5 The Day of Do-Gooding

The Day of Do-Gooding The fabric of the gold-buttoned shirt was as smooth and silky as a perfectly prepared chocolate mousse, and it felt just as exquisite on Ebenezer's skin as it had done all those centuries ago. He'd last worn it on the most recent New Year's Eve, when the beast, in a rare generous mood, had vomited out a personal firework show for the two of them. Ebenezer giggled as he thought about the bottle rockets and

金扣衬衫的面料像精心准备的巧克力慕斯一样光滑柔滑，在埃比尼泽的皮肤上感觉就像几百年前那样精致。 他最后一次戴它是在最近的新年前夜，那头野兽以一种罕见的慷慨态度，为他们俩吐了一场私人烟花表演。 埃比尼泽咯咯地笑，因为他想到了瓶子的火箭和

Roman candles fizzing around the beast's attic. "See. I told you the de-beasting would make you feel awesome," said Bethany. Ebenezer's giggle was brought to an abrupt end. An awkward cough took its place. "I wasn't smiling about that," he said, returning his attention to the steering wheel. "What was it, then?" asked Bethany. "Just some joke about a hippopotamus," said Ebenezer. "It doesn't matter." He took the turn into the orphanage, and as usual Bethany got all weird and fidgety. She always did this because she felt rotten returning to where she had spent the unhappiest years of her life. And yet, she also felt a thrill of nervous excitement whenever they visited, because this was the place where

罗马蜡烛在野兽的阁楼上嘶嘶作响。 ”看到。我告诉过你，消灭野兽会让你感觉很棒，”宝芬妮说。 埃比尼泽的咯咯笑戛然而止。 一阵尴尬的咳嗽取而代之。 “我并没有笑，”他说着，又把注意力转向了方向盘。 “那是什么呢？”伯大尼问。 “只是一个关于河马的笑话，”埃比尼泽说。 “没关系。”他拐进了孤儿院，和往常一样，宝芬妮变得又古怪又烦躁。 她总是这样做，因为她觉得回到她度过了她生命中最不幸的岁月的地方很糟糕。 然而，每当他们来访时，她也会感到一种神经质的兴奋，因为这是一个地方

she saw Geoffrey—a previous victim of her pranks, who had now become something of a friend. "I shouldn't be carrying these worms," said Bethany. She removed them from her pockets as Ebenezer parked. "If Geoffrey sees me with them, he'll think I'm trying to shove them up his nostrils. You give them to the orphanage." "I shall do no such thing. The worms are your problem." "I'm not gonna be seen dead with them. Either take them in your hands, or take them up your nostrils. Your choice," said Bethany.

她看到了杰弗里——她以前恶作剧的受害者，现在成了她的朋友。 “我不应该带着这些虫子，”宝芬妮说。 埃比尼泽停车时，她从口袋里拿了出来。 “如果杰弗里看到我和它们在一起，他会认为我想把它们塞进他的鼻孔。 你把它们送给孤儿院。” “我不会这么做的。 虫子是你的问题。” “我不想让别人看到我和他们死在一起。 要么拿在手里，要么拿在鼻孔里。 你自己选吧，”宝芬妮说。

Ebenezer reluctantly opted for the hand option, whilst Bethany collected the box of money and the other things they had received at the yard sale. Once outside, their eyes were assaulted by the full majesty of the orphanage's ugliness. It looked like the kind of building that had completely given up on trying to impress people—an architectural equivalent of someone who freely picks their nose in public. Usually, the place was noisy with children, but on this occasion, it was suspiciously quiet. "Where's Geoff—" began Bethany, before correcting herself. "I mean, where's everyone?" As if in answer to her question, the new director of the orphanage shuffled out of the

埃比尼泽不情愿地选择了手工的选择，而宝芬妮则收集了他们在庭院拍卖中收到的一箱钱和其他东西。 一到外面，他们的眼睛就被孤儿院丑陋的威严所震撼。 它看起来像是那种完全放弃了给人留下深刻印象的建筑——就像一个在公共场合随意挖鼻孔的人。 通常，这个地方都是孩子们的嘈杂声，但这次却出奇地安静。 “杰夫在哪儿——”宝芬妮开始说，然后纠正了自己。 “我是说，大家都到哪儿去了？”似乎是在回答她的问题，孤儿院的新院长拖着脚走出了房间

building to greet them. His name was Timothy Skittle, and he didn't seem fond of unexpected visitors. "Oh no," said Timothy to Ebenezer. "Please don't tell me you're here to drop off another child. I can barely keep control of the ones I've got." "We're here to bring money and presents to help the orphanage," said Bethany. Timothy ignored her contribution to the conversation. "Don't leave her with me. I'm terrible with children," he pleaded. "There's nothing to worry about. Bethany's staying with me. I picked her up from here about a month ago," said Ebenezer. "You're not the Bethany, are you?" asked Timothy, who now seemed even more

去迎接他们。他的名字叫蒂莫西·斯基特，他似乎不喜欢不速之客。 “哦，不，”蒂莫西对埃比尼泽说。 “别告诉我你是来送另一个孩子的。 我几乎控制不了我手上的那些。” “我们带着钱和礼物来这里帮助孤儿院，”贝瑟尼说。 蒂莫西忽略了她在谈话中的贡献。 “别把她留给我。我对孩子很不好，”他恳求道。 “没什么好担心的。 宝芬妮和我一起住。 我大约一个月前从这里接走了她，”埃比尼泽说。 “你不是伯大尼人吧？”提摩太问，他现在看起来更像了

worried. "Yeah, that's me," said Bethany, thoroughly pleased with herself. "I bet you've heard some pretty awesome things." "I've heard some pretty awful things. About how you put wasabi in tubes of toothpaste, and hid fake spiders in the cornflakes. The other children are terrified of you," said Timothy.

担心。“是的，那就是我，”宝芬妮说，对自己非常满意。 “我打赌你听说过一些非常棒的事情。” “我听说过一些非常可怕的事情。 你把山葵放进牙膏里，把假蜘蛛藏在玉米片里。 其他的孩子都怕你，”蒂莫西说。