2. The Strange Note

Chapter 2 The Strange Note Bradley sold the rest of his tickets at the senior center. His friend Mr. Neater lived there, and he introduced Bradley to each guest. Almost everyone said, "I haven't seen a circus in years!" And just like that, Bradley's pockets were stuffed with dollar bills. He was the first one home, too. He found a note on the kitchen table. Hi, boys. Dad's running errands. I've taken Josh to buy new sneakers. Be back in a jiffy.

布拉德利在老年中心把剩下的票都卖了。 他的朋友尼特先生住在那里，他把布拉德利介绍给每一位客人。 几乎每个人都说：“我好多年没看过马戏了！”就这样，布拉德利的口袋里塞满了美钞。 他也是第一个回家的。 他在厨房的桌子上发现了一张纸条。 嗨,男孩。爸爸出去办事了。 我带乔什去买新运动鞋了。 我马上就回来。

Love, Mom Bradley smiled. He liked the word jiffy. He ran upstairs, almost stumbling over pal, who was sleeping outside Bradley's bedroom door. In his room, Bradley dropped fifty crumpled dollar bills all over his neatly made bed. That's a lot of money! Bradley told himself. I'd better hide it. Bradley's brother Josh had told him about the burglar in Green Lawn a few years ago. Josh and his friends Ruth Rose and Dink had helped catch him. Ruth Rose was Nate's big sister, and Dink was Lucy's cousin. Bradley knew he shouldn't hide the money in his piggy bank. That was the first place a burglar would look! Then he spied the empty shoe box that the one hundred tickets had come in. It's perfect for all these dollar bills, he thought. He grabbed the box off Brian's bed. When Bradley took the lid off, he saw a crumpled paper on the bottom. He took the paper

爱你的，妈妈布拉德利笑了。他喜欢“瞬间”这个词。 他跑上楼，差点被睡在布拉德利卧室门外的朋友绊倒。 在他的房间里，布拉德利把50张皱巴巴的美钞扔在他整洁的床上。 那可是一大笔钱啊！布拉德利对自己说。 我最好把它藏起来。布拉德利的哥哥乔希几年前告诉过他格林草坪的窃贼。 乔什和他的朋友露丝·罗斯和丁克帮忙抓住了他。 露丝·罗斯是内特的姐姐，丁克是露西的表妹。 布拉德利知道他不应该把钱藏在他的扑满里。 那是窃贼首先会看的地方！然后他发现了装一百张票的空鞋盒。 他想，这对这些美钞来说再合适不过了。 他从布莱恩的床上抓起盒子。 当布拉德利打开盖子时，他看到底部有一张皱巴巴的纸。 他拿起纸

out and put his money into the box. Flopping on his bed, Bradley smoothed out the paper. He smiled. It was a drawing of a circus elephant standing on its hind legs. Monkeys were hanging on the elephant's ears, trunk, and tail. A parrot sat on top of the elephant's head. In the four corners of the picture were small drawings of acrobats. They were swinging, tumbling, and walking on high wires. Two of the acrobats were older people, a man and a woman with white hair. There were two drawings of a third acrobat, a younger one with short, dark hair. Bradley noticed small rips in the paper, near the elephant's hind legs. He turned the picture over. On the back, someone had written a note in pencil. Bradley read it: Dear Mr. Wood, I hope you like this picture. Can you help me? I hate being an acrobat!!! I want to

出去把钱放进盒子里。 布拉德利扑通一声躺在床上，把纸弄平。 他笑了。这是一幅马戏团大象用后腿站立的画。 猴子们挂在大象的耳朵、鼻子和尾巴上。 一只鹦鹉坐在大象的头顶上。 在这幅画的四个角上画着杂技演员的小图。 他们在高处的钢丝上荡秋千、翻滚、行走。 杂技演员中有两位老人，一男一女满头白发。 还有两幅画，画的是第三个杂技演员，年纪更小，留着黑色的短发。 布拉德利注意到大象后腿附近的纸上有小裂口。 他把画翻过来。 在背面，有人用铅笔写了一张纸条。 布拉德利读到：亲爱的伍德先生，我希望你喜欢这张照片。 你能帮我吗？我讨厌当杂技演员！！我想

Bradley couldn't read the rest of the note. The words had been blackened out by dark pencil scribbles. Whoever did the scribbling must have been pushing the pencil down hard. In places, it had poked through the paper. I wonder who wrote this note, Bradley thought. And who's Mr. Wood? And who scribbled out those final words? Bradley crossed the room and tacked the picture to his bulletin board. Pal shuffled into the room and put his paws up on Bradley's bed. He sniffed the shoe box. "Where should I hide this money?" Bradley asked Pal. Pal flopped down on the floor and closed his eyes. "You're no help," Bradley muttered, looking around his room. Maybe in the closet? He stepped inside just as the bedroom door swung open. Brian burst into the room, chased by Lucy and Nate. "I'm first!" Brian cried. "You cheated!" Nate yelled. "Did not. You're just slow," Brian retorted. "I'm fast and I'm first!"

布拉德利看不懂纸条的其余部分。 这些字已被黑铅笔涂黑了。 不管是谁乱涂乱画的，一定是用力把铅笔往下推的。 在一些地方，它已经戳破了纸。 我想知道是谁写的这张纸条，布拉德利想。 伍德先生是谁？是谁写的最后几句话？ 布拉德利穿过房间，把照片钉在布告栏上。 帕尔拖着脚步走进房间，把爪子放在布拉德利的床上。 他嗅了嗅鞋盒。“我应该把钱藏在哪里？”布拉德利问帕尔。 帕尔扑通一声倒在地板上，闭上了眼睛。 “你帮不上忙。”布拉德利嘟囔着，环顾了一下他的房间。 也许在壁橱里？他走了进去，卧室的门突然打开了。 布莱恩冲进房间，露西和内特追着他。 “我先!”布莱恩哭了。“你骗了!”内特喊道。 “没有。你就是太慢了，”布莱恩反驳道。 “我跑得快，我是第一！”

Bradley stepped out of the closet. "No, bro. You're slow and you're second," he announced. "I'm fast and I'm first!" "What're you doing here?" Brian demanded. "You're supposed to be selling tickets." "Sold them all," Bradley said. He opened the shoe box and showed them the stack of dollar bills. "No way!" Brian yelled. "Yes way," Bradley said. He dropped the box of money on his bed. "How'd you guys do?" "I sold all mine!" Lucy said. She pulled a wad of bills out of her shorts pocket. "The people in Green Lawn sure are nice!" "Me too," Nate said. "When I got to Howard's Barbershop, a bunch of guys were waiting to get their hair cut. Everyone wanted tickets. I could have sold a million more!" The three kids turned and looked at Brian. "I still have two left," he said. "Plus the three I'm selling to Josh, Mom, and Dad."

布拉德利走出了壁橱。 “不,兄弟。你太慢了，你是第二名，”他宣布。 “我跑得快，我是第一！”“你在这儿干什么？”布莱恩要求。 “你应该是卖票的。” “全卖了，”布拉德利说。 他打开鞋盒，给他们看那一叠美钞。 “不可能!”布莱恩喊道。“当然可以，”布拉德利说。 他把装钱的盒子掉在床上。 “你们怎么样？”“我把我的都卖了！”露西说。 她从短裤口袋里掏出一叠钞票。 “绿草坪的人真好！”“我也是，”内特说。 “当我到霍华德理发店的时候，一群人在等着剪头发。 每个人都想要票。我本可以多卖一百万的！”三个孩子转过身来看着布莱恩。 “我还剩下两个，”他说。 “再加上我要卖给乔什、妈妈和爸爸的那三支。”