Chapter 42

42 Kyle watched the audience shuffle out of the building. Most of the Library Olympians were thrilled to hear that they'd be picking up an all-expenses-paid college scholarship even without winning the most medals. The Chiltingtons and their well-dressed friends were overjoyed for other reasons. "Marvelous work, Miss Muldauer!" said Mrs. Chiltington when Marjory and her team passed by on their way to the front door. "Simply marvelous! You completely demoralized the man."

42凯尔看着观众慢慢地走出大楼。 大多数参加图书馆奥林匹克运动会的人都很兴奋，因为他们听说即使没有赢得最多的奖牌，也能获得全额支付的大学奖学金。 奇尔廷顿一家和他们穿着讲究的朋友们喜出望外还有别的原因。 “干得好极了，穆尔道尔小姐！”当玛乔丽和她的队伍经过门口时，奇廷顿夫人说。 “仅仅是神奇的!你彻底摧毁了他的士气。”

"Fantastic finish," added Charles. "Getting Lemoncello to cancel these so-called Olympic Games? Couldn't have done it in an abler manner myself." "Mr. Lemoncello looked so sad," giggled Mrs. Chiltington. "I wouldn't be surprised if he packed up all his toys and went home to New York City!" "If he does, it might be for the best," Marjory told her small cluster of fans. "For far too long, Mr. Lemoncello has pretended to be a library lover when, in truth, this was all a clever publicity stunt so he could sell even more of his preposterous games!" The League of Concerned Library Lovers clapped daintily. "Maybe now you concerned citizens, those of you who love libraries qua libraries, can run this institution the way we all know it should be run. If you turn this book-filled building into a true temple of learning, people all over Ohio will say, 'Is that library down in Alexandriaville any good?'

“精彩的结尾，”查尔斯补充道。 “让莱蒙塞罗取消所谓的奥运会？ 我自己也干不出比他更能干的事来。” “莱蒙塞罗先生看起来很伤心，”奇廷顿夫人咯咯地笑着说。 “如果他收拾好所有的玩具回纽约的家，我一点也不惊讶！”“如果他这样做了，那可能是最好的，”马乔里告诉她的一小群粉丝。 “莱蒙切罗先生一直假装自己是图书馆爱好者，但事实上，这都是一个聪明的宣传噱头，这样他就能卖出更多荒谬的游戏！”关心图书馆爱好者联盟灵巧地鼓掌。 “也许现在你们这些关心图书馆的公民，那些热爱图书馆本身的人，可以按照我们都知道的方式来管理这个机构。 如果你把这座充满书籍的建筑变成一座真正的学术殿堂，全俄亥俄州的人都会说，‘亚历山大维尔的那个图书馆有什么用吗？’

To which you can reply, 'Hello? It's not a Lemoncello. It's a library!'" Her admirers' hands pitter-pattered together again. Marjory nodded graciously, then headed through the lobby with the rest of her team. Actually, the other kids from the Midwest team weren't really walking with Marjory, just in the same general direction. "Where'd Mr. Lemoncello go?" asked Akimi. "I saw him and Clarence head upstairs," said Sierra. "Probably to console Dr. Zinchenko." "Definitely," said Miguel. "Librarians always flip out when books and encyclopedias mysteriously disappear off their shelves." Mrs. Yunghans and Mr. Sharp, the hometown team's two chaperones, came to join the players at the reading desk. "You guys ready to bookmobile it back to Olympia Village?" asked Mr. Sharp. "Not just yet," said Kyle. "We want to make sure Mr. Lemoncello is okay."

你可以回复：“你好？” 这不是柠檬酒。这是一个图书馆！’”她的崇拜者们的手又啪嗒啪嗒地拍了起来。 玛乔丽优雅地点了点头，然后和其他队员一起穿过大厅。 实际上，中西部队的其他孩子并没有和玛乔丽一起走，只是朝同一个方向走。 “莱蒙切罗先生去哪儿了？”阿基米问。 “我看到他和克拉伦斯上楼了，”塞拉说。 “可能是为了安慰津琴科医生。” “当然，”米格尔说。 “当书籍和百科全书神秘地从书架上消失时，图书管理员总是会抓狂。” 杨涵太太和夏普先生是家乡队的两位监护人，他们来到了阅览桌旁和队员们一起阅读。 “你们准备好把它搬回奥林匹亚村了吗？”夏普问道。 “还没有，”凯尔说。 “我们想确保莱蒙切罗先生没事。”

"All right," said Mr. Sharp. "But it's barbecue night at the motel." "We're not really in the mood for barbecue," said Akimi. "They have ice cream, too," said Mrs. Yunghans. Akimi crinkled her nose. "I think I'm suddenly lactose intolerant." "We won't be long," said Kyle, tucking his orange scholarship card into his shirt pocket. "Come on, you guys." As his team trooped up the spiral staircase to the second floor, Kyle looked down at the Rotunda Reading Room and realized how hollow the library seemed without anybody in it. No one was riding the hover ladders or grabbing a snack in the Book Nook Café or hanging out in the community meeting rooms or rushing upstairs to do research at a collaboration station or heading to the third floor to check out the newest educational video games in the Electronic Learning Center.

“好吧，”夏普先生说。 “但今天是汽车旅馆的烧烤之夜。” “我们真的没有心情吃烧烤，”明美说。 “他们也有冰淇淋，”永汉太太说。 明美皱起了鼻子。“我想我突然不耐乳糖了。” “我们不会待太久的，”凯尔说着，把他那张橙色的奖学金卡塞进了衬衫口袋。 “来吧，伙计们。”当他的团队列队走上螺旋形楼梯来到二楼时，凯尔低头看着圆形阅览室，意识到图书馆里没有人，显得多么空洞。 没有人乘坐悬停梯子，没有人在Book Nook咖啡馆里吃零食，没有人在社区会议室里闲逛，也没有人冲上楼在协作站做研究，也没有人跑到三楼的电子学习中心去看最新的教育视频游戏。

The holographic statue nooks were empty and dark. The Wonder Dome was just a blank canvas. A TV set after the power goes out. Without people or laughter or learning, the domed building was just a fancy tomb filled with dry and dusty books.

全息雕像的角落又空又暗。 神奇巨蛋只是一块空白的画布。 停电后的电视机。 没有人，没有笑声，没有学问，这座圆顶建筑只是一座华丽的坟墓，里面堆满了干巴巴、满是灰尘的书。