Chapter 38

38 The Hometown Heroes' bookmobile ride from Olympia Village to the Lemoncello Library the following morning was as dreary as the weather. Kyle and his teammates stared out the rain-streaked windows and watched familiar streets roll by. "How weird will it be," said Akimi, "if the next time we head downtown to the library, we're not famous anymore? What if we're just a bunch of losers?" "Thanks for that inspirational thought, Akimi," said Miguel. "You should really consider

第二天早晨，“家乡英雄”从奥林匹亚村到莱蒙切罗图书馆的流动图书之旅和天气一样沉闷。 凯尔和他的队友凝视着被雨水淋湿的窗户外，看着熟悉的街道滚滚而过。 “那该有多奇怪，”明美说，“如果下次我们去市中心的图书馆时，我们已经不出名了？ 如果我们只是一群失败者呢？”“谢谢你的鼓舞人心的想法，Akimi，”米格尔说。 “你真的应该考虑一下

a career as a motivational speaker." "What if something worse happens?" said Sierra. "What if all that stuff Mrs. Gause mentioned happens again? What if Mr. Lemoncello decides to close his library?" "Why would he do that?" asked Kyle. "Because he's tired of people taking out books and not bringing them back. He looked so sad yesterday." "Yo," said Miguel. "He's a bazillionaire. He can always buy more books." "You guys?" said Kyle. "Dr. Zinchenko said the Flora and Ulysses book was in its spot on the fiction shelf a week ago. And no one has been able to check books out since then except—" "The thirty-two Library Olympians!" said Akimi, finishing Kyle's sentence, the way friends sometimes do. "Yo!" said Miguel. "That means somebody on one of the other teams took the book out of the library. One of the kids Mr. Lemoncello spent so much time and energy searching for."

一个励志演说家的职业生涯。” “如果更糟的事情发生了怎么办？”西拉说。 “如果高斯夫人提到的事情再次发生怎么办？” 如果莱蒙切罗先生决定关闭他的图书馆怎么办？”“他为什么要这么做？”凯尔问。 “因为他厌倦了人们把书拿出去不还回来。 他昨天看起来很伤心。” “哟，”米格尔说。“他是个亿万富翁。 他总是可以买更多的书。” “你们？”凯尔说。”博士。 津琴科说，《弗洛拉与尤利西斯》这本书一周前还在小说书架上的位置上。 从那以后，没有人能借出去书了，除了——”“三十二名图书馆奥林匹克选手！”明美说完凯尔的话，像朋友们有时会做的那样。 “哟！”米格尔说。“这意味着别的队的人把书从图书馆拿走了。 莱蒙切罗先生花了很多时间和精力寻找的孩子之一。”

"No wonder he was so upset about a single missing book," said Sierra. "Yep," said Kyle. "One of his specially selected library nerds stole that book." He turned to Miguel. "No offense." "None taken." When the team trooped up the slick marble steps into the library's lobby, they saw Charles Chiltington, his mother, a bunch of stuffy-looking ladies, and that one guy in a bow tie. This time, they were ringed around the Mr. Lemoncello fountain, which wasn't gurgling water like it was supposed to. Each member of Mrs. Chiltington's crew was carrying a one-word protest sign. Together, they read "IS THIS ANY LIBRARY? WAY TO RUN A." Bow-tie man, who was holding the "LIBRARY?" placard, was standing in the wrong spot. Kyle and his teammates lingered in the archway just long enough to hear what Mrs.

“难怪他因为丢了一本书而这么难过，”塞拉说。 “是的，”凯尔说。“他特别挑选的一个图书馆书呆子偷了那本书。” 他转向米格尔。“没有进攻。” “没有了。”当队员们列队走上光滑的大理石台阶进入图书馆大厅时，他们看到了查尔斯·齐廷顿、他的母亲、一群表情呆板的女士，还有一个打着领结的家伙。 这一次，他们围在莱蒙塞洛先生喷泉周围，喷泉并没有像预期的那样汩汩作响。 奇尔廷顿夫人的每个船员都举着一个只有一个字的抗议标语。 他们一起读“这是图书馆吗？” 真会跑。”那个打着领结、举着“图书馆？”牌子的人站错了地方。 凯尔和他的队友们在拱门上逗留了很长时间，刚好听了听Mrs。

Chiltington and Charles were saying to the Book Network reporter interviewing them. "If this library is to be a true public institution," said Charles's mother, "then it requires public oversight. It should be governed by a board of community trustees, not by a one-man band." "Especially," said Charles, "when the batty bandleader is a disingenuous and mendacious charlatan." "Are you suggesting that Mr. Lemoncello is both a liar and a fraud?" asked the reporter. "Heavens no," said Charles. "Don't be preposterous." "But that's what those words you just used mean." "Charles is simply upset," said Mrs. Chiltington, draping a protective arm around her son. "That's why we're here today. Our children deserve a proper library, not an indoor amusement park. Mr. Lemoncello is exposing their impressionable minds to things such as a smell-a-vision version of some book called Walter the

齐廷顿和查尔斯对采访他们的图书网记者说。 “如果这个图书馆要成为一个真正的公共机构，”查尔斯的母亲说，“那么它就需要公众的监督。 它应该由社区董事会管理，而不是由一个人的乐队管理。” “尤其是，”查尔斯说，“当乐队指挥是一个虚伪的骗子的时候。” “你是在暗示莱蒙切罗先生既是骗子又是骗子吗？”记者问道。 “天哪，不，"查尔斯说。 “别犯傻了。”“但你刚才用的那些词就是这个意思。” “查尔斯只是心烦意乱，”齐廷顿夫人说着，用保护的手臂搂住了儿子。 “这就是我们今天在这里的原因。 我们的孩子应该有一个像样的图书馆，而不是一个室内游乐园。 莱蒙塞罗先生正在让他们易受影响的大脑接触一些东西，比如一本叫做《沃尔特》的书的嗅觉视觉版本

Farting Dog that children and their impressionable noses simply should not be exposed to." Then she smiled and blinked. Repeatedly. Kyle and his teammates shook their heads and continued into the Rotunda Reading Room. "Hey, Kyle!" It was his brother Mike. "Don't disappoint us!" And his other brother, Curtis. "Win, baby, win!" screamed Mike, pumping his arm. "Woo-hoo! O-H, I-O! O-H, I-O!" They were with Kyle's mom and dad in the capacity crowd that was bunched behind velvet ropes for the final two events of the duodecimalthon. So was everybody else's family. And friends. It seemed like the whole town of Alexandriaville had turned out for the big finale. "No pressure or anything," said Akimi. "Yo," said Miguel, pointing up at the Wonder Dome. "Check it out. I bet they did that to cheer up Mr. Lemoncello."

孩子们和他们敏感的鼻子根本不应该接触放屁狗。” 然后她笑了笑，眨了眨眼。 反复。凯尔和他的队友们摇了摇头，继续向圆形阅览室走去。 “嘿,凯尔!”是他的弟弟迈克。 “别让我们失望！”还有他的另一个弟弟，柯蒂斯。 “赢，宝贝，赢！”迈克挥舞着手臂尖叫着。 “啊!地,投入!地,投入!”他们和凯尔的父母一起，挤在天鹅绒绳后面观看十二小时耐力赛的最后两场比赛。 其他人的家人也是如此。 和朋友。似乎整个亚历山德里维尔镇的人都来观看这场盛大的结局。 “没有压力什么的，”明美说。 “哟，”米格尔指着上面的神奇巨蛋说。 “看看吧。我敢打赌他们这么做是为了让莱蒙切罗先生高兴起来。”

"I was hoping there might be balloons," said Kyle as he admired the ceiling. "It's beautiful," said Sierra. It looked like Dr. Zinchenko had instructed her video artists to run a Balloon Fiesta simulation for the final day of the Library Olympics. The Wonder Dome had been magically transformed into a brilliant blue sky filled with brightly colored hot-air balloons. The video loop made the Rotunda Reading Room feel as if it were a gondola gently swaying beneath a motley-colored airship drifting along on a warm breeze. It was awesome. "Turn! It! Off!" decreed a voice from the third-floor balcony. Kyle looked up. Mr. Lemoncello stood at the railing. He was dressed in a black suit, black shirt, and black tie. He looked like he was on his way to a funeral. The Wonder Dome went dark. It was just a curved white ceiling.

“我还希望会有气球呢，”凯尔一边欣赏着天花板一边说。 “真漂亮，”塞拉说。 看起来津琴科博士已经指示她的视频艺术家在图书馆奥林匹克运动会的最后一天模拟气球节。 神奇的穹顶神奇地变成了一片蔚蓝的天空，天空中满是色彩鲜艳的热气球。 视频的循环播放让圆形阅览室感觉就像一艘在暖风中漂流的五颜六色的飞艇下面轻轻地摇摆的贡多拉。 太棒了。“把!它!走开！”一个声音从三楼的阳台上传来。 凯尔抬起头来。莱蒙切罗先生站在栏杆旁。 他穿着黑色西装，黑色衬衫，系着黑色领带。 他看起来像是在去参加葬礼的路上。 神奇穹顶变暗了。 它只是一个弯曲的白色天花板。