21 The Final Meal

The Final Meal The bird-keeper was wearing his most serious outfit. It was a black suit, with a white shirt and a loosely tied gray tie. He stood behind the till, next to a handwritten sign that read BIRD TOURS FOR SALE—MOST REASONABLE PRICES. "I thought you said you didn't do tours?" asked Bethany.

最后一餐养鸟人穿着他最严肃的衣服。 那是一套黑色西装，外搭一件白衬衫，系一条松松垮垮的灰色领带。 他站在收银台后面，旁边是一个手写的牌子，上面写着“鸟类旅游出售——最合理的价格”。 “我记得你说过你不参加旅游？”宝芬妮问。

"You and Mr. Tweezer inspired me. Customers have been flooding through them doors since I started doing them. Still ain't got rid of the bloomin' hoatzin, though," he answered, while an exotic bird sang a beautiful song in the background. The song was a cheery, toe-tapping number, which the bird had been singing for a few hours. Bethany and the bird-keeper were happy to pass the time listening to it, while they waited for Ebenezer to park the car. He came in a few moments later. He looked young and beautiful, and his hair was immensely shiny. "You've had another haircut, haven't you, Mr. Tweezer?" asked the bird-keeper. "This one looks much better."

“你和Tweezer先生激励了我。 自从我开始做这些生意以来，顾客就络绎不绝。 “不过，还没把开花的花去掉呢。”他回答，一只奇异的鸟在背景里唱着优美的歌。 这首歌是欢快的，轻快的，鸟儿已经唱了几个小时了。 贝瑟妮和养鸟人在等埃比尼泽停车的时候，很高兴地听着这首歌打发时间。 过了一会儿，他进来了。 他看上去又年轻又漂亮，头发非常有光泽。 “你又剪了一次头发，是吗，Tweezer先生？” “这个看起来好多了。”

"Thank you." Ebenezer noticed the sign. "I thought you didn't do tours?" he asked. "Well, I do now," answered the bird-keeper. "And business is booming." "Why didn't you dress up like that when you gave us our tour?" asked Bethany. "This isn't for the tour," said the bird-keeper. "It's to mark a very sad occasion. We're holding Patrick's funeral today."

“谢谢你。”埃比尼泽注意到了这个标志。 “我还以为你不参加旅游呢？”他问。 “嗯，我现在知道了，”养鸟人回答说。 “生意兴隆。” “你带我们参观的时候为什么不打扮成那样？”宝芬妮问。 “这不是用来旅游的，”养鸟人说。 “这是为了纪念一个非常悲伤的时刻。 我们今天要举行帕特里克的葬礼。”

Ebenezer realized that the beautiful song in the shop reminded him of Patrick. "It sounds a bit like him," said Ebenezer. "Did he record an album before… well, before what happened?" "No. That's Claudette singing. She's a cousin of Patrick's," said the bird-keeper. "She came to visit this morning, and I had to tell her the bad news. So in true Wintlorian tradition, she began the funeral singing immediately." Ebenezer poked his head around the back of the shop and saw that Claudette didn't just sound a bit like Patrick—she looked a bit like him too. Her chest was purple and her talons were green; however, she was shorter and just a teensy bit rounder than her cousin.

埃比尼泽意识到，店里那首美妙的歌让他想起了帕特里克。 “听起来有点像他，”埃比尼泽说。 “他在……嗯，在那件事发生之前录制过专辑吗？”“没有。 那是克劳德特在唱歌。她是帕特里克的表妹，”养鸟人说。 “她今天早上来看我，我不得不告诉她这个坏消息。 所以按照真正的温特洛里传统，她立即开始了葬礼的歌唱。” 埃比尼泽从商店后面探出头来，发现克劳德特不仅说话声音有点像帕特里克，而且长得也有点像他。 她的胸部是紫色的，爪子是绿色的；然而，她比她的表妹矮一些，而且比她的表妹稍微圆一点。

"The song's a bit too happy for a funeral, don't you think?" said Bethany. "Maybe a little. But she's a wonderful singer," said Ebenezer. The three of them stood listening to the song for a few moments. The music transported each of them to a different place inside their head. The bird-keeper was the first to break the lull in the conversation, because he had listened to the song for a while and because he was a businessman who didn't like to leave customers standing aimlessly in his shop. "Was there anything in particular you wanted?" he asked. "Yes, actually, we're looking for—" began Ebenezer.

“对于葬礼来说，这首歌太欢快了，你不觉得吗？” “也许有一点吧。但她是个很棒的歌手，”埃比尼泽说。 他们三个站在那里听了一会儿这首歌。 音乐把他们每个人都带到他们头脑中不同的地方。 养鸟人第一个打破了谈话的平静，因为他已经听了一会儿这首歌，因为他是一个商人，不喜欢让顾客漫无目的地站在他的店里。 “你有什么特别想要的吗？”他问。 “是的，事实上，我们正在找——”埃比尼泽开始说。

"It's Ebenezer's birthday today," interrupted Bethany. "Do you do any birthday discounts?" The bird-keeper flinched at the use of the word "discount." Then he was struck by a wonderful idea. "We do even better than discounts. We give our most special, most loyal customers presents on their birthday!" he said. The bird-keeper turned to go to the back of the shop, but Ebenezer stopped him. "Sorry, but I don't want the hoatzin for my birthday," he said. "Thanks for the offer, but we're not actually here to buy a bird." The bird-keeper turned back to face Bethany and Ebenezer. He was unhappy. "Mr. Tweezer, you know this is a bird shop, and yet it's the third time this week you've

“今天是埃比尼泽的生日，”宝芬妮插嘴说。 “你们过生日有折扣吗？”听到“折扣”这个词，养鸟人畏缩了一下。 这时，他突然想到了一个绝妙的主意。 “我们做得比折扣更好。 我们会在最特别、最忠诚的顾客生日那天送他们礼物！” 养鸟人转身向商店后面走去，但埃比尼泽拦住了他。 “对不起，我的生日不想要巧克力蛋糕，”他说。 “谢谢你的提议，但我们不是来买鸟的。” 养鸟人转过身来，面对着宝芬妮和埃比尼泽。 他很不开心。“镊子先生，你知道这是一家鸟店，但这已经是你这个星期第三次。