1 The Purple Parrot

The Purple Parrot Ebenezer Tweezer was a terrible man with a wonderful life. He never went hungry because all his fridges were piled with food. He never struggled to understand long words, like confibularity or pinickleruff, because he very rarely read books. There were no children or friends in his life, so he was never troubled by unpleasant noises or unwanted conversations. There were also no parties or celebrations for him to attend, so he was never hot and bothered about what he should wear.

紫鹦鹉埃比尼泽·威泽是一个有着美好生活的可怕的人。 他从不挨饿，因为他所有的冰箱里都堆满了食物。 他从不费力地理解长单词，比如confbuliity或pinickleruff，因为他很少读书。 他的生活中没有孩子，也没有朋友，所以他从不被不愉快的声音或不受欢迎的谈话所困扰。 他也没有参加派对或庆祝活动，所以他从不觉得热，也不为该穿什么而烦恼。

Ebenezer Tweezer didn't even have to worry about death. At the time this story begins, he was within a week of his 512th birthday, and yet, if you were to have bumped into him on the street, you would have thought him to be a young man—certainly no more than twenty years old. You might also have thought that he was quite handsome. He had short golden hair, a small nose, a soft mouth, and a pair of eyes which dazzled like diamonds in the moonlight. There was also a wonderful look of innocence about him. Sadly, looks can be deceiving. You see, at the time when this story begins, Ebenezer was about to do a very bad thing. All Ebenezer did at first was walk into a bird shop. He then patiently waited behind an

埃比尼泽·维泽甚至不用担心死亡。 在这个故事开始的时候，他离他的512岁生日还有一个星期，然而，如果你在街上碰到他，你会认为他是个年轻人——当然不超过20岁。 你可能也会觉得他很帅。 他有一头金色的短发，一个小鼻子，一张柔软的嘴，一双眼睛在月光下像钻石一样闪闪发光。 他身上还有一种奇妙的天真无邪的神情。 可悲的是，外表是会骗人的。 你看，在这个故事开始的时候，埃比尼泽正要做一件非常糟糕的事情。 埃比尼泽一开始只是走进一家鸟店。 然后，他耐心地在一扇门后面等着

impatient person at the till. The impatient person was a small, bony girl who was wearing a backpack with two stickers on it. One read BETHANY and the other BOG OFF! "I wanna pet!" said the girl to the large, pleasant bird-keeper. "What sort were you looking for?" he asked in return. "A frog! Or a panther! Ooh, or a polar bear!" "'Fraid you're in the wrong place. The polar bear and panther shop is down the road, and the frog market is only open on Wednesdays. We can do you a bird, but not much else," explained the bird-keeper. The girl reached into her backpack and pulled out a flip-flop, a half-eaten cookie, two seashells, and a ruler that said PROPERTY OF

在收银台前不耐烦的人。 那个不耐烦的人是个瘦骨嶙峋的小女孩，背着一个背包，上面贴着两张贴纸。 一个是BETHANY，另一个是BOG OFF！“我想要宠物！”女孩对那个高大、和蔼可亲的养鸟人说。 “你想要什么样的？”他反问道。 “一只青蛙!或者是黑豹！哦，或者一只北极熊！”“恐怕你来错地方了。 北极熊和黑豹商店就在这条路的尽头，青蛙市场只在周三开放。 我们可以给你一只鸟，但仅此而已，”养鸟人解释说。 女孩把手伸进背包，拿出一只人字拖、一块吃了一半的饼干、两个贝壳和一把写着“财产”的尺子

GEOFFREY on it. She laid out all the items on the counter.

杰弗里。她把所有的东西都放在柜台上。