2 RAIN, RAIN, DON'T GO AWAY

CHAPTER 2 RAIN, RAIN, DON'T GO AWAY Alexander tiptoed down the rainy sidewalk. He made his way to a playground where his friend Rip was sloshing around. "Hey, Salamander!" Rip shouted. Salamander was Alexander's nickname, whether he liked it or not. He sort of liked it. "Wanna see something gross?" Rip asked. He raised a boot over one of the squirming worms. "Rip, no!" said Alexander. "Don't!" Rip lowered his foot a little. "They're just worms! What's the big deal?" Alexander sighed. "Rip, when we fought those balloon goons, we helped

第二章雨，雨，别走亚历山大踮着脚尖走在下雨的人行道上。 他向操场走去，他的朋友瑞普正在操场上玩耍。 “嘿,蝾螈!”Rip喊道。 不管亚历山大喜不喜欢，火蜥蜴是他的昵称。 他还挺喜欢的。“想看恶心的东西吗？”Rip问道。 他举起一只靴子挡住一只蠕动的虫子。 “瑞普，不！”亚历山大说。 “不!”里普把脚放低了一点。 “它们只是虫子！”这有什么大不了的？”亚历山大叹了口气。 “里普，当我们和那些气球暴徒战斗时，我们帮了忙

everyone in Stermont even these tiny worms. If we go around squishing 'em, we're no better than the monsters we were trying to stop!" Rip made a gagging sound. "Fine," he said. "But it's weird to be surrounded by worms. I feel like a meatball wading in spaghetti!" "You're right, Rip." Alexander's eyes grew wide. "This is weird. Super weird!" He pulled the notebook out of his backpack. "The notebook!" Rip said. "Hey what does S.S.M.P. stand for, anyhow?" "I don't know yet," said Alexander. "But look! There's something in here about worms!"

斯特蒙特的每个人，甚至是这些小虫子。 如果我们到处去压扁它们，我们就比我们要阻止的怪物强不了多少了！”里普发出一种哽咽的声音。 “很好，”他说。“但被蠕虫包围是很奇怪的。 我感觉自己像个肉丸子在意大利面条里乱窜！”“你说得对，里普。” 亚历山大睁大了眼睛。 “这很奇怪。超级奇怪!”他从背包里拿出笔记本。 “笔记本!”Rip说。“嘿，什么是S.S.M.P. ？ 不管怎么说，代表什么？”“我还不知道，”亚历山大说。 “但看!这里面有关于虫子的东西！”

MEGAWORM A small blue worm that seems harmless. At first. HABITAT Megaworma can be found on wet ground and sidewalks. BEHAVIOR Megaworms always travel alone. DIET Unknown. Possibly eats Kids. UH-OH

巨型蠕虫一种看起来无害的蓝色小蠕虫。 在第一位。巨虫可以在潮湿的地面和人行道上找到。 巨型蠕虫总是独自旅行。 饮食未知。可能会吃小孩。 哦

POP! Megaworms smell like caramel corn WARNING! A megaworm starts out tiny, but grows bigger than a school bus when sunlight hits it. Keep megaworms out of the sun! BEFORE AFTER WEAKNESS Any kind of loud screeching sound makes them shrivel up.

流行!巨虫闻起来像焦糖玉米！巨型蠕虫一开始很小，但当阳光照射到它时，它就会变得比校车还大。 让巨型蠕虫远离阳光！任何一种尖锐的声音都会使它们萎缩。

"This can only mean one thing," said Alexander. "These night crawlers must be megaworms!" "Yeah..." said Rip. "Wait no! That notebook says megaworms travel alone." He pointed the umbrella toward a nearby heap of worms. "There must be millions of these guys. There's no way they're megaworms!" "But what if you're wrong?" asked Alexander. "What if all of these worms grow huge and start eating kids?!" Rip shrugged. "The monster notebook also says megaworms are blue but these worms are pinkish gray!"

“这只能说明一件事，”亚历山大说。 “这些夜行动物一定是巨型蠕虫！”“是的……” 说把。“等不!那本笔记本上说巨型蠕虫独自旅行。” 他把伞指向附近的一堆虫子。 “这样的家伙肯定有几百万。 它们不可能是巨型蠕虫！”“但是如果你错了呢？”亚历山大问。 “如果所有这些蠕虫都长得很大，开始吃孩子怎么办？”Rip耸耸肩。 “怪物笔记本上还说巨型蠕虫是蓝色的，但这些蠕虫是粉灰色的！”

Alexander held up a finger. "Then let's do a test!" he said. "A screech should shrivel them up." He squatted down near a worm, took a deep breath, and— The worm wiggled a little. Rip tugged at Alexander's elbow. "C'mon, Salamander. Let's get to school." "Well, okay..." said Alexander. "Maybe Mr. Hoarsely can tell us about these monsters. Remember what he said at my birthday party?" "Yeah," said Rip. "He said that those balloon goons were only the beginning." "I just wish we knew what he meant...." said Alexander.

亚历山大举起一根手指。 “那我们做个测试吧！”他说。 “一声尖叫就会使它们枯萎。” 他蹲在一条虫子旁边，深吸了一口气，然后——虫子扭动了一下。 瑞普拽了拽亚历山大的胳膊肘。 “来吧,蝾螈。我们去上学吧。” “好吧……”亚历山大说。 “也许沙哑先生能告诉我们关于这些怪物的事。 还记得他在我生日聚会上说的话吗？”“是的，”瑞普说。 “他说那些气球打手只是个开始。” “我只希望我们知道他是什么意思....” 亚历山大说。