9 The Unwanted Assistance

The Unwanted Assistance Claudette and Bethany began their volunteering mission at the bird shop. Like nearly everyone else in the neighborhood that morning, the bird-keeper was humming the melody to "Hurricane Picnic." "Morning!" boomed Bethany. "How can I help?" "Ain't that the question I'm supposed to ask?" said the bird-keeper. "Maybe on a normal day, but this is no normal day. I'm here to volunteer," said Bethany. "Would you like me to feed a grape to the Fantastically Ferocious Eagle? I can even give that stinky hoatzin a bath if you'd like."

克劳德特和贝瑟尼开始了她们在鸟店的志愿服务任务。 那天早上，和附近几乎所有人一样，养鸟人哼着“飓风野餐”的旋律。 “早上好！”宝芬妮大声说。 “我能帮什么忙？”“这难道不是我该问的问题吗？” “也许在平常的一天，但这不是平常的一天。 我是来做志愿者的，”宝芬妮说。 “你想让我喂一颗葡萄给神奇凶猛的鹰吃吗？” 如果你愿意的话，我甚至可以给那只臭猫洗个澡。”

The bird-keeper was a straight-talking, straight-thinking kind of businessman, and it took him a while to understand the concept of volunteering. His confusion wasn't helped by the fact that he had spent most of the morning resolving a tense argument between Keith the Dove and the Hawaiian honeycreepers.

这位养鸟人是一位说话直率、思维直率的商人，他花了一段时间才理解志愿服务的概念。 他花了一上午的大部分时间来解决鸽子基思和夏威夷蜜雀之间的一场紧张的争论，这并没有减轻他的困惑。

"I ain't getting it," he said. "You're telling me that you wanna do work here, but you don't want money for it?" The bird-keeper couldn't believe his good fortune, and he nearly started jumping for joy. But then he almost did a few cartwheels of frustration. "My bloomin' luck. I get my very first volunteer, and it turns out to be a prankster," he said grumpily. "I've given up the pranking," said Bethany. "Gimme something to do. You won't regret it." "I won't regret it, 'cause I won't do it," said the bird-keeper. "And there's no point lying. Those things you sold me show you're still a nasty prankster." "Oh deary, not your things as well. What's happened?" asked Claudette.

“我不明白，”他说。 “你是在告诉我，你想在这里工作，但你不想要钱？”养鸟人简直不敢相信自己的好运，他高兴得差点跳起来。 但随后他沮丧地几乎翻了几个跟头。 “我的好运气。我找到了我的第一个志愿者，结果是一个爱恶作剧的人，”他暴躁地说。 “我已经不搞恶作剧了，”宝芬妮说。 “给我点事做。你不会后悔的。” “我不会后悔的，因为我不会这么做，”养鸟人说。 “说谎是没有意义的。 你卖给我的那些东西表明你仍然是一个讨厌的恶作剧者。” “哦，亲爱的，不是你的东西。 发生了什么事？”克劳德特问。

"The mind-reading vacuum is a menace. I've had to lock it away 'cause I caught it trying to hoover up the toucans," said the bird-keeper. "Meanwhile, that bleedin' piano in the corner has started playing itself—loudly and 'orridly—when I'm tryna get the day birds off to sleep. It's got Bethany's name all over it." "But I didn't do anything," said Bethany sadly. "I don't believe you, and even if I did, I wouldn't take the risk. My business is too important," said the bird-keeper. "What 'bout you, Claudette—feeling any perkier?" "All fine," she said quickly. "You sure? Your color don't look right. Let's do some more tests," said the bird-keeper.

“读心术吸尘器是一种威胁。 我不得不把它锁起来，因为我抓到它在吸巨嘴鸟，”养鸟人说。 “与此同时，角落里那架该死的钢琴开始弹起来了——又大声又刺耳——当我想让白天的鸟儿入睡的时候。 上面全是宝芬妮的名字。” “可我什么也没做啊，”宝芬妮伤心地说。 “我不相信你，即使我相信你，我也不会冒这个险。 我的事情太重要了，”养鸟人说。 “你呢，克劳德蒂，觉得高兴些了吗？”“都很好，”她很快地说。 “你确定吗?你的颜色看起来不对。 让我们再做一些测试，”养鸟人说。

"What tests?" asked Bethany. "Oh, I came here before last night's rehearsal. Just wanted to check that those sleepless nights I've been having weren't anything to worry about," said Claudette, still speaking hurriedly. "It doesn't matter. The results showed I'm an incredibly healthy parrot, didn't they? No more tests for me." "Suit yourself," said the bird-keeper with a huff. "Now, if you don't mind, some of us have a business to run.…" Bethany and Claudette left the shop. They flew over to the Cussock Theater to volunteer their services. "The theater is no place for children!" said Mr. Cussock. "Especially ones like you! We still remember the day you put superglue on all our

“什么测试？”伯大尼问。 “哦，我是在昨晚彩排前来的。 “我只是想确认一下，那些不眠之夜没什么好担心的，”克劳德特说，仍然急促地说着。 “没关系。结果显示我是一只非常健康的鹦鹉，不是吗？ 我再也不用做测试了。”“随你便，”养鸟人气呼呼地说。 “现在，如果你不介意的话，我们有些人要经营生意。”宝芬妮和克劳德特离开了商店。 他们飞到库索克剧院志愿服务。 “剧院不是孩子们的地方！”库索克说。 “尤其是像你这样的人！”我们还记得那天你把强力胶涂在我们的