17 The Terrible Tweezer

The Terrible Tweezer The beast squeezed at Claudette's eyeballs until they watered and used one of her wings to dab away the "tears." "It was terrible," it said. "I explained to Ebenezer why you need to take revenge on the neighborhood, but he wouldn't listen. He thinks you were stupid to even ask for another chance from the people you pranked in the past. He said that if you think he's selfish,

这只野兽紧紧地挤着克劳德特的眼球，直到它们湿润了，然后用她的一只翅膀擦掉了“眼泪”。 “太可怕了，”它说。 “我向埃比尼泽解释了你为什么要向邻居复仇，但他不听。 他认为你向过去被你捉弄过的人要求再给一次机会是愚蠢的。 他说如果你觉得他自私，

then maybe he'll show you just how selfish he could be." "Nah," said Bethany. She started looking around the kitchen—opening various cupboards and fridges, convinced that she'd find him hiding in one of them. "He knows I just said those things 'cause I was hurt." "The only thing he knows is that he wants you and me out of here by Saturday, so he can go back to his wonderful, carefree life of endless bubble baths and tea parties for one," said the beast, squeezing the eyeballs again for dramatic effect. "I'll have to move on from this neighborhood, and you… Well, I guess you're going to have to go back to the orphanage." The beast wanted to enjoy the look on Bethany's face, but her back was turned, and she spent a few moments just staring intently

也许他会让你知道他有多自私。” “不，”宝芬妮说。她开始在厨房里四处寻找，打开了各种各样的橱柜和冰箱，确信她会在其中一个柜子里找到他。 “他知道我说那些话是因为我受伤了。” “他唯一知道的是，他想让你和我在星期六之前离开这里，这样他就可以回到他美好、无忧无虑的生活中去，一个人无休止地洗泡泡浴和参加茶话会。”野兽说着，又捏了捏他的眼球，以达到戏剧效果。 “我得离开这个社区，而你……嗯，我想你得回孤儿院去了。” 野兽想欣赏宝芬妮脸上的表情，但她转过身来，花了一会儿时间专注地盯着她

into a cupboard of cookies. Then her spine straightened, and when she turned around, a part of the cupboard's handle came off in her hand. "He knows what it was like there for me. He wouldn't…" But even as she spoke, she didn't believe her own words. There was no way that Claudette would lie to her about such a thing. She knew that Ebenezer had been struggling with the disruptions to his life, but she never imagined that he would chuck her out. She thought their friendship was more important than that. Everywhere she turned, it seemed like someone was against her. She had begun the day thinking that things were looking up, and she was ending it being homeless, hopeless,

放进一个装满饼干的橱柜里。 然后她挺直了脊背，当她转过身来时，碗柜把手的一部分从她手里掉了下来。 “他知道我在那里的感受。 他不会……”但即使她说，她也不相信自己的话。 克劳德特不可能在这种事上对她撒谎。 她知道埃比尼泽一直在与生活的中断作斗争，但她从未想到他会把她赶出去。 她认为他们的友谊比这更重要。 无论她走到哪里，似乎都有人在反对她。 一天开始的时候，她以为一切都在好转，而一天结束的时候，她却无家可归，绝望，

Ebenezerless, and consigned to spend her life in the place where she had been so unhappy. "This is what you get for being a do-gooder," she said. She threw the broken bit of cupboard across the room, causing it to crack one of the fancy teacups that Ebenezer had left out. "I can't go back to the orphanage. Especially now that I know what they all think about me." "I don't think you have a choice—" began the beast. "Stuff that—nobody's ever been very good at telling me what to do. I'm coming with you instead," said Bethany. She looked up with hope in her eyes. "Please, Claudette, can I? You're the only friend I have left...." The beast had to control every muscle in Claudette's body to stop itself from laughing

埃比尼无依无靠，被迫在她曾经如此不幸的地方度过一生。 “这就是行善者的下场，”她说。 她把碗柜的碎片扔到房间的另一边，把埃比尼泽放在外面的一个漂亮茶杯砸碎了。 “我不能再回孤儿院了。 尤其是现在我知道了他们对我的看法。” “我认为你没有选择——”野兽开始说。 “从来没有人擅长告诉我该怎么做。 我和你一起去，”宝芬妮说。 她抬起头，眼中充满希望。 “拜托，克劳德特，我可以吗？” 你是我唯一的朋友....” 这只野兽必须控制克劳德特身上的每一块肌肉，才能控制自己不笑

aloud. Then it spoke the same words it had used all those centuries ago when it had first met Ebenezer. "Don't worry, I promise that you will never ever get rid of me," it said. "I'll take care of you." The beast felt that this would have been the sort of moment that Claudette might have chosen to hug Bethany. It spread its wings and hopped across the counter as it tried to figure out how hugs worked. Thankfully, Bethany was in no such hugging mood. She unzipped her backpack and laid out the rats and pods on the counter. "We're probably gonna have to start our new life together after tomorrow's show," said Bethany. "I won't be able to stick around in

出声来。然后，它又说出了几个世纪前它第一次见到埃比尼泽时说过的话。 “别担心，我保证你永远不会摆脱我，”它说。 “我会照顾你的。”野兽觉得这是克劳德特可能会选择拥抱宝芬妮的时刻。 它展开翅膀，跳过柜台，试图弄清楚拥抱是如何起作用的。 谢天谢地，宝芬妮并没有抱我的心情。 她拉开背包的拉链，把老鼠和豆荚放在柜台上。 “明天的演出结束后，我们可能要开始我们的新生活了，”宝芬妮说。 “我不能呆在家里

this neighborhood once I've unleashed this particular prank." The beast grinned—its hold over Claudette strengthened by the promise of such horridness. Bethany wanted to get to work straightaway, but her eyes were drooping with exhaustion. "Actually, I might have to wait until tomorrow," said Bethany. "But I promise it'll be worth it." This irritated the beast, but it tried to appear unaffected by the delay. "What an excellent idea. I'll fly you up now. Perhaps I might even sing you a sweet, sweet song at the same time," said the beast. Bethany grabbed hold of the talons, and the beast started flying a shaky, bumpy route up to Bethany's bedroom. The beast was better at

一旦我放了这个特别的恶作剧，这个社区就会消失。” 野兽咧嘴一笑——它对克劳德特的控制被这种可怕的承诺加强了。 宝芬妮想马上开始工作，但她的眼睛因疲惫而下垂。 “事实上，我可能要等到明天，”宝芬妮说。 “但我保证这一切都是值得的。” 这激怒了野兽，但它试图表现得不受延误的影响。 “好主意。我现在就送你上去。 也许我还可以同时给你唱一首非常非常好听的歌。”野兽说。 宝芬妮抓住爪子，野兽开始摇摇晃晃、颠簸地飞向宝芬妮的卧室。 野兽更擅长