17 The Belly of the Beast

The Belly of the Beast This particular rumble of the beast's belly was an awful, scratching sound that echoed in listeners' ears and caused them to lose track of their thoughts. Bethany, Ebenezer, and the bird-keeper were forced to their knees. The birds in the shop continued to squawk, screech, quack, and coo in distress.

野兽肚子的这种特殊的隆隆声是一种可怕的、刮擦的声音，在听众的耳朵里回荡，使他们失去了思考的方向。 伯大尼、埃比尼泽和养鸟人被迫跪了下来。 商店里的鸟儿继续在痛苦中吱吱叫、尖叫、嘎嘎叫、咕咕叫。

"Oh no nosies!" said the beast. "Shhhh, naughty belly. Shh shh shushykins!" The belly continued rumbling. It seemed to be making up for lost time. "That sound is making my ears bleedin' well bleed!" said the bird-keeper. "Oh botherkins!" said the beast. "I don't know how to make it stopsies!" The beast quickly waddled out of the shop. Bethany came to her senses. "I knew it!" she said, as she scrambled to her feet and headed in a dazed fashion toward the door. "I knew it was the same old beast! Don't let it escape!" Ebenezer followed hot on Bethany's sneakers. Outside, the beast was trying to silence its belly by thwacking it with its tiny fists.

“哦，不要吵闹！”野兽说。 “嘘，淘气的小肚子。嘘嘘嘘嘘嘘！”肚子继续咕咕叫着。 这似乎是在弥补失去的时间。 “那声音让我的耳朵都要流血了！” “哦，讨厌鬼！”野兽说。 “我不知道怎么让它停下来！”那头野兽很快摇摇摆摆地走出了商店。 宝芬妮恍然大悟。 “我就知道！”她说着爬了起来，茫然地朝门口走去。 “我就知道是那头老野兽！”别让它跑了！”埃比尼泽紧跟在宝芬妮的运动鞋上。 外面，这只野兽正试图用它的小拳头敲打它的肚子，让它安静下来。

"We have to call Nickle!" said Bethany. "He gave me this in case of an emergency," said Ebenezer, producing the thumb-sized button from his pocket. "But I'm not sure that—" Bethany snatched the button and pressed it as hard as she could. A moment later, a puddle grew out of the street. Mr. Nickle popped out of it—swishing one of his walking sticks as if it were a sword. He winced at the sound of the beast's belly rumbling. "What happened?" he asked, turning to Bethany and Ebenezer. "Exactly what I said would happen!" said Bethany. "The beast sniffed a shop full of things it wanted to eat, and its true

“我们得给尼克打电话！”宝芬妮说。 “他给了我这个以防紧急情况，”埃比尼泽说着，从口袋里拿出拇指大小的纽扣。 “但我不确定——”宝芬妮抓起按钮，使劲按了一下。 过了一会儿，街上出现了一个水坑。 尼克先生从里面跳出来，挥舞着他的一根手杖，好像那是一把剑。 他听到野兽肚子的隆隆声畏缩了一下。 “发生了什么事？”他转向伯大尼和以比尼谢问道。 “就像我说的那样！”宝芬妮说。 野兽闻了闻满店它想吃的东西，这是真的

personality came out. Looks like you're gonna have to put it back in its cage." "Owwwsies," said the beast. "Don't let my belly do any more damage to Bethany and Ebenezer." Mr. Nickle wrinkled his already wrinkly brow. "Has the beast had anything to eat today?" asked Mr. Nickle. "I thought you said it didn't eat anymore," said Ebenezer. "It doesn't eat meat, but it still needs to eat, you fools!" said Mr. Nickle. He aimed one of his sticks at a spot above the beast and opened a puddle portal in the air. A few moments later, a mountain of scrap metal fell into the canoe.

个性显现出来了。看来你得把它放回笼子里了。” “哎哟！”野兽说。 “别让我的肚子再伤害宝芬妮和埃比尼泽了” 尼克尔先生皱起了已经皱巴巴的眉头。 “这头野兽今天吃东西了吗？”尼克尔先生问。 “我记得你说它不再吃东西了，”埃比尼泽说。 “它不吃肉，但它还是需要吃东西，你们这些傻瓜！”尼克先生说。 他把一根棍子对准野兽上方的一个地方，在空中打开了一个水坑的入口。 过了一会儿，一大堆废金属掉进了独木舟里。

The beast excitedly gnawed on the metal, like a dog with a collection of juicy bones. Within the space of ten seconds, the entire mountain was inside its belly. Pretty soon after that, the rumbling shuddered to a halt. "Oh, thank you so much, Nickle-Wickle!" Mr. Nickle opened another portal filled with metal, just to be sure. "What are you doing?" asked Bethany. "Don't give it food—give it the cage!" "Did the creature actually eat any of the birds?" asked Mr. Nickle. "No, but—" began Bethany. "So you're saying that you took the hungry beast into a room full of animals, and it didn't take so much as a bite? That is most encouraging," said Mr. Nickle. "How's the rehabilitation campaign going?"

野兽兴奋地啃着金属，就像一只狗在收集多汁的骨头。 在十秒钟的时间里，整座山都在它的肚子里。 没过多久，隆隆声颤抖着停了下来。 “哦，太谢谢你了，尼克-威克！”尼克先生打开了另一个装满金属的传送门，只是为了以防万一。 “你在做什么？”伯大尼问。 “别喂它吃的，把它关在笼子里！”“那个生物真的吃了鸟吗？”尼克尔先生问。 “不，但是——”伯大尼开始说。 “所以你是说，你把这只饥饿的野兽带到一个满是动物的房间里，它连一口都没咬？” 这是最令人鼓舞的。” “康复运动进行得怎么样了？”

"Up until now, it was going rather well, actually," said Ebenezer. "It's been vomiting useful things for the neighborhood all day." "Good. Very good," said Mr. Nickle. "Yes, and I don't wish to tootle my own horn," said Ebenezer, as he prepared to give himself a tootle. "But several of the neighbors have been complimenting me on—" "Have you two lost the flipping plot?" said Bethany. "The beast proved it hasn't changed! Look at the shop!" "Better tidy that up," said Mr. Nickle. He pointed one of his sticks at the window to seal up the crack. He hobbled into the shop and returned a few moments later. "Little memory wipe for the bird-keeper. He won't remember the rumbling at all. Now then, better get back home."

埃比尼泽说：“实际上，到目前为止，一切都进行得相当顺利。 “它一整天都在吐对邻居有用的东西。” “很好。“很好，”尼克先生说。 “是的，我不想自吹自擂，”埃比尼泽说，他准备给自己吹个小号。 “但有几个邻居一直在称赞我——”“你们俩没搞懂倒卖情节吗？”宝芬妮说。 “那畜生证明了它没有变！”看看这家店！”“最好把它整理一下，”尼克先生说。 他用一根棍子指着窗户，想堵住裂缝。 他一瘸一拐地走进商店，不一会儿就回来了。 “给养鸟人擦点记忆。 他根本不会记得隆隆声。 现在，你最好回家去吧。”