Ch7-Hurry Up, Houdini!

CHAPTER SEVEN Harry Up,Houdini! "Well, my dear," said Annie, "we did it!" "We were brilliant!" said Jack. Smiling, they pulled off their white gloves and grabbed their top hats. Hank and Butch quickly appeared and carried away their table and props. "Good show! Good show!" they said.

第七章哈利起来，胡迪尼！“嗯，亲爱的，”安妮说，“我们做到了！”“我们太棒了！”杰克说。 他们微笑着脱下白手套，抓起自己的礼帽。 汉克和布奇迅速出现，带走了他们的桌子和道具。 “好节目!好节目！”他们说。

"Thanks, guys," said Jack, pulling off his bow tie. "What time is it?" Annie asked. Jack pulled out his pocket watch. "Eight-fortyeight," he said. "Our timing was perfect. We even have seventeen minutes of magic left over!" "And Houdini should be in his dressing room now, since he goes on at nine," said Annie. "While we're still great magicians, should we try to talk to him? Maybe even show him a trick or two?" "Yes!" said Jack. Jack and Annie hurried off the stage. When they reached the dressing rooms, they found Mr. Dewey outside Houdini's door. He was pacing up and down, wringing his hands. "He's not here!" he cried. "He's not here!" "Who?" said Jack. "Houdini?" said Annie. "Who else?" shouted Mr. Dewey. "He's not here! N-O-T! H-E-R-E!" "Where is he? What happened to him?" asked Jack. "Who knows?" cried Mr. Dewey. "All I know is that this is a disaster! The hooligans will demand

“谢谢，伙计们。”杰克说着，摘下了他的领结。 “现在几点了？”安妮问。 杰克掏出他的怀表。 “八十八岁，”他说。 “我们的时机非常完美。我们甚至还剩十七分钟的魔法表演！”“胡迪尼现在应该在他的更衣室里，因为他九点就要上场了。”安妮说。 “趁我们还是伟大的魔术师，我们应该试着和他谈谈吗？” 甚至可以给他表演一两招？”“是的！”杰克说。 杰克和安妮匆匆走下舞台。 当他们到达更衣室时，他们发现杜威先生站在胡迪尼的门外。 他踱来踱去，绞着双手。 “他不在这儿！” “他不在这儿！”“谁？”杰克问。 “胡迪尼？”安妮说。“还有谁？”杜威先生喊道。 “他不在这儿！”N-O-T !H-E-R-E !”“他在哪儿？” 他怎么了？”杰克问。 “谁知道呢？”杜威先生叫道。 “我只知道这是一场灾难！流氓们会要求的

their money back! And probably tear the theater apart! I'm facing ruin! Disgrace! All is lost!" The stage door banged open, and Mr. Wilson rushed in. "No sign of him outside, Boss," he said. "Ohhh, Wilson!" cried Mr. Dewey. "We're doomed! We're doomed!" Mr. Wilson nodded grimly. Jack looked at his pocket watch. "Ten to nine," he said. "He could still make it in time." Mr. Dewey raised his arms in the air, as if calling out to Houdini wherever he was. "Hurry up, Houdini! Hurry up!" he cried. Then he buried his head in his hands. Oh, brother, thought Jack. Mr. Dewey was nuts. But where was Houdini? He and Annie needed him, too—or they'd never learn a secret of greatness from him. "Listen, kids, if he's not here by nine, you'll have to go back out," Mr. Wilson said to Jack and Annie. "Back out where?" said Jack. "Onstage," said Mr. Wilson. Mr. Dewey looked up. "Yes!" he cried. "You said you knew hundreds of tricks! Just keep

要回他们的钱！可能还会把剧院撕成碎片！我正面临毁灭！耻辱!一切都完了！”舞台的门砰地一声开了，威尔逊先生冲了进来。 “外面没有他的影子，老大，”他说。 “噢，威尔逊！”杜威先生叫道。 “我们注定!我们注定!”威尔逊先生阴沉地点了点头。 杰克看了看他的怀表。 “差十分到九点，”他说。“他还是可以及时赶到的。” 杜威先生在空中举起双臂，好像在呼唤胡迪尼，不管他在哪里。 “快点，胡迪尼！”快点！”他喊道。 然后他把头埋在双手里。 哦，天哪，杰克想。 杜威先生疯了。但是胡迪尼在哪里？ 他和安妮也需要他，否则他们永远不会从他那里学到伟大的秘密。 威尔逊先生对杰克和安妮说：“听着，孩子们，如果他九点还没到，你们就得出去。” “回哪儿去？”杰克问。 “在舞台上，”威尔逊先生说。 杜威先生抬起头来。“是的！”他叫道。 “你说你知道几百种把戏！”继续

performing till he shows up—if he shows up! Hold the crowd till he comes. Hold 'em if he doesn't come! Save me! I'll pay you!" "No, no, you don't have to do that," said Annie. "We're happy to help." "Annie, stop!" Jack whispered. "Our magic hour's almost up." He looked back at the theater owner. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we can't go back out there." "You must! You must!" said Mr. Dewey. "They love you! Go out and save my theater! Save my life! Please!" "Whoa, take it easy," Jack said, trying to calm the hysterical man. He didn't know what else to say. "Don't worry, Mr. Dewey, we'll help," said Annie. "Thank you!" cried Mr. Dewey. "I'll look for Houdini outside!" Mr. Dewey hurried away. Mr. Wilson called to his crew and told them to put the rabbits and birds back in the hidden compartments of the table. "Let's talk," Jack said to Annie. They slipped into their dressing room, and Jack closed the door.

表演到他出现——如果他出现的话！挡住人群，等他来。 如果他不来，就抓住他们！救我!我会付钱给你的！”“不，不，你不必这么做，”安妮说。 “我们很乐意帮忙。”“安妮,停止!”杰克小声说。 “我们的神奇时光快结束了。” 他回头看了看剧院老板。 “对不起，恐怕我们不能再回去了。” “你必须!你必须！”杜威先生说。 “他们爱你！”出去拯救我的剧院！救救我的命！请!”“哇，别紧张，”杰克说，试图让这个歇斯底里的男人平静下来。 他不知道还能说什么。 “别担心，杜威先生，我们会帮忙的，”安妮说。 “谢谢你！”杜威先生叫道。 “我到外面去找胡迪尼！”杜威先生匆匆走开了。 威尔逊先生叫他的工作人员，让他们把兔子和鸟放回桌子的隐蔽隔间里。 “我们谈谈吧，”杰克对安妮说。 他们溜进化妆间，杰克关上了门。

"I know you said yes only because Mr. Dewey was losing his mind," said Jack. "But I don't see how we can do this." "Well, if we go on at nine, we'll have five good minutes," said Annie. "I know, but what if Houdini's still not here after five good minutes?" said Jack. "Maybe we could hold their attention some other way," said Annie. "We could at least try." "Hmm." Jack thought for a moment. "Actually, maybe we can get away with doing the same tricks we did before," he said. "Now that we know how they work, they shouldn't be that hard. We know how to push on the tops of the hats. We know about the hidden compartments in the table. We know about the opening in the ring." "Yeah… right. Right, easy," said Annie. "You can keep doing card tricks, and I can keep throwing the rings around." Mr. Wilson opened the door, and sounds from the audience filled the room. Jack could hear feet stamping and people chanting, "Hoo-dee-nee! Hoo-dee-nee!"

“我知道你答应只是因为杜威先生疯了，”杰克说。 “但我不知道我们怎么能做到这一点。” “好吧，如果我们九点出发，我们就有五分钟的时间了，”安妮说。 “我知道，但是如果胡迪尼过了整整五分钟还没来怎么办？”杰克说。 “也许我们可以用别的方法吸引他们的注意力，”安妮说。 “我们至少可以试试。”“嗯。” 杰克想了一会儿。 他说：“实际上，也许我们可以用以前的伎俩逃脱惩罚。” “现在我们知道了它们是如何工作的，它们不应该那么难。 我们知道如何推帽子的顶部。 我们知道桌子上隐藏的隔间。 我们知道环上的开口。” “是的……对。好吧，简单，”安妮说。 “你可以继续玩纸牌魔术，我可以继续扔戒指。” 威尔逊先生打开门，观众的声音充满了整个房间。 杰克能听到跺脚声和人们的呼喊：“呼-迪-尼！”Hoo-dee-nee !”

"Everything's back onstage," said Mr. Wilson. "Ready to tame the lions?" Jack still felt the confidence that came from being a great magician. "Showtime!" he said. "No problem!" said Annie. Jack and Annie left the dressing room and followed Mr. Wilson through the backstage area. "Dewey's out on the avenue, looking for Houdini," said Mr. Wilson. "Take your places, and I'll pull the curtain." Jack and Annie strode onto the stage and stood in front of the table. Jack looked at his pocket watch. It was nine o'clock. The curtain rose to great fanfare. The audience clapped and cheered. It took a moment for everyone to realize they were looking at Jack and Annie again. After a stunned silence, some people started booing and hissing. Jack stepped forward. He tipped his hat and laughed his jolly laugh. "What a terrible surprise, eh?" he shouted. "You didn't know Jolly Jack is the secret identity of the Great Houdini, did you?" More booing and hissing.

“一切都回到了舞台上，”威尔逊说。 “准备驯服狮子了吗？”杰克仍然感到作为一个伟大的魔术师所带来的自信。 “表演时间到了！”他说。“没问题！”安妮说。 杰克和安妮离开更衣室，跟着威尔逊先生穿过后台。 “杜威在大街上找胡迪尼，”威尔逊先生说。 “各就各位，我来拉窗帘。” 杰克和安妮大步走上舞台，站在桌子前面。 杰克看了看他的怀表。 现在是9点钟。大幕奏响。 观众鼓掌欢呼。 过了一会儿，大家才意识到他们又看到了杰克和安妮。 在一阵震惊的沉默之后，一些人开始起哄和嘘声。 杰克走上前去。他歪了一下帽子，发出欢快的笑声。 “多么可怕的意外啊，嗯？”他喊道。 “你不知道乔利杰克是伟大的胡迪尼的秘密身份，是吗？”更多的嘘声和嘶嘶声。