5. Four Little Spies

Chapter 5 Four Little Spies The kids watched the boy run to the old bus. He yanked open the door, jumped inside, and slammed the door behind him. "What's going on?" Nate asked. "He looks mad at somebody." "He was crying," Bradley said. "Yeah, because he's a lousy acrobat," Brian said. "That other one in the silver costume was awesome!" "Maybe the kid is just jealous," Nate suggested. "FOUR LITTLE SPIES!" a deep voice growled from behind the kids. "Maude, let's throw them in

孩子们看着男孩跑向那辆旧公共汽车。 他猛地推开门，跳了进去，砰地一声关上了身后的门。 “发生什么事了？”内特问道。 “他好像在生谁的气。” “他在哭，”布拉德利说。 “是的，因为他是个糟糕的杂技演员，”布莱恩说。 “另一个穿银色服装的人太棒了！”“也许这孩子只是嫉妒，”内特说。 “四个小间谍！”一个低沉的声音从孩子们身后咆哮着。 “莫德，我们把他们扔进去吧

the lion's cage!" The four kids jumped like kangaroos! "No, Basilio, let's feed them to the snake," a woman's voice said. "Our anaconda hasn't eaten a child in weeks!" Bradley nearly swallowed his tongue. Brian, Nate, and Lucy froze and stared at the man and woman. "We… we… we…" Bradley couldn't make his mouth say anything. "Well, speak up," the man barked. "Lion or snake? Your choice." "I have a better idea, Papa," another voice said. It was the girl. She appeared from behind the woman. "Do you guys like cookies?" the teenager asked the kids. She was smiling, and her hair was neatly brushed into place. "We… love cookies!" Nate said, finally finding his voice.

狮子的笼子！”四个孩子像袋鼠一样跳起来！“不，巴西利奥，我们拿它们喂蛇吧。”一个女人的声音说。 “我们的水蟒已经好几个星期没吃过孩子了！”布拉德利差点把舌头吞了下去。 布莱恩、内特和露西愣住了，盯着那对男女。 “我们……我们……我们……”布拉德利说不出话来。 “好吧，说出来。”那人吼道。 “狮子还是蛇？”你的选择。” “我有个更好的主意，爸爸。”另一个声音说。 是那个女孩。她从女人后面出现。 “你们喜欢饼干吗？”少年问孩子们。 她面带微笑，头发梳得整整齐齐。 “我们……爱吃饼干！”内特终于开口了。

"Oh heck, Maude," the man said to his wife. "I never get to have any fun." Then he grinned at the kids. "Just teasing," he said. "Since Hannah won't let me feed you to the wild animals, we might as well feed you some of

“哦，见鬼，莫德，”男人对妻子说。 “我从来没有享受过任何乐趣。” 然后他对孩子们咧嘴一笑。 “只是开玩笑，”他说。“既然汉娜不让我把你喂给野兽吃，我们还是喂你一些吧。

Mama Maude's outstanding cookies. Come along!" The couple turned and walked toward the trailer. They were laughing as they strolled away, arm in arm. "I'm Hannah Fortunato," the girl said, shaking the kids' hands. "Don't mind my folks. They love joking around. Most of the time they act younger than Adam and me." The kids and Hannah headed toward the table, where her parents were waiting. "Is Adam your brother?" Lucy asked. "We were watching him inside the tent." "He's good," Hannah said. Good? Bradley thought. He's terrible! "My parents taught him," Hannah said. "They were the best once." Bradley remembered the picture he'd hung on his bulletin board. "Do you do acrobatics, too?" he asked Hannah. "Me? Oh, no," she said. "My job is mostly in the office, taking care of ticket sales and other stuff."

莫德妈妈做的好吃的饼干。 过来!”这对夫妇转身向拖车走去。 他们手挽着手散步，边走边笑。 “我是汉娜·福尔图纳托，”女孩一边说一边和孩子们握手。 “别管我的家人。他们喜欢开玩笑。 大多数时候，他们表现得比亚当和我年轻。” 孩子们和汉娜走向餐桌，汉娜的父母在那里等着她。 “亚当是你的兄弟吗？”露西问。 “我们在帐篷里看着他。” “他很好，”汉娜说。好吗? 布拉德利的想法。他是可怕的!“我父母教他的，”汉娜说。 “他们曾经是最棒的。” 布拉德利想起了他挂在布告栏上的那张照片。 “你也会杂技吗？”他问汉娜。 “我?哦，不，”她说。“我的工作主要是在办公室，处理门票销售和其他事情。”

When they reached the table, Hannah's father stood up. He reached out a hand the size of a catcher's mitt. "I am Basilio Fortunato," he boomed. "And who are you?" The kids all shook Basilio Fortunato's big hand. "We're Brian and Bradley Pinto," Brian piped up. "We sold tickets for you!" "Are you twins?" Maude asked the boys. "Yep," Brian said. "I'm two minutes older than Bradley!" "Hannah and Adam are twins, too," Maude said. "And I'm Nate Hathaway, and this is Lucy Armstrong," Nate added. "We sold tickets, too!" "Wonderful!" Maude said. "Sit and have cookies. They have nuts. Are you allergic?" The kids all shook their heads and reached for the plate of cookies. They sat on the grass as Hannah poured glasses of lemonade. "Do you really have a lion and an anaconda?" Nate asked. Basilio sighed and rubbed his forehead. "We used to," he said. "And a horse named Roger. We had a real circus a few years ago, but now—"

当他们走到桌边时，汉娜的父亲站了起来。 他伸出一只捕手手套那么大的手。 “我是巴西利奥·福尔图纳托。” “你是谁？”孩子们都握着巴西利奥·福尔图纳托的大手。 “我们是布莱恩和布拉德利·平托，”布莱恩尖声说。 “我们为你卖票了！”“你们是双胞胎吗？”莫德问孩子们。 “是的，”布莱恩说。“我比布拉德利大两分钟！”“汉娜和亚当也是双胞胎，”莫德说。 “我是内特·海瑟薇，这位是露西·阿姆斯特朗，”内特补充道。 “我们也卖票了！”“好极了!”莫德说。 “坐下来吃点饼干。他们有坚果。 你过敏吗？”孩子们都摇了摇头，伸手去拿那盘饼干。 他们坐在草地上，汉娜给他们倒柠檬水。 “你真的有狮子和水蟒吗？”内特问道。 巴西利奥叹了口气，揉了揉额头。 “我们以前是这样，”他说。“还有一匹叫罗杰的马。 几年前我们有一个真正的马戏团，但现在——”

"Now we have Adam, our son, who is the world's greatest acrobat," Maude interrupted. Bradley thought about Adam in the tent a few minutes ago. If he was their acrobat, this circus was worse off than he'd thought! Adam couldn't be the amazing acrobat in the silver costume! "You guys talking about me?" a new voice asked. Adam Fortunato joined the group. His hair was combed and he wore a fresh T-shirt. "Hope you left me some cookies, Mom." Bradley looked at Adam. He seemed happy as he gobbled half a cookie in one gulp. Then why was he crying ten minutes ago? "What happened to the lion and anaconda?" Brian said. "We saw the cages in the tent." "Had to sell 'em," Basilio muttered. "You were in the tent?" Adam asked. His smile disappeared. Red spots appeared on his cheeks. "We, um, sort of peeked," Bradley said. "We didn't mean to be sneaky," Lucy said. Adam looked as if he'd just swallowed a bug. "Lighten up, Adam," Hannah said. "These kids sold a whole bunch of tickets for us."

“现在我们有了亚当，我们的儿子，他是世界上最伟大的杂技演员，”莫德插嘴说。 布拉德利几分钟前在帐篷里想起了亚当。 如果他是他们的杂技演员，这个马戏团比他想象的还要糟糕！亚当不可能是那个穿银色戏服的杂技演员！“你们在说我吗？”一个新的声音问道。 亚当·福尔图纳托也加入了这个团队。 他梳了头发，穿着一件崭新的t恤。 “希望你给我留了些饼干，妈妈。” 布拉德利看着亚当。他似乎很高兴，一口气吞下了半块饼干。 那他十分钟前为什么哭了？ “狮子和水蟒怎么了？”布莱恩说。 “我们看到帐篷里的笼子。” “不得不卖掉它们。”巴西利奥喃喃地说。 “你在帐篷里？”亚当问。 他的笑容消失了。他的脸颊上出现了红点。 “我们，嗯，有点像偷看，”布拉德利说。 “我们不是故意偷偷摸摸的。”露茜说。 亚当看起来好像刚刚吞下了一只虫子。 “放松点，亚当，”汉娜说。 “这些孩子帮我们卖了一大堆票。”