Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 Pearl absolutely loved the new supersized hamster home Mrs. Gomez had made for her and Merle. "This is just lovely, Mrs. Gomez!" Pearl marveled as everyone gathered in Michael's room (everyone except Mr. Nemesis, of course).

第十九章珠儿非常喜欢戈麦斯太太为她和梅尔做的超大仓鼠新家。 “这太好了，戈麦斯夫人！”当大家都聚集在迈克尔的房间里时（当然除了涅墨西斯先生），珠儿感到惊奇。

"I'm so happy you like it, Pearl. Welcome home!" Mrs. Gomez said. "Yes. Welcome home," Merle repeated. "It's good to have you back. You had us worried there for a while." "Believe me, I was worried too!" Pearl said. "Who is that man, and what does he want with Merle and me?" "He wants to bring you back to the Dead Sea to sell you to a collector," Dr. Gomez said. "We don't want to go back to the Dead Sea!" Merle pleaded. "You know we're not even from there?" Pearl added. "It's no place for squirrels." "It's too hot, too dry, and waaaaay too salty!" Merle added. "We like it much better here!" "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the squirrels, Dad," Michael apologized. "I'm sorry, Pearl— if I would have let my dad know about you and Merle sooner, maybe you wouldn't have gotten into so much of a mess." "Maybe not," Pearl said. "But it's always best to tell the whole story. The whole truth." Michael nodded. "Speaking of which..." Pearl looked at Michael.

“我很高兴你喜欢它，珠儿。 欢迎回家!”戈麦斯太太说。 “是的。欢迎回家。”莫尔重复道。 “你回来真是太好了。 你让我们担心了一阵子。” “相信我，我也很担心！”珍珠说。 “那个人是谁？他找我和莫尔有什么事？”“他想把你带回死海，卖给一个收藏家。” 戈麦斯说。“我们不想回到死海！”默尔承认。 “你知道我们根本不是那里的人吗？”珍珠补充道。 “这里不适合松鼠。” “太热，太干，而且太咸了！”默尔补充道。 “我们更喜欢这里！”“对不起，爸爸，我没有告诉你松鼠的事。”迈克尔道歉道。 “对不起，珠儿——如果我早点让我爸知道你和莫尔的事，也许你就不会陷入这么大的混乱了。” “也许不是，”珠儿说。“但最好还是把事情的原原本本讲出来。 全部真相。”迈克尔点点头。 “说到这个……”珠儿看着迈克尔。

Michael knew it was time to come clean. "Yeah, I know." He turned to his parents and sister. "Mom, Dad, Jane— I broke the elephant table. I was playing soccer in the house and accidentally knocked it over with the ball. I glued it back together, and it was still drying when Jane put her cupcake on it." "My cupcake didn't break the elephant?" Jane asked, shocked. "How could a cupcake break an elephant?" Dr. Gomez asked. "I assumed Jane was playing with the ball in the house." Mrs. Gomez hugged Jane. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, sweetie." "Well, it was me playing ball in the house," Michael said. "I should have told you what really happened, but I didn't want to get in trouble." "So you let your sister get in trouble instead?" Mrs. Gomez gave him a look. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, Jane. I'm sorry, Mom." Michael hung his head. "I'm grounded, right?" "He's such a smart boy," Justin joked. "Figured that one out all on his own." Sadie grinned.

迈克尔知道是时候坦白了。 “是的，我知道。”他转向父母和妹妹。 “妈妈，爸爸，简——我打碎了大象桌。 我在房子里踢足球，不小心被球撞倒了。 我把它粘在一起，当简把她的纸杯蛋糕放在上面时，它还在变干。” “我的小蛋糕没有打碎大象？”简吃惊地问。 “小蛋糕怎么能弄断大象”博士。 戈麦斯问道。“我以为简在屋里玩球呢。” 戈麦斯太太拥抱了简。“对不起，我没有相信你，亲爱的。” “嗯，是我在房子里打球，”迈克尔说。 “我应该告诉你事情的真相，但我不想惹麻烦。” “所以你就让你妹妹惹上麻烦了？”戈麦斯太太看了他一眼。 “是的,女士。对不起，简。 对不起，妈妈。”迈克尔低下了头。 “我被禁足了，对吧？”“他真是个聪明的男孩，”贾斯汀开玩笑说。 “这是他自己想出来的。” 赛迪咧嘴一笑。

Dr. Gomez laughed. "Right. Grounded until further notice. It'll give you a chance to think about what can happen when you don't tell the whole truth." "Yes, sir," Michael said. "And we all need to think about how we're going to keep Pearl and Merle safe," Mrs. Gomez said. "Harboring two-thousand-year-old talking squirrels smuggled out of a foreign country is a big deal, and we've got a lot to figure out. We've all got to watch our steps!" Outside Michael's window, unseen by anyone in the room, a white Toyota rolled slowly down the street.

戈麦斯医生笑了。“正确。 停飞，等待进一步通知。 它会给你一个机会，让你思考如果你不说实话会发生什么。” “是的，先生。”迈克尔说。“我们都需要考虑如何保证珀尔和梅尔的安全，”戈麦斯夫人说。 “窝藏两千年前从外国走私出来的会说话的松鼠是一件大事，我们有很多事情要弄清楚。 我们都得小心脚下！”在迈克尔的窗外，一辆白色的丰田车缓缓驶过街道，房间里的人都没看见。