3 The Heated Conversation

The Heated Conversation You can't eat a child!" said Ebenezer. The smile dropped from the beast's face. Now, in its place, stood a nasty sort of snarl. "And why not?" asked the beast. "You've brought me everything I've wanted before. Why are you turning your nose up at this one?" "Because it's wrong!" said Ebenezer. "You can't go around eating children. There's

你不能吃掉一个孩子！”埃比尼泽说。 野兽脸上的笑容消失了。 现在，在它的地方，站着一种令人讨厌的咆哮。 “为什么不呢？”野兽问。 “你给我带来了我以前想要的一切。 你为什么对这个人嗤之以鼻呢？”“因为这是错的！”埃比尼泽说。 “你不能到处吃孩子。 有

something very impolite about it." "Impolite? Did you say impolite?" asked the beast. "You didn't think it was impolite when you brought me a Wintlorian purple-breasted parrot, and you didn't think it impolite four hundred years ago when I asked you to bring me the last dodo." "But that was different!" said Ebenezer. "Animals aren't the same as children." "That's a silly way to think!" said the beast. "No, it's not. And I'm sorry, but I just won't do it," said Ebenezer. It was the first time he had stood up to the beast in over five hundred years. The beast gave no sign that it was disappointed. In fact, it looked almost maddeningly calm.

这是非常不礼貌的。” “不礼貌的?你是说不礼貌吗？”野兽问。 “当你给我带来一只温特洛里紫胸鹦鹉时，你并不认为这是不礼貌的，四百年前我让你给我带来最后一只渡渡鸟时，你也不认为这是不礼貌的。” “但那是不一样的！”埃比尼泽说。 “动物和孩子不一样。” “这种想法太愚蠢了！”野兽说。 “不，不是。我很抱歉，但我不会这么做，”埃比尼泽说。 这是五百多年来他第一次与野兽对抗。 野兽没有表现出失望的迹象。 事实上，它看起来平静得令人发狂。

"If that's how you feel, Ebenezer, there's nothing I can do," said the beast. "And thank you for being so honest with me." "Um… that's… well, that's quite all right," said Ebenezer. "Sorry I can't be more helpful." Ebenezer walked toward the door, delighted and surprised by the fact that he had managed to say no to the beast. He was just turning the door handle, when the beast spoke again. "Oh, by the way Ebenezer, I do hope you enjoy old age," said the beast. "I really hope you enjoy having the wrinkles on your body, and the pains in your joints as you walk up the stairs." "What do you mean?" asked Ebenezer. "I mean what I say," said the beast. "I mean that I hope you are happy when old age starts

“如果你是这样想的，埃比尼泽，我也无能为力了。” “谢谢你对我如此坦诚。” “嗯……那……嗯，那很好，”埃比尼泽说。 “对不起，我帮不上什么忙。” 埃比尼泽朝门口走去，又高兴又惊讶，因为他成功地拒绝了那头野兽。 他正要转动门把手，野兽又说话了。 “哦，顺便说一句，埃比尼泽，我真希望你晚年愉快。”野兽说。 “我真的希望你喜欢你身上的皱纹，以及你上楼时关节的疼痛。” “你是什么意思？”埃比尼泽问。 “我说到做到，”野兽说。 “我的意思是，我希望你在老年开始时快乐

weakening your bones and writing lines into your beautiful face." "None of that will happen," says Ebenezer. "The potion will stop all of that from happening like it normally does, won't it?" "Oh, I'm sure it would, dear boy. But where are you going to get the potion from?" asked the beast. "You're not getting it from me, unless you bring me what I want." "But—" "No buts," said the beast. "You need your potion by Saturday, and I want to eat a child before then. Bring one to me, and you will continue to live a long and happy life." "And if I don't?" "Then you shall die, Ebenezer. Without the potion, your body will give in to your old age,

削弱你的骨骼，在你美丽的脸上刻下皱纹。” “这些都不会发生，”埃比尼泽说。 “魔药会像往常一样阻止这一切的发生，是吗？”“哦，我相信会的，亲爱的孩子。 可是你上哪儿去弄药水呢？”野兽问。 “你休想从我这里得到它，除非你把我想要的东西带来。” “但是——”“没有但是，”野兽说。 “星期六之前你需要你的魔药，我想在那之前吃掉一个孩子。 给我拿一个来，你就可以继续幸福长寿了。” “如果我没有呢？”以比尼谢阿、你必死。 没有药剂，你的身体会屈服于你的衰老，

and you will be nothing more than a pile of bones. I would be most upset about it." Ebenezer wondered whether he cared that much about children after all. He didn't really want to feed one to the beast, but he also didn't think that any child was worth more than his own life. "Are you sure there's nothing else I can bring you to eat instead?" asked Ebenezer. "A child is the only thing I want," answered the beast. "Well, then," said Ebenezer. "Let me think about it." The thinking didn't take very long. "I've thought about it, and I think it's a wonderful idea. There's no reason why you shouldn't have a child to eat," said Ebenezer. "Would you mind vomiting out a large brown

你就会变成一堆尸骨。 我会为此感到非常难过。” 埃比尼泽怀疑他是否真的那么关心孩子。 他并不想把一个孩子喂给野兽，但他也不认为任何一个孩子都比他自己的生命更有价值。 埃比尼泽问道：“你确定我没有别的东西可以给你带吃的吗？” “我只想要一个孩子，”野兽回答说。 “那么好吧，”埃比尼泽说。 “让我想想。”思考没花多长时间。 “我已经考虑过了，我认为这是一个很棒的主意。 你没有理由不让孩子吃东西，”埃比尼泽说。 “你不介意吐一大块棕色的吧？

bag for me? Ideally the same size as the one you gave me when I went hunting in the South Pole." The beast hummed and wiggled and vomited out a strong, emperor penguin–sized bag. Ebenezer ran downstairs and jumped into the car with it. He drove straight to the zoo, beeping and weaving his way through the traffic with all the patience of a cranky toddler. He made it to the ticket office with just ten minutes to spare before closing time. "Adult or child?" croaked the old lady at the ticket office. She was small and scaly, and looked like she might be better suited to the lizard enclosure. "I want a child, please," said Ebenezer breathlessly.

给我的包？最好和我去南极打猎时你给我的一样大。” 这只野兽哼哼着，扭动着，吐出了一个结实的，帝企鹅大小的袋子。 埃比尼泽跑下楼，拿着它跳进了车里。 他直接开车去了动物园，一边嘟嘟着，一边在车流中迂回前进，就像一个脾气暴躁的小孩一样耐心。 他在离关门时间只有十分钟的时候赶到了售票处。 “大人还是小孩？”售票处的老太太嘶哑地问。 她很小，身上有鳞片，看起来更适合住在蜥蜴笼里。 “我想要个孩子，求你了，”埃比尼泽上气不接下气地说。