5 BOXED IN

CHAPTER 5 BOXED IN The loading dock was crowded. Students swarmed around, packing and stacking boxes. This place is like a beehive!" said Nikki. "More like a make-kids-do-all-the-work hive," said Rip. "Look!" said Nikki. "More striped boxes! They're everywhere!" "I'm telling you," said Alexander. "These boxes must have something to do with monsters!" "Or the boxes are monsters!" Rip joked. "Hmmm," said Alexander. "There's only one box monster in the notebook." He flipped it open to show his friends.

装货码头挤满了人。 学生们蜂拥而至，打包和堆放箱子。 这地方像个蜂巢！”尼基说。 “更像是一个让孩子们做所有工作的蜂巢，”瑞普说。 “看！”尼基说。“更多的条纹盒子！”它们无处不在!”“我告诉你，”亚历山大说。 “这些箱子一定和怪物有关！”“不然这些盒子就是怪物！”Rip开玩笑说。 “嗯，”亚历山大说。“笔记本里只有一个盒子怪物。” 他把它打开给他的朋友们看。

HABITAT A polka-dot windup box. DIET Ladies. Gentlemen. Children of all ages.

【人居环境】圆点发条箱 饮食女士。先生们。所有年龄段的孩子。

BEHAVIOR This beast may wear a gooty hat, but it does not clown around. WARNING Don't turn the crank!

这只野兽可能戴着一顶傻傻的帽子，但它不会到处胡闹。 警告：不要转动曲柄！

"Our boxes can't be yaks-in-the- box," said Nikki. "Ours are striped." "If we could just figure out where these boxes came from," said Alexander. "Let's ask that walking pile of boxes," said Rip. "Ask me what?" said the walking pile of boxes. Alexander looked closer, A shock of white hair stuck up from behind the stack of boxes. Hey, Mr. Hoarsely!" said Alexander. "What's the deal with these striped boxes?" Mr. Hoarsely was the school secretary, bus driver, nurse, gym coach, and janitor. He also used to be a member of the S.S.M.P.

“我们的箱子不能是装在箱子里的牦牛，”尼基说。 “我们的是条纹的。”“如果我们能弄清楚这些盒子是从哪里来的，”亚历山大说。 “我们去问问那堆会走的箱子吧，”瑞普说。 “问我什么？”移动着的一堆箱子说。 亚历山大凑近了看，一绺白发从一堆盒子后面伸出来。 嘿，沙哑先生！”亚历山大说。 “这些条纹盒子是怎么回事？”沙哑先生是学校的秘书、公共汽车司机、护士、健身教练和看门人。 他也曾是社会党成员

"Well, uh..." Mr. Hoarsely leaned down. "Someone mailed a box to every kid in Stermont," he said. "And they were all empty, except for P-P-PIP! PIP! POP-POP! "Eep!" Mr. Hoarsely threw his boxes and curled up on the ground. Boxes crashed around him. One landed upside down, covering him like a turtle. Rip stood nearby, twisting a sheel of bubble wrap. "Oops," he said. "I forgot Hoarsely is such a, uh, scaredy-turtle."

“嗯,嗯…”沙哑地俯下身来。 “有人给斯特蒙特的每个孩子都寄了一个盒子，”他说。 “它们都是空的，除了噗噗噗！”皮普!POP-POP !“燃灯!”沙哑先生扔掉了他的箱子，蜷缩在地上。 箱子在他周围摔得粉碎。一个倒挂着，像乌龟一样盖住了他。 里普站在旁边，捻着一层气泡纸。 “哎呀，”他说。“我忘了沙哑是一只，嗯，害怕的乌龟。”

Alexander tapped Mr. Hoarsely's shell. "Did monsters send us these boxes?" Mr. Hoarsely stuck his neck out. "Monsters?! I don't know and I don't want to know!" he said. "I've got my own problems! I had packed Ms. Vanderpants' telescope, but it's missing! And my dustpan is gone, too!" He shuffled off. More missing stuff?" said Rip. "Maybe you're not crazy, Salamander." "Yeah... your dad's mirror, Mr. Plunkett's projector, and now this," said Nikki. "Something is up." I agree!" said Alexander, grabbing one of Mr. Hoarsely's boxes. "We've just unpacked a big clue!"

亚历山大敲了敲霍尔塞利先生的贝壳。 “这些箱子是怪物送来的吗？”沙哑先生冒了险。 “怪物? !我不知道，也不想知道！”他说。 “我有我自己的问题！”我已经收拾好了。 范德帕斯的望远镜不见了！我的簸箕也不见了！”他慢吞吞地走开了。 还有遗失的东西吗？”瑞普问。 “也许你没有疯，蝾螈。” “是啊……你爸爸的镜子，普伦基特先生的放映机，现在是这个，”尼基说。 “出事了。”我同意！”亚历山大说着，抓起了霍尔沙利先生的一个箱子。 “我们刚刚发现了一条大线索！”