12. Leaping Leprechauns

Chapter 12 Leaping Leprechauns Nate led the kids into the room where the leprechauns stood on the table. "What's your idea?" Bradley asked. "Lucky and Officer Fallon think the leprechauns are in this room, right?" Nate said. "Yeah, and in a few minutes, Lucky's gonna come and get them to take home again," Ralphie said. "Only they aren't gonna be here," Nate said. "They aren't? Where will they be?" Ben asked.

内特领着孩子们走进小矮妖站在桌子上的房间。 “你有什么主意？”布拉德利问。 “拉奇和法伦警官认为小矮妖就在这个房间里，对吗？”内特说。 拉尔菲说：“是的，再过几分钟，幸运儿就会来把他们带回家。” “只是他们不会在这里，”内特说。 “他们不是吗?他们会在哪里呢？”本问。

Nate grinned. "We'll hide the leprechauns again. Then, when Lucky comes to get them, they'll be gone!" He yanked the lid off the trash barrel. There were some old newspapers in the bottom. Nate carefully lowered the leprechauns onto the papers. Then he put the lid back on. "But what happens if someone empties the trash?" Lucy asked. Nate shook his head. "It's Saturday," he said. "No one will look in here till Monday." "I can't wait to see Lucky's face when he opens this door!" Ralphie crowed. Bradley tiptoed back to Officer Fallon's office door. He peeked inside. Then he came back to the others. "I think they're finishing the game," he whispered. "We have to hide!" Ben said. He peered around the dusty room. He pointed to the covered desk. "We can hide behind that." They all crawled behind the desk. Pal let out a woof.

内特咧嘴一笑。“我们再把小矮妖藏起来。 然后，当幸运来找他们的时候，他们就不见了！”他猛地拉开垃圾桶的盖子。 底部有一些旧报纸。 内特小心翼翼地把小矮妖放到纸上。 然后他把盖子盖上。 “但如果有人倒垃圾怎么办？”露西问。 内特摇了摇头。“今天是星期六，”他说。 “星期一以前没人会来看这里的。” “我迫不及待地想看到幸运仔打开这扇门时的表情！”拉尔夫拥挤。 布拉德利蹑手蹑脚地走回法伦警官的办公室门口。 他往里面偷看。然后他回到其他人身边。 “我想他们要结束比赛了。”他低声说。 “我们得躲起来！”本说。 他环顾满是灰尘的房间。 他指着那张有盖的桌子。 “我们可以躲在后面。” 他们都爬到桌子后面。 伙计叫了一声。

"Quiet, Pal," Bradley whispered. He pulled Pal next to him. "I forgot the light," Ben said. He went over and hit the light switch. Now it was black in the room. Brian giggled. "I'm afraid of the dark," he said. "I'll protect you," Lucy said. "I need to sneeze!" Nate said. "Hold your nose!" Bradley said. "Who wants a cookie?" Ralphie mumbled through a mouthful of cookies. Just then the door opened. Officer Fallon and Lucky looked into the dark room. The kids could see them, but they couldn't see the kids. "They're not here!" Officer Fallon said. "I left them on this little table!" "I don't get it," Lucky said. "How could three statues just disappear?" Then Bradley heard a small, muffled voice. "We're in the trash can," said the voice. Officer Fallon didn't say anything.

“安静，伙计，”布拉德利低声说。 他把帕尔拉到身边。 “我忘了带灯，”本说。 他走过去按了一下电灯开关。 现在房间里一片漆黑。 布莱恩咯咯笑了。“我怕黑，”他说。 “我会保护你的。”露茜说。 “我要打喷嚏！”内特说。 “捏住你的鼻子！”布拉德利说。 “谁想要一块饼干？”拉尔菲嘴里塞满了饼干，嘴里嘟囔着。 正在这时，门开了。 法伦警官和拉奇朝黑暗的房间里望去。 孩子们可以看到他们，但他们看不到孩子们。 “他们不在这儿！”法伦警官说。 “我把它们放在这张小桌子上了！”“我不明白，”Lucky说。 “三座雕像怎么就这么消失了？”接着，布拉德利听到一个微弱而低沉的声音。 “我们在垃圾桶里。”那个声音说。 法伦警官什么也没说。

Lucky didn't say anything. They just stared into the dark room. "Please let us out of the trash can," said the small voice. "I can hardly breathe in here!" Officer Fallon and Lucky stepped into the room. Lucky pulled the lid off the trash can. They both peered inside. "Well, I'll be a donkey's grandpa!" Officer Fallon said. "There they are!" One by one, Lucky lifted the three leprechauns out of the barrel. "Can you really talk?" he said to the statues. Behind him, six kids burst into laughter.

幸运仔什么也没说。 他们只是盯着黑暗的房间。 “请把我们从垃圾桶里放出来，”那个小声音说。 “我在这里都喘不过气来了！”法伦警官和拉奇走进房间。 幸运仔把垃圾桶的盖子打开了。 他们俩都往里面看了看。“好吧，我就当驴爷爷吧！”法伦警官说。 “他们在那儿！”幸运仔一个接一个地把三个小妖精从桶里抬了出来。 “你们真的会说话吗？”他对雕像说。 在他身后，六个孩子突然大笑起来。