25 The Poisoned Praise

The Poisoned Praise Come on," said Ebenezer. "Let's forget about the beast for today. It's your special moment." Bethany followed Ebenezer inside the sweetshop, which was already bustling with guests. There were marshmallow mountains and candy-cane canyons, chandeliers made of frosted chocolate and walls covered with delicious treats that you could snap off with your hands. There were self-cleaning lollipop slides designed to be ridden tongue first, fondues oozing with fizzypop candy, and pick

来吧，”埃比尼泽说。 “我们今天先不谈野兽了。 这是你的特殊时刻。” 宝芬妮跟着埃比尼泽进了糖果店，店里已经挤满了客人。 那里有棉花糖山和甘蔗糖峡谷，用磨砂巧克力做成的枝形吊灯，墙上挂满了你可以用手掰下的美味佳肴。 有自动清洁的棒棒糖滑滑梯，设计成舌头先滑，软糖里渗出气泡棒棒糖，还有捡

'n' mix carts where even the carts themselves were edible. It was all as charming as it was enchanting. But for Bethany, the pleasures were soured by the knowledge of how she had set the beast up for an execution. "Oh no, that's not the sort of face I wanted to see, Bethany," said Miss Muddle. "It's the marshmallow mountains, isn't it? I knew they were too much. Stupid Muddle, stupid Muddle! I so wanted everything to be perfect for you, especially as I ruined the surprise part of your party!" If Bethany's insides hadn't been squirming with guilt, she would have said something complimentary about the marshmallow mountains. She remained silent, though, so Miss Muddle ran over and demolished the

“n”混合推车，甚至手推车本身都是可食用的。 这一切既迷人又迷人。 但对伯大尼来说，知道自己是如何陷害那只野兽去执行死刑的，这种快乐就变得不那么愉快了。 “哦，不，那不是我想看到的脸，宝芬妮，”马德尔小姐说。 “是棉花糖山，对吗？” 我知道他们太多了。 愚蠢的马德尔，愚蠢的马德尔！我真希望你的一切都完美无缺，尤其是我毁了你派对的惊喜部分！”如果宝芬妮的内心不是因为内疚而蠕动，她就会称赞棉花糖山了。 不过她保持沉默，于是马德尔小姐跑过去，把那个

marshmallow mountains while some children from the orphanage were enjoying them. As Bethany walked through the shop, she realized the sheer scale of the bad thing she had done. Her guilt wasn't helped by the fact that every person she and Ebenezer bumped into seemed to be filled with praise for the beast. "Honestly, Mr. Tweezer, you'll have to come and bleedin' see it," said the bird- keeper, who had brought along Keith the Dove. "The hoatzin and the tutting ducks have become thick as thieves—and those fellas can be awfully snobby." "Thank you so much for introducing us to your lovely dog," said the kindly old lady. "My granddaughter called from Australia today. She was so happy with her card, and there's

棉花糖山，而一些孤儿院的孩子正在享受它们。 当贝瑟尼走过商店时，她意识到自己做了一件多么严重的坏事。 她和埃比尼泽遇到的每个人似乎都对这头野兽赞不绝口，这并没有减轻她的负罪感。 “说实在的，特威泽先生，你得亲自来看看才行。”把鸽子基思带来的看鸟人说。 “霍阿津和啧啧鸭已经变得像小偷一样亲密了——这些家伙可能非常势利。” “非常感谢你把你可爱的狗介绍给我们，”慈祥的老太太说。 “我孙女今天从澳大利亚打来电话。 她对她的卡片很满意，还有

no way I would have been able to get it to her in time, if it hadn't been for this marvelous postbox. I love it so much that I decided to bring it as my date for the party." "Those bandages your dog coughed out? Absolutely marvelous," said Dr. Barnacle, Eduardo's equally well-nostriled mother. "Was its name 'the beast'? Well, it deserves a very big treat indeed. I've never known any material able to snap broken bones back together so quickly. I'm wearing one of them

如果没有这个神奇的邮箱，我是不可能及时把信交给她的。 我太喜欢它了，所以我决定带它去参加派对。” “你的狗咳出来的那些绷带？” 绝对不可思议。” 巴纳克尔，爱德华多同样精明的母亲。 “它的名字是‘野兽’吗？ 嗯，它确实值得好好招待一下。 我从来没见过有什么材料能这么快地把骨折的骨头接好。 我就戴着一个

myself, for a wrist sprain I got the other week." "BOOWWPPPBOOOOOWWWFIDDDDYBOOOP!" trumpeted the lizard lady, speaking a language that could only be understood by elephants. She took off the scarf that the beast had vomited out, and her voice returned to its usual croak. "Speaking with the animals in the zoo… it's been the happiest experience of my whole life." Ebenezer was having a splendid time, and, through a great effort of will, he made sure to give the beast extra credit for all its vomity brilliance. He wanted to know what it was like to be an actual do-gooder, and he thought being less of a credit-hog might help.

我自己，因为前几周手腕扭伤了。” “boowwppppbooooowwwfiddddybooop !”蜥蜴女士用一种只有大象才能理解的语言咆哮着。 她取下野兽吐出来的围巾，她的声音又恢复了平常的嘶哑。 “与动物园里的动物交谈……这是我一生中最快乐的经历。” 埃比尼泽玩得很开心，而且，通过意志力的巨大努力，他一定要把这头野兽所有令人作呕的辉煌归功于它。 他想知道做一个真正的行善者是什么感觉，他认为少做一个信贷霸王可能会有帮助。

Bethany was not having such a splendid time. Hearing all the beast's actions laid out like this made her wonder whether she should have believed Ebenezer all along. She tried to take herself away from the crowd. But everywhere she looked, she saw some banner or balloon saying WELL DONE, BETHANY! or CONGRATULATIONS TO BETHANY—ONE OF THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! The praise seemed to be shaming her. Eventually, she could take it no more. She had to confess the truth. "Oh, ah—hello, Bethany!" said Geoffrey, just as she was gearing herself up to tell Ebenezer. He was wearing his best suit, which was about two and a half sizes too small for him. "I'm so very happy to see you,

宝芬妮过得并不开心。 听到野兽的所有行为都是这样的，她开始怀疑自己是否应该一直相信埃比尼泽。 她试图离开人群。 但无论她往哪里看，她都看到一些横幅或气球上写着“做得好，宝芬妮！”或者祝贺贝瑟妮——世界上最好的人之一！这种赞扬似乎使她感到羞愧。 最终，她再也无法忍受了。 她不得不承认真相。 “哦，啊——你好，宝芬妮！”杰弗里说，她正准备告诉埃比尼泽。 他穿着他最好的西装，这对他来说大约小了两个半码。 “我很高兴见到你，