22 The Pre-Show Nerves

The Pre-Show Nerves Will you please loosen this rope?" asked Gloria. "Acting is impossible without the use of extravagant hand gestures!" They were about five minutes from the theater. Bethany was still scootering at the slowest speed, which meant that several cars overtook them. They were even overtaken by the orphanage bus, filled with Timothy and the other children. Usually, Gloria would have kicked up a big fuss about such a thing, but she was in a

演出前的紧张请你把绳子松开好吗？”格洛丽亚问道。 “不使用夸张的手势是不可能表演的！”他们离剧院大约有五分钟的路程。 宝芬妮仍然以最慢的速度骑着摩托车，这意味着有几辆车超过了他们。 他们甚至被孤儿院的巴士追上了，车上坐满了蒂莫西和其他孩子。 通常，格洛丽亚会对这种事大吵大闹，但她现在

dreamy mood because of what Bethany had told her. "Did Mummy and Daddy really say they wanted to see me?" asked Gloria as they continued to zoom toward the theater. "What words did they use?" "One of them said they wanted to see you, and the other said, 'Yeah okay,'" said Bethany. "Yeah okay… what a nice thing for them to say," said Gloria with a sigh. "What about their faces? How did they look when they said they wanted to see me?" "I dunno. They looked like normal people saying normal things," said Bethany, who was still struggling with the pangs of guilt. "Stop asking stupid questions about it." "Don't take that tone with me. Need I remind you that I am the talent, and you are

因为宝芬妮告诉她的事，她陷入了梦幻般的心情。 “妈妈和爸爸真的说过要见我吗？”格洛丽亚问，他们继续向剧院飞驰而去。 “他们用了什么词？”“其中一个说想见你，另一个说，‘好吧，好吧，’”宝芬妮说。 “是啊，好吧……他们这么说真好。”格洛丽亚叹了口气说。 “他们的脸怎么样？”他们说要见我的时候是什么表情？”“我不知道。 他们看起来就像正常人在说正常的事情，”贝瑟尼说，她仍然在内疚的痛苦中挣扎。 “别再问这些愚蠢的问题了。” “别用这种语气跟我说话。 需要我提醒你吗，我是天才，你也是

the driver?" said Gloria. "There's no need to be bitter just because your parents died in a fire." "I'd rather have dead parents who loved me than alive ones who don't care," said Bethany. She immediately regretted saying this, because sometimes it's better to lose an argument than win it. Bethany wished that Gloria would respond with something even nastier, but all she received in return was silence. "You deserved that," said Bethany. She tried to look at Gloria's eyes, but her face was turned away. "I deserve nothing but standing ovations and bouquets of flowers from my adoring fans!" cried Gloria.

司机？”格洛丽亚说。“没必要因为父母死于火灾而耿耿于怀。” “我宁愿有爱我的死去的父母，也不愿有不在乎我的活着的父母，”宝芬妮说。 她立刻后悔说了这话，因为有时候输掉一场争论总比赢掉一场好。 宝芬妮希望格洛丽亚能说些更难听的话，但她得到的只是沉默。 “你活该，”宝芬妮说。 她试图看着格洛丽亚的眼睛，但她的脸却转开了。 格洛丽亚大声说道：“我应该得到的只有忠实粉丝们的起立鼓掌和花束！”

"Nah. You deserve a lot worse," said Bethany. She was trying to convince herself that she was still doing the right thing. "If you were nicer to the people at the orphanage, maybe you'd have more adoring fans." "What are you talking about? The other children love me!" said Gloria. "Yeah, about as much as your parents love you," said Bethany. Once again, Bethany felt rotten with regret. Being cruel to one's enemies is like chopping off your arm just so you can hit them with it—in the end, all you do is cause more damage to yourself. "I had no idea you were so unpleasant," said Gloria. "Actually, up until recently, I was trying to become a better person," said Bethany.

“不。你罪有应得，”宝芬妮说。 她试图说服自己，她做的仍然是正确的。 “如果你对孤儿院的人好一点，也许你会有更多的粉丝。” “你在说什么？” 其他孩子都爱我！”格洛丽亚说。 “是啊，就像你父母爱你一样，”宝芬妮说。 贝瑟妮又一次后悔不已。 残忍地对待敌人就像砍掉自己的手臂，这样你就可以用它来打击他们——最终，你所做的只是给自己造成更多的伤害。 “我不知道你这么不讨人喜欢，”格洛丽亚说。 “事实上，直到最近，我一直在努力成为一个更好的人，”宝芬妮说。

"It's not working," said Gloria. "And what do you mean the children don't like me? I'm wonderfully generous with my time. There aren't many stars who would let their audience play such an important role in their careers." "You chase them around the orphanage with a catapult," said Bethany. "That's method acting!" "You make them carry you around the place on a throne." "I'm involving them in my artistic process!" "They've all injured their hands clapping and preparing your ridiculous costumes." "It's not my fault they haven't learned to sew or applaud, and I would say they are receiving valuable skills for life."

“不管用，”格洛丽亚说。 “你说孩子们不喜欢我是什么意思？” 我对自己的时间非常慷慨。 没有多少明星会让观众在他们的职业生涯中扮演如此重要的角色。” “你用弹弓在孤儿院周围追着它们，”宝芬妮说。 “这就是方法表演！”“你让他们把你放在宝座上，在这个地方走来走去。” “我让他们参与到我的艺术创作过程中！”“他们在为你准备可笑的戏服时，都把手弄伤了。” “他们没有学会缝纫或鼓掌不是我的错，我想说他们正在学习对生活有价值的技能。”

Bethany wondered whether it was possible that Gloria didn't know how much everyone hated her. Bethany began to pity her, but then she remembered why she was driving her to the theater in the first place. "My apology party… You didn't even bother coming," said Bethany. "What party?" asked Gloria. "Don't try that trick on me," said Bethany. "I'm not trying anything on you," said Gloria. "I never get invited to parties. I think it's because people think I'm too much of a big star to come. Whereas the truth is that I would happily attend as many as possible, because the crowds that gather there offer me a perfect chance to practice my song-and-dance numbers."

宝芬妮想知道格洛丽亚是否可能不知道大家有多恨她。 宝芬妮开始同情她，但后来她想起了自己当初为什么要开车送她去剧院。 “我的道歉派对……你都懒得来，”宝芬妮说。 “什么派对？”格洛丽亚问。 “别跟我耍花招，”宝芬妮说。 “我没有对你做任何尝试，”格洛丽亚说。 “我从来没有被邀请参加聚会。 我想这是因为人们认为我是一个太大的明星。 而事实是，我很乐意参加尽可能多的活动，因为聚集在那里的人群给了我一个练习歌舞表演的绝佳机会。”