8 Making a Strange Bedfellow

CHAPTER EIGHT MAKING A STRANGE BEDFELLOW Franny took DNA samples from Igor, the parrot, and the chameleon, and she tossed them into her new improved Atomic Combiner. These animals had the special abilities to sense feelings, mimic, and change appearance, and Franny wanted those abilities.

弗兰妮从伊戈尔、鹦鹉和变色龙身上提取了DNA样本，并把它们扔进了她新改进的原子组合器里。 这些动物有感知感情、模仿和改变外表的特殊能力，弗兰尼想要这些能力。

Her creation would have to be convincing, so she threw in a little sample from a cobra, for its ability to hypnotize its prey, and a specimen from a spider, for its ability to lure things into its web. She gave her creation nerves of steel, so it wouldn't get nervous when it spoke in front of people. She added a handful of spicy peppers, to give her creation a fire in its belly.

她的创作必须令人信服，所以她从眼镜蛇身上取了一点样本，因为它有催眠猎物的能力，从蜘蛛身上取了一个样本，因为它有引诱东西进入它的网的能力。 她给她的创作赋予了钢铁般的神经，所以当它在人们面前讲话时不会紧张。 她加了一把辣椒，让她的作品在肚子里燃烧起来。

"A fire in the belly means that it will really want to win," she explained to Igor.

“肚子里的火意味着它真的想赢，”她向伊戈尔解释道。

Franny added a dash of python and a scrap of a carpet. "The python should give it a strong grasp of the issues," she said with a grin, "and the carpet will make it an expert on where people stand."

弗兰尼加了一点蟒蛇和一块地毯碎片。 “蟒蛇应该能让它很好地把握问题，”她笑着说，“而地毯会让它成为了解人们立场的专家。”

Franny threw a few switches, and the electricity began to crackle. She pushed a big lever, and the iron rollers turned, uncoiling a strange, floppy piece of fabric onto the floor.

弗兰妮拨动了几个开关，电开始噼啪作响。 她推了一个大杠杆，铁滚轮转动起来，把一块奇怪的、松软的织物卷到了地板上。

It looked like a big gray bed sheet, but it was warm and soft, like skin. When Franny touched it, it wiggled and twitched. "I think it likes to be tickled," Franny said, and she dragged the bed sheet over to her sewing machine. Igor held a pincushion for Franny and watched her cut and sew for hours.

它看起来像一条灰色的大床单，但又温暖又柔软，像皮肤一样。 弗兰妮一碰它，它就扭动、抽动。 “我想它喜欢被挠痒痒吧，”弗兰妮说着，把床单拖到缝纫机旁边。 伊戈尔为弗兰尼拿着一个针垫，看着她裁剪和缝纫了好几个小时。