Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 A sign outside the fitness center said NO PETS, NO BARE FEET, NO SMOKING. Josh tied Pal to a tree, patted his head, and said, "Stay, boy." Pal sighed and flopped down. His big brown eyes watched Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose enter the building.

健身中心外的牌子上写着:禁止养宠物，禁止光脚，禁止吸烟。 乔希把帕尔绑在一棵树上，拍拍他的头，说:“别动，孩子。” 伙计叹了口气，扑通一声倒在地上。 他那双棕色的大眼睛看着乔希、丁克和露丝·罗斯走进大楼。

The fitness center was one enormous room. One end was filled with exercise equipment. A bank of windows looked out at Wren Drive. A shimmery pool took up the other end of the room. A lifeguard watched three swimmers doing laps. Other people were using the weights and machines. The clang of metal hitting metal fought with the rock music blaring from hidden speakers. Dink wrinkled his nose. He smelled a combination of sweat and chlorine. A green awning was stretched over a counter where juice and health foods were being sold. "I need a milkshake!" Josh said, shouting above the music. "I feel weak." "They sell health shakes," Ruth Rose informed him. "They make 'em from seaweed and tofu." "What's tofu?" Ruth Rose giggled. "It's white and wiggly," she said. "You'd hate it, Josh." "There's Flip," Dink said, "behind the counter."

健身中心是一个巨大的房间。 一端放满了运动器材。 一排窗户向外望着雷恩路。 房间的另一端是一个闪闪发光的水池。 一个救生员看着三个游泳的人绕圈游泳。 其他人在使用举重和器械。 金属撞击金属的铿锵声与隐藏在扬声器里的摇滚音乐相抗衡。 丁克皱起鼻子。他闻到一股汗味和氯气味。 柜台上有一个绿色的遮阳篷，那里出售果汁和健康食品。 “我要一杯奶昔!”乔希说，在音乐声中大喊大叫。 “我觉得很虚弱。”“他们卖健康奶昔，”露丝·罗斯告诉他。 “他们用海藻和豆腐做的。” “什么豆腐?”露丝·罗斯咯咯地笑起来。 “它又白又扭，”她说。 “你会讨厌的，乔希。”“那是Flip，”丁克说，“在柜台后面。”

Flip Frances was wearing a T-shirt and blue shorts. He had long, muscular arms. "Can I help you kids?" he asked. "Hi, Mr. Frances," Dink said. "I'm writing a story about the pandas. Could we interview you?" "Call me Flip," the man said, smiling at Dink. "Who're you?" "Call him Dink," Josh said, eyeing the shake machine. Flip noticed and asked, "You guys thirsty? How about a shake on me?"

弗朗西丝穿着t恤和蓝色短裤。 他的手臂又长又结实。 “我能帮你们吗，孩子们?”他问。 “你好，弗朗西斯先生，”丁克说。 “我正在写一篇关于熊猫的报道。 我们可以采访你吗?”“叫我Flip，”那人对丁克微笑着说。 “你是谁?”“叫他丁克吧，”乔希说，看着奶昔机。 Flip注意到了，问道:“你们渴了吗? 跟我握个手怎么样?”

"Sure!" Josh said. "But no tofu, please. Or seaweed." Flip Frances laughed. "How about milk, yogurt, and strawberries?" "Now you're talking!" Josh said, hoisting himself onto a stool. Flip expertly tossed ingredients into a blender. He switched it on for a minute, then poured the frothy pink concoction into three tall glasses. "We were there this morning," Dink said. Flip slid the shakes and a jar of straws in front of the kids. "My granny Win would be brokenhearted if she knew," he said. The kids began drinking. Josh made loud slurping noises through his straw. Dink picked up his pencil. "Why do they call you Flip?" he asked. "I work out a lot on the floor mats," Flip said. He grinned. "I guess I'm famous for my back flips. Why do they call you Dink?" Josh started to laugh and choked on his shake.

“当然!”杰克说。“但是请不要吃豆腐。 或海藻。”弗朗西丝笑了。 “牛奶、酸奶和草莓怎么样?”“你说对了!”乔希说着，站到凳子上。 熟练地将搅拌好的食材倒入搅拌机。 他把它打开了一分钟，然后把粉红色的泡沫混合物倒进三个高脚玻璃杯里。 “我们今天早上还在那儿，”丁克说。 Flip把奶昔和一罐吸管滑到孩子们面前。 “如果我奶奶知道了，她会伤心欲绝的，”他说。 孩子们开始喝酒。乔希通过他的吸管发出了响亮的吸吮声。 丁克拿起他的铅笔。 “他们为什么叫你Flip?”他问。 “我经常在地垫上锻炼，”Flip说。 他咧嘴一笑。“我想我是因为后空翻而出名的。 他们为什么叫你丁克?”乔希笑了起来，抖得哽咽了。

"My real name is Donald David Duncan," Dink told him. "I guess Dink is easier." Flip looked at Dink's notebook. "So how much have you written?" he asked. "Not much," Dink said. "We're talking to people who know Winnie." "Did your grandmother like pandas?" Ruth Rose asked. "Is that why she left all that money?" Flip nodded. "Granny Win loved animals," he said. "She used to donate money to animal shelters all the time." Dink glanced at his notes about Irene Napper. "Do you know who has keys to the panda enclosure?" he asked. Flip nodded. "Yup. Irene has one. I don't know who else." "Have you seen anybody strange hanging around Panda Park?" Josh asked. Flip looked up at the ceiling. "Not strange, maybe, but that guy who writes The Panda Paper seems to be there a lot. Tom Steele." In his notebook, Dink wrote TOM STEELE in dark letters. "Anything else?" Flip asked. "It's almost my lunch break."

“我的真名是唐纳德·大卫·邓肯，”丁克告诉他。 “我想丁克比较容易。”Flip看了看丁克的笔记本。 “你写了多少?”他问。 “没什么，”丁克说。“我们正在和认识温妮的人交谈。” “你奶奶喜欢熊猫吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 “这就是她留下那么多钱的原因吗?”翻转点了点头。 “温奶奶喜欢动物，”他说。 “她以前总是给动物收容所捐款。” 丁克瞥了一眼关于艾琳·纳珀的笔记。 “你知道谁有熊猫馆的钥匙吗?” 翻转点了点头。“是的。艾琳有一个。 我不知道还有谁。”“你在熊猫公园附近看到过什么奇怪的人吗?”杰克问。 Flip抬头看了看天花板。 “也许并不奇怪，但写《熊猫报》的那个人似乎经常在那里。 汤姆·斯蒂尔。”在他的笔记本上，丁克用黑色的字母写着汤姆·斯蒂尔。 “还有别的事吗?”翻转问道。 “快到我的午休时间了。”

The kids finished their shakes. "Thanks a lot," Dink told Flip. "Glad to do it," he answered. Just then, a tall redheaded woman approached the counter. She was dressed like Flip, in a T-shirt and blue shorts. "Sorry I'm late," she said to Flip. "You can take off for lunch now." "No problem, Kate," he said. "Late lunch is better than no lunch." Flip placed both hands on the counter and vaulted over. "Good luck with your story," he said to the kids as he strode out the door. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose followed Flip out. They saw him leap into a dusty jeep with a rack on top. He tooted and waved as he pulled onto Bridge Lane. "Well, what do you think?" Dink asked, watching the jeep turn right on Main Street. "He gets my vote," Josh said, untying Pal's leash from the tree. "That guy could climb an

孩子们喝完了他们的奶昔。 “非常感谢，”丁克对Flip说。 “我很乐意，”他回答。 就在这时，一个红头发的高个子女人走近柜台。 她穿得像Flip, t恤和蓝色短裤。 “对不起，我迟到了。”她对Flip说。 “你现在可以去吃午饭了。” “没问题，凯特，”他说。 “午饭晚吃总比不吃好。” Flip把双手放在柜台上，跳了过去。 “祝你的故事顺利，”他大步走出门外，对孩子们说。 丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯跟着Flip出去了。 他们看见他跳进一辆满是灰尘的吉普车，上面有个架子。 当他把车开到桥巷时，他吹着笛，挥着手。 “嗯，你觉得怎么样?”丁克看着吉普车在主街上右转，问道。 “他得到了我的选票，”乔希一边说，一边把帕尔的皮带从树上解开。 “那家伙能爬