24 The Return of the Beast

The Return of the Beast What's a Mortimer?" asked the beast, as it looked behind the strange, purple-feathered visitor. "Is the Mortimer coming soonykins?" "Mortimer's here already," said the parrot, his eyes ablaze. "And soon Mortimer will happen to you." "Mortimers sound like most exciting thingsies!" said the beast.

“摩梯末是什么人？”野兽望着这位长着紫色羽毛的奇怪的来客，问道。 “摩梯末先生快来了吗？”“摩梯末已经在这儿了，”鹦鹉说，他的眼睛冒着火。 “不久摩梯末就会发生在你身上了。” “摩梯末听起来是最令人兴奋的东西！”

"I am Mortimer!" said Mortimer. He stretched his wings to their fullest span and tightened his grip around the trumpet. "And I am not exciting. I'm horrider than you can ever imagine." The beast scratched its blobby head. "I was just thinking how adorable you looked. The gold of the shiny thingy goes well with the purple." "I am not adorable. I'm abominable!" said Mortimer. "Oh dearsies. Sorrykins for the confusion," said the beast. "I'm sure you're scary to lots of people." "I don't want you to be sorry. I want to make you sorry," snapped Mortimer. He dangled the trumpet menacingly in his talons. "And I'm going to do it with this."

“我就是摩梯末！”摩梯末说道。 他张开最大的翅膀，紧紧地抓住了小号。 “我并不令人兴奋。我比你想象的还要可怕。” 那野兽挠了挠它那斑驳的脑袋。 “我只是在想你看起来有多可爱。 闪闪发光的东西的金色和紫色很配。” “我不可爱。我真可恶！”摩梯末说道。 “哦dearsies。很抱歉造成了混乱。”野兽说。 “我相信很多人都很害怕你。” “我不想让你感到抱歉。 我要让你后悔。”摩梯末厉声说。 他用爪子威胁地摇晃着小号。 “我要用这个来做。”

The beast smiled at the parrot. It wasn't sure what the bird was on about, but it was all very entertaining. "I said, I'm going to do it… with THIS!" said Mortimer, dangling the trumpet even closer to the beast. The beast just smiled again. "Doesn't it terrify you?" "Not particularly," said the beast. "Lots of people carry them around me. I've never been exactly sure why, but I felt too shy to ask. I can do pretendsies if you like, though?" Mortimer squawked with frustration and threw the trumpet across the room. "I knew Bethany was joking!" he growled. "Ooh, do you know Bethany? How exciting!" said the beast. "I'm afraid she just left"

野兽对鹦鹉笑了笑。 它不知道这只鸟在说什么，但这一切都很有趣。 “我说过，我要……用这个！”摩梯末说着，把那只小号更靠近那只野兽。 野兽又笑了。 “你不害怕吗？”“没什么特别的。”野兽说。 “很多人在我身边都带着它们。 我一直不知道为什么，但我太害羞了，不敢问。 如果你愿意，我可以假装一下，好吗？”摩梯末沮丧地尖声叫着，把小号扔到房间的另一头。 “我就知道宝芬妮在开玩笑！”他咆哮道。 “哦，你认识宝芬妮吗？” 多么令人兴奋啊！”野兽说。 “恐怕她刚走。”

"I know she left. She left. you to me," snarled Mortimer. "In fact, she's the one who cleared the path for your DEATH." The beast laughed nervously. It backed away from Mortimer, stumbling over a chair. "You must be thinking of a different Bethany," it said. "Scowly face, snotty nose, smelly sweater? No, I've got the right one," said Mortimer. He hovered over the beast as it waddled backward. "She hates you. I think she might hate you even more than I do. The two of us—we planned this together." "Wh-what did you plansies?" asked the beast. Mortimer dragged his talons together. "Watch out," said the beast. "You could poke out someone's eyesies with those."

“我知道她离开了。她离开了。 摩梯末咆哮道。 “事实上，是她为你的死亡扫清了道路。” 野兽紧张地笑了。 它从摩梯末面前退了回去，被一把椅子绊倒了。 “你一定想到了另一个宝芬妮，”信上说。 “阴沉的脸，流鼻涕的鼻子，臭毛衣？” “不，我得到的是正确的。”摩梯末说道。 他在那头摇摇摆摆向后走的野兽身旁盘旋。 “她恨你。我觉得她可能比我更恨你。 我们两个，我们一起计划的。” “你们这些笨蛋干了什么？”野兽问。 摩梯末把他的爪子拉在一起。 “小心，”野兽说。 “你可以用它戳出别人的眼睛。”

"Oh, I know," said Mortimer. "I think we'll start with the middle one." The beast couldn't escape the truth any longer. There was a look of death in the parrot's eyes, and that deathly gaze was targeted firmly at the beast. "Wh-why?" asked the beast. It continued to waddle backward, while Mortimer flew above. "Why? WHY?!" said Mortimer. "Because you're a monster. You're the devil in blob form who deserves a long, slow, punishing death." "But I've changed!" said the beast. It tripped over itself and fell to its back—unable to do anything now but watch as Mortimer circled it like a crow around a carcass. "All I want to do is make friends with Bethany and

“哦，我知道了，”摩梯末说道。 “我想我们从中间的那个开始。” 野兽再也无法逃避真相了。 鹦鹉的眼睛里有一种死亡的神情，那死亡的目光紧紧地盯着那只野兽。 “为什么？”野兽问。 它继续摇摇晃晃地往后走，而摩梯末则在上面飞着。 “为什么?为什么？！”摩梯末问道。 “因为你是个怪物。 你是一团一团的魔鬼，应该被处以漫长、缓慢、痛苦的死刑。” “但是我已经变了！” 它被自己绊了一跤，倒在地上——现在什么也做不了，只能眼睁睁地看着摩梯末像乌鸦围着尸体一样围着它转。 "我只想和宝芬妮做朋友

Ebby-kneesies, and spend the rest of my days doing kind and do-gooding things with them." "Was it kind what you did to Claudette?" spat Mortimer. "Is that your idea of a do-gooding thing?" The beast blinked in confusion. If it really was destined to die at the talons of an angry parrot, then it at least wanted to understand why. "Claudette?" it asked. "I'm terribly sorrykins—that's another of those words that I just don't know." "Don't try that with me," said Mortimer. The beast scrunched its three eyes shut and tried desperately to remember this "Claudette" word. "It feels familiar to these

爱比膝盖，用我剩下的日子和他们一起做善事。” “你对克劳黛特那样做是仁慈的吗？”莫蒂默啐道。 “这就是你所谓的行善吗？”野兽困惑地眨着眼睛。 如果它真的注定要死在一只愤怒的鹦鹉的魔爪下，那么它至少想知道为什么。 “克劳德特？”“我非常抱歉——这又是一个我不知道的词。” “别对我这样做，”摩梯末说道。 这只野兽紧紧地闭上三只眼睛，拼命地想记住“克劳德特”这个词。 “这对他们来说很熟悉