22 The Beast and the Parrot

The Beast and the

野兽与魔鬼

Parrot The beast wondered why Bethany had slammed the door so loudly. It hoped that it hadn't done anything to put her in a bad mood. Then, with a great effort of will, it slowly climbed to its feet. It was determined to find a way to befriend Bethany. It chewed its tongues and thought about preparing a few ickle surprises for when they came back from the party. The beast was just thinking about what marvelous things it could vomit out for her, when its belly started rumbling and grumbling again. The sound was becoming

鹦鹉这只野兽不明白宝芬妮为什么把门关得那么响。 它希望自己没有做任何让她心情不好的事。 然后，凭着巨大的意志力，它慢慢地爬了起来。 它决心想办法和宝芬妮成为朋友。 它咬着舌头，想着准备几个小惊喜，等他们从宴会上回来。 这只野兽正在想它能吐出多少奇妙的东西给她吃，这时它的肚子又开始咕咕叫起来。 声音变得越来越响。

more regular and ravenous, ever since the beast had eaten the meaty sandwich. "Shh, shh, shushykins!" the beast said to its belly. "You're not getting what you want, so stop asking for it. You're just going to have to stop thinking of humany food." This was easier said than done. Every time the beast tried to think of something other than food, the belly would make an unpleasant, angry sort of noise, which would get the beast thinking all over again about poultry and piggies, ribs and roast beef, fat juicy chicken legs, and tiny little bones it could snap so easily with its lovely, lovely— "MUST STOP THINKING ABOUT FOOD," said the beast, slapping its belly with its tongues.

自从那野兽吃了多肉的三明治之后，他变得更有规律，更贪婪了。 “嘘，嘘，嘘！”野兽对它的肚子说。 “你没有得到你想要的，所以不要再要求了。 你就不能再想人类的食物了。” 这说起来容易做起来难。 每当野兽想食物以外的东西时，肚子就会发出一种令人不快的、愤怒的声音，让野兽重新想起家禽和猪、排骨和烤牛肉、肥美多汁的鸡腿，以及它那可爱的、可爱的——“不能再想食物了。”野兽说着，用舌头拍打着肚子。

The belly responded by growling even more angrily, and the beast in return responded by slapping it even harder. The rumbling combined with the slapping was like some sinister bongo drum. The beast took a deep breath. As it breathed in, it detected a new scent in the air. The smell was fresh and earthy and absolutely delicious. The new smell was quickly joined by the arrival of a new noise—a strange, stifled sort of squawk, which sounded like it was coming from inside the house. At first, the beast thought it must have misheard, but then there was another squawk. "Hellosies?" said the beast. "I say, HELLOSIES?!"

它的肚子发出更愤怒的咆哮作为回应，而野兽则更用力地拍打它。 轰隆声加上拍打声就像某种邪恶的邦戈鼓。 野兽深吸了一口气。 当它吸气时，它察觉到空气中有一种新的气味。 气味清新，泥土的味道，绝对美味。 新的气味很快伴随着一种新的声音——一种奇怪的、压抑的吱吱声，听起来像是从房子里传出来的。 起初，那只野兽以为它一定是听错了，但接着又是一阵嘎嘎声。 “你好吗？”野兽说。 “我说，你好？！”

The beast was greeted with so much silence that it began to doubt whether it had heard anything at all. It used its tongues to clear out its ears—but while the earwax was sizzling on its tongues, it heard something else. It heard something that sounded awfully like the flapping of wings. A few seconds later, a young male Wintlorian purple-breasted parrot flew into the room, carrying a trumpet in his talons. "There's no one to protect you now, is there?" said the parrot, with a beaky smirk. "Get ready to say hello to the talons of Mortimer!"

迎接野兽的是一片寂静，它开始怀疑自己是否听到了什么。 它用舌头清理耳朵——但当耳垢在舌头上滋滋作响时，它听到了别的声音。 它听到了一种可怕的声音，像是拍打翅膀的声音。 几秒钟后，一只年轻的雄性温特洛里紫胸鹦鹉飞进了房间，爪子里拿着一把小号。 “现在没有人保护你了，是吗？”鹦鹉带着尖嘴的傻笑说。 “准备跟摩梯末的魔爪打个招呼吧！”