12. The Stakeout

12 The Stakeout Before we could have a sleepover in the garden, Miss Nichol gave us permission forms to bring home and get signed by our parents. Basically, it said they won't sue the school if we get struck by lightning in the middle of the night or if we get attacked by wild animals.*

在我们可以在花园里过夜之前，尼科尔小姐给了我们带回家的许可表，并让我们的父母签字。 基本上，它说如果我们在半夜被闪电击中或被野生动物袭击，他们不会起诉学校

Sleeping outside is fun! We all brought flashlights and sleeping bags to school that night and spread them on the ground around the garden. Miss Nichol, Mrs. Stoker, Miss Banks, and Mr. Tony brought their sleeping bags too. The grown-ups agreed to take turns sleeping so that one of them would be awake and on guard at all times. "We're sure to catch that darn bunny, or whatever it is," said Miss Nichol. We climbed into our sleeping bags, but it was too early to go to sleep. I wasn't tired. "We should have a campfire and make s'mores," I suggested. "That would be cool." "We're here to save our veggies, Arlo," Andrea said. "Not to eat junk food." What does Andrea know? If we ate junk food all the time, we wouldn't have to bother growing veggies in the first place. Maybe if animals eat all our veggies, I won't have to eat them. I was going to say something mean to Andrea, but I didn't have the chance, because Mrs. Stoker held up her hand and made a peace sign, which means "shut up." We all pointed our flashlights at her.

睡在外面很有趣！那天晚上，我们都带着手电筒和睡袋去学校，把它们铺在花园周围的地上。 尼科尔小姐、斯托克夫人、班克斯小姐和托尼先生也带来了他们的睡袋。 大人们同意轮流睡觉，这样他们中就会有一个人醒着，时刻保持警惕。 尼科尔小姐说：“我们一定会抓到那只该死的兔子，或者是别的什么东西。” 我们爬进睡袋，但现在睡觉还太早。 我不累。“我们应该生一堆营火，做些s'mores，”我建议道。 “那太酷了。”“我们是来拯救我们的蔬菜的，阿乐，”安德里亚说。 “不要吃垃圾食品。”安德里亚知道什么？ 如果我们一直吃垃圾食品，我们就不需要在一开始就种植蔬菜了。 也许如果动物吃了我们所有的蔬菜，我就不用吃它们了。 我本想对安德里亚说些刻薄的话，但我没有机会，因为斯托克太太举起手，做了个和平手势，意思是“闭嘴”。 我们都用手电筒照着她。

"Hey, kids," she said, "do you know what tiny trees do in the army?" Oh no. Mrs. Stoker was going to do one of her comedy routines. "What do tiny trees do in the army?" we all asked. "They're in the infantry!" she said. "Get it? Infantry? Infant tree?"

“嘿，孩子们，”她说，“你们知道小树在军队里有什么用吗？”哦,不。 斯托克太太要表演她的一个喜剧节目。 “小树在军队里能干什么？”我们都问。 “他们是步兵！”她说。 “明白了吗?步兵?婴儿树?”

We all laughed. "But seriously," said Mrs. Stoker. "I was standing in the garden early yesterday morning wondering where the sun had gone. Then it dawned on me." Some of us laughed. "I'm making a belt out of herbs from my garden," said Mrs. Stoker. "But my friends say it's a waist of thyme." A few of us laughed. "I'd like to tell you about a girl who eats plants," said Mrs. Stoker. "But you've probably heard of herbivore." Emily laughed. "The other day, I cut down a tree just by looking at it," said Mrs. Stoker. "Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes." Nobody laughed. "I know why you're not laughing," said Mrs. Stoker. "You don't want to wake up the sleeping bags. Get it? Wake up the sleeping bags?" "I'm tired," said Alexia. "Isn't it bedtime yet?" "One more thing before we go to sleep," said Mrs. Stoker. "You should never tell secrets in a garden. Do you know why?"

我们都笑了。“可是说真的，”斯托克太太说。 “昨天一大早我站在花园里，不知道太阳到哪里去了。 然后我明白了。”我们中的一些人笑了。 “我正在用花园里的草药做一条腰带，”斯托克太太说。 “但我的朋友说那是一束百里香。” 我们中有几个人笑了。“我想告诉你一个吃植物的女孩，”斯托克太太说。 “但你可能听说过草食动物。” 艾米丽笑了。“前几天，我看了一眼就把一棵树砍倒了，”斯托克太太说。 “是的，我亲眼所见。” 没人笑了。“我知道你为什么不笑，”斯托克太太说。 “你可不想吵醒睡袋。 明白了吗?唤醒睡袋？”“我累了，”亚历克西娅说。 “不是该睡觉了吗？”“睡觉前还有一件事，”斯托克太太说。 “你不应该在花园里讲秘密。 你知道为什么吗？”

"Why?" we all asked. "The potatoes have eyes," said Mrs. Stoker. "The corn has ears. And the beans talk. Get it? Beans talk? Beanstalk?" Thankfully, Mrs. Stoker had run out of gardening jokes. We settled in for the night. I don't know what happened after that because I fell asleep. When we woke up the next morning, the first thing we did was ask the grown-ups if they saw any bunnies or other animals in the garden during the night. "I didn't see a darn thing," said Miss Nichol. "I didn't see anything," said Mr. Tony. "Me neither," said Mrs. Stoker. "That makes four of us," said Miss Banks. "Maybe the bunny didn't come last night because it saw us sleeping here," suggested Andrea. Then we checked the veggies in the garden. And guess what? There was a bite taken out of a cucumber. Nobody gasped. It didn't surprise us anymore.

“为什么？”我们都问。“土豆长了眼睛，”斯托克太太说。 “玉米有穗。豆子会说话。 明白了吗?豆子说话?Beanstalk ?”谢天谢地，斯托克太太已经没有园艺笑话了。 我们安顿下来过夜。 我不知道之后发生了什么，因为我睡着了。 当我们第二天早上醒来时，我们做的第一件事就是问大人们晚上是否在花园里看到了兔子或其他动物。 “我什么也没看见，”尼科尔小姐说。 “我什么也没看见，”托尼先生说。 “我也是，”斯托克太太说。 “那我们就四个人了，”班克斯小姐说。 “也许兔子昨晚没来是因为它看见我们睡在这里，”安德里亚说。 然后我们检查了花园里的蔬菜。 你猜怎么着？黄瓜被咬了一口。 没有人喘着粗气。我们不再感到惊讶了。