13 The Last The Present

CHAPTER 13 THE LAST CHAPTER 'But it will be impossible to do the book by twelve

第十三章最后一章可是十二点以前写完这本书是不可能的

o'clock,' says Terry. 'We haven't even started it.' 'Speak for yourself!' I say. 'I've done chapter one and I started chapter two but I had to stop because you were strangling me.'

“10点钟，”特里说。“我们还没开始呢。“你自己说吧！”我说。 “我已经完成了第一章，我开始了第二章，但我不得不停下来，因为你在扼杀我。”

'Well, yes, but, technically, that wasn't me,' says Terry. 'It was the ants pretending to be me.' 'Well, yes, technically, but it was your fault the ants were so angry,' I remind him. 'Well, technically, yes,' he says, 'but, technically, you were responsible for them being angry as well.' 'Well, if you want to get technical about it, yes, that's true, but it was you who left the gate open.' 'Well, technically, yes, but, technically…'

“嗯，是的，但严格来说，那不是我，”特里说。 “是蚂蚁假装成我。“嗯，从技术上讲，是的，但蚂蚁这么生气是你的错，”我提醒他。 “嗯，严格来说，是的，”他说，“但严格来说，你也应该为他们的愤怒负责。“好吧，如果你想从技术上讲的话，是的，那是真的，但是是你让大门开着的。”“嗯，严格说来，是的，但是，严格说来……”

'Excuse me!' shouts Jill through her micro-mini megaphone. 'Can I interrupt for a minute?' 'Well, technically, you already have,' I say. 'Why don't you just ask the ants to help you?' she says. 'How could they help?' I say.

“对不起!吉尔通过她的微型扩音器喊道。 “我能打断一下吗？”“嗯，严格来说，你已经有了，”我说。 “你为什么不让蚂蚁来帮你呢？”她说。 “他们能帮什么忙呢？”我说。

'They're very good at forming words—and pictures—and they can do it very fast,' says Jill. 'You saw how quickly they made the certific-ant.' 'But how could they write and illustrate a whole book?' I say. 'They don't even know the story.' 'Easy,' says Jill. 'You tell it to me and I'll tell it to them and they'll have it done in no time.'

“他们很擅长组合单词和图片，而且速度很快。”吉尔说。 “你看到他们做证明的速度有多快了。“可是他们怎么能写出一本书来，给它配插图呢？”我说。 “他们甚至不知道这个故事。“容易，”吉尔说。 “你告诉我，我再告诉他们，他们很快就会办妥的。”

'Okay,' I say. 'Well, my name is Andy.' 'And I'm Terry,' says Terry. 'And we live in a tree…' I say. 'Um,' says Jill, 'I already know all this. You might want to speed it up a bit. Remember, you haven't got much time.' 'Good point,' I say. 'We'll speed-talk it.'

“好吧，”我说。“嗯，我叫安迪。“我叫特里，”特里说。 “我们住在树上……”我说。 “嗯，”吉尔说，“这些我都知道了。 你可能想加快速度。 记住，你没有多少时间了。“说得好，”我说。 “我们会速谈的。”