4 The Close Calls

The Close Calls Unfortunately, Mr. Nickle was not the sort of man who accepted directions of a bogging nature. Everywhere Ebenezer and Bethany went, they were haunted by his calls. He called all the departments in the hospital, while Bethany and Ebenezer were delivering hampers to the children. He called every telephone box in the area as they

不幸的是，尼克尔先生并不是那种能接受陷入困境的指示的人。 无论埃比尼泽和伯大尼走到哪里，他们都被他的电话缠住。 当伯大尼和以比尼谢给孩子们送篮子的时候，他打电话给医院的所有部门。 他给这一地区的每个电话亭都打了电话

handed out the hampers at the homeless shelter. Next up was the retirement home. Bethany didn't much care for the place, but Ebenezer adored comparing their wrinkled, wizened faces with his own wonderfully creaseless one. As they walked into the home's lounge and opened up the hampers, the wrinkly faces in the room crinkled with joy at the various sweets, sandwiches, and smoothies on offer. "Excuse me," said one of the wrinkly minxes—a former showgirl, who could still do the splits at the age of eighty-nine. "Would it be possible to take a photograph?" Ebenezer smiled smugly, as the showgirl handed him the old-fashioned camera. He was excellent at photographs, because he had

在流浪者之家分发篮子。 下一个是养老院。 贝瑟妮不太喜欢这个地方，但埃比尼泽却喜欢拿她们皱巴巴、干瘪的脸和自己那张奇妙的无皱纹的脸作比较。 当他们走进客厅，打开篮子的时候，房间里那些满是皱纹的脸都被提供的各种糖果、三明治和冰沙高兴得皱起了眉头。 “打扰一下，”其中一个满脸皱纹的狐狸精说。她以前是歌舞女郎，89岁了还能做劈叉舞。 “可以拍张照片吗？”当歌舞女郎把老式照相机递给埃比尼泽时，他得意地笑了。 他擅长摄影，因为他有

spent a lot of time sitting for portraits in the Posing Gallery of the fifteen-story house. "Which would you prefer from me, dear lady? A playful pout, or an ear-to-ear grin?" he asked, as he cozied up next to her. "I think you've misunderstood me," said the showgirl. "I don't want to have a photograph with you. I want you to take one of me and your friend." "You want one with Bethany?" said Ebenezer. "But I'm much prettier!" "Just take the photograph," said the showgirl. She pushed Ebenezer away and put her arms around a perplexed Bethany. "Say cheese!" "Say it yourself, you lazy git," said Bethany. The scowl on her face deepened as the

花了很多时间在这栋十五层楼的摆拍廊里坐着拍照。 “你想从我这里得到什么，亲爱的女士？” 是顽皮的噘嘴，还是咧着嘴笑？”他一边问，一边舒服地坐在她身边。 “我想你误解我了，”歌舞女郎说。 “我不想和你合影。 我要你给我和你的朋友拍一张。” “你想和伯大尼一起吗？”埃比尼泽说。 “但是我漂亮多了！”“照张相就行了，”歌舞女郎说。 她推开埃比尼泽，用双臂搂住困惑的伯大尼。 “说奶酪!”“你自己说，懒鬼，”宝芬妮说。 她脸上的怒容加深了

showgirl grinned and did the splits next to her. "Can I have one taken with you as well?" asked another oldie in a moth-eaten sweater. "Why?" asked Bethany suspiciously. "Why?! I want proof of meeting one of the kindest people in the world!" said the oldie. Bethany had never been called kind by a stranger before. She walked over to the oldie and scowled even harder as Ebenezer grumpily snapped the camera. Soon everyone wanted a picture with Bethany—and all of them showered her with compliments that she didn't know how to accept. She responded by pulling rude faces in all the pictures. As Ebenezer irritably snapped the final snap, Nurse Mindy came over.

歌舞女郎咧嘴一笑，在她旁边做劈叉动作。 “我也可以带一件吗？”另一位穿着被虫蛀的毛衣的老人问道。 “为什么？”伯大尼怀疑地问。 “为什么? !我要证明我遇到了世界上最善良的人之一！”老人说。 宝芬妮从来没有被陌生人说过善良。 她走到老人面前，当埃比尼泽暴躁地拍下相机时，她的脸色变得更难看了。 很快，每个人都想和贝瑟尼合影，所有人都对她赞不绝口，她不知道该如何接受。 作为回应，她在所有照片中都做出了粗鲁的表情。 当埃比尼泽不耐烦地拍最后一张照片时，明迪护士走了过来。

"I read Miss Muddle's invitation out to them earlier, and they were all so excited to see you again, Bethany," she said. She looked pointedly at Ebenezer. "It's so nice to have someone in the neighborhood who's doing actual good." "What are you talking about? The Wise Tweezer offered you some excellent problem- solving, Nurse Mindy!" said Ebenezer.

“我早些时候把马德尔小姐的请柬念给他们听了，他们都很高兴能再见到你，宝芬妮，”她说。 她尖锐地看着埃比尼泽。 “邻里中有人在做真正的善事，真是太好了。” “你在说什么？” 聪明的镊子为你提供了一些极好的解决问题的方法，明迪护士！”埃比尼泽说。

Nurse Mindy snorted. "I asked you to help us with the home's hearing-aid system. But after three weeks in your 'Contemplation Chambers,' the only idea you came up with was for us all to speak using megaphones!" "I thought it was a good idea," said Ebenezer quietly. "Hey, don't be mean to him," said Bethany, targeting her scowl at Nurse Mindy. "He's trying his best." "It would be best for everyone if he didn't try at all," said Nurse Mindy. "By the way, there's a call for both of you at reception. We said you were busy, but apparently you're the only ones who can help with some sort of feet, or yeast, problem he's having." "Tell him we're not here," said Bethany.

明迪护士哼了一声。“我请你帮我们安装家里的助听器系统。 可是在你的‘沉思室’呆了三个星期后，你唯一想到的办法就是让我们大家用扩音器讲话！”“我认为这是个好主意，”埃比尼泽平静地说。 “嘿，别对他那么刻薄，”宝芬妮说着，把她的怒气对准了护士明迪。 “他已经尽力了。”“如果他根本不尝试，对大家都好，”明迪护士说。 “顺便说一下，前台有个电话找你们俩。 我们说你们很忙，但显然你们是唯一能帮他解决脚病或酵母病的人。” “告诉他我们不在这里，”宝芬妮说。