J.K.罗琳新书《The（Ickabog》第十三章翻译——原汁原味学英语）
Chapter 13
第十三章
The Accident
意外
The two lords had no choice but to leave the king and Captain Roach in their little clearing in the fog and proceed onto the marsh. Spittleworth took the lead, feeling his way with his feet for the firmest bits of ground. Flapoon followed close behind, still holding tightly to the hem of Spittleworth’s coat and sinking deeply with every footstep because he was so heavy.
两个爵士别无选择，只能离开国王和罗池的所在之地（那里的雾稍微轻点），向沼泽地前行。斯派头沃斯打头，用脚试探着地面坚硬的部分。菲莱普恩在紧跟其后，手仍紧紧抓住沃斯外套的褶边，他每一步都深深地陷入地面因为他太重了。
The fog was clammy on their skin and rendered them almost completely blind. In spite of Spittleworth’s best efforts, the two lords’ boots were soon full to the brim with fetid water.
迷雾让（他们的）皮肤黏糊糊的，眼睛几乎看不见。尽管斯派头沃斯最努力的尝试（坚硬的地面），两个爵士的靴子很快沾满了腐臭的泥水。
‘That blasted nincompoop!’ muttered Spittleworth as they squelched along. ‘That blithering buffoon! This is all his fault, the mouse-brained moron!’
“该死的蠢货！”斯派头沃斯抱怨着踩水前行。“头号小丑！这都是他的错，愚蠢的笨蛋！”
‘It’ll serve him right if that sword’s lost for good,’ said Flapoon, now nearly waist-deep in marsh.
“如果剑真的丢了也是他（国王）应得的，”菲莱普恩说，现在他陷入沼泽里有腰深了。
‘We’d better hope it isn’t, or we’ll be here all night,’ said Spittleworth. ‘Oh, curse this fog!’
斯派头沃斯说：“我们最好希望剑别丢，否则的话我们会待在这整个晚上，哼，该死的迷雾！”
They struggled onwards. The mist would thin for a few steps, then close again. Boulders loomed suddenly out of nowhere like ghostly elephants, and the rustling reeds sounded just like snakes. Though Spittleworth and Flapoon knew perfectly well that there was no such thing as an Ickabog, their insides didn’t seem quite so sure.
他们挣扎着前进。迷雾时薄时浓。朦胧的砾石会突然从未知方向出现，就像个幽灵般大象，沙沙响的芦草听起来像巨蟒一样。尽管斯派头沃斯和菲莱普恩明知道没有艾卡伯格，但他们内心深处看起来又不是十分确定。
‘Let go of me!’ Spittleworth growled at Flapoon, whose constant tugging was making him think of monstrous claws or jaws fastened on the back of his coat.
“松开我！”沃斯对着菲莱普恩咆哮道，因为菲莱普恩持续的抓着他的衣服让他想到怪物的爪子或牙齿紧紧咬住了他后边的衣服。
Flapoon let go, but he too had been infected by a nonsensical fear, so he loosened his blunderbuss from its holster and held it ready.
菲莱普恩就放开了，但是他也被无名的恐惧影响着，于是他从枪套里拿出他的霰弹枪并拉开枪的保险。
‘What’s that?’ he whispered to Spittleworth, as an odd noise reached them out of the darkness ahead.
“那是什么？”他对斯派头沃斯小声说，因为一个怪异的声音从前方的黑暗迷雾中传来。
Both lords froze, the better to listen.
两个爵士停止移动，认真的去听。
A low growling and scrabbling was coming out of the fog. It conjured an awful vision in both men’s minds, of a monster feasting on the body of one of the Royal Guard.
一阵低沉的咆哮和爪子乱扒声从雾中传过来。这个声音让两个爵士脑子里立马出现恐怖的想象画面——一个怪物正在咀嚼着一个皇家侍卫的身体。
‘Who’s there?’ Spittleworth called, in a high-pitched voice.
“谁在那？”斯派头沃斯高声喊道。
Somewhere in the distance, Major Beamish shouted back:
在远处的一个地方，侍卫首领比姆世回应道：
‘Is that you, Lord Spittleworth?’
“是你吗，斯派头沃斯爵士？”
‘Yes,’ shouted Spittleworth. ‘We can hear something strange, Beamish! Can you?’
“是，我们听到了奇怪的声音，比姆世，你听到了吗？”斯派头沃斯喊道。
It seemed to the two lords that the odd growling and scrabbling grew louder.
两个爵士觉得怪异的咆哮声和爪子乱扒声变得更加大了。
Then the fog shifted. A monstrous black silhouette with gleaming white eyes was revealed right in front of them, and it emitted a long yowl.
接着，雾气转变，一个异型的眼睛闪白光的黑色轮廓出现在了两人正前面，并发出一声长吼。
With a deafening, crashing boom that seemed to shake the marsh, Flapoon let off his blunderbuss. The startled cries of their fellow men echoed across the hidden landscape, and then, as though Flapoon’s shot had frightened it, the fog parted like curtains before the two lords, giving them a clear view of what lay ahead.
接着，一声震耳欲聋的仿佛能晃动整个沼泽的轰鸣声响起，菲莱普恩扣动了他的霰弹枪。两人惊恐的哭叫声在雾中的地形里回响起来，尽管菲莱普恩的射击是因为恐惧它，当迷雾像窗帘一样分开后才让两个爵士看清楚是什么躺在了前面。
The moon slid out from behind a cloud at that moment and they saw a vast granite boulder with a mass of thorny branches at its base. Tangled up in these brambles was a terrified, skinny dog, whimpering and scrabbling to free itself, its eyes flashing in the reflected moonlight.
月亮从云中出来这一刻，他们看到了一个巨大的花岗岩砾石，它的底部有大量带刺荆棘。与荆棘缠绕在一起的是个惊恐瘦弱的狗，悲嚎着胡乱挣扎着想要出来，它的眼睛在月光下闪着光。
A little beyond the giant boulder, face down in the bog, lay Major Beamish.
在巨大砾石不远处，脸朝着沼泽，趴着侍卫首领比姆世。
‘What’s going on?’ shouted several voices out of the fog. ‘Who fired?’
“发生了什么？”几个喊叫声音从雾中传来。“谁开枪了？”
Neither Spittleworth nor Flapoon answered. Spittleworth waded as quickly as he could towards Major Beamish. A swift examination was enough: the major was stone-dead, shot through the heart by Flapoon in the dark.
斯派头沃斯和菲莱普恩都没有回答。沃斯以自己最快速度蹚水走向侍卫首领比姆世。快速的检查就足以知道：比姆世死透透了，菲莱普恩射穿了他的心脏。
‘My God, my God, what shall we do?’ bleated Flapoon, arriving at Spittleworth’s side.
“上帝啊，上帝啊，我们该怎么办？”菲莱普恩来到沃斯旁颤抖的说。
‘Quiet!’ whispered Spittleworth.
“安静！”沃斯低声说。
He was thinking harder and faster than he’d thought in the whole of his crafty, conniving life. His eyes moved slowly from Flapoon and the gun, to the shepherd’s trapped dog, to the king’s boots and jewelled sword, which he now noticed, half-buried in the bog just a few feet away from the giant boulder.
他在有史以来绞尽脑汁的无比快速的思考。他的眼神从菲莱普恩和他的枪上慢慢移到牧羊人被困住的狗上，又移到国王的鞋子和宝剑上，他发现宝剑一半埋在沼泽里，就在巨大砾石几英尺的地方。
Spittleworth waded through the marsh to pick up the king’s sword and used it to slash apart the brambles imprisoning the dog. Then, giving the poor animal a hearty kick, he sent it yelping away into the fog.
沃斯蹚水穿过沼泽捡起国王的剑，并用它砍向荆棘放开了那条狗，然后狠狠踢了那可怜的狗一下，狗惨叫着跑走消失在雾中。
‘Listen carefully,’ murmured Spittleworth, returning to Flapoon, but before he could explain his plan, another large figure emerged from the fog: Captain Roach.
“仔细听着，”沃斯返回到菲莱普恩旁边低声说，但是还没等他解释自己的计划，另外一个大型人影从雾中出现而来：开普敦罗池。
‘The king sent me,’ panted the captain. ‘He’s terrified. What happ—’
“国王命令我来，”开普敦气喘吁吁的说。“他吓坏了，发生了——”
Then Roach saw Major Beamish lying dead on the ground.
罗池看到了侍卫首领比姆世死了躺在地上。
Spittleworth realised immediately that Roach must be let in on the plan and that, in fact, he’d be very useful.
沃斯立马意识到罗池必须含在他的计划里，实际上，他很有用。
‘Say nothing, Roach,’ said Spittleworth, ‘while I tell you what has happened.
“不用问，罗池，我会告诉你发生了什么。”沃斯说。
‘The Ickabog has killed our brave Major Beamish. In view of this tragic death, we shall need a new major, and of course, that will be you, Roach, for you’re second-in-command. I shall recommend a large pay rise for you, because you were so valiant – listen closely, Roach – so veryvaliant in chasing after the dreadful Ickabog, as it ran away into the fog.
是艾卡伯格杀死了我们勇敢的侍卫首领比姆世。鉴于这悲惨的死亡，我们需要一个新的首领，当然，这将会是你罗池，因为你现在已经是副指挥官了。我会巨资强力推荐你的，因为你是如此的勇敢——仔细听着，罗池-在追逐可怕的爱卡伯格时是如此的勇敢，让爱卡伯格逃窜消失在雾里。
You see, the Ickabog was devouring the poor major’s body when Lord Flapoon and I came upon it. Frightened by Lord Flapoon’s blunderbuss, which he sensibly discharged into the air, the monster dropped Beamish’s body and fled.
当我和菲莱普恩爵士来到这时，爱卡伯格正在狼吞虎咽吃着可怜的首领的身体。由于它害怕菲莱普恩爵士的霞弹枪，它敏感的跳到空中，丢下比姆世的身体就逃跑了。
You bravely gave chase, trying to recover the king’s sword, which was half-buried in the monster’s thick hide – but you weren’t able to recover it, Roach. So sad for the poor king. I believe the priceless sword was his grandfather’s, but I suppose it’s now lost forever in the Ickabog’s lair.’
你勇敢地区追逐它，想要拿回国王的宝剑，因为宝剑有一半插入了怪物厚厚的毛皮中-但你没能够拿回它，罗池。国王太可怜了，我认为那无价的宝剑就是他爷爷的那把，但是，现在应该永远消失在艾卡伯格的巢穴里了。
So saying, Spittleworth pressed the sword into Roach’s large hands. The newly promoted major looked down at its jewelled hilt, and a cruel and crafty smile to match Spittleworth’s own spread over his face.
说着，斯派头沃斯把宝剑放在了罗池宽大的手里。这个即将新晋的首领看着宝剑镶嵌珠宝的剑把，一个残忍且奸诈的微笑在罗池脸上展开，与沃斯自己的（表情）不相上下。
‘Yes, a great pity that I wasn’t able to recover the sword, my lord,’ he said, sliding it out of sight beneath his tunic. ‘Now, let’s wrap up the poor Major’s body, because it would be dreadful for the other men to see the marks of the monster’s fangs upon him.’
“是的，多么可惜，我没能够取回陛下的宝剑，爵士，”说着把宝剑轻轻放进战袍里。“现在，让我们包裹起可怜的首领的尸体吧，因为让其他人看到他身上怪物撕咬的伤口会很害怕的”
‘How sensitive of you, Major Roach,’ said Lord Spittleworth, and the two men swiftly took off their cloaks and wrapped up the body while Flapoon watched, heartily relieved that nobody need know he’d accidentally killed Beamish.
“你真体贴，罗池首领，”斯派头沃斯说，然后，两人迅速的脱下斗篷包裹住了比姆世的尸体，此时菲莱普恩就在那看着，紧绷的心缓解了下来，因为没有人知道他意外杀了比姆世。
‘Could you remind me what the Ickabog looked like, Lord Spittleworth?’ asked Roach, when Major Beamish’s body was well hidden. ‘For the three of us saw it together and will, of course, have received identical impressions.’
“你能提醒我一下艾卡伯格长什么样吗？斯派头沃斯？”在把首领比姆世的尸体藏好后，罗池问。“如果说是我们三个人一起看到它的，当然，会更令人信服。”
‘Very true,’ said Lord Spittleworth. ‘Well, according to the king, the beast is as tall as two horses, with eyes like lamps.’
“非常对，”斯派头沃斯说，“根据国王所描述的，怪物有两头马那样高，眼睛像巨灯。”
‘In fact,’ said Flapoon, pointing, ‘it looks a lot like this large boulder, with a dog’s eyes gleaming at the base.’
“实际上，它更像这个巨大砾石，狗的眼睛在它的底部发光。”菲莱普恩指向石头说。
‘Tall as two horses, with eyes like lamps,’ repeated Roach. ‘Very well, my lords. If you’ll assist me to put Beamish over my shoulder, I’ll carry him to the king and we can explain how the major met his death.’
“高如两马，眼如巨灯，”罗池重复道，“很好，爵士，您能帮我把比姆世的尸体放在我肩膀上吗。我会带着他到国王那，然后我们就可以解释一下首领是怎么死的了。”