22 The Beast and the Bird-Keeper

The Beast and the Bird-Keeper Three weeks later, Bethany and Ebenezer helped the bird-keeper carry the baby grand piano into his shop. Sweat poured off their brows, and their arms ached from the carrying. "Put it by the counter. I want to be able to play for the customers when they come in,"

三个星期后，伯大尼和埃比尼泽帮鸟饲养员把那架小三角钢琴搬进了他的店里。 汗水从他们的眉毛上淌下来，他们的手臂因搬运而疼痛。 “把它放在柜台旁边。我希望能够在顾客进来的时候为他们演奏。”

said the bird-keeper. The bird-keeper had bought the instrument and a few other things in a yard sale that Bethany and Ebenezer had held to raise funds for the orphanage. All the items on offer had originally been vomited out by the beast, and the bird-keeper had bought the baby grand from Bethany at the very reasonable (and slightly ridiculous) price of twenty worms. "Do you need help with anything else?" asked Ebenezer. "We don't have any time, you nitwit. We need to go," said Bethany. "If you need any help feeding the birds, or clearing out their cages, or even just talking to them in soothing tones—just let us know. We'd be happy to stick around to help you out," said Ebenezer to the bird-keeper.

鸟饲养员说。那个养鸟人是在贝瑟尼和埃比尼泽为孤儿院筹集资金而举行的一次庭院拍卖中买到这把乐器和其他一些东西的。 所有的东西最初都是那只野兽吐出来的，养鸟人从伯大尼买下了那架小钢琴，价格非常合理（有点可笑），只有二十根蚯蚓。 “你还需要帮忙吗？”埃比尼泽问道。 “我们没有时间了，你这个笨蛋。 我们得走了，”宝芬妮说。 “如果你需要帮助喂鸟，或者清理它们的笼子，甚至只是用安慰的语气和它们说话，请告诉我们。” 我们很乐意留下来帮助你，”埃比尼泽对养鸟人说。

"We'll be happy to do no such thing!" said Bethany. She had a day of do-gooding planned for the two of them. Ebenezer was far from excited. "There's nothing you can help me with, I'm afraid, Mr. Tweezer. You'd probably get it all wrong anyway," said the bird-keeper. "But I don't see why on earth you're getting involved with all this do-gooding nonsense. Sounds like nothing but a waste of energy to me." "Exactly, it's a waste of time, too! I've only got eighty years left to live, now that the beast is gone," said Ebenezer, brimming with self-pity. "We've been through this already. Eighty years is flipping loads, and we're gonna make sure we live those years in a better way. Get in

“我们很乐意不做这种事！”宝芬妮说。 她为他们俩计划了一天的行善活动。 埃比尼泽一点也不兴奋。 “恐怕你帮不了我什么忙，镊子先生。 不管怎样，你可能都弄错了，”养鸟人说。 “但我不明白你究竟为什么要参与这些行善的胡言乱语。 对我来说，这听起来就是浪费精力。” “没错，这也是浪费时间！”既然那畜生死了，我只剩下八十年可活了。”埃比尼泽自怜地说。 “我们已经经历过了。 80年的时间太长了，我们要确保这80年过得更好。 收割

the car. I'm not arguing with you about this anymore," said Bethany. She dragged Ebenezer out of the shop and into the car. The bird-keeper was left with nothing but his birds for company. He took a seat at his brand-new piano. He hoped that his new purchase would help attract customers and bring joy to the birds. Unfortunately, the piano did neither of these things. The bird-keeper was not a natural musician, and he had refused to take lessons because he thought it was a waste of money. The sounds he made on the piano over the following day were far from pleasant, and so his playing not only drove customers away from the shop, but also angered the birds.

汽车。我不会再和你争论这件事了，”宝芬妮说。 她把埃比尼泽从店里拖了出来，上了车。 养鸟人只剩下他的鸟作伴。 他在他的新钢琴前坐下。 他希望他的新购买能帮助吸引顾客，给鸟儿们带来快乐。 不幸的是，钢琴没有做到这两件事。 这位养鸟人并不是一个天生的音乐家，他拒绝上钢琴课，因为他认为那是浪费钱。 第二天，他在钢琴上发出的声音一点也不悦耳，因此他的演奏不仅赶走了顾客，还激怒了鸟儿。

As he sat that evening, trying, and failing, to play "Pop Goes the Weasel," the birds finally made their feelings of anger clear by clucking, shrieking, hooting, tweeting, and quacking at him in an aggressive manner. "Oh, shut up!" he shouted back at them. "I'd like to hear you lot try to play 'Pop Goes the Weasel.' It ain't half a hard song to master!" The birds responded by singing, in beautiful harmony, the entirety of the song. They were about to launch into an encore, but they were silenced when the bird-keeper threatened to stop feeding them. "And if I hear so much as one more chirp out of any of you, I'll send you all to the rescued cats' home," he added.

那天晚上，他坐在那里，试着弹《黄鼠狼去吧》，但都失败了。最后，鸟儿们用一种咄咄逼人的方式，对他咯咯地叫、尖叫、叫、叫、嘎嘎地叫，把它们的愤怒表达得清清楚楚。 “哦，闭嘴！”他对他们喊道。 “我想听听你们试着弹‘Pop Goes the Weasel’。”这首歌不难掌握！”鸟儿用优美和谐的歌声回应了整首歌。 他们正准备再唱一曲，但当饲养员威胁要停止喂他们时，他们沉默了。 “如果我再听到你们中的任何一只叫，我就把你们都送到获救的猫之家，”他补充道。

He listened carefully for a good ten seconds and was happy to find that his threat had worked. He cracked his knuckles, stretched his fingers, and was about to resume playing his unusual version of the song, when he was interrupted by another bird. This time, however, it was not one of his own. Claudette, the Wintlorian purple-breasted parrot, was knocking her beak at the window of the shop. The bird-keeper sighed and opened the door. He was about to tell her to get lost, but then he noticed that the past three weeks had not been kind to her. She had lost a lot of weight, and her sparkling blue eyes were bloodshot with sleeplessness. "What's the matter with you?" he asked, as he beckoned her in.

他仔细地听了足足十秒钟，高兴地发现他的威胁起作用了。 他掰了掰指关节，伸了伸手指，正要继续演奏这首不同寻常的歌曲，这时他被另一只鸟打断了。 然而，这一次不是他自己的。 克劳德特，那只温特洛里的紫胸鹦鹉，正用嘴敲打着商店的窗户。 养鸟人叹了口气，打开了门。 他正要叫她走开，但他注意到过去的三个星期对她并不好。 她的体重减轻了很多，明亮的蓝眼睛因失眠而布满了血丝。 “你怎么啦？”他招呼她进来，问道。