4 A CRUMMY PLAN

A CRUMMY PLAN Bean could not think one more nice thought. She had thought something nice about every single kid in her class. She had wished that there were peace on earth and no more litter—that should make the animals happy—and that everyone had plenty to eat and only things they liked. Not one bird had come anywhere near her. There was sweat dripping out from under her hair. Plus, her arms ached. "Shoot," said Bean, dropping her arms. "How long was it before the wolf licked that guy's feet and followed him home?" Ivy dropped her arms, too. "I think it only took him a few minutes, but we're just

一个糟糕的计划比恩想不出一个更好的主意了。 她对班上的每一个孩子都抱有好感。 她曾希望世界和平，没有更多的垃圾——这将使动物们高兴——每个人都有足够的食物和他们喜欢的东西。 没有一只鸟靠近过她。 她的头发下面淌着汗。 另外，她的胳膊也疼。“开枪。”比恩说着，放下了双臂。 “过了多久，狼才舔了那人的脚，跟着他回家？”艾薇也放下了双臂。 “我想他只花了几分钟，但我们只是

beginners. He was an expert. The mayor called him out especially to talk to the wolf because the wolf had been eating up the townspeople. In the picture, there were all these arms and legs lying around. But the good guy and the wolf had a talk, and next thing you know the wolf licks his foot and only eats vegetables." "Arms and legs lying around?" asked Bean. Gross. But interesting. "Yeah," said Ivy. "He was a really bad wolf until he met that good guy." Bean pictured herself patting the wolf's shaggy head. He was trotting alongside her

初学者。他是个专家。 市长特意叫他出来和狼谈谈，因为狼一直在吃镇上的人。 在照片中，到处都是胳膊和腿。 但是好人和狼谈了谈，接下来你知道，狼舔自己的脚，只吃蔬菜。” “胳膊和腿到处乱放？”比恩问。 恶心。但也很有趣。“是的，”艾薇说。 “在遇到那个好人之前，他是一只非常坏的狼。” 比恩想象着自己拍着狼毛茸茸的脑袋。 他在她身边小跑着

with his wolf claws clicking on the sidewalk. Grateful townspeople waved. "I bet the people were pretty glad not to be eaten, too" she said., "Hey," said Ivy. She was smiling—a real smile, not a thinking-nice-thoughts smile. "What if we did something like that?" "What? Put fake arms and legs around?" Bean asked. "Not that," said Ivy. "I mean turning evil to good. If we turned a bad person into a good person, it would be almost like getting a wolf to stop eating people." "Yeah" said Bean. "That would, mean we were so good that we could infect other people with our goodness." She could almost feel the goodness oozing out of her. "That's a great idea. Who should we gooden up? Nancy?" "No," said Ivy firmly. "Crummy Matt."

他的狼爪在人行道上咔嗒作响。 感激的市民挥手致意。 “我敢打赌，人们也很高兴没有被吃掉，”她说。“嘿，”艾薇说。 她在微笑——一种真正的微笑，而不是一种深思熟虑的微笑。 “如果我们也这么做呢？”“什么? 装上假胳膊和假腿？”豆问道。 “不是那个，”艾薇说。“我的意思是化邪为善。 如果我们把一个坏人变成一个好人，这几乎就像让一只狼不再吃人一样。” “是的，”比恩说。“那就意味着我们太好了，我们可以用我们的善良感染其他人。” 她几乎能感觉到善良从她身上渗出来。 “这是个好主意。我们应该表扬谁？ 南希?”“不，”艾薇坚定地说。 “马特肮脏的。”

Bean stared at Ivy. "Are you bonkers? He's going to squash us like bugs." Crummy Matt was ten years old. He bragged that when he was three, his mother had taken him to the doctor because she was worried he was a giant. The doctor said that Crummy Matt wasn't a giant. He was just big. Crummy Matt said he was the biggest ten-year-old in the country. He said there was a bigger tenyear- old in China, and that was the only reason why he wasn't the biggest ten-year

比恩盯着艾薇。“你疯了吗？” 他会把我们像虫子一样压扁的。” 可怜的马特十岁了。 他吹嘘说，在他三岁的时候，他的母亲带他去看医生，因为她担心他是个巨人。 医生说倒霉的马特不是巨人。 他只是个头大。可怜的马特说他是这个国家最大的十岁孩子。 他说中国有一个比他大的十岁男孩，这是他不是最大的十岁男孩的唯一原因

old in the world. "No, he won't," Ivy said, "because we're going to change him into a good person." "How are we going to do that?" Ivy looked around as if she would find the answer in the grass. "I don't know," she said after a moment. "Maybe just looking at us will make him nice. That's what happened with the wolf." Neither of them moved. "We probably need a snack first," said Ivy. They each had some banana chips. Then Bean needed some milk. She spilled quite a lot of it. They wiped it up. Then Ivy had to go to the bathroom. Then Bean had to. When Bean came out of the bathroom, Ivy was smiling her pure-thoughts smile. "Come on," she said through her smiling teeth. "Let's get going."

世界上最老的。“不，他不会的，”艾薇说，“因为我们要把他变成一个好人。” “我们要怎么做呢？”艾薇环顾四周，似乎能在草丛中找到答案。 “我不知道，”过了一会儿她说。 “也许看着我们就能让他变好。 那只狼就是这样。” 他们俩都没动。“我们可能需要先吃点零食，”艾薇说。 他们每人都吃了一些香蕉片。 然后比恩需要一些牛奶。 她洒了很多。 他们把它擦掉了。然后艾薇要去洗手间。 然后比恩不得不这么做。当比恩从浴室出来的时候，艾薇正微笑着，她那纯粹的微笑。 “来吧，”她笑着说。 “我们走吧。”

Bean nodded. They walked toward the living room. Ivy's mom was lying on the couch with cucumbers all over her face. By now Bean was so good she didn't even laugh. "Bye, Mom," said Ivy. "I love you." Ivy's mom lifted her head a little. A cucumber fell on the floor. "What?" "I love you." "Where are you going? It sounds like you're leaving forever," said Ivy's mom. More cucumbers fell off her face.

豆点了点头。他们朝客厅走去。 艾薇的妈妈躺在沙发上，脸上满是黄瓜。 到现在为止，比恩演得太好了，她甚至都笑不出来了。 “再见，妈妈，”艾薇说。“我爱你。” 艾薇的妈妈微微抬起头。 一根黄瓜掉在地板上。 “什么?”“我爱你。”“你上哪儿去？” 听起来你要永远离开了，”艾薇的妈妈说。 更多的黄瓜从她脸上掉了下来。