30 Chapter 30

Chapter 30 "What did you and Mrs. Chiltington talk about?" Andrew Peckleman asked Marjory Muldauer. They were sitting together on the patio near the motel's stone-cold gas-powered fire pit. "How much we both hate what Mr. Lemoncello's doing at his so-called library. Do you know what insane game they had us play today? Reading while eating." Andrew shook his head in disbelief. "And the food was pizza! Greasy, slimy, cheesy pizza!"

第三十章“你和奇廷顿夫人谈了些什么?”安德鲁·佩克曼问马乔里·穆尔道尔。 他们一起坐在汽车旅馆冰冷的煤气火坑旁的露台上。 "我们都讨厌莱蒙切罗先生在他所谓的图书馆里做的事。 你知道他们今天让我们玩了什么疯狂的游戏吗? 边吃边看书。”安德鲁难以置信地摇了摇头。 “食物是披萨!”油腻的、黏糊糊的、奶酪味的披萨!”

"Pizza spillage can cause major damage to books," said Andrew. "I've seen it. Back when I was a library aide at the middle school." "I complained about the messiness, but Mr. Lemoncello popped in on a video screen to remind us that all the books being used in the read-and-eat contest were paperbacks." "As if that makes a difference." "Exactly. Loopy old Lemoncello said paperback books were meant to be taken to the beach, where they'd have suntan lotion, melting ice cream cones, and sand dribbled all over their pages." "How ridiculous." "I know. But Lemoncello said books did no one any good sealed up tight. He said books need to 'have their spines cracked, their covers opened, and their pages ruffled for them to come alive.' " "The man's a menace," said Andrew. "He's a lunatic." "He needs to be stopped." "Don't worry. We're working on it."

安德鲁说:“披萨洒出来会对书造成严重损害。” “我看到了。当我还是中学图书馆助理的时候。” “我抱怨过这里太乱，但莱蒙切罗先生突然出现在一个视频屏幕上，提醒我们参加‘读与吃’比赛的所有书籍都是平装书。” “好像那有什么区别似的。” “没错。老莱蒙塞罗说，平装书应该被带到海滩去，在那里它们会涂上防晒霜，融化的冰淇淋甜筒，书页上到处都是沙子。” “太荒谬了。”“我知道。 但莱蒙切罗说，把书封得严严实实对任何人都没有好处。 他说，书籍需要“戳破书脊，掀开封面，翻动书页，才能活起来”。’”“这个人是个威胁，”安德鲁说。 “他是个疯子。”“他需要被阻止。” “别担心。我们正在努力。”

"Really? How?" Marjory studied the nerdy boy in his goggle glasses. Yes, he seemed to be a true library lover, but Marjory couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anybody—not when the future of library science was at stake. "I can't say," she told Andrew. "But don't be surprised if Mr. Lemoncello leaves town. I understand he's turned his back on Alexandriaville before." "Well, he left when he was like eighteen," said Andrew. "He moved to New York City to start his game company." "And," said Marjory, "from what I've heard, he never once came back here until he cooked up his crazy scheme to build a new library in the old bank building as a big publicity stunt." "Where'd you hear that?" "Mrs. Chiltington." "Huh. Mr. Lemoncello told us he built the library to honor the memory of Mrs. Gail Tobin.

“真的吗?如何?”玛乔丽端详着那个戴着护目镜的书呆子。 是的，他似乎是一个真正的图书馆爱好者，但玛乔丽不信任他。 她不能相信任何人——尤其是在图书馆学的未来岌岌可危的时候。 “我不能说，”她告诉安德鲁。 但如果莱蒙切罗先生离开了，不要感到惊讶。 我知道他以前背弃过亚历山德里维尔。” “嗯，他大概十八岁的时候离开了，”安德鲁说。 “他搬到了纽约，创办了自己的游戏公司。” “而且，”玛乔丽说，“据我所知，他从来没有回来过这里，直到他想出了一个疯狂的计划，在旧银行大楼里建一个新图书馆，作为一个大噱头。” “你从哪儿听到的?”“夫人。 Chiltington。”“嗯。莱蒙塞罗先生告诉我们他建图书馆是为了纪念盖尔·托宾夫人。

The librarian who helped him so much when he was our age." "Ha! You believe that? That's just the clever spin Mr. Lemoncello's marketing department put on this scam." Marjory stood up. "But don't worry, Andrew. Your public library will soon be a true public library. Mr. Lemoncello will turn it over to a local board of trustees and flee." "And he won't be coming back?" "Highly doubtful." "Wow. Thanks. I guess." "You're welcome. Excuse me. I need a 641.2." "Sure. Enjoy your beverage." Marjory marched into the motel lobby, hoping to find a cold bottle of water. But, of course, the only free beverages the Lemoncello Library Olympics people had put on ice in the open coolers were chocolate milk, strawberry milk, and ten different kinds of soda pop, including something called Mr. Lemoncello's Lemonberry Fizz. All of it junk.

那个在他像我们这么大的时候给了他很多帮助的图书管理员。” “哈!你相信吗?这只是莱蒙切罗先生的营销部门对这场骗局的巧妙解读。” 玛乔丽站了起来。“不过别担心，安德鲁。 你们的公共图书馆将很快成为真正的公共图书馆。 莱蒙塞罗先生会把它交给当地的董事会，然后逃走。” “他不会回来了吗?”“高度怀疑”。 “哇。谢谢。我猜。”“你是受欢迎的。 原谅我。我需要641.2。” “当然。好好享受你的饮料。” 玛乔丽大步走进汽车旅馆的大厅，希望能找到一瓶凉水。 但是，当然，柠檬塞罗图书馆奥运会的工作人员在开放式冷藏柜里放的免费饮料只有巧克力牛奶、草莓牛奶和十种不同的汽水，包括一种叫柠檬塞罗先生的柠檬莓汽水。 都是垃圾。

"And a lemon is not a berry, Mr. Lemoncello," Marjory muttered. "Look it up. Six-three-four-point-three-three-four. Lemons as an orchard crop. That means it's a fruit!" Suddenly, a voice boomed through a megaphone. "Who would like to play another game?" Mr. Lemoncello. It sounded like he was right outside. "Will all Library Olympians kindly join me at the swimming pool? It's time to dive into another game!" "Come on, Marjory," called Margaret Miles, the Midwest team's coach, hurrying across the lobby. "We're only down by one." "I thought we were only supposed to play two games per day." Margaret Miles laughed. "You know Mr. Lemoncello. He's all about keeping things a little unpredictable." Which is precisely why he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a library, thought Marjory.

“柠檬不是浆果，莱蒙塞洛先生。”玛乔丽喃喃地说。 “查一下。六百三十四点-六百三十四。 柠檬作为果园作物。 这意味着它是一种水果!”突然，扩音器里传出一个声音。 “谁想再玩一个游戏?”Lemoncello先生。 听起来他就在外面。 “所有参加图书馆奥林匹克运动会的人请和我一起去游泳池好吗?” 是时候投入另一款游戏了!”“来吧，马乔里，”中西部队的教练玛格丽特·迈尔斯(Margaret Miles)喊道，一边匆匆穿过大厅。 “我们只落后一分。”“我以为我们每天只应该打两场比赛。” 玛格丽特·迈尔斯笑了。“你知道莱蒙切罗先生。 他总是让事情变得有点不可预测。” 这就是为什么他不应该被允许靠近图书馆的原因，玛乔丽想。

Libraries were all about order, control, precision, and predictability! And that's exactly how Mrs. Chiltington and her League of Concerned Library Lovers would run things when they became the board of trustees in charge of what used to be the Lemoncello Library. To help them succeed (and to earn her scholarship from the Willoughby-Chiltington Family Trust), all Marjory had to do was remove one book from the library's shelves. She had no qualms about it. No doubts or misgivings. After all, that was what a library was supposed to do: lend out books, not dribble pizza sauce all over their pages. She planned on borrowing the book Mrs. Chiltington had requested the very next day. Marjory would earn her "Go to College Free" card. And if things went the way Mrs. Chiltington said they would, the Alexandriaville Public

库都是关于秩序、控制、精确和可预测性的!这正是奇廷顿夫人和她的“关心图书馆爱好者联盟”(League of Concerned Library Lovers)在成为管理莱蒙切罗图书馆的董事会成员后所采取的做法。 为了帮助他们成功(并获得威洛比-奇廷顿家庭信托基金的奖学金)，马乔里所要做的就是从图书馆的书架上拿走一本书。 她对此毫无疑虑。 没有怀疑和疑虑。毕竟，这是图书馆应该做的:出借图书，而不是把披萨酱洒在书页上。 她打算借奇廷顿夫人第二天就要的那本书。 玛乔丽将获得“免费上大学”卡。 如果事情如奇廷顿夫人所说的那样，亚历山德里维尔的公众