3. The Mystery Acrobat

Capter 3 The Mystery Acrobat Brian sold the rest of his tickets the next day. Josh and his parents each gave him two dollars, and he sold the last two tickets to Ellie when the kids were having ice cream at her diner. Brian added his ten dollars to the money in the box, then slid it back under Bradley's bed. Now the box held two hundred dollars. "When do we have to give the money to the acrobats?" Lucy asked. "I don't know," Bradley said. He looked at his calendar. "Um, Bri, when does the circus open?"

第三章神秘的杂技演员布莱恩第二天把剩下的票卖了。 乔什和他的父母每人给了他两美元，当孩子们在艾莉的餐厅吃冰淇淋时，他把最后两张票卖给了她。 布赖恩把他的10美元放进盒子里，然后把它塞回布拉德利的床底下。 现在盒子里装着200美元。 “我们什么时候把钱给杂技演员？”露西问。 “我不知道，”布拉德利说。 他看了看日历。 “嗯，布莱，马戏团什么时候开始？”

"Tomorrow. Why? Oh my gosh!" Brian said. "They're supposed to set up their tent tonight! Maybe they're already here!" "All right," Nate said, rubbing his stomach. "Let's bring them the money and get our free popcorn and hot dogs!" "I don't want to walk around town carrying all that money," Bradley said. "Let's just go see if the Flying Fortunatos are here yet. We can give them the money later." The others agreed, and they took off toward the high school, where the circus was going to be. When they passed Nate's house on Woody Street, they waved to his sister. She was in the backyard with Dink and Josh. They cut across Pleasant Street and headed toward the high school playing fields. When they came out of the trees, they stopped. A hundred feet in front of them stood a giant tent. The tent leaned to one side, as if it wanted to go to sleep. A canvas flap was tied open. It was dim inside, but Bradley could see seats and some kind of pole with wires on it.

“明天。为什么?我的天哪！”布莱恩说。 “他们今晚应该支起帐篷！”也许他们已经来了！”“好吧，”内特揉着肚子说。 “我们把钱给他们，拿免费的爆米花和热狗吧！”“我不想带着那么多钱在城里走来走去，”布拉德利说。 “我们去看看会飞的福图纳托们来了没有。 我们可以以后再给他们钱。” 其他人同意了，然后他们朝高中走去，马戏团就在那里。 当他们经过伍迪街内特的房子时，他们向他的妹妹挥手。 她跟丁克和乔什在后院。 他们穿过普莱森特街，朝高中的操场走去。 当他们走出树林时，他们停了下来。 在他们前面一百英尺的地方立着一个巨大的帐篷。 帐篷斜向一边，好像要睡觉似的。 一块帆布的盖子被系开了。 里面很昏暗，但布拉德利可以看到一些座位和某种插着电线的杆子。

Across the lawn from the tent, they saw a long trailer with a door and four small windows. Narrow steps were under the door. The words THE FLYING FORTUNATOS were painted under the row of windows. The paint was so faded that they could hardly read it. Parked near the trailer was an old Volkswagen bus that needed to be washed. The kids didn't see any elephants or tigers. Or men being shot out of cannons. Or any Flying Fortunatos. Bradley felt his stomach drop like a water balloon. We sold a hundred tickets for this? he thought. "It's a pretty small circus," Lucy said.

在帐篷对面的草坪上，他们看到一辆长长的拖车，上面有一扇门和四扇小窗户。 门下有狭窄的台阶。 那排窗户下面画着“飞翔的福图纳托斯”几个字。 油漆褪色得很厉害，他们几乎看不清了。 拖车附近停着一辆需要清洗的旧大众汽车。 孩子们没有看到任何大象或老虎。 或者有人从大炮里被射出来。 或者任何会飞的福图纳托。布拉德利感到他的胃像一个水球一样往下掉。 我们为此卖了一百张票？ 他想。“这是一个相当小的马戏团。”露茜说。

"It's not a circus," Bradley said. "It's a disaster!" "At least they have a tent," Nate said. "Let's look inside." The kids walked around the tent to the open flap. They stepped inside and looked around. Without the sunlight, it was dark. They saw tall poles with a net stretched between them. They heard soft music, the kind that made you dream about faraway places. "There's nobody—" Nate started to say. Suddenly bright lights lit up the space. A figure appeared from the back of the tent and climbed one of the poles. Whoever it was wore silver tights that shimmered under the lights. A silver hood covered the figure's head and eyes. Only the nose and mouth could be seen. At the top of the pole, the silver person unhooked a trapeze swing that had been tied to the pole. With a leap, the figure was sitting on the trapeze bar. Then he or she stood and began swinging back and forth. Down below, the kids stood with their mouths open, watching.

“这不是马戏团，”布拉德利说。 “这是一场灾难！”“至少他们有个帐篷，”内特说。 “让我们看看里面。”孩子们绕着帐篷走到敞开的门边。 他们走进去环顾四周。 没有阳光，天很黑。 他们看到一根高高的杆子，杆子之间拉着一张网。 他们听到轻柔的音乐，那种让你梦见远方的音乐。 “没有人——”内特开始说。 突然，明亮的灯光照亮了整个空间。 一个人影从帐篷后面出现，爬上了一根柱子。 不管是谁，他穿着在灯光下闪闪发光的银色紧身衣。 一个银色的兜帽盖住了这个人的头和眼睛。 只能看到鼻子和嘴巴。 在杆子的顶端，银发人解开了绑在杆子上的秋千。 那人一跳，就坐在了秋千架上。 然后他或她站起来，开始前后摇摆。 下面，孩子们张着嘴站在那里看着。

Bradley could hardly swallow. Even with the net under the trapeze, it would be a long way to fall. But the figure in silver tights didn't fall. He or she swung, turned flips, and did a hundred other tricks on the trapeze. "That's amazing!" Nate whispered. "He's like Spider-Man!" "How do you know it's a man?" Lucy asked. She gazed up at the trapeze artist.

布拉德利几乎咽不下去了。 即使在秋千下面有网，要掉下去也是很长的一段路。 但是那个穿银色紧身衣的人并没有下降。 他或她在空中荡秋千，翻空翻，做了一百种其他的把戏。 “这太神奇了!”内特低声说。 “他就像蜘蛛侠！”“你怎么知道是个男人？”露西问。 她抬头凝视着空中飞人表演者。