7 A REAL STEAL

CHAPTER 7 A REAL STEAL The next morning, Alexander wolfed down his cereal. He was out the door before his spoon hit the table. He ran through the woods behind his house to an old caboose— the S.S.M.P. headquarters. Rip and Nikki were inside, playing a heated game of tic-tac-tunnel fish. "You guys," said Alexander, "the Bumpy Mummy is alive! I saw it last night!"

第二天早上，亚历山大狼吞虎咽地吃下了他的麦片。 勺子还没碰到桌子，他就出去了。 他穿过屋后的树林，跑向一辆旧车尾——S.S.M.P. 总部。里普和妮基在里面，玩着激烈的井字隧道鱼游戏。 “伙计们，”亚历山大说，“颠簸的木乃伊还活着！我昨天晚上看到的！”

Rip and Nikki looked at each other. Rip snorted. "Come on, Salamander!" he said. I already told you the Bumpy Mummy is just a bag of bones at the museum." "No, Rip! I really saw it!" said Alexander. "I mean, I'm pretty sure. It was dark out, and I was kind of far away. But I saw this shiny person, all dressed in white." "That could have been anyone!" said Rip. "Like a nurse! Or a chef! Or a fencing coach! Not necessarily a monster." "But it had bumps all over!" said Alexander. "And besides, even if I am wrong about the mummy, I saw something else: a crawling hand! In my bathtub!"

里普和尼基面面相觑。 哼了一声。“加油，蝾螈！”他说。 我已经告诉过你了，颠簸的木乃伊只是博物馆里的一袋骨头。” “不,把!我真的看到了！”亚历山大说。 “我的意思是，我很确定。外面很黑，我离得有点远。 但我看到了一个闪亮的人，一身白衣。” “那可能是任何人！”瑞普说。 “像个护士！”或者是厨师！或者是击剑教练！不一定是怪物。” “但是它到处都是凸起！”亚历山大说。 “而且，即使我对木乃伊的看法是错的，我也看到了别的东西：一只爬行的手！”在我的浴缸里！”

"A monster hand?" said Rip. "Now you're talking!" "And it had my dad's golden mirror!" said Alexander. "It did?" Nikki said. "What if that hand monster stole the other missing stuff, too? Like the projector! And the telescope!" She looked at her friends. "It sounds like our new hand monster is a thief!" "Did you find any hand monsters in the notebook?" asked Rip, "Yeah," said Alexander. "Sort of." He opened the monster notebook to a wrinkled-up page.

“一只怪物的手？”瑞普说。 “你说对了！”“它有我爸爸的金镜子！”亚历山大说。 “这吗?”尼基说。“如果那个手怪也偷了其他丢失的东西怎么办？” 比如投影仪！还有望远镜！”她看着她的朋友们。 “听起来我们的新手怪是个贼！”“你在笔记本里发现手怪了吗？”里普问。 “的”。他打开那本奇形怪状的笔记本，翻到皱巴巴的一页。

HITTIN' MITTEN They look cute, but they pack a punch. HABITAT Glove compartments. DIET Lint, fuzz, fur balls.

他们看起来很可爱，但是他们很有杀伤力。 生境手套箱。 绒毛，绒毛，毛球。

BOW-WOW! Hittin mittens run when they see an art-scarf. BEHAVIOR These warm, fuzzy mittens turn into boxing gloves as soon as you put them on. Then: BAM! stop hitting yourself! stop hitting yourself! WARNING! Hittin' mittens work in pairs. If you separate them, they become powerless.

汪汪!当他们看到一条艺术围巾时，他们会跑开。 这些温暖、毛茸茸的连指手套一戴上就变成了拳击手套。 然后:砰!别打自己了！别打自己了！警告!打连指手套是成对的。 如果你把它们分开，它们就会变得无能为力。

Alexander closed the notebook. "The thing I saw wasn't a mitten— it was a hand with fingers," he said. "All right. Let's spring into action!" said Rip. "So, uh, what should we do?" "Let's see if anything else is missing," said Alexander, "Go home and snoop around for missing stuff. Then we'll compare notes tonight at the sleepover." "Sounds like a plan!" said Nikki, "See you on the bus! And watch out for hand monsters!" The three friends gave one another a high fifteen (high five times three). Then they ran home to start snooping.

亚历山大合上笔记本。 “我看到的不是连指手套，而是一只有手指的手，”他说。 “好吧。让我们行动起来吧！”瑞普说。 “那么，呃，我们该怎么办？”“让我们看看还有什么东西不见了，”亚历山大说，“回家去看看有没有什么东西不见了。 那我们今晚在朋友家过夜的时候再交换意见。” “听起来像个计划！”妮基说，“公车上见！小心手怪！”这三个朋友互相击掌十五（击掌五乘三）。 然后他们跑回家开始窥探。