4. Too Much Magic

Chapter 4 Too Much Magic "You turned our mom into a duck!" Brian yelled. Bradley couldn't open his mouth. He just stared at the duck. It stood in the middle of the stage and looked at the audience. Then it sat down and began preening its feathers. The bracelet around the duck's neck glistened under the lights. "My goodness!" said Hypo. "I guess I used too much magic!"

“你把妈妈变成了一只鸭子！”布莱恩喊道。 布拉德利张不开嘴。 他只是盯着那只鸭子。 它站在舞台中央，看着观众。 然后它坐下来，开始梳理羽毛。 鸭子脖子上的手镯在灯光下闪闪发光。 “我的天哪！”海波说。“我想我用了太多魔法！”

Hypo got down on one knee next to the duck. "Pamela, can you hear me?" he said into the duck's ear. The duck said, "Quack!" The audience was totally quiet. You could have heard a feather drop. Hypo turned to the audience. "What should we do?" he asked. "Change her back!" Bradley and Brian yelled together. "CHANGE HER BACK!" the audience chanted. "CHANGE HER BACK, CHANGE HER BACK!" "Very well," Hypo said. "But we must have silence. You're scaring the duck… I mean you're scaring Mrs. Pinto." The audience settled down again. Hypo shooed the duck back into the booth and closed the curtain. Then he closed his eyes and spoke: PAMELA DOESN'T WANT TO QUACK.

海波单膝跪在鸭子旁边。 “帕梅拉，你能听到我说话吗？”他对着鸭子的耳朵说。 鸭子说：“呱！”全场鸦雀无声。 你都能听到羽毛掉落的声音。 Hypo转向观众。 “我们该怎么办？”他问。 “把她变回去！”布拉德利和布莱恩一起喊道。 “把她变回来！”观众高呼。 “把她变回来，把她变回来！”“很好，”海波说。 “但是我们必须保持沉默。 你吓到鸭子了……我是说你吓到平托太太了。” 观众又安静下来了。 海波把鸭子赶回包厢，拉上窗帘。 然后他闭上眼睛说：帕梅拉不想嘎嘎叫。

HYPO WILL NOW CHANGE HER BACK. WITH MY MAGIC AND HYPO LUCK, SHE'LL NO LONGER BE A DUCK! Hypo swept the curtain open and Mrs. Pinto stepped out. The audience broke into cheers and whistles. "Mom!" Bradley cried. He jumped up and hugged his mother. "How do you feel, Pamela?" Hypo asked. "Thirsty," she said. "Do you suppose I could have a glass of water? I'm feeling extremely thirsty!" Hypo poured Mrs. Pinto a tall glass of water. She drank it down and held out the empty glass. "Thank you," she said. "May I have another? I don't know why I'm so thirsty. I just crave water!"

Hypo现在会变回原来的样子。 有了我的魔力和幸运，她就不再是一只鸭子了！海波拉开窗帘，平托夫人走了出来。 观众爆发出欢呼声和口哨声。 “妈妈!”布拉德利哭了。他跳起来拥抱他的母亲。 “你感觉怎么样，帕梅拉？”海波问道。 “渴了，”她说。“你能给我一杯水吗？” 我觉得口渴极了！”海波把平太太倒进了一大杯水里。 她一饮而尽，把空杯子递了过来。 “谢谢你，”她说。“我可以再来一杯吗？” 我不知道我为什么这么渴。 我只想喝水！”

Hypo gave Mrs. Pinto a second glass of water. She gulped it down and handed him the glass. "Pamela, may I ask how you feel about ducks now?" Hypo asked. "Do you still dislike them?" "What a silly question," Mrs. Pinto said. "I adore ducks. I love the way they waddle and splash in the water!" Brian poked his brother. "See, Bradley? Mom adores ducks," he whispered. "It worked!" Bradley couldn't believe his eyes and ears. Hypo beamed at the audience. "Thank you, Pamela Pinto. Thank you, boys!" he said. The audience cheered as Bradley followed Brian and their mom off the stage. Bradley noticed a white feather stuck to the hem of her dress. Back in their seats, Bradley snuck a look at his mother. Did she really love ducks now? he wondered. Would she let Brian raise them? Shaking his head, Bradley sat back to watch the rest of the show. "Boy, Mom's been in the bathroom a long time," Brian said the next morning.

海波又给了平托太太一杯水。 她一饮而尽，把杯子递给他。 “帕梅拉，我能问一下你现在对鸭子有什么感觉吗？”海波问道。 “你还不喜欢他们吗？”“多愚蠢的问题，”平托太太说。 “我喜欢鸭子。我喜欢它们在水里摇摇摆摆、溅起水花的样子！”布莱恩戳了戳他的弟弟。 “看,布拉德利?妈妈喜欢鸭子，”他低声说。 “成功了!”布拉德利简直不敢相信自己的眼睛和耳朵。 Hypo向观众微笑。 “谢谢你，帕梅拉·平托。谢谢你们，孩子们！”他说。 布拉德利跟着布莱恩和他们的妈妈走下舞台时，观众们欢呼起来。 布拉德利注意到她裙子的下摆上粘着一根白色的羽毛。 回到座位上，布拉德利偷偷地看了他妈妈一眼。 她现在真的喜欢鸭子了吗？ 他想知道。她会让布莱恩抚养他们吗？ 布拉德利摇了摇头，坐下来继续看剩下的表演。 “天哪，妈妈在浴室里呆了很长时间，”布莱恩第二天早上说。

"I know," Bradley said. He was sitting on his bed, waiting to brush his teeth. "Did you knock on the door?" Brian threw himself on his bed. "Yup. She's taking a bath—a long bath. I can hear her splashing around in there." "Weird," Bradley said. "When we splash in the tub, she yells at us." "Yeah, no fair," Brian said. "Plus, she always took showers before. Anyway, when she comes out, I'm going to ask her." "Ask her what?" Bradley asked. "If I can get some ducks to raise," Brian said. He grinned at his brother. He had an evil twinkle in his eye. "Now that she loves ducks so much, she's bound to let me. Thanks to Hypo!" "Do you really think she got hypnotized last night?" Bradley asked. "Hypo looks like a big phony to me." "Duh, he turned Mom into a duck!" Brian said. "Then he turned her back. What's phony about that?" Bradley sat on his bed and thought about what had happened at the high school last night. "Did

“我知道，”布拉德利说。他坐在床上，等着刷牙。 “你敲门了吗？”布莱恩扑倒在床上。 “是的。她在洗澡——洗得很长。 我能听到她在里面溅水的声音。” “真奇怪，”布拉德利说。“当我们在浴缸里泼水时，她对我们大喊大叫。” “是啊，不公平，”布莱恩说。 “另外，她以前总是洗过澡。 不管怎样，当她出来的时候，我要去问她。” “问她什么？”布拉德利问。 “如果我能养几只鸭子，”布莱恩说。 他朝他哥哥咧嘴一笑。 他眼里闪着邪恶的光芒。 “既然她这么喜欢鸭子，她一定会让我的。 多亏了Hypo!”“你真的认为她昨晚被催眠了吗？”布拉德利问。 “在我看来，Hypo就是个大骗子。” “呸，他把妈妈变成了一只鸭子！”布莱恩说。 然后他让她转过身去。这有什么虚伪的？”布拉德利坐在床上，想着昨晚在高中发生的事。 “

you notice anything strange about Mom when we got home?" he asked. "Like what?" Brian asked. "Well, she didn't yell when we ate ice cream before bed," Bradley said. "She NEVER lets us eat before bedtime." Brian stared at his twin brother. "You're right!" he said. "And she didn't even remind us to brush our teeth." Bradley looked at the clock. It was almost tenthirty. "And she didn't tell us to make our beds this morning. It's almost like she doesn't care what we do." "Cool!" Brian said. He picked up a comic book. Bradley tiptoed into the hallway and stood outside the bathroom door. He could hear splashing and his mom singing. He put his ear against the door. Bradley tore back into his room. "Brian, you have to hear this. Come on!" The boys huddled next to the bathroom door with their ears against the wood. They heard their mother singing:

我们回家的时候，你注意到妈妈有什么奇怪的地方吗？”他问。 “像什么?”布莱恩问。布拉德利说：“嗯，我们睡前吃冰淇淋时，她没有大喊大叫。” “她从不让我们在睡觉前吃东西。” 布莱恩盯着他的双胞胎兄弟。 “你说得对！”他说。“她甚至没有提醒我们刷牙。” 布拉德利看了看钟。 差不多十点半了。“今天早上她也没叫我们整理床铺。 就好像她根本不在乎我们做什么。” “酷!”布莱恩说。他拿起一本漫画书。 布拉德利蹑手蹑脚地走进走廊，站在浴室门外。 他能听到水声和妈妈的歌声。 他把耳朵贴在门上。 布拉德利飞快地跑回自己的房间。 “布莱恩，你得听听这个。 来吧!”男孩们挤在浴室门边，耳朵贴在木头上。 他们听到妈妈在唱：