the long barrel. "And FIRE!" Florizella said, standing behind him to check that he was right. Courier, immediately behind the gun, touched the match to the fuse. The flame ran rapidly along the fuse and, BANG, there was an enormous explosion. The cannonball arched from the mouth of the gun over the Sea Serpent's head into the air and– SPLAT– hit the water just in front of the first pirate ship, swamping them and half drowning the other ships with a massive wave.

“之前要把他献祭的时候，他可勇敢了。”贝内特提醒她。 “那行吧，给你。” 弗洛里泽拉把火柴和引信都递给了这个小男孩。 “可是后坐力到底是什么啊？” “瞄准！” 贝内特说着，站到大炮正后方准备瞄准，视线顺着长长的炮筒看出去。 “开火！” 弗洛里泽拉站在他身后，确认他瞄准得没问题，开口说道。 信使就站在大炮正后方，把火柴凑到了引信上。 火苗顺着引信飞快地烧过去，接着“砰”的一声，发生了巨大的爆炸。 炮弹从炮口飞出去，越过海蛇的头顶飞到空中，然后“啪嗒”一声，正好砸在第一艘海盗船前面的水里，激起的巨大浪头浇透了这帮海盗，还差点把其他船都给淹了。