21 The Murderous Mortimer

The Murderous Mortimer You smell… wonderful," said Bethany. She knew she was talking like Eduardo Barnacle, but she couldn't help it—the scent filling her nostrils was delightful. "I've been flying for hours. I smell sweaty," said Mortimer. His odor was fresh and earthy, like the playful smell of gardenias in the night

你闻起来……好极了。”宝芬妮说。 她知道自己说话的口气很像爱德华多·巴纳克尔，但她忍不住——她鼻孔里充满了令人愉快的气味。 “我已经飞了好几个小时了。 我闻到了汗味。”摩梯末说道。 他身上的气味清新而朴实，就像栀子花在夜晚嬉戏的味道

air, because Wintlorians had kindly evolved the ability to secrete less odious odors from their sweat glands. "You smell… well, you just smell. Maybe you should think of changing your sweater sometime, Bethany." "How the flip do you know my name?" asked Bethany. "Nah, actually, scratch that—who the flip are you?" "My name is Mortimer. And unlike the rest of my species, I'm not much one for small talk. Take me to the beast—now." "You look younger than the other parrots I've met," said Bethany. "How old are you?" "Old enough," said Mortimer defensively. Bethany and Mortimer exchanged a look. They recognized an anger in each other that they could understand.

因为温特洛里人进化出了汗腺分泌较少难闻气味的能力。 “你闻到了……嗯，你就是闻到了。 也许你该考虑换件毛衣，宝芬妮。” “你怎么知道我的名字？”宝芬妮问。 “不，事实上，我不知道——你到底是谁？”“我叫摩梯末。 和其他同类不同的是，我不太喜欢闲聊。 带我去见野兽——现在就去。” “你看起来比我见过的其他鹦鹉都年轻，”宝芬妮说。 “你多大了？”“够大了，”摩梯末辩解道。 宝芬妮和摩梯末交换了一下眼色。 他们在彼此身上发现了一种可以理解的愤怒。

"Why exactly are you here?" asked Bethany. Mortimer clicked his tongue in his beak. "I'm going to kill the beast," he said, watching Bethany's face for a reaction. "I'm going to pluck out its eyes and tear apart its flesh with my talons. I plan on taking my time with it—and I promise I'll make sure that it receives three dollops of pain for every ounce of suffering it has caused Claudette." Bethany didn't like to think of herself as weak or squeamish, but Mortimer's talk of eye-plucking and flesh-tearing had made her feel nauseous. It took a few moments to steel herself. She wanted to defeat the beast, and now a solution had literally just flown into her lap. "Does Claudette know?" asked Bethany.

“你到底为什么在这里？”宝芬妮问。 摩梯末把舌头在嘴里咔哒一声。 “我要杀了那只野兽，”他说，一边看着宝芬妮的脸，看她的反应。 “我要用我的爪子挖出它的眼睛，撕开它的肉。 我打算慢慢来——而且我保证，它给克劳德特造成的每一盎司痛苦，我一定要让它承受三团痛苦。” 贝瑟妮不喜欢把自己看成软弱或易受感染的人，但是摩梯末所说的抠眼睛和撕肉使她感到恶心。 过了一会儿才使自己坚强起来。 她想要打败这头野兽，而现在，一个解决办法就这么从天而降。 “克劳德特知道吗？”宝芬妮问。

"Of course not," said Mortimer. "Maybe we should call her," said Bethany. "I doubt she'd be strong enough to answer," said Mortimer. Purple tears formed in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "Stop stalling. Either help me, or step aside." Bethany's conscience wondered what all her friends would think—Claudette, Muddle, Geoffrey, even stupid Ebenezer. She couldn't imagine that any of them would approve of the thoughts inside her head. Her brain started rattling out reasons why she should let Mortimer do his worst. If she hadn't met him, he might have tried to kill the beast anyway. By stepping aside and clearing the way, she wasn't actually doing anything bad herself. In some ways, she was actually doing good. Because the world

“当然不是，”摩梯末说道。 “也许我们应该打电话给她，”宝芬妮说。 “我怀疑她是否有力气回答，”摩梯末说道。 紫色的泪水涌上了他的眼睛，但他很快把它们眨开了。 “不要再拖下去了。要么帮我，要么靠边站。” 宝芬妮的良心在想，她的朋友们会怎么想——克劳德特、马德尔、杰弗里，甚至是愚蠢的埃比尼泽。 她无法想象他们中有谁会赞同她脑子里的想法。 她的脑子里开始胡思乱想，为什么要让摩梯末尽其所能。 如果她没有遇到他，他可能会试图杀死野兽。 她站到一边，清理道路，其实自己并没有做什么坏事。 在某些方面，她实际上做得很好。 因为这个世界

would certainly be a better place without the beast. "I'm not a parrot who likes to wait," said Mortimer. Bethany's mind was made up. She owed it to herself to do everything she could to get rid of the beast. "There's a man named Ebenezer in the house who might try to stop you," she said. "But we're going to a party this morning, so the beast will be by itself. That will help you." "I don't need any help," snapped Mortimer. "Why does everyone think I need help?" "Don't be an idiot," said Bethany. "You need all the help you can get. The beast is pretending it's lost its mind, but don't be fooled—it could reveal its true self at any moment."

没有野兽肯定会更好。 “我不是一只喜欢等待的鹦鹉，”摩梯末说。 宝芬妮下定了决心。 她有责任尽一切努力摆脱那头野兽。 “家里有个叫埃比尼泽的人，他可能会阻止你，”她说。 “但是我们今天早上要去参加一个聚会，所以野兽就一个人了。 这对你有帮助。”“我不需要任何帮助，”摩梯末厉声说。 “为什么每个人都认为我需要帮助？”“别犯傻了，”宝芬妮说。 “你需要所有你能得到的帮助。 这只野兽假装失去了理智，但不要被愚弄了——它随时都可能露出真实的自我。”

"I hope it does," said Mortimer. "That way I can see the evil in its eyes before I pluck them out." "If it decides to make its move, we're all doomed," said Bethany. "If you wanna kill the beast, you'll have to do it fast—and you have to do it with this." Bethany lifted the trumpet to Mortimer's face. She was reluctant to hand it over, because it was the only thing that made her feel protected, now that the button was gone. "You've got to be kidding me," said Mortimer. "My talons are sharper than any trumpet." "Yeah, and the beast's teeth are sharper than anything in the world," said Bethany. "Go with the trumpet—trust me."

“我希望如此，”摩梯末说道。 “这样我就能在把它的眼睛拔出来之前看到它眼中的邪恶。” “如果它决定采取行动，我们都完蛋了，”贝瑟尼说。 “如果你想杀死这头野兽，你必须行动迅速——而且你必须用这个来做。” 宝芬妮把小号举到摩梯末的脸上。 她不愿意交出它，因为既然纽扣不见了，这是唯一能让她感到被保护的东西。 “你一定是在跟我开玩笑吧，”摩梯末说道。 “我的爪子比任何小号都锋利。” “是啊，而且这只野兽的牙齿比世界上任何东西都锋利，”宝芬妮说。 “跟号筒走吧——相信我。”