Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Sugar climbed the rungs up to the sleeping area, and the squad followed as quietly as they could. Their cousins were all sound asleep, lined up in neat rows. "What brings you to the barn, Booger?" The giant chicken stepped out of the darkest corner on the highest row. "Well, what have we here?" said Sugar. "A large speckled chicken with a wide face, enormous eyes, and a long gray string hanging out of his mouth!" "I'm pretty sure that's a mouse tail," said Dirt, moving in closer. "Ew!" said Sweetie. "I can see you clearly now, Befrizzle," said Sugar, stepping closer. "Very, very clearly. And

第九章休格爬上台阶，来到睡觉的地方，小队尽量悄悄地跟在后面。 他们的堂兄弟们都睡得很熟，整齐地排成一排。 “什么风把你吹到谷仓来了，博格？”那只大鸡从最高一排最黑暗的角落里走了出来。 “好吧，这是什么？”糖说。 “一只有斑点的大鸡，宽脸，大眼睛，嘴里挂着一根长长的灰色绳子！”“我敢肯定那是老鼠的尾巴。”泥土说着，凑近了一些。 “哎呀！”甜心说。“我现在能清楚地看到你了，bezzzzle。”糖说着走近了一点。 “非常、非常清楚。和

you are no chicken." "I never said—" Befrizzle began. "Listen, kid," said Sugar. "You know exactly what you are, and I know exactly what you are. You're an... emu!" "An emu?" said Dirt. "A what-mu?" said Befrizzle, blinking rapidly. "Why wouldn't he admit to being an emu?" asked Dirt. "You're right, Dirt. My bad," said Sugar. "He's a SHEMU!" "A shemu?" said Dirt. "What's a shemu?" "It's the female form of emu," explained Sugar. "Like cow and bull, rooster and hen. Gander and goose. You know... emu and shemu."

你不是胆小鬼了。”“我从没说过——”小毛毛开始说。 “听着，孩子，”糖说。 “你很清楚你是什么，我也很清楚你是什么。 你是一个…鸸鹋!”“一只鸸鹋？” “什么？”毛毛飞快地眨着眼睛说。 “他为什么不承认自己是一只鸸鹋？” “你说得对，土。我的错，”糖说。 “他是一个SHEMU!”“一个母鼠？” “舍母是什么？”“这是雌性的鸸鹋，”休格解释说。 “就像牛和公牛，公鸡和母鸡。 雄鹅和鹅。你知道的… 鸸鹋和舍姆。”

"I don't think that's right," said Dirt. "I'll tell you what's not right," said Sugar. "Befrizzle is not right! He doesn't look like one of us; he doesn't even breathe like one of us!" Dirt, Sweetie, and Poppy gasped. "What's not right," Sugar continued, "is Befrizzle pretending to be part of our family so he could steal our jelly beans!" Tears rolled down Befrizzle's exceptionally wide face. "Why am I suddenly getting that weird feeling again?" asked Sugar.

“我认为那不对。”泥土说。 “我来告诉你什么是不对的，”糖说。 “bezzzzle是不对的！”他看起来不像我们中的一员；他连呼吸都不像我们！”泥土，甜心，波比喘着气。 “不对的是，”糖糖继续说，“贝弗利兹假装是我们家的一员，这样他就可以偷我们的糖豆了！”泪水从bezzzzle特别宽的脸上滚落下来。 “为什么我突然又有了那种奇怪的感觉？”休格问。

"I'm pretty sure you get that feeling whenever you're being, well, rude," suggested Sweetie. "She's right," said Dirt. "Plus... a mob of awkwardly silent chickens has surrounded us, and that does feel really weird." "Befrizzle is absolutely part of this family," said Bailey, Bassie, Bert, and Bodie. The chicken cousins all took a step toward Sugar, pressing closer. Befrizzle wiped his tears with an enormous speckled wing.

“我敢肯定，每当你表现得很粗鲁的时候，你都会有这种感觉，”甜心建议道。 “她说得对。”泥土说。“加… 一群沉默的鸡围住了我们，这感觉真的很奇怪。” “Befrizzle绝对是这个家庭的一部分，”贝利、贝西、伯特和博迪说。 鸡的表兄弟们都向休格靠近了一步。 小精灵用一只巨大的带斑点的翅膀擦去了眼泪。

"Oh no, poor Befrizzle," said Poppy. "Sugar didn't mean to be rude. She... just... well, is, sometimes!" "Only when Mom's not around!" protested Sugar. "That doesn't really count!" Befrizzle closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "I think I know what you are looking for." He opened his expansive wings and took off into the rafters of the barn without making a sound. The chicken squad watched in awe. He landed silently a moment later with the cage and the feather decoy. "This little one

“哦，不，可怜的bezzzzle，”Poppy说。 “糖不是有意无礼的。 她……只是…嗯，有时候是这样！”“只有妈妈不在的时候！”休格抗议道。 “那不算！”bezzzzle闭上眼睛，深深地吸了一口气。 “我想我知道你在找什么。” 他张开张开的翅膀，无声无息地飞进谷仓的椽子里。 鸡队敬畏地看着。 片刻之后，他带着笼子和羽毛诱饵静静地降落。 “这个小家伙

looked so scared in the cage in the dark that I couldn't bear to leave her there alone. She hasn't said a word, but she's very sweet, and she's been keeping me company all night." Sugar looked down at her feet. "You can't sleep at night?" asked Dirt. Befrizzle shook his head. "Are you nocturnal?" Dirt asked gently. Befrizzle nodded. "Does that mean 'lonely'?" asked Poppy. "No," said Dirt. "Animals that are awake mostly at night and sleep during the day are nocturnal. Like owls and mice." Dirt turned back to Befrizzle. "You're an owl, aren't you?" Befrizzle nodded slowly. "I bet it's kind of lonely being the only one up at night," said Poppy. "It is," explained Befrizzle. "That's why I was so happy to have company. Even if she was too afraid to come out of the cage."

在黑暗的笼子里，她看起来很害怕，我不忍心把她一个人留在那里。 她一句话也没说，但她很可爱，整晚都陪着我。” 糖低头看着她的脚。 “你晚上睡不着？”泥土问。 bezzzzle摇了摇头。“你是夜猫子吗？”泥土温和地问。 Befrizzle点点头。“那是‘孤独’的意思吗？”波比问。 “没有。”泥土说。“大部分时间在晚上醒着，白天睡觉的动物是夜行动物。 像猫头鹰和老鼠。”泥土又回到了bezzzzle身边。 “你是一只猫头鹰，是吗？”bezzzzle慢慢地点了点头。 波比说：“我敢打赌，晚上只有我一个人不睡一定很孤独。” “是的。”bezzzzle解释道。 “这就是为什么我很高兴有人陪伴。 即使她害怕得不敢从笼子里出来。”