8. Number 812

Chapter 8 Number 812 A man in a white coat stepped out from behind a door. “Number seven sixty-seven,” he called. A red-haired boy followed him back through the door. “You sure you’ll be okay?” asked Mrs. Redpost. Marvin nodded. “Okay. Well be back in about an hour.” She kissed Marvin. Marvin watched the Redposts leave. They were a nice family. There was a line of red-haired boys going up to a desk. Marvin got on the end of the line. “We were here first!” said the nasty woman from the elevator. She cut in line in front of Marvin, dragging her

第八章第812号一个穿白大褂的人从门后走出来。 “767号，”他叫道。 一个红头发的男孩跟着他进了门。 “你确定你没事吗?”雷德波斯特太太问。 马文点点头。“好吧。我们大约一小时后回来。”她吻了马文。 马文看着红柱队离开。 他们是一个很好的家庭。一群红头发的男孩正朝一张桌子走去。 马文站到电话那头。 “我们先来的!”电梯里那个讨厌的女人说。 她把马文拖到马文前面插队

son with her. Marvin let them in. It didn’t matter who was first. There was only one Prince Robert. The man in the white coat came back out. “Seven sixty-eight,” he called. Another red-haired boy followed him through the door. “When you’re Prince Robert, you can do anything!” the nasty woman told her son. “Just sit on your throne all day, eat candy, and boss people around.” The man in the white coat came out several more times. “Seven sixty-nine.” “Seven seventy.” “Seven seventy-one.” Each time another red-haired boy followed him through the door. Marvin was almost to the front of the line. The woman behind the desk was wearing big gold earrings. As Marvin got closer he noticed that one earring was shaped like a dog. The other was a cat. “Next,” said the lady with the earrings.

儿子和她在一起。马文让他们进来了。 谁先来并不重要。 罗伯特王子只有一个。 穿白大褂的人走了出来。 “768，”他喊道。 另一个红头发的男孩跟着他进了门。 “当你是罗伯特王子时，你可以做任何事情!”那个讨厌的女人告诉她的儿子。 “就整天坐在你的宝座上，吃糖果，颐指气使吧。”那个穿白大褂的人又出来了几次。 七百六十九。“七百七十。”“七七十一。”每次都有另一个红发男孩跟着他进门。 马文几乎排到了队伍的前面。 桌子后面的女人戴着大大的金耳环。 当马文走近时，他注意到一只耳环的形状像一只狗。 另一个是一只猫。“下一个，”戴耳环的女士说。

The nasty woman and Arnold stepped to the front of the line. “Your name?” muttered the earring lady. She seemed tired and bored. “Arnold Miller,” answered the nasty woman. “Eight eleven,” said the earring lady. She handed Arnold a slip of paper. “Next.” “Your name?” “Marvin Redpost.” The earring lady looked up, and her face turned bright. “Oh, hi, Marvin!” Marvin looked at her. “Hi,” he said, unsure. “I’m Jennifer,” said the earring lady. “Oh, hi!” said Marvin. “I mean—I am delighted to

那个讨厌的女人和阿诺德走到队伍的前面。 “你的名字?戴耳环的女士嘟囔着。 她似乎又累又烦。 “阿诺德·米勒，”那个讨厌的女人回答。 “8点11分，”戴耳环的女士说。 她递给阿诺德一张纸条。 “下一个。“你的名字?”“马文·雷德波斯特。”戴耳环的女士抬起头来，脸色变得明朗起来。 “哦，嗨，马文!”马文看着她。 “嗨，”他不确定地说。 “我是詹妮弗，”戴耳环的女士说。 “哦,你好!马文说。 “我的意思是——我很乐意

make your acquaintance, Lady Jennifer, Duchess of Bathwater.” He bowed. Jennifer laughed. It was that same musical laugh he heard over the telephone. “I’m not really a duchess,” she said. “I just made that up. This is a part-time job.” “Oh,” said Marvin. “I wouldn’t want to be a duchess anyway,” said Jennifer. “It sounds so stuffy and boring. All that—” She stopped, then said, “I guess you want to be a prince, and that’s okay. But it’s not for me.” She wrinkled her nose. Marvin shrugged. “I like your earrings,” he said. Jennifer laughed. “Thank you, Marvin. Well, good luck.” She gave him number 812. He thanked her. “You’re welcome,” said Jennifer. “You know what I like about you, Marvin?” she asked. “You’re polite. No one else has said thank you to me all day.” “What happens when they call your number?” he asked

认识你吧，巴思沃特公爵夫人珍妮佛夫人。”他向我鞠了一躬。 詹妮弗笑了。这就是他在电话里听到的那种悦耳的笑声。 “我不是真正的公爵夫人，”她说。 “这是我瞎编的。这是一份兼职。“哦，”马文说。 “反正我也不想当公爵夫人，”珍妮弗说。 “听起来又闷又无聊。 所有这些——”她停了下来，然后说，“我猜你想成为一个王子，这没关系。 但它不适合我。”她皱起鼻子。 马文耸耸肩。“我喜欢你的耳环，”他说。 詹妮弗笑了。“谢谢你，马文。 好吧，祝你好运。”她给了他812号。 他向她道谢。“不用谢，”珍妮弗说。 “你知道我喜欢你什么吗，马文?”她问。 “你有礼貌。一整天都没人对我说谢谢。“如果他们打你的电话怎么办?”他问

her. “You just go back for a blood test. To find out your blood type. The King and Queen have blood type O negative. So that means Prince Robert has to have blood type O negative too. It’s pretty rare. Most people are type A or B. And almost everyone is positive, not negative.” “So then what happens?” asked Marvin. “Well, if you’re A or B, you’re sent home. If you’re O negative, you do a second blood test. It’s called an HLA test. It’s a lot more complicated. But it will tell for certain if you’re Prince Robert.” “So they haven’t found Prince Robert yet?” asked Marvin. “No.” She shrugged. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. I don’t think they’ll ever find him. The odds are one in a million.” Marvin found it all a little confusing. “Just hope your blood type is O negative,” said Jennifer. “That’s the first step.”

她的。“你只要回去验血就行了。 找出你的血型。 国王和王后都是O型阴性血。 这意味着罗伯特王子也必须是O型阴性血。 这很罕见。大多数人是A型或B型。 几乎每个人都是积极的，而不是消极的。”“然后呢?马文问。 “嗯，如果你是A或B，你就会被送回家。 如果你是O型阴性，你要做第二次血液检查。 这被称为HLA测试。 这要复杂得多。 但它能确定你是不是罗伯特王子。”“那么他们还没有找到罗伯特王子?马文问。 “没有。”她耸耸肩。“否则我们不会在这里。 我觉得他们永远找不到他。 几率是百万分之一。”马文觉得这一切有点令人困惑。 “希望你的血型是O型阴性，”詹妮弗说。 “这是第一步。”