11 The Comic and the Cushion

The Comic and the Cushion Ebenezer and Bethany returned to the house two hours later, each carrying a sack on their back. Bethany's sack contained comics about unruly children, pranksters, and mischievous goblins who enjoyed ruining princesses' parties, while Ebenezer's was filled to the brim with ones about superheroes and cowboys.

漫画和靠垫两个小时后，埃比尼泽和伯大尼各自背着一个麻袋回到了家。 贝萨尼的口袋里装的漫画是关于不守规矩的孩子、爱恶作剧的人和喜欢破坏公主派对的顽皮的小妖精，而埃比尼泽的口袋里装满了关于超级英雄和牛仔的漫画。

They dragged their sacks into the front room and began to read. Neither of them talked, because they had done quite enough of that already. Occasionally one of them would chortle or gasp at what they were reading, and the other one would say, "Shhh!" As Ebenezer read, he felt his eyes begin to tire. The words and pictures turned blurry, and he had to fetch the gentleman's monocle that he hadn't worn ever since it had gone out of fashion over a hundred years ago. "Hahaha! You look ridiculous," said Bethany, when she spotted him squinting through it.

他们把麻袋拖到前厅，开始看书。 他们俩谁也不说话，因为他们已经谈得够多了。 偶尔，他们中的一个会对他们正在读的东西咯咯地笑或喘着气，另一个会说：“嘘！”埃比尼泽一边读，一边感到眼睛开始疲劳。 文字和图片都变得模糊了，他不得不去拿那副绅士用的单片眼镜，那副眼镜一百多年前就过时了，他再也没有戴过。 “哈哈哈!你看起来很可笑，”贝瑟妮看见他眯着眼睛看报纸时说。

"I thought you were trying to be good," said Ebenezer. "I am. Aren't good people supposed to be honest? I'm telling the truth—that thing makes you look ridiculous!" "You might be right," he said, as he caught sight of his reflection. "But I won't be wearing it for long. My eyes will be strong again once I have the potion." Ebenezer went into the kitchen and made Bethany a large dinner—one that would fatten her up nicely for the beast. He fried a slab of red meat in one pan and boiled a small bucket of potatoes in another. "Dinnertime!" he shouted, once it was ready. Bethany stomped to the kitchen table, carrying a goblin comic under her arm. She

埃比尼泽说：“我还以为你想做个好人呢。” ”我。好人不应该诚实吗？ 我说的是实话——那东西让你看起来很可笑！”“也许你是对的，”他说，他看到了自己的倒影。 “但我不会戴太久。 只要我喝了药水，我的眼睛就会恢复健康。” 埃比尼泽走进厨房，给伯大尼做了一顿丰盛的晚餐——一顿可以让她长得很肥的晚餐。 他用一只锅煎一块红肉，用另一只锅煮一小桶土豆。 “晚饭时间到了！”饭一做好，他就喊道。 宝芬妮腋下夹着一本妖精漫画，迈着沉重的步子走到厨房的桌子前。 她

held the comic open with one hand and forked potatoes into her mouth with the other. "That looks interesting," said Ebenezer. The front cover of the comic was a picture of a bright green goblin with orange boots and pointed yellow teeth. "You can't have it," said Bethany. "It's mine." "I know it is. I bought it for you. And I don't want it now anyway—I'll just borrow it after you're done with it." "No." "No?" "Yes. No." "What do you mean no?" "I mean—no." "But I bought them for you!"

一只手把漫画打开，另一只手把土豆叉进嘴里。 “这看起来很有趣，”埃比尼泽说。 漫画的封面是一个亮绿色的小妖精，穿着橙色的靴子，长着黄色的尖牙。 “你不能拥有它，”宝芬妮说。 “这是我的。”“我知道。 我给你买的。反正我现在也不要了——等你用完了再借吧。” “没有。”“没有吗?”“是的。没有。”“你说不行是什么意思？”“我没有。” “可是我给你买的呀！”

"Yes, and I said thank you—which was very unlike me—and now all the ones in the sack are mine." "You didn't actually say the words 'thank' and 'you.' And do you mean that you're not going to let me read any of them?" "That's right. I don't like sharing." "Well, in that case, you're not allowed to read while you're eating dinner." Bethany shrugged and closed her comic. She started forking potatoes into her mouth at a rapid pace. "If I lend you one of my comics, will you get me a pet?" she asked, between forkfuls. "Bethany, I will never, ever get you a pet. Stop asking me about it." "But why? Don't you want to know what it's like to have one?"

“是的，我说了谢谢你——这完全不像我——现在口袋里所有的都是我的了。” “你并没有说‘谢谢’和‘你’。你的意思是你不打算让我读任何一篇吗？”“这是正确的。 我不喜欢分享。”“好吧，那样的话，你就不能在吃饭的时候看书了。” 宝芬妮耸耸肩，合上了她的漫画书。 她开始快速地把土豆叉进嘴里。 “如果我借给你一本我的漫画，你会给我一只宠物吗？”她边吃边问。 “宝芬妮，我永远不会给你买宠物。 别再问我了。”“但为什么? 难道你不想知道拥有一个孩子是什么感觉吗？”

"I already know exactly what it's like," he answered, looking a little uncomfortable. "A few centuries ago I had a charming Cheshire cat called Lord Tibbles. Unfortunately, things did not end well." "What happened?" she asked, leaning forward with interest. "Was he a scratchy cat? The scratchy ones are my favorite." "No, no, no—Lord Tibbles was a perfect gentleman. He was kind and he was fluffy, right up until the day the beast decided to eat him." Bethany's mouth curled into an expression of appalled horror, but Ebenezer wasn't finished yet. He thought it might be a novel sensation to tell her the whole truth about his relationship with the beast—besides, it wasn't

“我已经很清楚那是什么样子了，”他回答，看上去有点不自在。 “几个世纪前，我有一只可爱的柴郡猫，名叫蒂布尔斯勋爵。 不幸的是，事情的结局并不好。” “发生了什么事？”她问，好奇地向前倾着身子。 “他是一只抓痒的猫吗？”我最喜欢那种发痒的。” “不，不，不——蒂布尔斯勋爵是个十足的绅士。 他很善良，毛茸茸的，直到有一天野兽决定吃掉他。” 贝瑟妮的嘴卷成一副惊恐的表情，但埃比尼泽还没说完。 他想，把他和那畜生关系的全部真相告诉她，也许会是一种新奇的感觉——不过，事实并非如此