Arthur advanced with Ford’s towel, moving the way the hunter-matadors did, with a kind of elegant strut that did not come at all naturally to him. But now he knew what to do and that it was right. He brandished and flicked the towel a few times, to be ready for the moment, and then he watched.

阿瑟拿着福特的毛巾往前走，试着像猎人斗牛士那样昂首挺胸地迈起风度翩翩的步子，这动作放在他身上一点也不自然。但现在他已经知道该怎么做，而且知道自己做得没错。他挥舞抖动几下毛巾，为待会儿的行动做好准备，然后他睁大眼睛。

Some distance away he spotted the Beast he wanted. Head down, it was galloping towards him, right on the very edge of the herd. Old Thrashbarg twitched the bird, the Beast looked up, tossed its head, and then, just as its head was coming down again, Arthur flourished the towel in the Beast’s line of sight. It tossed its head again in bemusement, and its eyes followed the movement of the towel.

在稍远的地方他发现了自己想要的那一头。它就在兽群最边上，正埋着脑袋直奔他这儿来。老刷希巴晃了晃噼卡鸟，它往上看了一眼，猛地一扬脑袋，然后，就在它正要再次埋头的时候，阿瑟在它视线之内抖了抖毛巾。它又扬起脑袋，看来有些迷惑，它的眼睛追随起了毛巾的动作。

He had got the Beast’s attention.

他吸引了这头绝对正常兽的注意。

From that moment on, it seemed the most natural thing to coax and draw the animal towards him. Its head was up, cocked slightly to one side. It was slowing to a canter and then a trot. A few seconds later the huge thing was standing there amongst them, snorting, panting, sweating, and sniffing excitedly at the pikka bird, which appeared not to have noticed its arrival at all. With strange sort of sweeping movements of his arms Old Thrashbarg kept the pikka bird in front of the Beast, but always out of its reach and always downwards. With strange sort of sweeping movements of the towel, Arthur kept drawing the Beast’s attention this way and that – always downwards.

从那一刻起，一切都好像再自然不过。阿瑟耐心地把它哄到自己这边；它昂着头，脑袋微微偏向一边，然后放慢了速度，先是小跑，又变成快步走。几秒钟之后，这个大家伙来到了他们中间，喷着响鼻，气喘吁吁，大汗淋漓，兴奋不已地嗅着那只噼卡鸟，而对方则压根没有注意到它凑过来。老刷希巴的胳膊怪异地挥动，让噼卡鸟保持在它身前，但永远不让它够到，而且永远往下方移动。阿瑟的毛巾也怪模怪样地挥动，把它的注意力引向这边或者那边——当然也是一路向下。

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so stupid in my life,’ muttered Ford to himself.

“恐怕我这辈子还没见过这么傻的事。”福特低声自言自语。

At last, the Beast dropped, bemused but docile, to its knees.

最后大家伙跪下来，迷迷糊糊的，但异常温顺。

‘Go!’ whispered Old Thrashbarg urgently, to Ford. ‘Go! Go now!’

“去！”老刷希巴悄声告诉福特，声音里透着紧迫，“去！现在！”

Ford leapt up on to the great creature’s back, scrabbling amongst its thick knotty fur for purchase, grasping great handfuls of the stuff to hold him steady once he was in position.

福特跳到大家伙的后背上，在它浓密纠结的毛里摸索着寻找支撑，坐好之后他抓起一大把毛帮自己稳住。