9 The Cunning Plan

The Cunning Plan A good night's sleep can do wonders for the brain. It can help sharpen your thinking, and if you are lucky, it can bring you answers to the most troublesome questions. Ebenezer was very lucky on that Wednesday morning, because he woke up with a solution to the Bethany problem. The solution was a clever one, and it made Ebenezer smile as he thought about it.

巧妙的计划晚上睡个好觉对大脑有奇效。 它可以帮助你提高思维，如果你幸运的话，它可以给你带来最棘手问题的答案。 埃比尼谢在那个星期三的早晨非常幸运，因为他一觉醒来就找到了解决伯大尼问题的办法。 这个解决办法很聪明，埃比尼泽一想到这个办法就笑了。

"Yes! That will do the trick!" he said. He was excited, and he wanted to show it by jumping out of bed. However, for some reason, his body was working a little slower than usual. The bones in his legs were aching, and it took him almost twice as long as it normally did to reach the bathroom. When he got there, he peered into the mirror and shrieked. There were wrinkles around his eyes, and his hair had lost some of its color. The potion was wearing off. "I must get rid of that child," said Ebenezer to his reflection. Ebenezer brushed his teeth, made use of the toilet, and soaked in his morning bubble bath. Then he got dressed and went downstairs. He laid out a mountain of food for Bethany on the breakfast table, and then, to

“是啊!这就行了！”他说。 他很兴奋，他想从床上跳起来表现出来。 然而，由于某种原因，他的身体比平时运转得慢了一点。 他腿上的骨头疼得厉害，上厕所的时间几乎是平时的两倍。 到了那里，他朝镜子里看了看，尖叫起来。 他的眼睛周围有皱纹，头发也失去了一些颜色。 魔药渐渐失效了。 “我必须摆脱这个孩子，”埃比尼泽对自己的沉思说。 埃比尼泽刷了牙，上了厕所，泡了早上的泡泡浴。 然后他穿好衣服下了楼。 他为宝芬妮在早餐桌上放了一堆食物，然后

make sure she ate it, he put a sign on the table that read, DO NOT EAT!

为了确保她吃了它，他在桌子上放了一个牌子，上面写着：不要吃！

He returned to his room and pretended to be asleep. About an hour later, Bethany woke up and stomped downstairs while screaming an annoying song at the top of her voice. Ebenezer heard her chuckle with glee when she saw the food and the sign on the breakfast table. Ebenezer waited for exactly thirty minutes before returning to the kitchen. When he got there, Bethany was eating her fourth pain aux raisins, while reading one of Geoffrey's comics. There were three empty bowls of porridge next to her. "Oh no! What have you done?" asked Ebenezer, with the very best horrified face he could manage in the face of such a triumph. He was trying his hardest to pretend that he was cross with Bethany.

他回到自己的房间假装睡着了。 大约一个小时后，贝瑟妮醒了过来，一边跺着脚下楼，一边扯着嗓子唱着烦人的歌。 当埃比尼泽看到早餐桌上的食物和牌子时，她高兴地笑了起来。 埃比尼泽等了整整30分钟才回到厨房。 当他到达那里时，宝芬妮正在吃她的第四粒葡萄干，同时读着杰弗里的一本漫画。 她旁边有三碗空粥。 “哦,不!你做了什么？”埃比尼泽问道，面对这样的胜利，他露出了最惊恐的表情。 他竭力装出生宝芬妮的气。

"Breakfasted," she answered. "Oh, what a shame," lied Ebenezer. "I wanted us to have breakfast together so that I could take some time to tell you all about the beast's magical powers." "I thought you wouldn't want to have breakfast with a weakling." Bethany paused for a moment and lifted her head out of the comic. "What do you mean magical powers?" Ebenezer had to stop himself from saying, Whoopee! at this point. He couldn't believe how well his plan was going. "Never mind, I'll tell you another time. It won't work now anyway—you've already ruined it," he said. "No, tell me now!" shouted Bethany. She banged one of her fists on the breakfast table, causing the jug of orange juice to wobble.

“吃过早饭了，”她回答。 “哦，真可惜，”埃比尼泽撒谎道。 “我想和你一起吃早餐，这样我就有时间给你讲讲这只野兽的魔力了。” “我想你不会想和一个弱者一起吃早餐的。” 宝芬妮停了一会儿，从漫画中抬起头来。 “你说魔法是什么意思？”埃比尼泽不得不抑制住自己，没有叫出声来！此时此刻。 他简直不敢相信他的计划进行得如此顺利。 “没关系，我下次再告诉你。 不管怎么说，现在行不通了——你已经把它毁了。” “不，现在就告诉我！” 她用一只拳头猛击早餐桌上，弄得那罐橙汁摇晃起来。