24 The Puddling

The Puddling Who's a clever boy, then?" said the beast, doing its best parrot voice. "Did you really manage to break out of the attic all by yourself? I'm terribly impressed." Ebenezer's voice had been soothed, but the rest of his body was still battered and bruised. As Bethany looked at him, she realized that Ebenezer had never abandoned her—and that it was all another part of the beast's dreadful scheme.

“那么，谁是一个聪明的孩子呢？”野兽用鹦鹉最好的声音说。 “你真的是一个人从阁楼里逃出来的吗？” 我印象深刻。”埃比尼泽的声音已经平静下来，但他身体的其他部分仍然伤痕累累。 当伯大尼看着他时，她意识到埃比尼谢从来没有抛弃过她——这一切都是野兽可怕计划的另一部分。

"Run, Ebenezer, it's too late!" she shouted. She couldn't bear to see her third, final, and most important friend killed by the beast. "Don't you dare send my dear boy away," said the beast. "Look at him—he's positively desperate to see his beasty in action. I think he deserves a premier seat." The beast wiggled its fingers and brought the big yellow umbrella hovering over the best seat in the house—which happened to be occupied by Eduardo Barnacle. The beast puddled Eduardo right in between his screaming parents. "There you go, Ebenezer. Would you like me to vomit out a blanket so your bottom doesn't get wet?" said the beast. "Stop it—stop it right now!" said Ebenezer, marching up the aisle.

“快跑，埃比尼泽，太晚了！”她喊道。 她不忍心看到她的第三个，也是最后一个，也是最重要的朋友被野兽杀死。 “你竟敢把我亲爱的孩子送走。”野兽说。 “看看他——他肯定是迫不及待地想看到他的野兽在行动。 我认为他应该得到总理的位置。” 那野兽扭动着手指，把那把黄色的大伞悬在屋子里最好的座位上——爱德华多·巴纳克尔碰巧坐着这个座位。 这只野兽把爱德华多困在他尖叫的父母中间。 “好了，埃比尼泽。你想让我吐一条毯子，免得你屁股湿吗？”野兽说。 “停下——马上停下！”埃比尼泽一边说，一边走上过道。

"Oh deary. First you break out of the attic, and now you think you're some kind of hero, do you? It seems like someone's been reading too many comics," said the beast, with a sad shake of its head. "I must say, I'm rather fascinated to see what you have in mind. Is that man with the walking sticks a part of your plan?" The beast looked behind Ebenezer. The old man was slowly hobbling into the theater, even though Ebenezer had given him explicit instructions to go back to the retirement home with Nurse Mindy. "I haven't come here with a plan. I've come here to offer you a deal," said Ebenezer. "Let's run away from here. You and I—let's go right now."

“哦亲爱的。你先是从阁楼逃出来，现在又觉得自己是个英雄，是吗？ 似乎有人看了太多的漫画，”野兽说，悲伤地摇了摇头。 “我得说，我很想知道你在想什么。 那个拄拐杖的人是你计划的一部分吗？”野兽回头看了看埃比尼泽。 老人一瘸一拐地慢慢走进剧院，尽管埃比尼泽已经明确指示他和明迪护士一起回到养老院去。 “我不是带着计划来的。 我来这里是想跟你做个交易，”埃比尼泽说。 “我们从这里逃走吧。 你和我，我们现在就走吧。”

"What?" said the beast. A smirk broke out across its dribbly lips—causing more feathers to fall from the parroty side of its body. "You want me to throw away all this hard work? Why on earth would I do that?" "Because I'll serve you again." "You'll serve me again whether you like it or not." "No, I mean I'll do it willingly—like the days before the Bethany blip," said Ebenezer. "I know you can get me to do whatever you like either way, by beating and bullying, but wouldn't you rather avoid all that fuss? If you let her go, I promise I will be the best servant you've ever had. I'll bring you your meals, and I won't ask for anything in return. Staff like that is hard to find. It's like you said—

“什么？”野兽说。它那滴溜溜的嘴唇上绽开了一丝傻笑——更多的羽毛从它那像鹦鹉一样的身体上掉了下来。 “你想让我放弃所有的努力？” 我到底为什么要这么做？”“因为我会再为你服务的。” “不管你喜不喜欢，你都得再服侍我一次。” “不，我的意思是我愿意做这件事——就像宝达尼事件发生前的那些日子一样，”埃比尼泽说。 “我知道你打我、欺负我，不管用哪一种方式，你都可以让我做任何你想做的事，但你难道不想避免这些麻烦吗？” 如果你放了她，我保证我会是你最好的仆人。 我给你送饭，不要求任何回报。 像这样的员工很难找到。 就像你说的

everyone else who served you proved too weak and widdly, m-master." The smirk grew wider. The beast liked hearing the word "master" again. "No, Ebenezer! I'll never let the beast be the boss of you again!" said Bethany. "You don't have a choice in the matter. Please be quiet whilst I speak with my master," said Ebenezer. He returned his attention to the beast. "Think about it. You can't stay here—this show will have attracted too much attention—" "Don't worry about these people. I was planning on puddling them all anyway," said the beast. This remark did not go over well with the audience.

其他侍奉您的人都太软弱、太古怪了，主人。” 假笑得更厉害了。野兽喜欢再次听到“主人”这个词。 “不,埃比尼泽!我再也不会让那畜生当你的老板了！”宝芬妮说。 “在这件事上你没有选择。 请不要作声，等我和我主人说话。”埃比尼泽说。 他把注意力转回到那只野兽身上。 “想想看。你不能呆在这儿——这场表演会引起太多人的注意——”“别为这些人担心。 反正我也打算把他们全坑了。”野兽说。 听众对这句话不太满意。

"That seems like a lot of hassle for you," said Ebenezer. "It would be so much easier if we were to leave right now. We could be far away—long before any division even comes near here. It could be a fresh start—wouldn't that be good for us?" "I suppose an attic in a slightly hotter country could be interesting," said the beast. "But I'm not getting it—you wouldn't want anything from me? No new tea sets, no trousers jazzy enough to play the saxophone? What about the magical things you used to demand from me?" "I don't need any of that," said Ebenezer. "Just let Bethany live, and I'll serve you until the end of time." He looked at Bethany, and Bethany looked at him. They had only known each other for a

埃比尼泽说：“这对你来说似乎有很多麻烦。” “如果我们现在就离开，事情会容易得多。 我们可能在任何组织来之前就已经走远了。 这可能是一个新的开始，这对我们不是很好吗？”“我想在稍微热一点的地方住个顶楼会很有意思。”野兽说。 “但我不明白——你不想从我这里得到任何东西吗？” 没有新的茶具，没有能吹萨克斯管的裤子？ 那你以前要求我做的那些神奇的事情呢？”“我不需要这些，”埃比尼泽说。 “放过宝芬妮吧，我会为你服务到永远” 他看着伯大尼，伯大尼也看着他。 他们彼此认识才一年