7 THE POTION SOLUTION

THE POTION SOLUTION "This is going to be great!" said Bean happily. She just loved potions. The two girls were in Ivy's magic lab. The magic lab was one of the five little rooms that Ivy had made inside her bedroom. Chalk lines on the floor showed where one room ended and another began. There was an art studio, a living room, a doll room, a sleeping area, and the lab.

“这太棒了！”比恩高兴地说。 她就是喜欢魔药。两个女孩在艾薇的魔法实验室里。 魔法实验室是艾薇在卧室里布置的五个小房间之一。 地板上的粉笔线显示了一个房间的结束和另一个房间的开始。 有一间美术工作室、一间客厅、一间玩具房、一间卧室和一间实验室。

Bean's favorite was the art studio, with its little white table and the stack of bins filled with markers, glitter glue, pipe cleaners, beads, colored paper, feathers, and paint. The magic lab was Ivy's favorite. In it was a bookshelf that held a shiny black rock, four fossils, a real snake skin, lots of bottles in all shapes and sizes, and jars of herbs and ingredients. Ivy loved to say "ingredients." There was another table, which Ivy had covered in tinfoil. On top was a plastic tub of water. Ivy had wanted a sink but her mother had said no, way, so Ivy filled the plastic tub in the bathroom and carried it back to her lab. It spilled a lot. Ivy took her magic book from its special hiding place and began flipping through the pages. "There's got to be a potion in here somewhere," she said, frowning. Then she giggled. "Here's one for making

比恩最喜欢的是艺术工作室，那里有一张白色的小桌子和一堆装满马克笔、闪光胶、烟斗清洁器、珠子、彩纸、羽毛和颜料的箱子。 魔法实验室是艾薇的最爱。 里面有一个书架，上面放着一块发亮的黑色岩石、四块化石、一张真正的蛇皮、许多形状和大小各异的瓶子，还有一罐罐草药和配料。 艾薇喜欢说“配料”。 还有一张桌子，艾薇用锡纸盖住了。 上面放着一塑料桶水。 艾薇想要一个水槽，但她妈妈不同意，所以艾薇把浴室里的塑料盆装满了水，然后把它带回了实验室。 它洒了很多。艾薇把她的魔法书从特殊的藏书处拿出来，开始翻看。 “这里一定有魔药。”她皱着眉头说。 然后她咯咯地笑了。“这是我要做的

someone fall in love with you." Bean made a throwing-up sound. "Here's one for getting your money back after it's stolen." "That's not it," said Bean, sticking her hand in the water tub. Some water spilled onto the floor. "I know," said Ivy, still flipping pages, "but I don't see—here's another one for making someone fall in love with you.

有人爱上你了。” 比恩发出一声呕吐声。 “这是在你的钱被偷后要回你的钱。” “不是这样的，”比恩说着，把手伸进了浴缸里。 一些水洒到了地板上。 “我知道，”艾薇说，还在翻动书页，“但我不明白——这是另一个让别人爱上你的词。

That's dumb. How come there's nothing for returning a ghost to its grave?" "There should, said Bean. "Most people don't want ghosts hanging around the house." Ivy looked up from her book. "I wouldn't mind." "What if it creaked open your closet door in the middle of the night," asked Bean, "and you could hear it breathing?" Ivy thought. "I'd talk to it. My grandma's cousin lived in a house with a ghost that whistled. My grandma said that when she was a girl, she always heard the ghost whistling upstairs when she went to play at her cousin's."

这是愚蠢的。怎么就没有办法把鬼送进坟墓呢？”“应该有，”比恩说。 “大多数人都不希望鬼魂在房子周围游荡。” 艾薇从书上抬起头来。 “我不介意。”“如果它在半夜吱吱作响地打开你衣柜的门，”比恩问，“你能听到它的呼吸声，那该怎么办？”艾薇的想法。 “我会跟它说话。我奶奶的堂兄住在一个有鬼吹口哨的房子里。 我奶奶说，当她还是个小女孩的时候，每当她去表妹家玩的时候，总能听到鬼在楼上吹口哨。”

"I'd freak. Was she scared?" asked Bean. "Grandma says the only thing she's scared of is chickens, but I think she's joking. I wish I'd been there," said Ivy. "I would have asked it why it was haunting the house." Bean stared at her hand in the water tub. It looked ghostly. "I bet ghosts are scared of themselves. It must be weird to look down and see through yourself." Ivy looked at her. "Maybe. Maybe Grandma's ghost whistled because it was trying to cheer itself up." She went back to looking at her book, and the magic lab was

“我狂。她害怕吗？”比恩问。 “奶奶说她唯一害怕的就是鸡，但我认为她是在开玩笑。 我真希望我当时在那里。”艾薇说。 “我会问它为什么在房子里闹鬼。” 比恩盯着她放在浴缸里的手。 它看起来像幽灵。“我敢打赌鬼魂都怕自己。 往下看，看透自己，一定很奇怪。” 艾薇看着她。“也许。 也许奶奶的鬼魂吹口哨是想让自己高兴起来。” 她继续看她的书，魔法实验室是

quiet for a minute or two. "Hey!" she said suddenly. "Here's something that could work. It's a potion that you pour in front of your house to keep evil spirits away." Bean was feeling sorry for the ghost now. "But it's not an evil spirit," she argued. "It just wants the school to get off its grave. The ghost was there first. First come, first served." "Yeah. You're right," Ivy agreed. "But the ghost has got to go. Ms. Aruba-Tate said. And besides, we'll be doing a good deed for the ghost, in a way. Don't you think it would rather be in its grave?" Bean thought. "I guess so. That bathroom is nasty." "Right. So here's what we'll do," Ivy leaned over the tinfoil, "we'll make a ceremony. We'll tell it that we know it's not evil. We'll tell it that we just want it to rest peacefully. We'll tell it—"

安静一两分钟。 “嘿！”她突然说。“这是一个可行的办法。 这是一种药剂，你可以把它倒在你的房子前面，用来赶走恶灵。” 比恩现在为幽灵感到难过。 “但它不是一个邪恶的灵魂，”她争辩道。 “它只是想让学校从坟墓里爬起来。 鬼魂先到的。 先到先得。” “是的。你说得对，”艾薇同意道。 “但是鬼魂必须离开。 阿鲁巴-塔特说。而且，从某种意义上说，我们是在为鬼魂做一件好事。 你不觉得它宁愿进坟墓吗？”Bean的想法。 “我想是的。浴室太脏了。” “正确。那我们就这么办吧，”艾薇俯身看着锡纸，“我们要举行一个仪式。 我们会告诉它我们知道它不是邪恶的。 我们会告诉它，我们只想让它安息。 我们要告诉它——”