双语漫威故事《惊奇队长》 第四章

Chapter 4

第四章

 

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

那天下午，卡玛拉在复习迎考，但她学不进去。

 

“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课本，告诉自己，“你今天晚上才能见到托尔，你还有三个小时的学习时间，你行的，必须行。”

 

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?

卡玛拉紧握荧光笔，投入了学习。但卡玛拉怎么也学不进去，她茫然地盯着课本，满脑子想的却是令人费解的宠物店抢劫一事。为什么半鸟人要偷宠物店？他们想得到什么呢？这种事为什么会发生在新泽西，在惊奇队长的地盘上？

 

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

让我想想，为什么他们一开始就冲着惊奇队长？

 

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

最后，卡玛拉沮丧地把荧光笔丢在一边，打开了网页浏览器。

 

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

“既然我学不进去，”她想，“不妨做点有意义的事情。”

 

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

随后，卡玛拉仔细浏览了当地的新闻网站，寻找任何关于宠物店抢劫案的信息。

 

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

她点开一篇有关新泽西州爱迪生市发生的“小狗营”盗窃案的报道。

 

Break-In at the Puppy Pile

“小狗营”盗窃案

 

“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.”

“他们一点儿钱都没偷,”“小狗营”的店主安妮塔·巴特拉说，“最离奇的是，收银台就在眼前，他们却直奔店后面的鸟笼子。”

 

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

罪犯偷走了七只金丝雀和一只非洲灰鹦鹉。据目击者描述，他们是三个身着鸟装的少年。

 

“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.

“我非常确信其中一人会飞。”巴特拉说。调查此案的警察透露，嫌犯可能具有某种超能力。

 

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

与此同时，“小狗营”计划周一重新开放。巴特拉表示，希望警方能尽快帮她找回被偷的鸟。

 

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.

晚上就寝时，卡玛拉把枕头塞进被窝里，看起来就像她躺在里面睡着了。她换上“掩护服”，抓起背包，伸长双腿，从二楼房间的窗户悄悄溜了出去。

 

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，卡玛拉把腿缩了回来并四下张望。果然，托尔在树影里站着。托尔朝卡玛拉挥手，她小心翼翼地跑了过去，生怕弄出响声吵醒爸爸妈妈。

 

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

“全副武装，欢迎归队，我的战友！”托尔用浑厚的声音对赶来的卡玛拉说道。

 

“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?

“嘘！”卡玛拉边说边使劲冲着托尔摆手，紧接着她为自己捏了把汗，她居然示意复仇者托尔“安静”。

 

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

“我是说，”她收回自己刚才说的话，“对不起，你别见怪——”

 

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

托尔摇摇头，说：“不必歉疚，是我的问题，我承认我不习惯偷偷摸摸的。”

 

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

“看得出来，你总是穿着斗篷，全副武装。”卡玛拉如释重负地说，“我们走吧？”

 

“Yeah!” said Thor. “I mean, yeah.”

托尔说：“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.

托尔想去看看最近被盗的那家宠物店，就是那天早晨卡玛拉阻止的盗窃案事发地。他们先去了那里，卡玛拉指证了现场。

 

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

“我当时站在这儿，”她说，“盗贼在店后面。”

 

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

托尔透过窗户凝视着黑暗中的宠物店，问道：“关在店后面的是什么？”

 

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

“不清楚。”卡玛拉说着便掏出了手电筒，“我们去瞧瞧吧。”

 

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

店后面，明亮光环将一排鸟笼子照得闪闪发光。

 

“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?

“又是鸟。”卡玛拉若有所思地说。她向托尔提起先前读的那篇报道，“他们偷的是鸟，戴着鸟面具，还学鸟叫……我们还知道什么呢？”

 

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

“至少其中几个嫌犯有超能力，或许他们都有。”

 

“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?”

“有超能力的鸟迷们偷鸟，”卡玛拉说道，然后她又想起了什么，“对了，泽西城有一家宠物店只卖鸟，叫‘贝齐小小鸟’。那儿会不会也被盗了？”

 

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

“还没有，”托尔说，“但是有可能……”

 

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

“以防万一……”惊奇队长表示赞成。她在手机上查看了地址，两人便动身赶往“贝齐小小鸟”宠物店。

 

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.

十分钟后，卡玛拉和托尔赶到了宠物店，店里一片漆黑寂静，所有窗户都完好无损，店门紧闭。

 

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.

卡玛拉和托尔爬上一棵树，悄悄地藏了起来。果不其然，没过多久，一群戴着鸟面具的少年就偷偷溜进了“贝齐小小鸟”宠物店。

 

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

“就是这儿。”其中一人说道。

 

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

“走运了！”另一个人说，“把这些鸟弄回去，我们就成他的红人了。”

 

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.

第三个装扮似鸟的少女抬起胳膊，她握着砖块，正要朝窗户砸去时，卡玛拉伸出长胳膊，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！”她的同伴们叫喊着，企图把她从卡玛拉手中拽出来，但为时已晚。托尔凭借其飞锤，从树上滑下来，投入了战斗。他踢开了两个上来搭救的，并将他们绑了起来。

 

“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.”

“这个年轻女的似乎有超能力，”托尔说道，他边嘟囔边努力将其制服，“幸亏我有阿斯加德宫殿的魔绳。”

 

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

托尔把她的双手牢牢绑在一起，女孩愤愤地尖叫着。

 

“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?”

捆好了三个盗窃犯，卡玛拉说：“好啦，我已经报警了，说说吧，你们为什么偷鸟？谁指使你们偷的？”

 

The three teens stared at Kamala and Thor in silence.

三人默默注视着卡玛拉和托尔。

 

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

“且慢，”卡玛拉说，“你们的面具是用真羽毛做的吗？”

 

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

“啾啾。”一个强势的女孩叫了一声，挑衅地看着惊奇队长。

 

Thor reached out and plucked a feather from her head.

托尔伸手从她头上拔了根羽毛。

 

“Peep!”

“啾啾！”