13 Cruelty to Animals

Chapter 13 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS Well, that just goes to show that you can't believe everything you read in a book. Especially this book. You are so gullible! It's time you learned that people who write fiction are a bunch of liars. In fact, lying is their job. If one of them tells you there isn't going to be a snake attack in a story, you can pretty much bet there's going to be a snake attack in that story. Of course there was going to be a snake attack! How could there not be a snake attack? Didn't they teach you about foreshadowing in school? There was no reason to have Coke and Pep see a sign warning them about snakes if there wasn't going to be a snake attack later on.

第十三章虐待动物好吧，这正好说明你不能相信你在书中读到的一切。 尤其是这本书。你太容易上当受骗了！是时候让你明白写小说的人都是一群骗子。 事实上，说谎是他们的工作。 如果其中一个告诉你故事中不会有蛇攻击，你就可以打赌故事中一定会有蛇攻击。 当然会有蛇袭击！怎么会没有蛇的袭击呢？ 学校没教过你伏笔的事吗？ 如果以后不会有蛇袭击，可口可乐和佩普没有理由让他们看到一个警告他们有蛇的标志。

The canvas sack that John Pain tossed into the pit began to slither toward the twins. "Snakes!" Coke yelled, backing against the dirt wall. "Why did it have to be snakes?" After wriggling around for a few seconds, a brownish head popped out of the sack's opening. The snake seemed to have enlarged scales at the top of its head and a light stripe behind the corner of its mouth. It opened that mouth ridiculously wide and flicked a forked tongue out. Two sharp fangs were visible. Pep gasped. "I'd like you to meet Herman," said John Pain. "He's a Mojave rattlesnake. I named him after my good friend Dr. Herman Warsaw." Herman slithered all the way out of the canvas sack and began to explore the pit. He was about three feet long, with a greenish-brown diamond pattern along his back. Coke and Pep jumped to get out of his way. "Did you know that seven thousand people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United

约翰·潘扔进坑里的帆布袋开始向双胞胎滑落。 “蛇!”可乐喊道，背靠在脏兮兮的墙上。 “为什么一定是蛇呢？”扭动了几秒钟后，一个棕色的头从麻袋的开口探了出来。 这条蛇的头顶似乎有很大的鳞片，嘴角后面有一条浅色的条纹。 它把嘴张得大得可笑，伸出分叉的舌头。 可以看到两颗锋利的毒牙。 Pep气喘吁吁地说。“我想让你见见赫尔曼，”约翰·潘说。 “他是一条莫哈韦响尾蛇。 我以我的好朋友Dr。 赫尔曼华沙。”赫尔曼从帆布袋里爬了出来，开始探索这个坑。 它大约有三英尺长，背上有一条绿棕色的菱形花纹。 可口可乐和佩普跳起来给他让路。 “你知道吗，在美国有七千人被毒蛇咬伤

States each year?" asked John Pain. "Venomous?" asked Coke. He was sweating profusely. "Oh yeah," said John Pain. "The Mojave rattlesnake is the most potently venomous snake in the United States." "Great." Herman slithered to the other end of the pit. The twins jumped over him to get as far away as possible. "Help!" Pep screamed uselessly. "Somebody help!" "Herman's lookin' for food, I reckon," John Payne said, ignoring her. "You might wanna keep still. His vision ain't so hot, but he's really good at perceivin' movement." "You're crazy!" Coke yelled. "Herman also has a keen sense of smell, and a set of heat-sensin' pits in his face that help 'im locate prey," John Pain said casually. "He's got such a big appetite, he only eats once every two weeks."

约翰·潘问道。 “有毒？”可口可乐问。他大汗淋漓。 “哦，是的，”约翰·潘说。 莫哈韦响尾蛇是美国最毒的蛇。 “好了。”赫尔曼滑到坑的另一端。 那对双胞胎从他身上跳过去，尽量逃得远远的。 “救命!”佩普徒劳地尖叫着。 “有人帮忙!”“我想赫尔曼是在找吃的吧。”约翰·佩恩说，没理她。 “你最好不要动。 他的视力不是很好，但他很擅长观察动作。” “你疯了!”可口可乐喊道。 “赫尔曼也有敏锐的嗅觉，他脸上有一组热感应坑，可以帮助他定位猎物，”约翰·佩恩漫不经心地说。 “他胃口特别大，每两周才吃一次。”

"When did he eat last?" Pep asked. "'Bout two weeks ago, I reckon." "Help!" Pep screamed again. "Somebody help!" The twins cowered in the corner while Herman explored the other end of the pit. "He's lyin' in wait, y'see," said John Pain. "When he finds somethin' that looks tasty, like you, he'll shake his rattle as a warning, and then pounce. Grab you with them fangs of his. That's how he injects his hemotoxic venom. It'll travel through your bloodstream—" "Shut up!" Coke hollered. "Why do you lunatics always have to explain how you're going to kill people?" "'Cause that's half the fun, son," John Pain said. "After Herman bites ya, you'll feel a tinglin' sensation at first, and you'll start in sweatin'. As the venom destroys yer body tissue, you'll feel weakness and nausea. You may throw up. There'll be swellin', internal bleedin', and intense pain. I love pain. You know what they

“他最后一次吃东西是什么时候？”Pep问道。 “大概两个星期以前吧，我想。” “救命!”佩普又尖叫起来。 “有人帮忙!”当赫尔曼探索坑的另一端时，双胞胎蜷缩在角落里。 “他在等着，你看，”约翰·潘说。 “当他发现像你这样看起来很好吃的东西时，他会摇晃他的拨浪鼓作为警告，然后猛扑过去。 用他的尖牙抓住你。 他就是这样注射含血毒液的。 它会穿过你的血液——”“闭嘴！”可口可乐大声喊道。 “你们这些疯子为什么总要解释你们要怎么杀人？”“因为那是一半的乐趣，孩子，”约翰·潘说。 “赫尔曼咬你之后，一开始你会有刺痛感，然后开始出汗。” 当毒液破坏你的身体组织时，你会感到虚弱和恶心。 你可能会呕吐。会有肿胀、内出血和剧烈疼痛。 我喜欢痛苦。你知道他们

say—no pain, no gain." "We gotta get out of here," Coke muttered. "A few minutes after he bites you, you'll have paralysis and heart failure," John Pain said. "By then, of course, you're a goner." Herman turned around. It looked like he was eyeing the twins. "Coke, do something!" Pep yelled. "What do you want me to do?" "I don't know!" Pep shouted. "Didn't you take karate for five years?" "Are you crazy? Karate moves on a snake?" Herman was on the move again, slithering back and forth. "After its prey is dead," John Pain continued, "the Mojave rattlesnake eats the head first. It'll even digest the bones. Amazin' creature, when you think about it." Herman hissed and made a rattle sound with his tail. "He's about to strike!" Pep screamed. "Tell you what," John Pain said. "If you two

没有付出，就没有收获。”“我们得离开这里，”可口可乐嘟囔着。 “他咬你几分钟后，你就会瘫痪和心脏衰竭，”约翰·潘说。 “到那时，当然，你已经死了。” 赫尔曼转过身来。他好像在盯着那对双胞胎看。 “可乐，做点什么吧！”Pep喊道。 “你想让我做什么？”“我不知道！”Pep喊道。 “你不是学了五年空手道吗？”“你疯了吗？” 在蛇身上空手道？”赫尔曼又动了起来，前后滑动着。 “猎物死后，”约翰·潘继续说道，“莫哈韦响尾蛇会先吃猎物的头。 它甚至能消化骨头。 仔细想想，真是个神奇的生物。” 赫尔曼发出嘶嘶声，用尾巴发出嘎嘎声。 “他要动手了！”Pep尖叫。 “告诉你吧，”约翰·潘说。 “如果你们两个

can figure a way outta this mess, I'll let you go. How's that for fair?" "Quick!" Pep yelled to her brother. "Do you have anything in your pockets? Maybe we can stab him with something." Coke searched his pockets. The only thing he came up with was the package of freeze-dried ice cream from the Very Large Array Visitor Center. Frantically, he ripped the package open and sprinkled the contents on the ground around Herman. Herman didn't seem interested. "Snakes like to eat livin' things, pardner," John Pain said, amused. "Like birds and mice and lizards. They don't eat freeze-dried ice cream." Herman made the rattling sound again. "I'm going to have to kill it with my bare hands!" Coke said. "That's a knee-slapper!" John Pain said, doubled over laughing. "Kill it?" said Pep. "I'm against cruelty to

如果你能想出办法，我就放你走。 这样公平吗？”“快!”佩普对她哥哥喊道。 “你口袋里有什么东西吗？” 也许我们可以用什么东西刺他。” 可乐翻了翻口袋。 他唯一想到的是超大阵列游客中心的一包冻干冰淇淋。 他疯狂地撕开包裹，把里面的东西撒在赫尔曼周围的地上。 赫尔曼似乎不感兴趣。 “蛇喜欢吃活物，伙伴。”约翰·潘笑着说。 “比如鸟、老鼠和蜥蜴。 他们不吃冻干冰淇淋。” 赫尔曼又发出了咔哒咔哒的声音。 “我要徒手杀了它！”可口可乐表示。 “真让人吃惊！”约翰·潘笑着说。 “杀死它？”佩普说。“我反对虐待