Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 It didn't take long before Flora's idea turned into a plan. She told each of the friends to meet in the playground by the climbing-frame after they had eaten lunch. The four friends wolfed their lunch down as quickly as possible, and rushed outside to the playground. They stood in a huddle, shivering in the cold. It felt like there was snow on the way. A group of hungry- looking pigeons, pecking at the ground, bobbed nearby. Charlie looked at them suspiciously. Were a couple of them familiar? No, Charlie thought. They were just pigeons.fn1

第五章没过多久，弗洛拉的想法就变成了一个计划。 她让每个朋友吃完午饭后在操场的攀爬架旁集合。 四个朋友狼吞虎咽地吃完午饭，冲到外面的操场上。 他们站成一团，在寒冷中瑟瑟发抖。 感觉好像要下雪了。 一群看起来很饿的鸽子在附近飞来飞去，啄着地面。 查理怀疑地看着他们。 其中有熟悉的吗？ 不，查理想。它们只是鸽子

'OK,' said Charlie. 'What's the plan?' 'Well,' said Flora, 'it was Wogan who first gave me the idea.' 'So basically I'm the brains here,' said Wogan. 'And it comes from Mohsen's idea as well,' said Flora. 'So basically I am also the brains here,' said Mohsen. 'We are all a part of this plan, guys,' said Flora. 'Apart from Charlie. He's had no ideas,' said Mohsen. 'That's right,' said Wogan. 'Charlie's definitely not the brains here.' 'Guys? Can we listen to what Flora has to say? Please?' 'Thank you, Charlie. So– Mohsen was right. We need to break in to Van der Gruyne Industries and steal back the gold that Dylan's dad stole from Charlie's dad. Then you won't have to sell your home and everything will be back to normal.' The three boys murmured in agreement. 'The question is how? How do four children break in to a high-security office with guard dogs and high walls and guards?' 'And the laser-guided nuclear missiles,' said Wogan. 'No,' said Mohsen. 'We decided the laser-guided nuclear missiles probably didn't exist, remember?'

“好吧，”查理说。“计划是什么？”“嗯，”弗洛拉说，“是沃根最先给我这个主意的。”“所以基本上我是这里的大脑，”沃根说。 “这也来自莫森的想法，”弗洛拉说。 “所以基本上我也是这里的大脑，”莫森说。 “我们都是这个计划的一部分，伙计们，”弗洛拉说。 “除了查理。“他没有想法，”莫森说。 “没错。”沃根说。 “查理绝对不是这里的聪明人。“男人? 我们能听听弗洛拉怎么说吗？ 好吗?“谢谢你，查理。” 所以莫森是对的。我们得闯进范德格鲁恩工业把迪伦的爸爸从查理的爸爸那里偷来的金子偷回来。 这样你就不用卖房子了，一切都会恢复正常。”三个男孩低声表示同意。 “问题是怎么做？”四个孩子是怎么闯进一个有警犬、高墙和警卫的高度戒备的办公室的？“还有激光制导核导弹，”沃根说。 “不，”莫森说。“我们认为激光制导核导弹可能根本不存在，记得吗？”

'We did?' said Wogan. 'Phew! That's awesome news! Strike one to us!' He high-fived Mohsen. 'Anyway…' said Flora slowly, 'so how do we break in? It's too difficult for kids. But what happens if we had a special weapon? Maybe a lion that could scare away the dogs? Or a mosquito that could evade security cameras? Or a monkey that could climb over a wall and then open a door? Or a crocodile to bite the security guards?' 'But,' said Wogan, looking a little deflated, 'where are we going to get all those anim– HANG ON A MINUTE! You mean Charlie, don't you?!' Flora nodded with a sage smile. 'So you think Charlie could change into animals and help the mission?' said Mohsen, his voice laced with excitement. 'Exactly!' said Flora. 'OK,' said Charlie. What Charlie was really thinking but didn't say, was how the thought of changing into an animal filled him with utter dread. What if his new problem got worse and he totally forgot who he was and stayed as an animal forever? He tried to squash the problem away deep down inside himself. 'I don't want to spoil the party here, guys,' Charlie continued, 'but there's a couple of big problems with your plan. Firstly, as we all know, I can't choose which animals I turn into.' 'I realize that,' said Flora. 'We are going to have to improvise.fn2 Whatever animal you turn into, we can use its powers. If you're a snake, you can slink

“我们做了吗?沃根说。“唷!这消息太棒了！给我们一击！”他和莫森击掌。 “不管怎样……”弗洛拉慢慢地说，“那我们怎么闯进去呢？ 这对孩子来说太难了。 但如果我们有特殊武器会怎么样？ 也许是一头能吓跑狗的狮子？ 或者一只能躲过监控的蚊子？ 或者一只猴子可以爬过一堵墙然后打开一扇门？ 或者是鳄鱼来咬保安？“可是，”沃根说，看上去有点泄气，“我们上哪儿去弄那些动物呢——等一下！”你是说查理，是吗？！”弗洛拉带着贤明的微笑点点头。 “所以你认为查理可以变成动物来帮助任务？”莫森说，他的声音里夹杂着兴奋。 “完全正确!弗洛拉说。“好吧，”查理说。 查理真正在想却没说出来的是，一想到要变成一只动物，他就充满了极度的恐惧。 如果他的新问题变得更糟，他完全忘记了自己是谁，永远都是动物怎么办？ 他试图把这个问题从内心深处压下去。 “伙计们，我不想破坏你们的兴致，”查理接着说，“但是你们的计划有几个大问题。 首先，我们都知道，我不能选择我变成哪种动物。“我知道，”弗洛拉说。 “我们将不得不即兴发挥。无论你变成什么动物，我们都可以使用它的力量。 如果你是一条蛇，你可以潜行

through the fence and bite the guards. If you're a worm, you can crawl underground and then right into the building. All animals have their uses.' 'Hmm. OK. But you're forgetting the main problem,' said Charlie. 'Which is?' said Mohsen. 'It's that Charlie can't choose when to change,' replied Flora. 'Exactly. I can't just click my fingers and change whenever I want,' said Charlie. 'That,' said Flora, holding a finger up, 'is exactly how Wogan gave me a brainwave.' Wogan beamed proudly. 'He asked if you could learn how to control when you change,' Flora said, crossing her arms. 'And I think you can. I think we can train you to change when you want.' 'Now THAT is a plan,' said Mohsen, wide-eyed with admiration. 'Do that and you really will be a proper superhero.' 'Awesome,' said Wogan, shaking his head in wonderment. 'So, so awesome.' 'And how exactly do you think you're going to train me?' asked Charlie doubtfully. 'I'll show you, but we'll need privacy and quiet. So we all need to arrange a play date at one of our houses on Saturday afternoon. Agreed?' 'Agreed,' said Mohsen immediately. 'Afraid there might be a teensy bit of a problem with that actually,' said Wogan. 'There's a My Little Pony movie out this weekend that I thought I'd try to

穿过栅栏，咬死守卫。 如果你是蠕虫，你可以爬到地下，然后直接进入大楼。 所有的动物都有它们的用处。“嗯。 好的。“但是你忘记了主要的问题。”查理说。 “这是什么?莫森说。“查理不能选择什么时候换衣服，”弗洛拉回答。 “没错。“我不能只是按一下手指，想什么时候换就什么时候换。”查理说。 “那，”弗洛拉举起一根手指说，“正是沃根给了我一个脑电波。”沃根得意地笑了。 “他问你能不能学会如何控制自己的变化，”弗洛拉交叉着双臂说。 “我认为你可以。我想我们可以训练你在你想改变的时候改变。“这倒是个计划，”莫森赞叹地瞪大了眼睛说。 “这样做，你就真的会成为一个真正的超级英雄。“太棒了，”沃根惊讶地摇着头说。 “太棒了。”“那你究竟想怎样训练我呢？查理怀疑地问。 “我会指给你看的，但我们需要独处和安静。 所以我们都需要在周六下午在我们其中一个家里安排一个游戏约会。 同意吗?“同意，”莫森立刻说。 “实际上，恐怕这可能会有一点小问题，”沃根说。 “本周末有一部《小马马驹》（My Little Pony）上映，我想我应该试试

see with Daisy. Apparently Twilight Sparkle pony nearly loses all her powers and–' 'WOGAN!' said Flora. 'Yes?' 'The My Little Pony movie can wait. Charlie needs our help.' 'Gah, OK! I guess it can wait until it comes out on DVD. Then Daisy can come to mine for a play date and we can watch it together. We can get popcorn and marshmallows. Daisy loves marshmallows.' 'Great,' said Flora, looking slightly exasperated. 'Charlie? You up for it?' Charlie thought for a moment, looking hard at the ground. Saving his family versus the risk of changing into an animal forever? What a decision. Pigeons circled round them, getting closer. One of them had a foot like a piece of popcorn. 'OK,' he said, swallowing his fear. 'OK. It's worth a go. Let's do it.'

和黛西一起看。显然，暮光闪耀的小马几乎失去了她所有的力量，而且——”“哇！弗洛拉说。 “是吗?《小马马驹》电影可以再等等。 查理需要我们的帮助。“啊，好吧！”我想可以等到DVD版出来再说。 然后黛西可以来我家玩，我们可以一起看。 我们可以买爆米花和棉花糖。 黛西喜欢吃棉花糖。“太好了，”弗洛拉说，显得有些恼怒。 “查理?你准备好了吗？”查理想了一会儿，眼睛紧盯着地面。 拯救他的家人还是永远变成动物？ 多么好的决定啊。鸽子围着他们转，越来越近。 其中一个的脚像爆米花一样大。 “好吧，”他说，强忍着恐惧。 ‘好吧。值得一试。我们就这么干吧。”