8. The Monster Is Smart, but Lucy Is Smarter

Chapter 8 The Monster Is Smart, but Lucy Is Smarter "This is creeping me out," Nate said. "No matter what we do, this… this… THING outsmarts us." Lucy picked one of the chewed berries off the plant. "It seems like the creature waits till we're gone before he gets the berries," she said. "It could be watching us, waiting for us to leave." "Yeah, but where is it?" Brian asked. "And how does it get inside the fence?"

怪物很聪明，但露西更聪明“这让我毛骨悚然，”内特说。 “不管我们做什么，这个……这个……东西都比我们聪明。” 露西从树上摘下一个嚼碎的浆果。 她说：“这家伙好像一直等到我们走了才开始吃浆果。” “它可能在监视我们，等着我们离开。” “是的，但是它在哪里呢？”布莱恩问。 “它是怎么进入围栏的？”

"Maybe it's already inside the fence," Bradley said. He looked at the tomato plants, the zucchini plants, and the other stuff his parents had planted. "Maybe it's hiding!" "Then we'll find it!" Brian said. "Let's check everything inside the fence." The kids searched the garden, turning over every leaf on every plant. The only creatures they found were tiny bugs and one little toad. "Toads are good in gardens," Lucy said. "They eat insects." Nate held the small toad in his hand. "Could this be our monster?" he asked. "No, his mouth is way too small," Lucy said. "We might as well give up," Brian said. "You can if you want," Bradley said. "But I'm not stopping till I find this berry-biting monster. I'll stay here forever if I have to!" "Till you're old and gray?" Nate asked. "Yep," Bradley said. "Even when it snows in December?" Brian teased. "Yeah, I'll build an igloo and sit in it all winter!" Bradley said, trying not to smile.

“也许它已经在围栏里面了，”布拉德利说。 他看了看番茄、西葫芦和他父母种的其他东西。 “也许它藏起来了！”“那么我们会找到它的！”布莱恩说。 “让我们检查一下围栏里面的一切。” 孩子们搜遍了花园，翻遍了每棵植物的每一片叶子。 他们只发现了一些小虫子和一只小蟾蜍。 “蟾蜍在花园里很好。”露茜说。 “它们吃昆虫。”内特手里拿着小蟾蜍。 “这就是我们要找的怪物吗？”他问。 “不，它的嘴太小了。”露茜说。 “我们还是放弃吧，”布莱恩说。 “如果你想的话，你可以，”布拉德利说。 “但在我找到这个咬浆果的怪物之前，我是不会停下来的。 如果有必要，我愿意永远呆在这里！”“直到你变老变白？”内特问道。 “是的，”布拉德利说。“即使在12月下雪的时候？”布莱恩嘲笑。 “是啊，我要建一个冰屋，整个冬天都坐在里面！”布拉德利说，强忍着不笑出来。

"I have an idea," Lucy said. The three boys looked at her. "If this creature is watching us, maybe we can play a trick on him!" she said. "How do we do that?" Brian asked. "We pretend to leave the garden," Lucy said. "But we don't really go away, we just hide. Maybe we'll catch him in the act!" "But if we can see the creature, the creature can see us," Bradley said. "There's no place in this garden to hide." "We can make something," Lucy said. She picked up one end of the net. "In your encyclopedia you showed us those men who dug a deep hole for the buffalo. Remember the picture that showed the men hiding in some bushes and tall weeds? We can do the same thing!" "Um, there are no tall weeds," Nate said. "We pulled them all up, remember? And we never got our ice cream, either." "Watch," Lucy said. She grabbed some of the weeds from the pile they'd made. She wove the weed stems through the holes in the net. She added more weeds, weaving them in and out.

“我有个主意。”露茜说。 三个男孩看着她。 “如果这个生物在看着我们，也许我们可以对它开个玩笑！”她说。 “我们该怎么做？”布莱恩问。 “我们假装离开花园。”露茜说。 “但我们并没有真正离开，我们只是躲起来。 也许我们能当场抓住他！”“但如果我们能看到这种生物，它也能看到我们，”布拉德利说。 “这个花园里没有藏身之处。” “我们可以做点什么。”露茜说。 她拿起网的一端。 “在你的百科全书中，你向我们展示了那些为水牛挖深洞的人。 还记得那张照片吗？照片上的人躲在灌木丛和高高的杂草中。 我们也能做到！”“嗯，这里没有高大的杂草，”内特说。 “我们把它们都拔出来了，记得吗？” 我们也没吃到冰淇淋。” “看。”露茜说。她从他们堆起来的杂草中抓了一些。 她把杂草的茎穿过网里的洞。 她增加了更多的杂草，把它们编进编出。

"I see what you're doing!" Bradley said. "It's camouflage, like army guys use when they're hiding!" "When we're done, we can hide behind it," Lucy said. "The creature won't be able to see us." "Awesome!" Nate said. The four kids worked fast, weaving weeds into the net. Soon it was a thick blanket of stems and leaves. "Drag it to the scarecrow," Lucy said. "We'll throw it over his head." It was heavy, but they managed to hoist the camouflaged net over the scarecrow's head. The

“我知道你在干什么！”布拉德利说。 “这是伪装，就像军队里的人藏起来的时候用的！”“完事后，我们可以躲在它后面。”露茜说。 “那家伙不会看见我们的。” “棒极了!”内特说。四个孩子干得很快，把杂草编织进网里。 很快，它就变成了一层厚厚的茎叶毯子。 “把它拖到稻草人那里去。”露茜说。 “我们把它扔到他头上。” 它很重，但他们设法把伪装的网挂在稻草人的头上。 的

net made a sort of tent where they could crouch and hide. The kids sat on the ground behind the net. They each poked a hole so they could peek out at the strawberry patch. "At least this thing blocks the sun," Brian said. "And the breeze," Nate complained. "I'm roasting." "Just think about ice cream," Bradley said. "That's all I've been doing," Nate said. "We should be quiet," Lucy whispered. "The creature can probably hear us." The kids sat silently behind the net. Flies and mosquitoes buzzed around them. A tiny bird landed on the net and pecked at a blossom. They heard an airplane fly over. Bradley closed his eyes. He thought he might lie down and take a nap. He thought about chocolate ice cream.… Suddenly Lucy grabbed his arm. "I hear something," she said. Bradley opened his eyes. He peered through his peephole. "Oh no!" he said. He crawled out from behind the net.

Net做了一个帐篷，他们可以蹲下来躲起来。 孩子们坐在网后的地上。 他们每个人都戳了一个洞，这样他们就可以往外偷看草莓地了。 “至少这东西能挡住阳光，”布莱恩说。 “还有微风，”内特抱怨道。 “我烤。”“想想冰激凌吧，”布拉德利说。 “这就是我一直在做的，”内特说。 “我们应该安静点。”露茜小声说。 “那个生物可能能听到我们。” 孩子们静静地坐在网后。 苍蝇和蚊子在他们周围嗡嗡作响。 一只小鸟落在网上啄一朵花。 他们听到一架飞机飞过。 布拉德利闭上了眼睛。他想他可以躺下小睡一会儿。 他想到了巧克力冰淇淋。突然，露茜抓住他的胳膊。 “我听到了一些声音，”她说。 布拉德利睁开眼睛。他从窥视孔里往外看。 “哦，不！”他从网后爬了出来。

Pal was standing in the middle of the strawberry patch. "Pal, what are you doing?" Bradley asked his dog. Brian, Nate, and Lucy stood next to Bradley. "Pal is our mystery creature?" Brian asked. "Bad dog!" Bradley said. But Pal wasn't paying attention. He was digging a hole and barking. Dirt flew up behind him as he dug. Bradley ran over and grabbed Pal's collar. "Stop!" he said. Pal stopped digging, but he kept barking. Bradley looked into the hole Pal had dug. He saw a smooth rock in the bottom of the hole. Then he saw something else. The rock had four legs and a head.

朋友站在草莓地中间。 “伙计，你在干什么？”布拉德利问他的狗。 布莱恩、内特和露西站在布拉德利旁边。 “伙计就是我们要找的神秘生物？”布莱恩问。 “坏狗!”布拉德利说。但是帕尔没有注意到。 他一边挖洞一边叫。 他挖土时，土在他身后飞扬起来。 布拉德利跑过去抓住帕尔的衣领。 “停！”他说。帕尔停止了挖掘，但他一直在叫。 布拉德利往帕尔挖的洞里看了看。 他看到洞的底部有一块光滑的岩石。 然后他看到了别的东西。 这块石头有四条腿和一个头。