雙語漫威故事《驚奇隊長》 第四章

Chapter 4

第四章

 

That afternoon, Kamala tried—and failed—to study for her test.

那天下午，卡瑪拉在復習迎考，但她學不進去。

 

“Come on,” she told herself, squinting at her Biology textbook. “You aren't meeting Thor until tonight. You have three hours of primo study time. You can do this. You have to do this.”

“加油。”她瞟了一眼桌上的生物課本，告訴自己，“你今天晚上才能見到托爾，你還有三個小時的學習時間，你行的，必須行。”

 

She gripped her highlighter tight and started reading. But the words ran together on the page. Kamala stared blankly down at the book while her mind raced over the mystery of the pet-shop burglaries. Why were these bird-people stealing from pet shops? What were they after? And why was this happening in New Jersey? In Ms. Marvel's territory?

卡瑪拉緊握熒光筆，投入了學習。但卡瑪拉怎么也學不進去，她茫然地盯著課本，滿腦子想的卻是令人費解的寵物店搶劫一事。為什么半鳥人要偷寵物店？他們想得到什么呢？這種事為什么會發(fā)生在新澤西，在驚奇隊長的地盤上？

 

Come to think, why were they talking about going after Ms. Marvel in the first place?

讓我想想，為什么他們一開始就沖著驚奇隊長？

 

Finally, Kamala threw down her highlighter in frustration and instead opened a web browser on her computer.

最后，卡瑪拉沮喪地把熒光筆丟在一邊，打開了網(wǎng)頁瀏覽器。

 

If I can't get any studying done, she thought, I might as well do something productive.

“既然我學不進去，”她想，“不妨做點有意義的事情。”

 

Soon, Kamala was deep in a search through local news sites, looking for any information about the pet-shop robberies.

隨后，卡瑪拉仔細瀏覽了當?shù)氐男侣劸W(wǎng)站，尋找任何關于寵物店搶劫案的信息。

 

She clicked through to an article about a break-in at the Puppy Pile, a pet store in Edison, NJ.

她點開一篇有關新澤西州愛迪生市發(fā)生的“小狗營”盜竊案的報道。

 

Break-In at the Puppy Pile

“小狗營”盜竊案

 

“They didn't even take any money,” said Anita Batra, the owner of the Puppy Pile. “That was the weirdest thing. The cash register was right there, but instead they went straight to the birdcages at the back of the store.”

“他們一點兒錢都沒偷,”“小狗營”的店主安妮塔·巴特拉說，“最離奇的是，收銀臺就在眼前，他們卻直奔店后面的鳥籠子。”

 

The criminals made off with seven canaries and an African grey parrot. They are described as three teenagers wearing bird costumes.

罪犯偷走了七只金絲雀和一只非洲灰鸚鵡。據(jù)目擊者描述，他們是三個身著鳥裝的少年。

 

“I'm pretty sure one of them was levitating,” said Ms. Batra. Police are investigating the robbery and have released a statement saying that the suspects are thought to have superhuman abilities of some kind.

“我非常確信其中一人會飛。”巴特拉說。調查此案的警察透露，嫌犯可能具有某種超能力。

 

Meanwhile, the Puppy Pile is planning to reopen on Monday, but Ms. Batra says she still hopes the police find her missing birds soon.

與此同時，“小狗營”計劃周一重新開放。巴特拉表示，希望警方能盡快幫她找回被偷的鳥。

 

That night, after bedtime, Kamala stuffed a pillow under the covers. She hoped it looked like she was still in bed, asleep. Then she changed into her “sneaking around” clothes, grabbed her backpack, and embiggened her legs until they were long enough to reach the ground outside. She stepped quietly out of her second-story window.

晚上就寢時，卡瑪拉把枕頭塞進被窩里，看起來就像她躺在里面睡著了。她換上“掩護服”，抓起背包，伸長雙腿，從二樓房間的窗戶悄悄溜了出去。

 

Kamala shrank her legs back down and looked around. Sure enough—Thor was standing in the shadows under a tree. He waved at her and Kamala trotted over, being careful to make no noise. The last thing she needed was to wake up her parents.

下去后，卡瑪拉把腿縮了回來并四下張望。果然，托爾在樹影里站著。托爾朝卡瑪拉揮手，她小心翼翼地跑了過去，生怕弄出響聲吵醒爸爸媽媽。

 

“Hail and well met, my sister in arms!” Thor boomed out as she reached him.

“全副武裝，歡迎歸隊，我的戰(zhàn)友！”托爾用渾厚的聲音對趕來的卡瑪拉說道。

 

“Shush!!!” Kamala said, waving her hands desperately at him. Then she panicked for a whole different reason. Thor was an Avenger and she'd just told him to shush?

“噓！”卡瑪拉邊說邊使勁沖著托爾擺手，緊接著她為自己捏了把汗，她居然示意復仇者托爾“安靜”。

 

“I mean,” she said, backpedaling, “I'm sorry, but if you wouldn't mind—”

“我是說，”她收回自己剛才說的話，“對不起，你別見怪——”

 

Thor shook his head. “No apologies are needed, except from me. I admit I am not accustomed to stealth.”

托爾搖搖頭，說：“不必歉疚，是我的問題，我承認我不習慣偷偷摸摸的。”

 

“I can tell. You wore the cape and everything,” Kamala said, relieved. “But let's get out of here, yeah?”

“看得出來，你總是穿著斗篷，全副武裝。”卡瑪拉如釋重負地說，“我們走吧？”

 

“Yeah!” said Thor. “I mean, yeah.”

托爾說：“好，走吧。”

 

Thor wanted to see the pet store where Kamala had foiled the latest robbery, that morning. So they went there first, and Kamala showed Thor the scene of the crime.

托爾想去看看最近被盜的那家寵物店，就是那天早晨卡瑪拉阻止的盜竊案事發(fā)地。他們先去了那里，卡瑪拉指證了現(xiàn)場。

 

“I was standing out here,” she said. “The robber was in the back of the store.”

“我當時站在這兒，”她說，“盜賊在店后面。”

 

Thor peered through the window into the darkened store. “What manner of animals are kept in the back?” he asked.

托爾透過窗戶凝視著黑暗中的寵物店，問道：“關在店后面的是什么？”

 

“Not sure,” Kamala said. She pulled out her flashlight. “Let's see.”

“不清楚。”卡瑪拉說著便掏出了手電筒，“我們去瞧瞧吧。”

 

The bright circle of light glinted off a row of birdcages in the back of the store.

店后面，明亮光環(huán)將一排鳥籠子照得閃閃發(fā)光。

 

“Birds again,” Kamala said thoughtfully. She explained to Thor about the article she'd read earlier. “So they're stealing birds, wearing bird masks, and making sounds like birds... what else do we know?

“又是鳥。”卡瑪拉若有所思地說。她向托爾提起先前讀的那篇報道，“他們偷的是鳥，戴著鳥面具，還學鳥叫……我們還知道什么呢？”

 

“At least some of the suspects have supernatural abilities, perhaps all of them.”

“至少其中幾個嫌犯有超能力，或許他們都有。”

 

“Superpowered bird fans stealing birds,” Kamala said. Then something occurred to her. “Hey, there's a pet store right here in Jersey City that only sells birds. It's called Betsy's Bitsy Birdies. Do you know if it's been robbed, too?”

“有超能力的鳥迷們偷鳥，”卡瑪拉說道，然后她又想起了什么，“對了，澤西城有一家寵物店只賣鳥，叫‘貝齊小小鳥’。那兒會不會也被盜了？”

 

“Not yet,” Thor said. “But perhaps...”

“還沒有，”托爾說，“但是有可能……”

 

“Just in case...” Ms. Marvel agreed. She looked up the address on her phone, and they were off.

“以防萬一……”驚奇隊長表示贊成。她在手機上查看了地址，兩人便動身趕往“貝齊小小鳥”寵物店。

 

Kamala and Thor arrived at Betsy's Bitsy Birdies ten minutes later. The store was dark and quiet. All the windows were unbroken, and the door was closed.

十分鐘后，卡瑪拉和托爾趕到了寵物店，店里一片漆黑寂靜，所有窗戶都完好無損，店門緊閉。

 

Kamala and Thor climbed into a tree and hid quietly. Sure enough, not long after that, a group of teenagers wearing bird masks came sneaking up to Betsy's Bitsy Birdies.

卡瑪拉和托爾爬上一棵樹，悄悄地藏了起來。果不其然，沒過多久，一群戴著鳥面具的少年就偷偷溜進了“貝齊小小鳥”寵物店。

 

“This is the place,” one of them said.

“就是這兒。”其中一人說道。

 

“Jackpot!” said another. “We're going to be his favorites after we come back with all these birds.”

“走運了！”另一個人說，“把這些鳥弄回去，我們就成他的紅人了。”

 

A third birdlike teen raised her arm. She was gripping a brick. Just as she was about to smash it through the window, Kamala shot her elongated arm out and grabbed her.

第三個裝扮似鳥的少女抬起胳膊，她握著磚塊，正要朝窗戶砸去時，卡瑪拉伸出長胳膊，一把抓住了她。

 

“Squawk!” yelled the teen.

“嘎嘎！”她大叫道。

 

“Squawk! Squawk!” yelled her friends, trying to tug her out of Kamala's grip. But it was too late. Hanging from his flying hammer, Thor glided out of the tree and straight into the fray. He kicked the two teens away from their friend and got to work tying them up.

“嘎嘎！嘎嘎！”她的同伴們叫喊著，企圖把她從卡瑪拉手中拽出來，但為時已晚。托爾憑借其飛錘，從樹上滑下來，投入了戰(zhàn)斗。他踢開了兩個上來搭救的，并將他們綁了起來。

 

“This young woman seems to have super strength,” Thor remarked. He grunted as he struggled to subdue the girl. “Luckily, my ropes are magic bindings from the halls of Asgard.”

“這個年輕女的似乎有超能力，”托爾說道，他邊嘟囔邊努力將其制服，“幸虧我有阿斯加德宮殿的魔繩。”

 

The girl chirped sullenly as Thor tied a firm knot around her wrists.

托爾把她的雙手牢牢綁在一起，女孩憤憤地尖叫著。

 

“Okay,” Kamala said once the three teenage burglars were all tied up. “I've called the cops. Now talk. Why are you stealing birds? Who do you work for?”

捆好了三個盜竊犯，卡瑪拉說：“好啦，我已經(jīng)報警了，說說吧，你們?yōu)槭裁赐跌B？誰指使你們偷的？”

 

The three teens stared at Kamala and Thor in silence.

三人默默注視著卡瑪拉和托爾。

 

“Wait,” Kamala said, “are your masks made of real feathers?”

“且慢，”卡瑪拉說，“你們的面具是用真羽毛做的嗎？”

 

“Peep,” the superstrong girl said, glaring defiantly at Ms. Marvel.

“啾啾。”一個強勢的女孩叫了一聲，挑釁地看著驚奇隊長。

 

Thor reached out and plucked a feather from her head.

托爾伸手從她頭上拔了根羽毛。

 

“Peep!”

“啾啾！”