1. The First Ogre

Calendar Mysteries October Ogre By Ron Roy

《日历之谜：十月食人魔》罗恩·罗伊著

Chapter 1 The First Ogre "How do I look?" Bradley asked. He was wearing a cardboard box. His head stuck out through a hole in the top, and his feet came out the bottom. There were holes in the sides for his arms. Bradley had pasted pictures of Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson on the four sides. "You look like a box of cereal," Nate said. "What are you supposed to be?" asked Lucy.

第一章第一个食人魔“我看起来怎么样？”布拉德利问。 他戴着一个纸板箱。 他的头从顶部的一个洞伸出来，脚从底部伸出来。 他的手臂两侧有洞。 布拉德利把乔治·华盛顿、亚伯拉罕·林肯、西奥多·罗斯福和托马斯·杰斐逊总统的画像贴在了墙的四面。 “你看起来像一盒麦片，”内特说。 “你是干什么的？”露茜问。

Bradley grinned. "I'm Mount Rushmore," he said. It was Halloween, and the kids were getting dressed at Nate's house. They were going to the Shangri-la Hotel. For Halloween, the building had been changed into a haunted house. All the kids they knew were planning to be there. Bradley's twin brother, Brian, was dressed as an astronaut. A clear plastic salad bowl covered his red hair. He pretended to breathe through a vacuum-cleaner hose taped to the bowl. His shirt and pants were covered with tinfoil. Lucy was dressed as Sacagawea. She wore a fake-leather dress and moccasins and had her hair in a braid. Nate had wound strips of rags around his face and body. "Guess what I am!" he said. "Raggedy Andy?" Brian joked. "No, I'm a mummy," Nate said. The four kids were best friends. Bradley and Brian's older brother, Josh, was pals with Dink Duncan, Lucy's cousin. Nate's older sister, Ruth Rose, hung out with Josh and Dink.

布拉德利咧嘴一笑。“我是拉什莫尔山，”他说。 那天是万圣节，孩子们在内特家穿衣服。 他们要去香格里拉酒店。 万圣节的时候，这栋建筑被改成了鬼屋。 他们认识的所有孩子都打算去那里。 布拉德利的双胞胎兄弟布莱恩打扮成宇航员的样子。 一个透明的塑料沙拉碗盖着他的红头发。 他假装通过粘在碗上的真空吸尘器软管呼吸。 他的衬衫和裤子上都盖着锡纸。 露西打扮成萨卡加维亚的样子。 她穿着一件假皮衣和一双软皮鞋，头发扎了一条辫子。 内特的脸和身体上缠满了碎布。 “猜猜我是谁！”他说。 “破烂的安迪?”布莱恩开玩笑说。 “不，我是木乃伊，”内特说。 这四个孩子是最好的朋友。 布拉德利和布莱恩的哥哥乔希是露西的堂兄丁克·邓肯的好朋友。 内特的姐姐露丝·罗斯经常和乔什和丁克在一起。

The kids left Nate's house and walked to Main Street. The sun was down, but it was not quite dark. They waited at the traffic light in front of Howard's Barbershop. "Dink told me there's an ogre's cave inside the hotel," Lucy said. "The ogre is guarding a basket of candy. If we steal candy without getting caught, we get a prize!" "Cool," Brian said. "We get candy and a prize!" When the sign said WALK, they crossed Main Street and headed to the Shangri-la Hotel. They stood behind some bushes and looked at the hotel. "It does look haunted," Lucy said. Bats, witch faces, and skeletons peered out the windows. Thick cobwebs hung from the front door. Spooky music came through hidden speakers. A tall green ogre stood at the door. The monster had a lumpy green face and a fat belly. He held a club in his chubby fingers. "What an awesome ogre!" Brian said. "Let's go say hi!"

孩子们离开内特家，走到大街上。 太阳下山了，但天还没有完全黑下来。 他们在霍华德理发店前的红绿灯处等着。 “丁克告诉我旅馆里有个食人魔的洞穴。”露茜说。 “食人魔正在看守一篮子糖果。 如果我们偷糖果而不被抓住，我们就会得到奖品！”“酷，”布莱恩说。 “我们有糖果和奖品！”当指示牌上写着“步行”时，他们穿过主街，前往香格里拉酒店。 他们站在灌木丛后面看着旅馆。 “看起来确实闹鬼。”露茜说。 蝙蝠、女巫的脸和骷髅从窗户向外窥视。 前门上挂着厚厚的蜘蛛网。 隐藏的扬声器传来令人毛骨悚然的音乐。 一个高大的绿色食人魔站在门口。 怪物长着一张凹凸不平的绿脸和一个胖胖的肚子。 他用胖乎乎的手指拿着一根棒子。 “多么可怕的食人魔！”布莱恩说。 “我们去打个招呼吧！”

"Maybe not," Nate said. "I don't hang out with ogres." A bunch of kids in costumes were gathering at the hotel entrance. Bradley saw a Miss Piggy, a Batman, and some ghosts wearing bedsheets. The ogre opened the door and let a few of the kids inside. One of them was wearing a red cowboy hat. "Hey, that's Luke Sanders from our class!" Nate said, pointing. Nate waved, but Luke had disappeared into the haunted house. "Come on," Brian said. "Let's go in. Josh told us some of the high school kids helped decorate. He said it's real scary!" Just then the hotel door creaked open. More kids went inside. The ogre stayed outside. He waved at Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy.

“也许不是，”内特说。“我不和食人魔混在一起。” 一群穿着戏服的孩子聚集在旅馆门口。 布拉德利看到了一个猪小姐，一个蝙蝠侠和一些穿着床单的鬼魂。 食人魔打开门，放了几个孩子进去。 其中一个戴着一顶红色牛仔帽。 “嘿，那是我们班的卢克·桑德斯！”内特指着说。 内特挥了挥手，但卢克已经消失在鬼屋里了。 “来吧，”布莱恩说。“我们进去吧。 乔什告诉我们一些高中生帮忙装饰。 他说这真的很可怕！”就在这时，旅馆的门嘎吱一声开了。 更多的孩子走了进去。食人魔呆在外面。 他向布拉德利、布莱恩、内特和露西挥手。

"He's telling us to come over," Bradley said. "Um, I'm not sure," Nate said. "I mean, I don't mind being scared, but that ogre guy is too creepy. Maybe I'll just hang out here." Lucy took Nate's hand. "Come on, Nate. It'll be fun," she said. "And friends stick together! If you don't go in, we won't go in, either." "But I want to go in!" Brian said. "I want to steal the candy and get a prize!" He looked at his brother. "What do you say, Bradley?" "I love Halloween, too," Bradley said. "But I agree with Lucy. If Nate doesn't want to go in, we don't go in." "Maybe later," Nate said. "I just need to think about it." The kids sat near the bushes and kept their eyes on the haunted hotel. The ogre kept his eyes on them.

“他叫我们过去，”布拉德利说。 “嗯，我不确定，”内特说。 “我的意思是，我不介意被吓到，但是那个食人魔太吓人了。 也许我就待在这里。” 露西握住内特的手。“来吧，内特。 会很有趣的，”她说。“朋友要团结在一起！”如果你不进去，我们也不进去。” “但我想进去！”布莱恩说。 “我想偷糖果拿奖品！”他看着他的兄弟。 “你说呢，布拉德利？”“我也喜欢万圣节，”布拉德利说。 “但我同意露茜的看法。如果内特不想进去，我们就不进去。” “以后再说吧，”内特说。“我只是需要考虑一下。” 孩子们坐在灌木丛附近，眼睛紧盯着闹鬼的旅馆。 食人魔一直盯着他们。