20 The Ultimate De-Beasting

The Ultimate De-Beasting The beast looked incredibly mournful for a moment. Then it sprang into action. As the puddle portal opened in the kitchen, it

有那么一会儿，那只野兽显得异常悲伤。 然后它开始行动起来。 当厨房的水坑门打开时，它

quickly used its tongues to wash its face and clear all evidence of its eating spree. Mr. Nickle popped out of the puddle, wearing a nightcap and worn-out pj's. "What is it?" he asked, in a sleepy voice. "It's the beast! It was eating meat," said Bethany in triumph. Mr. Nickle rubbed his eyes and looked at the beast. Bethany looked over, expecting a moment of victory, only to realize that it was too late. The beast was smiling a sweet, dribbly smile and was holding a fork in one of its tiny hands. "Oh dearsies, I am eating—but deffy-weff not any meatsies," said the beast. It chomped the top off the fork. "This cutlery is delishy-wish!"

它很快用舌头洗了脸，清除了它疯狂进食的所有证据。 尼克先生从水坑里跳出来，戴着睡帽，穿着破旧的睡衣。 “怎么了？”他用困倦的声音问道。 “是那只野兽！”就是吃肉，”宝芬妮得意地说。 尼克先生揉了揉眼睛，看着那只野兽。 贝瑟妮看了看，期待着胜利的一刻，却意识到已经太晚了。 那只野兽露出甜甜的、滴溜溜的微笑，一只小手拿着叉子。 “哦，亲爱的，我正在吃——不过我不吃——不吃肉。” 它把叉子的顶部咬掉了。 “这餐具真好吃！”

Bethany had nothing she could do or say to prove her word against the beast's. Mr. Nickle wrinkled his wrinkly face crossly at her and confiscated the button. "These are only for people who can be trusted with them," he said, as he put the button in his pajama pocket. With that, he disappeared back inside the puddle. Bethany was unable to believe how badly she had failed. "Sorrykins for doing all that tidying," said the beast. "I know it was very sneaky of me, but I just couldn't bear the idea of leaving my homesies." Bethany began to fear that the beast would never leave. If she couldn't even get it to reveal its true nature by feeding it some meat, then how long would it stay? Days… weeks…

宝芬妮无论做什么或说什么都无法证明她的话与野兽的不一样。 尼克先生生气地皱起他那张满是皱纹的脸，没收了纽扣。 “这只给那些值得信任的人，”他说着，把纽扣放进了睡衣口袋里。 说完，他就消失在水坑里了。 宝芬妮无法相信她失败得如此严重。 “对不起，我做了那么多整理工作。”野兽说。 “我知道我这么做很卑鄙，但我就是无法忍受离开我的家。” 宝芬妮开始担心野兽永远不会离开。 如果她连喂它肉都不能让它露出本性，那它还能待多久呢？ 天周…

months… years, even? Maybe its evil scheme was to stay with Bethany for the rest of her life and torment her until she was on her deathbed. "Did you hear me, Bethany? Oh, I do hope you can forgive me," said the beast. Bethany stomped out of the kitchen, toward the back of the house. She couldn't believe that the beast had gotten the better of her—again. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, it always seemed like the beast was going to find a way to stay in her life—eating away any hope of happiness. She grabbed a blanket and went out to the garden. Raising a hand to her face, she was unsurprised to find that there were angry tears leaking out of her eyes.

几个月，甚至几年？也许它的邪恶计划是陪着宝芬妮度过余生折磨她直到她弥留之际。 “你听见了吗，宝芬妮？” 哦，我真希望你能原谅我。”野兽说。 宝芬妮跺着脚走出厨房，朝房子后面走去。 她不敢相信野兽又一次战胜了她。 无论她做什么，无论她多么努力，那只野兽似乎总是会找到一种方式留在她的生活中——吞噬掉她所有幸福的希望。 她抓起一条毯子就到花园里去了。 她举起一只手捂着脸，发现愤怒的泪水从眼睛里流出来，她并不感到惊讶。

She stayed out there as the sun continued to rise—watching as the day of her big party dawned. It should have felt like a moment of triumph. But thanks to the beast, it didn't feel like a triumph at all. She was out of ideas. At some point, Bethany removed the trumpet from her trousers and held it in front of her leaking eyes. Up until a couple of days ago, she had thought her life was free from the beast, and she couldn't remember a period in her life when she'd been happier. Bethany let out a little scream of frustration—wishing there was some way of getting rid of the beast once and for all—when something in the sky caught her eye. The something was purple and feathery, and it was flying toward the house with the speed and determination of an angry tornado.

当太阳继续升起时，她一直呆在外面，看着她盛大聚会的日子开始了。 这应该是一个胜利的时刻。 但多亏了这只野兽，我一点都不觉得这是一次胜利。 她无计可施。不知什么时候，宝芬妮把小号从裤子里拿了出来，举在泪眼前。 直到几天前，她还以为自己的生活摆脱了野兽的束缚，她记不起她生命中有什么时候比现在更快乐了。 贝瑟妮沮丧地尖叫了一声——希望有什么办法能一劳永逸地摆脱这只野兽——这时天空中有什么东西吸引了她的目光。 那个东西是紫色的，长着羽毛，正以一股狂暴的龙卷风的速度和决心向房子飞去。

Within the blink of an eye, it landed in front of Bethany, shedding a shower of feathers.

一眨眼的功夫，它就落在了宝芬妮的面前，洒下了一阵羽毛。