16 The Noisy Curtains

The Noisy Curtains That is none of your business," said Ebenezer. "It looks like a pair of red velvet curtains," said Miss Fizzlewick. She walked over and inspected them more closely. She felt the soft, plush fabric between her fingers and gave them a sniff. "Why, Mr. Tweezer, these will go perfectly in my office!" she said. She quickly corrected her mistake. "I mean, in the orphanage, of

“这不关你的事，”埃比尼泽说。 “它看起来像一副红色天鹅绒窗帘。”菲兹乐维克小姐说。 她走过去，更仔细地检查了一下。 她用手指摸了摸那柔软的长毛绒织物，嗅了嗅。 “哎呀，镊子先生，这些放在我的办公室里很合适！”她说。 她很快纠正了自己的错误。 “我是说，在孤儿院

course. It's a well-known fact that all children love curtains." "Excellent idea," he said. "I'll buy you a set of curtains like these for every room in the house. Let's go down there, immediately, so I can give you the money." But Miss Fizzlewick wasn't done with her search. She bent down to the curtains again and placed her ear to them. "Is there something behind here?" she asked. "I could have sworn that I just heard a noise. It's a sort of grunting, snuffling sound." "The sound is neither a grunt nor a snuffle!" said the beast, in its loud and slithery voice. "It is the sound of a majestic and beautiful being that will expand your definition of life itself!"

课程。众所周知，所有的孩子都喜欢窗帘。” “好主意，”他说。 “我给你买一套这样的窗帘，铺满家里的每个房间。 我们马上下去吧，我好把钱给你。” 但是菲兹乐维克小姐的搜索还没有结束。 她又俯下身去，凑近窗帘，侧耳倾听。 “这后面有什么东西吗？”她问。 “我发誓我刚才听到了一个声音。 那是一种咕噜声、鼻塞声。” “那声音既不是咕噜声，也不是鼻塞声！”那野兽用响亮而滑溜溜的声音说。 “这是一个雄伟而美丽的生命发出的声音，它将扩展你对生命本身的定义！”

Miss Fizzlewick looked to Ebenezer. She wasn't used to having her definition of life expanded. In response, he rolled his eyes. "Stand back as far as you can, Miss Fizzlewick," he said. "Don't shout, don't scream, and don't make any unpleasant noises. This is going to be a bit of a shock." "Mr. Tweezer, there's nothing behind those curtains that I haven't seen a thousand times before," she said. Ebenezer pulled open the curtains. Miss Fizzlewick tried her best not to be shocked, but she still let out a gasp and dropped her mug, which crashed onto the floor and smashed into pieces. She quickly regained her composure and tried to act like it was no big deal.

菲兹乐维克小姐看着埃比尼泽。 她不习惯自己对生活的定义被扩大。 作为回应，他翻了个白眼。 “菲兹乐维克小姐，尽量往后站。”他说。 “不要喊叫，不要尖叫，不要发出任何不愉快的声音。 这将会有点令人震惊。” “Tweezer先生，窗帘后面没有我没看过一千遍的东西，”她说。 埃比尼泽拉开窗帘。 菲兹乐维克小姐尽量不让自己被吓到，但她还是倒吸了一口气，杯子掉在地上摔得粉碎。 她很快恢复了镇静，努力表现得好像这没什么大不了的。

"Ah yes," she said, looking at the beast. "I think I saw one of these before, when I was in Paris." "You did not," slithered the beast. "Perhaps it was when I was holidaying in Budapest," she said. "I don't think you saw anything like this in Budapest, Paris, or anywhere else in the world except this room, Miss Fizzlewick," said Ebenezer. "Why? Is it a rare creature?" asked Miss Fizzlewick. "I am the last of my kind," boasted the beast. As head of the orphanage, Miss Fizzlewick was used to dealing with children who had lost their families. She said exactly the same

“啊，是的，”她看着野兽说。 “我想我以前在巴黎的时候见过这样的东西。” “你没有，”野兽说。 “也许是我在布达佩斯度假的时候，”她说。 “除了这间屋子，我想你在布达佩斯、巴黎或世界上任何其他地方都没见过这样的东西，菲兹乐维克小姐，”埃比尼泽说。 “为什么?这是一种罕见的生物吗？”菲兹乐维克小姐问。 “我是我的族人中最后一个了。” 作为孤儿院的院长，菲兹乐维克小姐已经习惯了和失去家人的孩子打交道。 她说的一模一样

thing to the beast as she said to everyone who came through the orphanage's doors. "You mustn't whine and grumble. Everyone loses someone at some point, and it's very annoying and selfish if you try to make a big deal of it," she said. Then, to soften the blow, she asked, "What happened to the rest of your kind?" The beast looked to its belly and smiled. Miss Fizzlewick didn't understand what it was trying to say, so she replied, "It's good that you're taking it so well. You're very sensible." "What else am I? Aside from sensible," asked the beast. Miss Fizzlewick looked to Ebenezer. He offered no assistance.

就像她对每一个走进孤儿院的人说的那样。 “你不要发牢骚。 每个人都会在某个时候失去一些人，如果你试图小题大做，这是非常烦人和自私的，”她说。 然后，为了减轻打击，她又问：“你们这类人后来怎么样了？”野兽看了看自己的肚子，笑了。 菲兹乐维克小姐不明白它想说什么，所以她回答说：“你能这么坦然接受，这很好。 你很明智。”“我还能是什么？” “除了理智之外。”野兽问。 菲兹乐维克小姐看着埃比尼泽。 他没有提供帮助。

"Well, you're gray. You have black eyes. And you're quite large," she said. "I am not large! I am thin, beautiful, and I have recently been exercising!" said the beast. "And that's not what I meant. Tell me what I'm like." "I'm sorry, but I just don't know. We've only just met." This was not what the beast wanted to hear, but Miss Fizzlewick didn't care. "Where do you keep your cleaning equipment?" she asked Ebenezer. "A lady never leaves a mess lying around." "Third floor. Fifth door on the right from the staircase—next to the stationery suite," he replied. "There's no need to go all the way down there," said the beast. It closed its eyes, shut

“嗯，你是灰色的。你的眼睛是黑的。 而且你很大，”她说。 “我个子不大！”我又瘦又漂亮，而且最近一直在锻炼！”野兽说。 “我不是这个意思。 告诉我我是什么样的人。”“对不起，我就是不知道。 我们才刚认识。”这不是那头野兽想听的话，但菲兹乐维克小姐不在乎。 “你把清洁设备放在哪里？”她问埃比尼泽。 “淑女是不会乱扔东西的。” “三楼。从楼梯往右第五个门——就在文具室旁边。”他回答。 “没必要这么一路下去。”野兽说。 它闭上了眼睛，闭上了