Chapter 4

Chapter FOUR 'There you are!' said Mum when I scurried into the row of seats and sat down next to her. 'Where have you been?' 'I met a friend,' I said. 'Lovely!' said Mum. 'And don't worry about the performance. I've told the organizers of the ball to take your name off the list. You won't be called up to

第四章你在这儿！妈妈说，我急忙跑进那排座位，坐在她旁边。 “你上哪儿去了？”“我遇到一个朋友，”我说。 “可爱的!妈妈说。“别担心表演。 我已经告诉舞会的组织者把你的名字从名单上划掉了。 你不会被叫去的

perform anything.' 'Oh...' I said. But then I remembered that it didn't matter. Araminta and I had agreed that we would both go up when one of our names was called-whichever one was called first. I decided not to tell Mum and Dad. It would be a nice surprise for them. 'Granny and Grandpa were a bit disappointed,' whispered Mum as a gust of wind blew through the ballroom, blowing out the candles above our heads. 'But I told them you would do a special little show for them next time we visit.' Just then the orchestra started up and a bright light shone onto the stage.

执行任何东西。“哦……”我说。 但后来我想起来，这并不重要。 我和阿拉明塔说好，叫到我们其中一个名字的时候，我们就一起上去——谁先叫谁。 我决定不告诉爸爸妈妈。 这对他们来说是个惊喜。 “爷爷奶奶有点失望，”妈妈小声说，这时一阵风吹过舞厅，吹灭了我们头顶上的蜡烛。 “但我告诉他们，下次我们来的时候，你会为他们做一个特别的小表演。”就在这时，管弦乐队开始演奏，明亮的灯光照在舞台上。

A very distinguished-looking vampire with a twirly moustache came prancing into view.

一个长着卷曲小胡子、相貌出众的吸血鬼蹦蹦跳跳地走了进来。

'Welcome,' he said grandly, 'to the annual vampire ball!' There was a big cheer from the audience. 'How wonderful to see so many bright white fangs shining back at me! To celebrate the blood moon tonight, our little vampires are going to put on a show for us. We will see just how talented they all are! And there will be a few prizes for the best performances. So without further ado here is the first act. Introducing Nicholas Darkfang with his synchronized flying bats!' There was another big cheer, and a vampire about my age walked confidently onto the stage, holding a tall wire cage. He opened the door of the cage and eight

“欢迎，”他庄严地说，“参加一年一度的吸血鬼舞会！”观众发出了热烈的欢呼声。 “看到这么多明亮的白色尖牙向我反射，真是太棒了！”为了庆祝今晚的血月，我们的小吸血鬼要为我们表演一场。 我们将看到他们是多么有才华！还有一些最佳表演奖项。 话不多说，现在是第一幕。 介绍尼古拉斯·达克方和他的同步飞行蝙蝠！”又是一阵欢呼，一个和我年纪相仿的吸血鬼抱着一个高高的铁丝笼子，自信地走上舞台。 他打开笼子的门，然后8

bats fluttered out into the air and arranged themselves into a circle above Nicholas's head. Nicholas pulled a thin black stick out from under his cape and began to wave it around like a conductor. The bats followed the stick and began to fly up and down alternately, making pretty patterns in the air. 'Ooh!' said the audience.

蝙蝠扑扇着翅膀飞到空中，在尼古拉斯的头顶上围成一个圈。 尼古拉斯从斗篷下抽出一根细黑棒，像指挥一样挥舞着。 蝙蝠跟着棍子，开始交替地上下飞行，在空中画出漂亮的图案。 “哦!观众说。

'Ahh!' I held Pink Rabbit up so that he could see better. Next onto the stage was another vampire boy who was wearing a pair of black-rimmed spectacles. I am going to show you how to make the best vampire hair gel in the world!' he said, opening up a suitcase and getting out all sort of bottles and test tubes. He began to pour and stir. There was a lot of smoke and then a loud bang.

“啊!”我把粉兔举起来，好让他看得更清楚。 下一个上台的是另一个戴着一副黑框眼镜的吸血鬼男孩。 我将向你展示如何制作世界上最好的吸血鬼发胶！他说着，打开一个手提箱，拿出各种各样的瓶子和试管。 他开始倒水搅拌。 有很多烟，然后是一声巨响。