20 Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Charles Chiltington brought a tray of cucumber finger sandwiches (with the crusts trimmed off) into the living room, where his mother was hosting a meeting of the League of Concerned Library Lovers. The seven ladies and one gentleman in a bow tie were huddled around a laptop, their horrified eyes glued to the screen. "This is an abomination!" said one of the committee members, watching a recap of the Lemoncello Library Olympics' first day of competition on the Book Network's website.

查尔斯·齐廷顿端着一盘黄瓜手指三明治(已经削去了面包皮)走进客厅，他母亲正在那里主持“关心图书馆爱好者联盟”的会议。 七位女士和一位男士系着领结，围着一台笔记本电脑，惊恐的眼睛紧盯着屏幕。 “这太可恶了!”一名委员会成员在图书网络网站上观看莱蒙塞洛图书馆奥林匹克第一天比赛的回顾时说。

Charles knew what "abomination" meant (anything greatly disliked). He used big words whenever possible. It impressed teachers, especially when you used words they didn't understand. Charles kept a list: "panacea," "panoply," "pedantic." And those were just the ones that started with "p." He was very sesquipedalian (given to the use of long words) where others were perspicuous (clear in expression and easily understood). He was also elated (very happy, jubilant, in high spirits) to hear all the adults complaining about Mr. Lemoncello and his egregious (shockingly bad) library. "It's preposterous," said the gentleman in the bow tie. "Racing around in circles with library carts? Restocking shelves? Are these children applying for part-time jobs? Because they're all far too young to be legally employed." "Ugh," said Mrs. Tinker. "That Mr. Lemoncello fellow is so incredibly irksome. So is that Russian gal, Dr. Zinfadelski."

查尔斯知道“可憎之物”是什么意思(任何非常不喜欢的东西)。 他一有可能就用大词。 这给老师留下了深刻的印象，尤其是当你使用他们不理解的单词时。 查尔斯列了一张单子:"灵丹妙药" "华丽" "迂腐" 这些只是以“p”开头的单词。 他非常善于使用长词，而其他人却很清楚(表达清楚，容易理解)。 听到所有的成年人都在抱怨莱蒙切罗先生和他那惊人的(糟糕得令人震惊的)藏书，他也很高兴(非常高兴、兴高采烈、兴致高昂)。 “这太荒谬了，”打领结的绅士说。 “开着图书馆的手推车兜圈子跑?” 补充货架上吗?这些孩子在申请兼职工作吗? 因为他们都太年轻了，不能合法受雇。” “啊，”叮叮太太说。"莱蒙切罗先生真是令人讨厌。 那个俄罗斯女孩也是。 Zinfadelski。”

"I'm so very confused," said Mrs. Brewster. "Why on earth would a library need a director of holographic imagery?" "Because it's Disneyland in there!" shouted Mrs. Tinker. "Disneyland, I say!" "Then we're agreed," said Charles's mother. "Something must be done." "And may I," said Charles, "as a youth of Alexandriaville, quickly elucidate how fortunate I feel to have you wise and sagacious elders looking out for my best interests as well as the interests of all the young children yet to come?" Charles knew being smarmy was the best way to get adults to do exactly what you wanted them to do. "Thank you, Charles," said his mother. "Rose, please make a note in the official meeting minutes. Resolved: We, the League of Concerned Library Lovers, must, by any means necessary, seize control of Alexandriaville's new public library and wrest it away from that borderline lunatic Luigi Lemoncello."

“我很困惑，”布鲁斯特太太说。 “图书馆到底为什么需要全息影像主管?”“因为那里是迪斯尼乐园!”叮叮太太喊道。 “我说迪士尼乐园!”“那我们就同意了，”查尔斯的母亲说。 “必须做点什么。”“那么，”查尔斯说，“作为亚历山大维尔的一个年轻人，我是否可以迅速地说明一下，我感到多么幸运，有你们这些睿智的长者照顾我的最大利益，以及所有尚未出生的孩子的利益?”查尔斯知道，谄媚是让成年人做你想让他们做的事情的最好方法。 “谢谢你，查尔斯，”他母亲说。 “罗斯，请在正式会议记录上做个记录。 决议:我们，图书馆爱好者联盟，必须通过任何必要的手段，夺取亚历山大维尔新公共图书馆的控制权，并从边缘疯子路易吉·莱蒙切罗手中夺走它。”

There was a light rap on the living room door. "Excuse me," said Chesterton, the butler. "This gentleman insists that he is here for your meeting." "Are you folks the Concerned Library Lovers?" asked a scrawny old man with a pointy beak who stood timidly in the doorway beside the butler. The man was dressed in a bright blue Windbreaker and was fidgeting with the sweatstained Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap he held in his hands. "Do we know you?" asked Charles's mother. "I don't think so. My name is Peckleman. Woodrow J. Peckleman." "Of the Geauga County Pecklemans?" twittered Mrs. Tilley. "No, ma'am. From right here in Alexandriaville. Well, I grew up here, but then I flew the coop." Charles sniggered. He couldn't help it. Mr. Peckleman looked like a chicken.

有人轻轻地敲了敲客厅的门。 “对不起，”管家切斯特顿说。 “这位先生坚持说他是来参加你们的会议的。” “你们是关心图书馆爱好者吗?”一个骨瘦如柴、尖嘴的老人胆怯地站在门口的管家旁边问道。 这名男子穿着一件亮蓝色的风衣，手里拿着一顶汗渍斑斑的多伦多蓝鸟队棒球帽。 “我们认识你吗?”查尔斯的母亲问。 “我不这么认为。我叫佩克曼。 伍德罗·j·佩克曼。”“乔加县佩克曼家的人?”蒂利太太叽叽喳喳地说。 “不,夫人。就在亚历山德里维尔。 嗯，我在这里长大，但后来我飞走了。” 查尔斯都在偷笑。他没办法。 佩克曼先生看起来像只鸡。

"I own the Blue Jay Extended Stay Lodge," said Mr. Peckleman. "That's Olympia Village," said Charles. "You're Andrew's long-lost great-uncle-twice-removed, correct?" "That I am." "Pardon me for asking," said Charles's mother, "but what brings you here, Mr. Pecklestein?" "It's Peckleman, ma'am. And I won't beat around the bush. I don't like what they're doing inside that Lemoncello Library downtown." "Neither do we." "I know. I've seen you folks on TV. Now, like I said, I used to live here in Alexandriaville. Years ago. Grew up with Luigi. Knew him when he was just a little boy, not some kind of fancy billionaire. And let me tell you folks something: Luigi L. Lemoncello was just as irresponsible back then as he is now. Why, in fifth grade, he made up multiplication and division games to make learning math 'more fun.' Pah. Math isn't supposed to be fun. It's math!"

“我是蓝鸦长宿旅馆的老板，”佩克曼先生说。 “那是奥林匹亚村，”查尔斯说。 “你是安德鲁失散已久的伯祖父，是吗?”“我就是。” “请原谅我这么问，”查尔斯的母亲说，“什么风把你吹来了，佩克尔斯坦先生?”“是佩克曼，夫人。 我不会拐弯抹角的。 我不喜欢他们在市中心的莱蒙塞洛图书馆里做的事。” “我们也没有。”“我知道。我在电视上见过你们。 就像我说的，我以前住在亚历山大维尔。 年前的事了。和路易吉一起长大。 在他还是个小男孩的时候就认识他了，不是什么名贵的亿万富翁。 让我告诉你们:路易吉·L。 莱蒙塞罗当时和现在一样不负责任。 为什么，在五年级的时候，他编了乘法和除法游戏，让学习数学“更有趣”。多环芳烃。 数学不应该是有趣的。 是数学!”

"That's all well and good, Mr. Peckleman, but…" "You people want him out of that library, am I right?" Charles's mom coyly twiddled her fingertips against her cheek. "Perhaps." "Well, I know how to do it." "Really? And what do you require from us in return?" "Not much. I just need you to talk to that brainy gal from Michigan for me. The tall one on the Midwest team." "Marjory Muldauer?" "Yes, ma'am. I've been scoping out all the library lovers bunking at my motel. Looking for just one of 'em to help me do what needs to be done. So far, over a dozen have turned me down. But I have a hunch that Miss Muldauer won't." "What makes you say that?" "She's not very fond of all the silly sideshow antics down at Luigi's library. I suspect she

“这倒不错，佩克曼先生，可是……”“你们要他离开图书馆，我说得对吗?”查尔斯的妈妈羞怯地用指尖轻抚脸颊。 “也许。”“嗯，我知道怎么做。” “真的吗?你要我们怎样报答你呢?”“不多。 我只需要你帮我跟那个密歇根来的聪明女孩谈谈。 中西部队那个高个子。” “玛乔丽Muldauer ?”“是的,女士。 我一直在调查住在我汽车旅馆里的图书馆爱好者。 我只想找一个人帮我完成该做的事。 到目前为止，已经有十几家公司拒绝了我。 但我有预感，穆尔道尔小姐不会。” “你为什么这么说?”“她不太喜欢路易吉图书馆里那些愚蠢的杂耍。 我怀疑她