21. George and Harold's Worst Nightmare

CHAPTER 21 GEORGE AND HAROLD'S WORST NIGHTMARE Do you know that feeling you get when your stomach sinks? It usually occurs just after the realization that something bad has happened or is going to happen. People often feel this way when they discover they forgot to study for a big test... or they're going to miss the school bus... or the giant gulp of milk they just swallowed expired three weeks ago.

第二十一章乔治和哈罗德最可怕的噩梦你知道胃一沉的那种感觉吗？ 它通常发生在意识到不好的事情已经发生或即将发生之后。 当人们发现自己忘了准备大考时，他们经常会有这种感觉…… 或者他们会错过校车…… 或者他们刚刚吞下的一大口牛奶三周前就过期了。

Now imagine that feeling magnified about 1,000,000,000,000 times. This is the feeling that occurred in George's and Harold's stomachs when the two obnoxious, screaming teachers turned around. It was them. More precisely, it was future versions of themselves. George and Harold had grown up to be teachers. But they weren't the nice, wonderful, imaginative teachers that you might be used to. No sir! George and Harold had evolved into the terrifying, boring, and vengeful teachers that they were used to.

现在想象一下这种感觉被放大了1000,000,000,000倍。 当乔治和哈罗德那两个令人讨厌的、尖叫着的老师转过身来的时候，他们的胃里就出现了这种感觉。 是他们。更准确地说，他们是未来的自己。 乔治和哈罗德长大后都成了老师。 但他们不是你可能习惯的那种善良、出色、富有想象力的老师。 不,先生!乔治和哈罗德变成了他们习惯的那种可怕、无聊、报复心强的老师。

Mr. Krupp squished between forty-year-old Harold and thirty-nine-and-three-quarters- year-old George, and slapped a sweaty arm around each of them. "I sure am glad you fellas are here," said Mr. Krupp. "It's a tough job making everybody miserable, isn't it?" "It sure is, boss," said forty-year-old Harold. "You know, it's hard to believe that you guys used to be the craziest kids in this school!" said Mr. Krupp. "Thank goodness you both started taking life seriously!" "Yeah," said thirty-nine-and-three-quarters- year-old George. "One day about thirty years ago, we saw the error of our ways. So we made a vow to straighten up and fly right!"

克虏伯先生挤在四十岁的哈罗德和三十九又四分之三岁的乔治之间，用一只汗津津的胳膊搂住他们俩。 “我很高兴你们来了，”克虏伯先生说。 “这份工作很辛苦，每个人都很痛苦，不是吗？”“当然是，老板。”40岁的哈罗德说。 “你们知道吗，很难相信你们曾经是这所学校里最疯狂的孩子！”克虏伯先生说。 “谢天谢地，你们俩都开始认真对待生活了！”“是啊，”三十九又四分之三岁的乔治说。 “大约三十年前的一天，我们看到了自己的错误。 所以我们发誓要挺直身子，向右飞！”

"Yep!" said forty-year-old Harold. "From then on, it was nothing but serious study, strict discipline, and —and—HEY, YOU KIDS, CUT THAT OUT!" George and Harold looked nervously at each other as their adult doubles continued screaming at the unfortunate children on the playground. "Umm... remember that vow we just made to stop goofing around and start acting more like grown-ups?" asked Harold. "Yeah," said George. "I think we should vow a new vow that unvows the old vow we just vowed," said Harold. "Let's get vowin'!" said George.

“是啊！”40岁的哈罗德说。 “从那以后，除了认真学习，严格纪律，还有——嘿，孩子们，别闹了！”乔治和哈罗德紧张地面面相觑，他们的成人替身继续朝操场上不幸的孩子们尖叫。 “嗯…还记得我们刚才的誓言吗？我们要停止胡闹，表现得像个成年人。”哈罗德问。 “是啊，”乔治说。“我认为我们应该发一个新的誓言，取消我们刚刚发的旧誓言。”哈罗德说。 “我们开始发誓吧！”乔治说。

So as the terrifying battle raged above their heads, George and Harold shook hands and promised to always be themselves. They pledged to keep goofing around and to make even MORE comic books and to stop taking life so darned seriously. "Let's daydream more, too!" said George. "Yeah," said Harold. "Enough of this sittin' still and payin' attention stuff!" As George and Harold vowed their new vows, something strange began to happen. A soft wind started to blow, the sound of wind chimes began to tinkle in the air, and the grown-up versions of George and Harold slowly disappeared. They vanished gradually at first. Then, after about a minute or so, Mr. Krupp was left standing there all by himself.

因此，当可怕的战斗在他们头顶上展开时，乔治和哈罗德握了握手，承诺永远做自己。 他们发誓要继续胡闹，制作更多的漫画书，不再把生活当回事。 “我们也多做些白日梦吧！”乔治说。 “是啊。”哈罗德说。“不要再坐着不动，集中注意力了！”正当乔治和哈罗德宣誓他们的新誓言时，奇怪的事情发生了。 一阵柔和的风开始吹起，风铃的声音开始在空气中叮当作响，长大后的乔治和哈罗德慢慢地消失了。 起初他们逐渐消失了。 然后，大约一分钟后，克虏伯先生独自站在那里。

"Wow!" said George. "You mean it's that easy? All you have to do is make up your mind and stick to it, and you can change the future?" "Yeah, I guess so," said Harold. George and Harold walked up to Old Mr. Krupp, who was looking a little confused, and snapped their fingers. Suddenly, a familiar smile stretched across Old Mr. Krupp's face. "Well?" said George, pointing up at the terrifying battle exploding above their heads. "What are you waiting for?" "Yeah!" said Harold. "You're getting your butt kicked up there! Go help yourself!" Quickly, Old Mr. Krupp tore off his clothes, dashed into the school, grabbed a red curtain from his office, and flew out of his window with a triumphant "Tra-La-Laaaaa!"

“哇！”乔治说。“你是说这么简单？” 你所要做的就是下定决心，坚持下去，你就能改变未来。”“是啊，我想是的。”哈罗德说。 乔治和哈罗德走到克虏伯老先生跟前，打了个响指，克虏伯老先生看上去有点困惑。 突然，克虏伯老先生脸上露出了熟悉的笑容。 “怎么样？”乔治指着他们头顶上爆发的可怕战斗说。 “你还在等什么？”“是啊！”哈罗德说。 “你在上面被踢得屁滚尿流！”你自己去吧！”克虏伯老先生迅速脱下衣服，冲进学校，从办公室抓起一块红色窗帘，得意地“啦啦啦”一声飞出了窗户。