7. A Little Blackmail

CHAPTER 7 A LITTLE BLACKMAIL Mr. Krupp sat back in his chair and chuckled to himself for a long, long time. Finally, George got up the courage to speak. "W-What are you going to do with that tape?" he said. "I thought you'd never ask," laughed Principal Krupp.

克虏伯先生靠在椅背上，咯咯地笑了很久很久。 最后，乔治鼓起勇气说了出来。 “你——你打算怎么处理那盘带子？”他说。 “我以为你永远不会问，”克虏伯校长笑着说。

"I've thought long and hard about what to do with this tape," Mr. Krupp said. "At first, I thought I'd send copies to your parents." The boys swallowed hard and sank deeply into their chairs. "Then I thought I might send a copy to the school board," Mr. Krupp continued. "I could get you both expelled for this!" The boys swallowed harder and sank deeper into their chairs. "Finally, I came to a decision," Mr. Krupp concluded. "I think the football team would be very curious to find out just who was responsible for yesterday's fiasco. I think I'll send a copy to them!" George and Harold leaped out of their chairs and fell to their knees.

“对于如何处理这盘磁带，我想了很久，也想了很久，”克虏伯说。 “一开始，我想我会把副本寄给你父母。” 孩子们使劲咽了一口唾沫，深深坐在椅子上。 “然后我想我可能会寄一份给学校董事会，”克虏伯继续说。 “我可以让你们俩都因此被开除！”男孩们更用力地吞咽，在椅子上坐得更深了。 “最后，我做出了决定，”克虏伯总结道。 他说：“我想，足球队一定很想知道谁应该为昨天的惨败负责。 我想我要寄一份给他们！”乔治和哈罗德从椅子上跳起来，跪了下来。

"No!" cried George. "You can't do that. They'll kill us!" "Yeah," begged Harold, "they'll kill us every day for the rest of our lives!" Mr. Krupp laughed and laughed. "Please have mercy," the boys cried. "We'll do anything!" "Anything?" asked Principal Krupp with delight. He reached into his desk, pulled out a list of demands, and tossed it at the boys. "If you don't want to be dead as long as you live, you'll follow these rules exactly!"

“不！”乔治叫道。“你不能这么做。 他们会杀了我们的！”“是啊，”哈罗德恳求道，“他们会在我们的余生中每天杀我们！”克虏伯先生笑个不停。 “请发发慈悲吧，”孩子们喊道。 “我们什么都愿意做！”“有什么事吗？”克虏伯校长高兴地问。 他把手伸进书桌，拿出一张要求清单，扔给了孩子们。 “如果你一辈子都不想死，你就得严格遵守这些规则！”

George and Harold carefully looked over the list. "This... this is blackmail!" said George. "Call it what you like," Principal Krupp snapped, "but if you two don't follow that list exactly, then this tape becomes the property of the Horwitz Knuckleheads!"

乔治和哈罗德仔细地看了看名单。 “这……这是勒索！”乔治说。 “随你怎么说，”克虏伯校长厉声说，“但如果你们两个不完全按照单子上的要求去做，那么这盘磁带就会成为霍维茨傻瓜的财产！”