Chapter 7

Chapter seven, By the time Papa Pete reached me, I was totally frozen with fear. "Whoa there, Hankie," he said, throwing his big strong hand on my shoulder. "What's gotten into you?" "That d-d-dog," I stammered. "He wants to eat spider brains. Or squirrels. Or maybe even mine!" "Oh, you mean Dexter," Papa Pete said. "No way. He just likes to relax under the tree and bark at the squirrels. He's here every day." As Papa Pete talked, I noticed that the dog had stopped barking. I let myself turn around and look at him. He wasn't chasing me. In fact, his tail was wagging. I looked at McKelty, who

当皮特爸爸来到我身边时，我被吓呆了。 “哇，汉基，”他说着，把他那又大又结实的手搭在我的肩上。 “你怎么了？”“那条狗。”我结结巴巴地说。 “他想吃蜘蛛脑。 或松鼠。甚至可能是我的！”“哦，你是说德克斯特，”皮特爸爸说。 “没门。他只是喜欢在树下放松，对着松鼠吠叫。 他每天都在这里。”皮特爸爸说话的时候，我注意到狗已经不叫了。 我让自己转过身来看着他。 他没有追我。事实上，他的尾巴在摇摆。 我看着麦凯尔蒂，他

had a huge grin on his thick face. "You lied," I said to him. "That dog isn't a zombie." "Oh yeah?" he whispered. "Just wait until dark and his eyes start to glow. You'll see what I mean." With that, McKelty walked toward the basketball courts. "Now what is this all about?" Papa Pete asked. I opened my mouth and all my fear came out in one giant wave of words. "McKelty said that tonight there's going to be a huge zombie invasion. And that Meatbag is going to attack you. Papa Pete, what if zombies take over the city? What if they live in my building? What if they're in my bed right now, just waiting for me to come home?" Papa Pete held up his hand. "Okay, let's take a deep breath and just slow down here," he said. "First of all, zombies are make-believe. They don't really exist, except in stories and movies and TV."

他的厚脸上挂着大大的笑容。 “你撒谎了，”我对他说。 “那只狗不是僵尸。” “哦，是吗？”“只要等到天黑，他的眼睛开始发光。 你会明白我的意思的。”说完，麦凯尔蒂走向篮球场。 “这到底是怎么回事？”皮特爸爸问。 我张开嘴，所有的恐惧都以一种巨大的语言涌了出来。 “McKelty说今晚将会有一场巨大的僵尸入侵。 那个肉袋会攻击你的。 皮特爸爸，如果僵尸占领了这座城市怎么办？ 如果他们住在我的楼里呢？ 如果他们现在就在我的床上，等着我回家呢？”皮特爸爸举起他的手。 “好吧，我们深吸一口气，慢慢来，”他说。 “首先，僵尸是虚构的。 他们其实并不存在，只存在于故事、电影和电视中。”

"But, Papa Pete," I argued. "Nick McKelty pointed out three zombies right here in the park. One guy's face was being held on by just a bandage." Papa Pete looked at me and scratched his chin. "I can see that I'm not going to talk you out of this very easily," he said. "So I have a wonderful idea. Let's go to the library." "Great idea!" I said. "I'll bet libraries are zombie-free zones. It's probably hard for them to read when their eyes are sliding out." "Boy oh boy, your imagination is really flying," Papa Pete said. "But I have a cure for that." "Do I take it with a spoon?" "No, it's called facts, Hankie. The best cure for fear is to have the facts, nothing but the facts. I say, let's go to the library and look up zombies. I think real facts will calm you down and make you feel better." I held Papa Pete's hand tight. We left the park and headed up 78th Street past my

“但是，皮特爸爸，”我争辩道。 尼克·麦凯尔蒂指出公园里就有三个僵尸。 一个人的脸只被绷带罩住了。” 皮特爸爸看着我，挠了挠下巴。 “我知道我不会轻易说服你放弃这个计划，”他说。 “所以我有一个好主意。 我们去图书馆吧。”“好主意!”我说。 “我敢打赌图书馆是没有僵尸的地方。 当他们的眼睛滑出来时，他们可能很难阅读。” “天哪，天哪，你的想象力真丰富，”皮特爸爸说。 “但我有一个治疗方法。” “我要用勺子吃吗？”“不，这叫事实，汉基。 治疗恐惧的最好方法是掌握事实，只有事实。 我说，我们去图书馆查查僵尸吧。 我认为真实的事实会让你冷静下来，让你感觉更好。” 我紧紧握住皮特爸爸的手。 我们离开公园，沿着78街走，经过我家

apartment building. At Amsterdam Avenue, we turned left and walked the two blocks to the library. "I love this place," Papa Pete said, holding the big wooden door open for me. "It's got the delicious smell of books." "I like the smell of books, too," I said. "I just wish they weren't so hard for me to read. It's fun to check them out with my library card, but

公寓大楼。在阿姆斯特丹大道，我们左转，走过两个街区来到图书馆。 “我爱这个地方，”皮特爸爸说，为我撑开那扇大木门。 “它有书的香味。” “我也喜欢书的味道，”我说。 “我只是希望它们对我来说不是那么难读。 用我的借书证借阅很有趣，但是

then when I get them home, they scare me. Which reminds me—can we look up zombies, please? Right now?" Papa Pete walked me up to the desk where a woman was sitting on a high stool, wearing a T-shirt that said, Open a book, open your mind. In front of her was a sign that read: MS. LOPEZ, HEAD LIBRARIAN. "Excuse me, Ms. Lopez," Papa Pete said in his quiet library voice. "Can you help us find some information about zombies?" "Of course I can," she answered. "They don't call me Info to Go for nothing. Follow me."

当我把他们带回家时，他们吓到我了。 这倒提醒了我，我们能查查僵尸吗？ 现在呢?”皮特爸爸带我走到桌子前，一个女人坐在一张高凳子上，穿着一件t恤，上面写着：打开书，打开你的思想。 她面前的牌子上写着：MS。 洛佩斯，图书管理员主管。“对不起，我的太太。 “洛佩斯，”皮特爸爸用他那图书馆里安静的声音说。 “你能帮我们找到一些关于僵尸的信息吗？”“我当然能，”她回答。 “他们不会无缘无故叫我Info to Go。 跟我来。”

She took us to the research section on the second floor. "You can find the history of zombies in the encyclopedia," she said. "Would you like to read that on the computer screen or in the actual book?" "My grandpa says that books smell delicious," I said. "So I'll go for the book." Ms. Lopez pulled out the Z volume of the encyclopedia and put it on the reading table. She opened it to ZOMBIE, and then turned to Papa Pete. "While your grandson is reading, is there something special I can help you find?" "Well, I was just thinking about starting a bowling league. Do you happen to have the official bowling league handbook?" "Of course, it's in the sports section. Let me show you." "Hankie, I'll be two shelves over in the

她把我们带到二楼的研究部。 “你可以在百科全书中找到僵尸的历史，”她说。 “你想在电脑屏幕上读还是在书里读？”“我爷爷说书闻起来很香，”我说。 “那我就去拿这本书。” 洛佩兹拿出百科全书的第Z卷，放在阅读桌上。 她把信打开给僵尸看，然后转向皮特爸爸。 “你孙子看书的时候，有什么特别的东西需要我帮你找吗？”“嗯，我正在考虑成立一个保龄球联盟。 你有保龄球联盟的官方手册吗？”“当然，是在体育版。 让我示范给你看。”“汉克，我在两个架子后面。