7. False Appearances

7 False Appearances The next morning, after he dressed and his aunt reapplied his beard and makeup, Stanley hung alone in his painting. The Mona Lisa looked over at him with her sly smile, as if she knew all about yesterday. Stanley still felt terrible. He had disappointed Agent Lunette and scared his aunt. And when he thought of Etoile, his stomach ached. She had looked so confused and hurt when he had been taken away. She had been friendly and generous, and now he'd probably never see her again. Museumgoers came and went, remarking on Stanley and his painting. The Mona Lisa smiled her smile. Suddenly there was a loud clattering, and all the visitors in the gallery turned to look. Even

第二天早上，斯坦利穿好衣服，姨妈给他重新刮了胡子，化了妆。 蒙娜丽莎带着狡黠的微笑看着他，仿佛她知道昨天发生的一切。 斯坦利仍然觉得很糟糕。 他让卢内特探员失望了，也吓到了他的姨妈。 一想到埃托勒，他的胃就痛。 当他被带走时，她显得那么困惑和伤心。 她一直很友好，很慷慨，现在他可能再也见不到她了。 参观博物馆的人来来往往，对斯坦利和他的画评头论足。 蒙娜丽莎微笑着。 突然传来一声响亮的撞击声，画廊里所有的参观者都转过头去看。 甚至

Stanley shifted his eyes. But it was just someone whose camera had dropped by accident. The murmur of the crowd resumed, and Stanley brought his gaze back to the Mona Lisa. But it took all his control not to furrow his brow. Something wasn't quite right. He'd never noticed the tree beside her head. And had she always turned her body at him that way? She looked back at Stanley with her— Wait a minute, thought Stanley. She's not smiling!

斯坦利转移了目光。但这只是一个不小心掉了相机的人。 人群中又响起了窃窃私语，斯坦利的目光又回到了蒙娜丽莎身上。 但他控制住了自己，才没有皱起眉头。 有些事情不太对。 他从来没有注意到她头旁的那棵树。 她一直都是那样对着他的吗? 她和她一起回头看了看斯坦利——等一下，斯坦利想。 她没有笑!

The Mona Lisa had been switched with a frowning fake! Stanley scanned the crowd for anyone suspicious but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then he looked up. There was a masked person, dressed all in black, sticking to the ceiling of the gallery. The person had suction cups on both hands and legs... and over their back was slung the Mona Lisa!

《蒙娜丽莎》被换成了一幅皱眉的赝品!斯坦利扫视人群，看有没有可疑的人，但没有发现任何异常。 然后他抬起头来。有一个蒙面人，一身黑衣，贴在走廊的天花板上。 这个人的双手和双腿上都有吸盘。 他们的背上还挂着《蒙娜丽莎》!

The burglar was creeping ever so slowly toward the door. "Stop!" Stanley yelled, reaching out of his painting to point to the ceiling. "Thief!" The thief began scrambling more quickly. Agent Lunette burst into the gallery, shouting to the guards. A woman fainted when she saw Stanley pull himself from his painting, and a man rushed forward and doused some water on her face.

窃贼慢慢地向门口爬去。 “住手!”斯坦利喊道，从他的画中伸出手来指着天花板。 “小偷!”小偷抢得更快了。 卢内特探员冲进了旁听席，对警卫大喊大叫。 一个女人看到斯坦利从画中抽身时晕倒了，一个男人冲上前，在她脸上泼了些水。

"S'il vous plait?" Stanley asked the man, pointing to the water. "This is no time for a water break!" Agent Lunette shouted. Without answering, Stanley splashed some water on his face and hands. Then he took three giant steps back, got a running start, and leaped onto the smooth gallery wall. His damp skin stuck like plastic decals on a window, just like when he had climbed the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. By peeling his hands off and re-sticking them a few inches ahead of him, he was able to creep up the wall and onto the ceiling. The thief stuck and unstuck the suction cups speedily to flee.

“你来打个招呼好吗?”斯坦利指着水问那个人。 “现在可不是喝水的时候!”露内特探员喊道。 斯坦利没有回答，往他脸上和手上泼了些水。 然后他后退了三步，开始奔跑，跳到光滑的画廊墙上。 他湿漉漉的皮肤就像粘在窗户上的塑料贴纸一样，就像他爬上华盛顿特区的华盛顿纪念碑一样。 他把双手剥下来，再贴在前面几英寸的地方，爬上了墙，爬上了天花板。 小偷迅速地把吸盘插好又拔出来逃跑了。

Stanley inch-wormed across the ceiling as the crowd watched below. When he had almost caught up, the thief looked back, unstuck their right leg, and brought their knee down hard on Stanley's hand. "Argh!" Stanley cried out in pain. The thief lifted their leg again, and Stanley grabbed the suction cup and hung on to it with one hand as he dangled over the crowd. Everyone gasped.

在人群的注视下，斯坦利一寸一寸地爬过天花板。 当他快追上的时候，小偷回头看了看，松开了他们的右腿，把膝盖重重地压在斯坦利的手上。 “啊!”斯坦利痛苦地叫了起来。 小偷又抬起了他们的腿，斯坦利抓住吸盘，一只手抓住它，在人群中晃来晃去。 每个人都气喘吁吁地说。