1. The Seventeenth Samurai

FLAT STANLEY'S WORLDWIDE ADVENTURES 3 The Japanese Ninja Surprise

扁斯坦利的世界冒险3日本忍者惊喜

1 The Seventeenth Samurai "I salute you, Master Oda Nobu, greatest of all Samurai warriors!" Arthur Lambchop bowed deeply from the waist as he spoke these words to the large poster hanging in the bedroom he shared with his brother, Stanley. The poster was for a movie called The Seventeenth Samurai. It showed two warriors —a tall samurai and a small ninja—looking very fierce. The tall samurai wore a long kimono and held a shining silver sword above his head. The small ninja was dressed exactly like Arthur, in black pajamas with a strip of white cloth knotted at his waist and another tied around his forehead. He held his hands high, like the blades of knives

“向你致敬，织田信大师，最伟大的武士!”阿瑟·兰切普对着挂在他和哥哥斯坦利同住的卧室里的大海报深深地鞠了一躬。 这张海报是电影《第十七武士》的海报。 它展示了两个武士——一个高大的武士和一个小忍者——看起来非常凶猛。 高大的武士穿着长长的和服，头上举着一把闪闪发光的银剑。 小忍者的穿着和亚瑟一模一样，穿着黑色睡衣，腰上系着一条白布，额头上系着另一条。 他把双手举得高高的，像刀刃一样

ready to strike. Both warriors looked as if they could leap right out of the poster. And then the small ninja did just that! "Hiiiyaaaah!" he shouted, as he flew off the wall. He bounced high on the bed and landed with a thud in front of Arthur! "Prepare to be defeated, Arthur-san!" the small ninja cried. "Never!" Arthur leaped up, bounced high on the other bed, and landed with a boom on the opposite side of the room. "It is you who will be defeated, Stanley-san!" The small ninja was Arthur's older brother, Stanley Lambchop. Not long before, he had awoken to find that a large bulletin board had fallen upon him in the night, leaving him unharmed, but as flat as a pancake. By now, Stanley's family was used to his unusual shape, although Stanley wasn't always so happy about it. At the moment, however, he was enjoying himself tremendously. He and his brother chased each other around their bedroom, leaping on and off their beds with thuds and booms as they imitated the karate chops and kicks of their all-time favorite movie star, Oda Nobu.

准备出击。两位战士看起来就像从海报上跳出来一样。 然后小忍者就这么做了!“嗨——嗨!”他一边叫一边飞离墙壁。 他在床上弹得高高的，砰的一声落在阿瑟面前!“做好被打败的准备吧，亚瑟!”矮小的忍者喊道。 “从来没有!”阿瑟跳了起来，在另一张床上蹦蹦跳跳，砰的一声落在房间的另一边。 “你会被打败的，斯坦利先生!”这个小忍者是亚瑟的哥哥斯坦利·兰博切。 不久前，他醒来发现夜里一块大布告板掉在他身上，他却毫发无伤，但却像煎饼一样扁平。 到目前为止，斯坦利的家人已经习惯了他不寻常的体型，尽管斯坦利并不总是对此感到高兴。 然而此刻，他却乐在其中。 他和弟弟在卧室里互相追逐，模仿他们最喜欢的电影明星Oda Nobu的空手道劈腿和踢腿，在床上跳上跳下，发出砰砰声和轰隆声。

"Boys!" Mrs. Lambchop called. "My teacups are rattling!" "Is there nothing you fellows can do that doesn't make a ruckus?" called Mr. Lambchop. "How about a little quiet time?" "Quiet time," Stanley grumbled. He pulled off the white cloth around his head. "Where's the fun in that?" But then he had an idea. "Arthur, let's write a letter to Oda Nobu! Maybe he'll write back and send us an autographed picture!" "Or a ninja throwing star!" Arthur agreed, his grumpiness disappearing. He rummaged through his desk until he found a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen. "You're good with words, Stanley. What should we say?"

“男孩!”兰切普太太打来电话。 “我的茶杯在格格作响!”“你们这些家伙做什么事都不闹吗?”兰彻先生叫道。 “安静一会儿怎么样?”“安静点。”斯坦利抱怨道。 他扯掉头上的白布。 “那有什么好玩的?”但后来他有了一个主意。 “亚瑟，我们给织田信写封信吧!”也许他会回信，寄给我们一张签名照!”“或者忍者飞镖!”阿瑟同意了，他的坏脾气消失了。 他翻遍了桌子，找到了一叠纸和一支圆珠笔。 “你很会说话，斯坦利。 我们该说什么呢?”

"Hmmm," Stanley said. "How about 'Dear Master Oda Nobu, we are your biggest fans ever. We have seen every one of your movies…'" He sent Arthur a questioning look. Arthur shrugged. "A hundred times?" he suggested. Stanley smiled. "Yes, that's good. Write 'We have seen all of your movies at least a hundred times.'" Arthur began to write. Then he stopped. "Stanley," he said, "Oda Nobu might think we're exaggerating." Stanley looked up at the poster, now with only one warrior on it, and bowed. "You're right," he said to Arthur. "Honesty is an important part of the ninja code of honor. How about this: 'We have seen every one of your movies several times.'" Arthur nodded and Stanley continued to dictate: "'Master Oda Nobu, it is too bad Japan is so far away. If you were closer, we would offer our services as your personal ninjas.'" Stanley paused. "Wait a minute, Arthur!" "'Wait… a… minute,… Arthur," Arthur repeated, as he wrote the words down.

“嗯，”斯坦利说。“‘亲爱的Oda Nobu大师，我们是您最忠实的粉丝。 我们看过你的每一部电影……’”他疑惑地看了阿瑟一眼。 亚瑟耸耸肩。“一百次?”他建议道。 斯坦利笑了。“是的，很好。 写上“我们已经看过你所有的电影至少一百遍了。’”阿瑟开始写。 然后他停了下来。“斯坦利，”他说，“Oda Nobu可能会认为我们在夸大其词。” 斯坦利抬头看了看海报，只见上面只有一个战士，他鞠了一躬。 “你说得对。”他对阿瑟说。 “诚实是忍者荣誉准则的重要组成部分。 这样说怎么样:‘你的每一部电影我们都看了好几遍。阿瑟点了点头，斯坦利继续口述:“Oda Nobu大师，太可惜了，日本太远了。 如果你离我们更近，我们可以作为你的私人忍者为你服务。’”斯坦利顿了顿。 “等一下，亚瑟!”“等……等……一会儿，……阿瑟。”阿瑟重复着，把这些话记了下来。

"No, don't write that!" Stanley said, and took the pad out of Arthur's hands. "I have a better idea!" He dropped the pad on the desk and began to rummage around through the drawers. "Aha!" he said, and held up a large brown envelope. "There!" he said, and held up a sheet of postage stamps. "Got it!" he said, and held up a thick black marker. "Stanley, what's your idea?" Arthur asked. Stanley placed many, many stamps in the corner of the big envelope. He uncapped the marker, printed something on the envelope in big block letters, and then held it up to show Arthur: MASTER ODA NOBU JAPAN Stanley bowed deeply to his brother. "I salute you, Arthur-san. Now fold me up!"

“不，别写那个!”斯坦利说着，从阿瑟手里拿过垫子。 “我有个更好的主意!”他把笔记本扔在桌上，开始在抽屉里翻找起来。 “啊哈!”他说着，举起一个棕色的大信封。 “好了!”他说着，举起一张邮票。 “明白了!”他说着，举起一支又粗又黑的记号笔。 “斯坦利，你有什么主意?”亚瑟问。 斯坦利在大信封的角落里放了很多很多邮票。 他打开记号笔的盖子，在信封上用大号字体印了些什么，然后举起来给阿瑟看:ODA NOBU JAPAN大师。 “我向你致敬，亚瑟。 现在把我折叠起来!”