4. The Lousy Acrobat

Chapter 4 The Lousy Acrobat The kids stepped out of the tent and sat under a big maple tree. They looked at the trailer and old bus. The only things moving were the leaves on the tree. "Shouldn't there be clowns running around?" Nate asked. "Shouldn't there be—" Just then the trailer door opened. A man came out, carrying a folding table. He had white hair and a round belly. He set up the table under a tree near the trailer. Then he went back and held the door open. A teenage boy wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt

孩子们走出帐篷，坐在一棵大枫树下。 他们看了看拖车和旧公共汽车。 唯一在动的是树上的叶子。 “不应该有小丑跑来跑去吗？”内特问道。 “不应该有——”就在这时，拖车的门开了。 一个男人走了出来，手里拿着一张折叠桌。 他有一头白发和一个圆圆的肚子。 他把桌子搭在拖车附近的一棵树下。 然后他走回去，把门打开。 一个十几岁的男孩穿着运动短裤和t恤

stepped down. He was lugging some lawn chairs, which he placed around the table. Behind him, a woman with gray hair came out with a tray of food. "You think those are the Flying Fortunatos?" Nate whispered. Brian giggled. Bradley remembered the picture he'd found in the shoe box. In the corners, there had been little drawings of acrobats doing stunts. Were these the same people? "Should we go meet them?" Lucy asked. "No!" Brian said. "Let's watch them a little. I want to make sure this circus is for real before they ask us for that money!" The couple sat down. The man said something to the boy, but he shook his head. The door of the old bus opened, and a teenage girl came out. Her spiky, dark hair made her look as if she'd just gotten out of bed. She ran over to the others and sat down. The boy turned and marched away. "He's headed for the tent," Nate said. The boy had his head down. He seemed to be talking to himself, and he didn't look happy. And

下台。他拖着几把草坪椅，把它们放在桌子周围。 在他身后，一个满头白发的女人端着一盘食物走了出来。 “你认为那些是会飞的福图纳托吗？”内特低声说。 布莱恩咯咯笑了。布拉德利想起了他在鞋盒里找到的那张照片。 在角落里，有一些杂技演员表演特技的小图画。 这是同一批人吗？ “我们要去见他们吗？”露西问。 “不!”布莱恩说。“让我们看看他们。 在他们向我们要钱之前，我想确定这个马戏团是真的！”夫妇俩坐了下来。 那人对男孩说了些什么，但他摇了摇头。 旧公共汽车的门开了，一个十几岁的女孩走了出来。 她乌黑的尖头发使她看起来像是刚从床上起来。 她跑向其他人，坐了下来。 男孩转身大步走开了。 “他往帐篷那边去了，”内特说。 男孩低着头。 他似乎在自言自语，看上去并不高兴。 和

he never noticed the kids sitting under the tree. They watched the boy stomp through the open flap and disappear inside the tent. "Now what?" Nate asked. "This is very weird." A few seconds later, the boy appeared back outside the tent. He looked around, as if he thought someone was spying on him. Then he unhitched a cord on the tent, stepped inside, and tugged the flap over the opening. "That kid looked kind of sneaky," Bradley said. "Like he didn't want anyone to see him." "I like sneaky!" Nate said. "Let's go see what he's doing." "Yeah," Brian agreed. The kids moved toward the tent. "I don't know," Lucy said. "It feels like we're doing something wrong." "We sold their tickets, remember?" Brian said. "We need to know what's going on around here." They crouched down and scurried toward the closed flap. Bradley felt as if he was in a spy movie. He glanced over his shoulder toward the trailer. He couldn't see the Fortunatos—if that was

他从来没有注意到孩子们坐在树下。 他们看着男孩踏过敞开的门板，消失在帐篷里。 “现在什么?”内特问道。“这太奇怪了。” 几秒钟后，男孩又出现在帐篷外面。 他环顾四周，好像觉得有人在监视他似的。 然后，他解开帐篷上的一根绳子，走进去，把门帘拉到开口上。 “那孩子看起来有点鬼鬼祟祟的，”布拉德利说。 “好像他不想让任何人看到他。” “我喜欢鬼鬼祟祟！”内特说。 “我们去看看他在干什么。” “是的，”布莱恩同意了。孩子们朝帐篷走去。 “我不知道。”露茜说。 “感觉我们做错了什么。” “我们卖了他们的票，记得吗？”布莱恩说。 “我们需要知道这里到底发生了什么。” 他们蹲下身子，朝紧闭的舱门跑去。 布拉德利觉得自己好像在谍战片里。 他回头瞥了一眼拖车。 他看不见福图纳托斯——如果是的话

who they were—so he figured they couldn't see him. Bradley knelt where the flap closed, and raised the canvas until he could see inside. The lights came on, making Bradley jump backward. Brian, Nate, and Lucy wriggled around Bradley so they could see through the tent flap. This time Bradley noticed two big cages. One of them had a sign that said DANGER—FEROCIOUS LION. The other one was longer and flatter than the lion cage. Its sign said ANNIE—THE WORLD'S LONGEST ANACONDA. "There's a lion in there?" Nate squeaked in Bradley's ear. "Why isn't it roaring or something?" Brian asked in Bradley's other ear. Just then the teenage boy stepped out from behind the lion cage. He shinnied up one of the poles, and before Bradley could even blink, the kid was walking across the high wire.

他们是谁——所以他以为他们看不见他。 布拉德利跪在拉链合上的地方，举起帆布，直到他能看到里面。 灯亮了，布拉德利向后一跳。 布莱恩、内特和露西围着布拉德利，这样他们就能透过帐篷的门帘看到外面。 这次布拉德利注意到两个大笼子。 其中一个牌子上写着“危险——凶猛的狮子”。 另一个比狮子笼又长又平。 它的牌子上写着安妮——世界上最长的蟒蛇。 “里面有只狮子？”内特在布拉德利耳边尖叫。 “它为什么不咆哮呢？”布莱恩对着布拉德利的另一只耳朵问道。 就在这时，一个十几岁的男孩从狮子笼后面走了出来。 他在其中一根杆子上闪闪发光，布拉德利还没来得及眨眼，那孩子就已经在钢丝上走了。

Bradley thought the kid looked scared up there. The boy took a step, then began waving his arms. He lost his balance and fell into the net. Then he went to a mat and started doing backflips. At least he tried to do backflips, but he kept falling onto the mat. Next he went to the trapeze rings and pulled himself up. But his legs were kicking and he couldn't do a single stunt. He dropped from the rings and stood there with a sad look on his face. He bent over, picked up a fistful of sawdust, and threw it at the rings. Then he ran for the exit. Straight toward the four kids! They jumped away from the flap, but the boy didn't notice them as he bolted out of the tent. Bradley saw the boy's face clearly as he dashed past. The teenager's mouth was set in a grimace, and tears were streaming down his cheeks.

布拉德利觉得那孩子看起来很害怕。 男孩走了一步，然后开始挥动双臂。 他失去平衡，掉进了网里。 然后他走到垫子前，开始做后空翻。 至少他试着做后空翻，但他总是摔倒在垫子上。 接着，他走到空中飞人圈前，把自己拉了上去。 但他的腿在踢，他不能做一个特技。 他从戒指上掉下来，站在那里，脸上带着悲伤的表情。 他弯下腰，抓起一把锯末，朝戒指扔去。 然后他跑向出口。直奔四个孩子！他们从门缝里跳了出来，但男孩没有注意到他们，就冲出了帐篷。 当男孩冲过去时，布拉德利清楚地看到了他的脸。 那少年的嘴角一副苦相，眼泪顺着脸颊淌了下来。