7 A SURPRISING NEW SKILL

CHAPTER 7 A SURPRISING NEW SKILL Mr. Hartshorn unlocked the control-room door and stepped inside. Kaz peeked in behind him. He didn't see anyone, ghost or solid, in there. Mr. Hartshorn switched off the spotlight, then peered under the counter and behind the door. He even opened the closet at the back of the control room. He stood there for a long time, which seemed strange because the closet was obviously empty.

第七章惊人的新技能哈茨香先生打开控制室的门，走了进去。 卡兹从他身后偷看进来。他没看见任何人，鬼也好，实体也好。 哈茨香先生关掉了聚光灯，然后在柜台下面和门后窥视。 他甚至打开了控制室后面的壁橱。 他在那里站了很长时间，这似乎很奇怪，因为壁橱显然是空的。

"There's no one in the control room," Mr. Hartshorn said when he returned to the cafetorium. "The door was locked. And this time I had my keys with me. So how did that spotlight come on? I know it didn't turn on by itself." Nobody offered any ideas. Mr. Hartshorn sighed. "Fine. Let's get back to work. I don't want any more funny business!" Claire and Jonathan returned to their places

“控制室里一个人也没有，”哈茨霍恩回到餐厅时说。 “门是锁着的。这次我带着钥匙。 那么聚光灯是怎么来的呢？ 我知道它不是自己打开的。” 没有人提出任何意见。哈茨霍恩叹了口气。 “很好。我们回去工作吧。 我不想再听任何可笑的事了！”克莱尔和乔纳森回到了自己的位置

onstage. Other kids sat down on the floor in front of the stage and on the steps. And the kids who were working on props went back to painting leaves and cutting them out. Noah grabbed the sword he'd cut out of cardboard and swung it around. "If there's a ghost at our school, I'll find it and stab it with my magic sword!" Kaz shivered. "No stabbing," Mr. Hartshorn said. "And no more talk about ghosts." "Aww," Noah whined. Kaz didn't like Noah very much. He didn't like the way Noah teased Jonathan, but he really didn't like what Noah said about finding "the ghost" and stabbing it. Kaz knew Noah couldn't see him, but he decided to stay as far away from Noah as he could. That night, Claire did her homework in the craft room while Kaz practiced his ghost skills with

在舞台上。其他孩子坐在舞台前的地板上和台阶上。 而那些在做道具的孩子们又开始画树叶，然后把它们剪下来。 诺亚抓起他从硬纸板上剪下的剑，挥舞着。 “如果我们学校有鬼，我会找到它，用我的魔剑刺死它！”Kaz颤抖。 “没有刺伤，”哈茨霍恩说。 “别再谈鬼了。” “啊，”诺亚呜咽着说。卡兹不太喜欢诺亚。 他不喜欢诺亚取笑乔纳森的方式，但他真的不喜欢诺亚说的找到“鬼魂”并刺伤它。 卡兹知道诺亚看不见他，但他决定离诺亚越远越好。 那天晚上，克莱尔在工艺室做作业，而卡兹则在练习他的鬼魂技能

Beckett. "Can a ghost turn on a player piano or a spotlight?" Claire asked the ghosts. "Of course," Beckett replied. "It's just a matter of moving a solid object. Show her, Kaz. Go over there and turn off that table lamp." "I can't!" Kaz moaned. And Beckett knew he couldn't. "Try," Beckett insisted. Kaz floated over the table. He stared hard at the lamp. "Come on, Kaz," Claire cheered him on. "You can do it." Kaz held his breath, clenched his teeth, and sent all his energy to his finger as he reached for the switch. His finger passed through the base of the lamp. "See?" he said. "Again," Beckett ordered. "Try it again." Kaz sighed. He squeezed the ghost bead inside his pocket for luck, then reached for the switch again.

贝克特。“鬼魂能打开自动钢琴或聚光灯吗？”克莱尔问鬼魂。 “当然，”贝克特回答。 “这只是一个移动固体物体的问题。 给她看看，卡兹。去那边把那盏台灯关掉。” “我不能!”Kaz抱怨道。贝克特知道他做不到。 “试试，”贝克特坚持说。卡兹飘过桌子。 他紧紧地盯着灯。 “加油，卡兹，”克莱尔鼓励他。 “你能做到的。”卡兹屏住呼吸，咬紧牙关，把所有的精力都集中在手指上，伸手去拿开关。 他的手指穿过了灯座。 “看到了吗?”他说。“再来一次。”贝克特命令道。 “再试一次。”Kaz叹了口气。 他把鬼头塞进口袋里以求好运，然后又伸手去拿开关。

And once again, his finger passed through the lamp. "Concentrate!" Beckett said. "I am!" Kaz cried. He was concentrating so hard that the lamp blurred in front of him. He touched his finger to the switch one more time, but this time something amazing happened. The lamp disappeared from the solid world. Kaz, Claire, and Beckett all stared. They could still see the lamp even though it was no longer solid. In fact, they could see right through it as it floated in midair. But it wasn't brown anymore. Now it was the same whitish-blue color as Kaz, Beckett, and the bead inside Kaz's pocket. "How did you do that?" Claire and Beckett asked at the same time. "I-I don't know," Kaz stammered. "No, really," Beckett said very seriously as he floated around the ghost lamp. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" "I don't know," Kaz said again.

再一次，他的手指穿过了灯。 “集中!”贝克特说。 “我!”Kaz哭了。他全神贯注，以致眼前的灯都模糊了。 他又用手指碰了一次开关，但这次神奇的事情发生了。 灯从实体世界消失了。 卡兹、克莱尔和贝克特都目瞪口呆。 他们仍然能看见那盏灯，尽管它不再是固体了。 事实上，当它漂浮在半空中时，他们可以看穿它。 但它不再是棕色的了。 现在它和卡兹、贝克特以及卡兹口袋里的珠子是一样的白蓝色。 “你是怎么做到的？”克莱尔和贝克特同时问道。 “我不知道，”卡兹结结巴巴地说。 “不，真的，”贝克特在幽灵灯周围漂浮着，非常严肃地说。 “你是怎么做到的？”“我不知道。”卡兹又说。

"Can you turn it back?" Claire asked. "Can you do it again?" Beckett asked. "I don't know!" Kaz threw up his hands. "I don't know how I did it. I don't know if I can put it back. And I don't know if I can do it again." "Well, first, why don't you try to make it solid again?" Beckett suggested. "How?" Kaz asked. "I'm not sure," Beckett said. "This isn't a skill I've ever seen before." "Really?" Kaz gaped at Beckett. "You mean, you can't do it?" He grinned. "I have a skill that you don't have?" "Well," Beckett sniffed. "I wouldn't call it a skill if you can't do it at will. Now can you return that lamp to the solid world or not?" Since Kaz didn't know how he had made the lamp disappear from the solid world, he didn't know if he could return it. He put his hand on the lamp, concentrated really hard, and willed it to turn solid again.

“你能把它转回去吗？”克莱尔问道。 “你能再做一次吗？”贝克特问道。 “我不知道！”卡兹举起双手。 “我不知道我是怎么做到的。 我不知道还能不能把它放回去。 我不知道我还能不能再做一次。” “好吧，首先，你为什么不试着把它变成固体呢？”贝克特建议。 “如何?”Kaz问道。“我不确定，”贝克特说。 “这是我以前从未见过的技能。” “真的吗?”卡兹目瞪口呆地看着贝克特。 “你是说，你做不到？”他咧嘴一笑。 “我有一项你没有的技能？”“嗯，”贝克特嗤之以鼻。 “如果你不能随心所欲地去做，我不会把它称为技能。 现在你能不能把灯还给现实世界？”因为卡兹不知道他是如何让灯从实体世界消失的，他不知道他是否能把它归还。 他把手放在灯上，使劲集中精神，想让它再次变成固体。