Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Piercing feline screams interrupted Bob and Mary's welcome wagon. Merle, Pearl, and the Tennessee squirrels all turned quickly toward the ear-splitting sounds coming from the walnut tree outside Michael's window. Mr. Nemesis, with his right front paw held high, slipped off an upper branch and plummeted toward the ground. They say that cats always land on their feet. This is because cats have something called a "righting reflex," which allows them to turn their bodies in midair to point their paws downward. In the middle of his righting reflex, Mr. Nemesis struck a branch and was instantly unrighted. He twisted violently around and struck another thin branch. This time, however, he was able to grab hold of the twig with his right front paw (the one without the splinter). Mr. Nemesis hung on for dear life, hissing up a storm. "Larry!!! You okay???" Bob yelled frantically. "Who's Larry?" Merle wondered. "Hold on a sec." Larry's relieved voice sounded from high in the tree. "Where are you?!" Mary called out. "Hold on. Gimme a few." Then they heard a relieved- sounding sigh.

刺耳的猫叫声打断了鲍勃和玛丽的欢迎马车。 梅尔、珀尔和田纳西的松鼠们都迅速转向迈克尔窗外核桃树发出的震耳欲聋的声音。 “宿敌”高高举起右前爪，从上面的一根树枝上滑了下来，一头栽倒在地。 他们说猫总是能脚着地。 这是因为猫有一种叫做“翻正反射”的东西，它允许它们在半空中转动身体，将爪子向下指向。 在他倒立反射的过程中，“宿敌”撞到了一根树枝，立刻倒立了。 他猛地转过身来，又撞到了一根细树枝。 然而，这一次，他能够用他的右前爪抓住树枝（没有碎片的那只）。 克星先生拼命地坚持着，发出嘶嘶声，掀起了一场风暴。 “拉里! !你没事吧?”鲍勃疯狂地喊道。 “拉里是谁?”默尔很好奇。 “等一下。”拉里如释重负的声音从高高的树上传来。 “你在哪儿？！”玛丽喊道。 “等一等。给我一些。”然后他们听到一声宽慰的叹息。

"What's going on?!" Bob demanded. "Can you just hold your horses?!" Larry replied, annoyed. The four squirrels standing on Michael's windowsill all looked at each other and shrugged. Finally, Larry appeared from behind the trunk high on the walnut tree. "Hey, everybody," he called down. "Feeling much better now." He spotted Mr. Nemesis holding on to the branch below. "Oh, hey, sorry about that, kitty. When you gotta go, you gotta go, am I right?" Mr. Nemesis let out a loud, angry growl. "What is happening here?" Pearl demanded. "This all looks really fishy."

“发生什么事了？！”鲍勃要求。 “你能别着急吗？！”拉里生气地回答。 站在迈克尔家窗台上的四只松鼠面面相觑，耸耸肩。 最后，拉里从胡桃树上高高的树干后面出现了。 “嘿，大家好。”他向下喊道。 “现在感觉好多了。” 他发现克星先生抓住了下面的树枝。 “哦，嘿，对不起，凯蒂。 该走的时候就走，对吗？”克星先生发出一声愤怒的咆哮。 “这里发生了什么事？”珠儿问道。 “这一切看起来真的很可疑。”

As the cat continued to dangle high in the air above them, Bob and Mary came clean about Mr. Nemesis's plot. "Why, that rotten cat!" Merle exclaimed. "We're so sorry we went along with it," Mary apologized. "But he was going to eat our friend." "And he wouldn't even give me a potty break!" Larry added from on high. Pearl gazed at the helpless, dangling feline. "We need to help him before he gets hurt." Merle, Bob, and Mary turned toward Pearl. they said in unison.

当猫继续在他们头顶的空中晃来晃去的时候，鲍勃和玛丽坦白了克星先生的阴谋。 “哎呀，那只臭猫！”默尔喊道。 “我们很抱歉，我们同意了。”玛丽道歉道。 “但是他要吃掉我们的朋友。” “他甚至不让我上厕所！”拉里从高处补充道。 珠儿凝视着那只无助的、摇摇晃晃的猫。 “我们得在他受伤之前帮他。” 莫尔、鲍勃和玛丽转向珠儿。 他们异口同声地说。

"We're not helping that cat!" Merle exclaimed. "He was going to eat us!" "Are you nuts?!" Mary said. "Merle," Pearl said calmly, "I think we need to show some mercy to Mr. Nemesis." "Mercy?! Mercy?!" Merle repeated. "Why in the world would we do that?!"

“我们不能帮那只猫！”默尔喊道。 “他要吃了我们！”“你疯了吗？！”玛丽说。 “梅尔，”珀尔平静地说，“我想我们应该对宿敌先生仁慈一点。” “仁慈? !怜悯? !”默尔重复。 “我们到底为什么要这么做？！”