13 THE CLINKER

CHAPTER 13 THE CLINKER Alexander and Nikki followed the strange clinking sound up the snowy mountain. "So what do you think is making that sound?" asked Nikki as they reached Lake Gloamy. Alexander peered out across the icy lake. "I think we're about to find out," he said. "See that house, out in the middle of the lake?" "Yeah," said Nikki. "Is it moving...?"

亚历山大和妮基跟着奇怪的叮当声上了雪山。 “那么你认为是什么发出了那种声音？”当他们到达格洛米湖时，尼基问道。 亚历山大凝视着冰冷的湖面。 “我想我们很快就会找到答案，”他说。 “看到湖中央的那座房子了吗？”“是的，”妮基说。 “它在动吗……？”

Actually, it wasn't a house. It was a gigantic ice cube with icicle fangs, cold eyes, and blocky fists. It used its spiky knuckles to pull itself across the frozen lake. "Oh, no!" shouted Alexander. "That ice block is headed this way!" The monster skidded to a stop, spraying Alexander and Nikki with shaved ice. "Hello, warm-bloods," it said. "Which one of you is the appetizer? And which is the main course?"

事实上，那不是房子。 它是一个巨大的冰块，长着冰柱般的尖牙，冰冷的眼睛和块状的拳头。 它用尖尖的指关节把自己拉过冰冻的湖面。 “哦，不！”亚历山大喊道。 “那块冰块朝这边来了！”怪物打滑停了下来，用刨冰喷了亚历山大和妮基一身。 “你好，温血动物们。” “你们谁是开胃菜？” 哪一道是主菜呢？”

Alexander shivered. "You want to eat us?" he asked. "I sure do!" said the monster. "I'm the ice- crusher! I'm made of ice, and I crush things. Kids, mostly Right before I eat them. And right now, I'm ready to eat!" "Uh, we don't taste very good," said Nikki, taking a step back. "Oh, you're too warm to eat now," said the ice-crusher. "That's why I whipped up my snombies—to turn you campers into kid-pops. And then: chomp!" The ice-crusher slammed its fists together. CLINK!

亚历山大颤抖。“你想吃掉我们吗？”他问。 “我当然知道！”怪物说。 “我是破冰机！”我是冰做的，我会压碎东西。 孩子们，主要是在我吃之前。 现在，我准备好吃饭了！”“呃，我们的味道不太好，”妮基说，向后退了一步。 “哦，你现在太热了，不能吃东西，”破冰机说。 “这就是为什么我要把我的亲闺蜜们变成小孩子。 然后：咬！”破冰机把拳头猛地攥在一起。 叮当声!

Two more snombies rose up. They began windmilling their arms, hurling a flurry of snowballs at Alexander and Nikki. "Run!" said Alexander. Alexander turned and WHAM! crashed into the canoe rack. One of the canoes fell to the ground.

又有两个侏儒站了起来。 他们开始挥动手臂，向亚历山大和尼基扔出一阵雪球。 “快跑！”亚历山大说。亚历山大转过身来，砰！撞上了独木舟架。 一只独木舟掉到了地上。

"Get in!" said Nikki. She grabbed a paddle. "We'll ride out of here!" "Not so fast!" said the ice-crusher. The giant block of ice pressed its fists into the ground, lifting its body above Alexander and Nikki. Nikki gave the canoe a shove as Alexander hopped in. FWOOM! The monster's body came down like a sledgehammer, crushing the rest of the canoes. Alexander and Nikki's canoe shot down the mountain.

“上车！”妮基说。她抓起一个桨。 “我们骑马离开这里！”“别这么快！”破冰船说。 巨大的冰块把拳头压在地上，把身体举到亚历山大和尼基的上方。 尼基推了一下独木舟，亚历山大跳了进去。 FWOOM !怪物的身体像大锤一样落了下来，压碎了其余的独木舟。 亚历山大和妮基的独木舟冲下了山。

The monster raced after them. "You can't out-sled me!" it yelled. "I'm made of ice!"

怪物追着他们跑。 “你跑不过我的！”它喊道。 “我是冰做的！”