Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Once again, Charlie thought about all his worst fears. As he breathed out, his friends disappeared from his mind. He was alone. His dad's company, McGuffin & Sons,fn1 had collapsed… His family had moved to Aunt Brenda's cat-we-esmelling house… He had started at a new school, full of threatening, angry faces… His brother was ill again, stuck on a drip in hospital… He had changed and became stuck, doomed to stay forever as a tiny, squirming maggot, forgetting that he had ever been a boy called Charlie… Electricity shot through him, from his neuronsfn2 to his fingertips.

第六章查理又一次想起了他最害怕的事情。 当他呼气时，他的朋友们从他的脑海中消失了。 他独自一人。他父亲的公司McGuffin & Sons倒闭了……他的家人搬到了布伦达阿姨的臭气熏天的房子里……他开始在一所充满威胁和愤怒面孔的新学校上学……他的哥哥又病了，在医院里打点滴……他改变了，被困住了，注定要永远呆在那里，成为一个小小的、不停地爬行的蛆，忘记了他曾经是一个叫查理的男孩……电流穿过他，从他的神经元到他的指尖。

His body began folding in on itself, like a flower at night. He was changing and nothing was going to stop it this time. He was growing smaller, sprouting fur. Feet turning into paws. There was a snout. And claws. He had changed but he had no idea what into. 'FLAMING NORA!' cried Wogan, still aiming the catapult at Charlie. 'HOLY MAJOLY!' exclaimed Flora, staring at him in astonishment. 'I'M GONNA PUKE!' croaked Mohsen. 'Mohsen! Don't be rude!' said Flora. Yes, thought Charlie. Don't be so rude!

他的身体开始折叠起来，就像夜晚的花朵。 他在改变，这次什么也阻止不了。 他越来越小，长出了皮毛。 脚变成爪子。有一个鼻子。 和爪子。他变了，但他不知道要变成什么。 “燃烧的诺拉!沃根喊道，仍然把弹弓对准查理。 “圣majo !弗洛拉惊叫着，惊讶地盯着他。 “我要吐了！”莫森嘶哑地说。 “Mohsen !别那么粗鲁！弗洛拉说。 是的，查理想。别这么粗鲁！

'But it was so gross!' 'Yes, it was,' said Flora. 'It was disgusting to watch, but it's rude to point it out.' Guys, thought Charlie. I can still understand you, you know. 'I just can't actually believe my eyes,' said Mohsen, who just couldn't actually believe his eyes. 'You've really changed,' Wogan added, almost not believing it had happened right there in front of him. 'I almost can't believe it happened right here in front of me.' 'You did it, Charlie!' said Flora triumphantly. 'Well done!' She gave Charlie's fur a tentative rub, and then wiped her hand on her dress. Yes, I know I've changed, thought Charlie, but can someone please tell me what exactly I have changed into? 'OK, Charlie, it's time to change back before you start forgetting who you are,' said Flora briskly. 'Meanwhile,' she continued, looking at Wogan and Mohsen, 'the important thing is not to startle Charlie in any way. You know. In case he… erm…' Flora left her sentence hanging, glancing at Charlie with a meaningful look on her face. No, I don't know! In case I what?! thought Charlie. What am I? 'Any loud noises or sudden movements might mean he accidentally–' A sudden knocking sound made everybody jump.

“但是太恶心了！”“是的，是的，”弗洛拉说。 “看着很恶心，但指出这一点是不礼貌的。”伙计们，查理想。 我还是能理解你的。 莫森说：“我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。”他简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 “你真的变了。”沃根补充道，几乎不敢相信眼前发生的一切。 “我几乎不敢相信这一切就发生在我面前。“你做到了，查理！”弗洛拉得意地说。 “做得好!”她试探性地揉了揉查理的毛，然后在自己的衣服上擦了擦手。 是的，我知道我变了，查理想，但是谁能告诉我我到底变成了什么？ “好了，查理，在你忘记自己是谁之前，是时候变回去了。”弗洛拉轻快地说。 “与此同时，”她看着沃根和莫森继续说，“重要的是不要以任何方式吓到查理。 你知道的。以防他……嗯……”弗洛拉没把话说完，脸上带着意味深长的表情瞥了查理一眼。 不，我不知道！万一我什么？！认为查理。 我是什么？“任何响亮的声音或突然的动作都可能意味着他不小心——”一阵突然的敲击声吓得大家都跳了起来。

'Everything OK in there?' shouted Charlie's mum through the bedroom door. 'Everything's fine, Mrs McGuffin!' said Flora quickly. Charlie started panicking and attempted to scurry under the bed but found to his dismay that he couldn't quite fit. Charlie's mum tried opening the door, but fortunately Flora had had the foresight to jam it, using a Lego model of the Millennium Falcon as a doorstop. 'Is this door stuck, kids? Can you let me in?' Charlie's mum rattled the handle. Fumbling to put the catapult away, Wogan accidentally let go of the elastic. A small pebble shot from it and hit Charlie squarely on his furry backside. Charlie yelped in pain and without him even thinking about it, something sprayed out of his furry backside. Something that smelled so vile, so nosebustingly disgusting, that Flora, Mohsen and Wogan immediately started retching. Charlie finally realized– too late by far– what animal he had changed into. Charlie was a skunk. And he had just blasted his room with maximum- strength skunk spray from his bum.fn3 'Oh, it's awful,' gagged Wogan. 'I'm going to be sick!' 'No!' said Flora, holding her nose. 'You can't! If you do– oh my goodness it smells SO bad– if you do that, then Charlie's mum will– oh gosh, I think I'm going to be sick.

“里面一切还好吧？”查理的妈妈隔着卧室的门喊道。 “一切都好，麦高芬太太！”弗洛拉赶紧说。 查理开始惊慌失措，试图从床底下钻过去，但令他沮丧的是，他发现自己根本钻不进去。 查理的妈妈试着开门，但幸运的是弗洛拉很有先见之明，用一个乐高千年隼模型作为门挡，堵住了门。 “这扇门卡住了吗，孩子们？” 你能让我进去吗？”查理的妈妈摇了摇把手。 沃根笨手笨脚地想把弹弓收起来，却不小心松开了弹弓。 一颗小鹅卵石从里面射出来，正好打在查理毛茸茸的屁股上。 查理痛苦地叫了一声，他还没来得及想，就有什么东西从他毛茸茸的屁股里喷了出来。 这东西闻起来太恶心了，太恶心了，弗洛拉、莫森和沃根立刻开始作呕。 查理终于意识到——太晚了——他变成了什么动物。 查理是个讨厌鬼。他刚刚用屁股上的臭鼬喷雾剂喷了他的房间。“哦，太可怕了。”沃根插嘴说。 “我要生病了！”“不!弗洛拉捏着鼻子说。 “你不能!如果你这么做了——哦，天哪，味道太难闻了——如果你这么做了，查理的妈妈就会——哦，天哪，我想我要生病了。

Mohsen was desperately trying to open the window one-handed, while covering his mouth and nose tightly with the other. He was looking very pale and trying not to vomit. Charlie shuffled around, not knowing what to do with himself. Should he hide? Would it be worse for his mum to come in and find Charlie missing or to come in and find him replaced with a skunk? 'What is going on in there?' Charlie's mum asked. She tried pushing the door again, but fortunately the Millennium Falcon held. 'Nothing, Mrs McGuffin,' said Flora. 'We're just– hurrrgggghhhhhohgod– playing a game.' 'Well, can I just see what you're up to, please?' Charlie's mum pushed the door harder. It cracked open a centimetre. 'No!' shouted Wogan. 'It's a– hurrrghhhogghhhohboy– secret game!'

莫森拼命地想用一只手打开窗户，另一只手紧紧捂住嘴巴和鼻子。 他脸色苍白，竭力不让自己吐出来。 查理慢吞吞地走来走去，不知道该怎么办才好。 他应该躲起来吗？他妈妈进来发现查理不见了，或者进来发现他被一只臭鼬代替了，会不会更糟呢？ “里面发生了什么事？”查理的妈妈问。 她试着再次推门，但幸运的是千年隼顶住了。 “没什么，麦高芬太太，”弗洛拉说。 “我们只是——嘘——嘘——在玩游戏。“那么，我能看看你在忙什么吗？”查理的妈妈把门推得更用力了。 它裂开了一厘米。 “不!沃根喊道。“这是一场——哈——哈——哈——秘密游戏！”

'Charlie? What's going on in there?' 'Charlie can't talk right now,' shouted Flora. 'He's doing a sponsored si-hurrrrghhhhhhh-lence.' 'A what?' shouted Charlie's mum. 'Why are you all making strange noises?' 'A sponsored–' Flora swallowed, concentrating on not heaving– 'silence.' Holding her nose, she whispered to Charlie urgently, 'Now would be a very good time to change back!' Charlie closed his little skunk-eyes and desperately tried to slow his breathing and think happy thoughts, but if you have ever desperately tried to calm yourself down, you'll know it's tough. Especially with the sound of your three best friends gagging and heaving, and your mum banging on the door and about to discover you have changed into a skunk. 'Good grief!' shouted Charlie's mum. 'What is that smell? Open this door immediately!' Charlie could see his mum's nose poking round the door. He couldn't help it– he panicked and another blast of foul stench shot out of his bum glands. Flora looked like she might faint. Wogan for some reason had put Charlie's bin on his head in a vain attempt to protect himself from the smell. By the sounds he was making from inside, it wasn't working. Mohsen finally managed to push open the window and mustered the strength to reply. 'Really sorry, Mrs McGuffin, but Wogan just farted.' Flora, Charlie the skunk and Wogan, still with the bin on, all swung their heads towards Mohsen.

“查理?里面发生了什么事？“查理现在不能说话，”弗洛拉喊道。 “他在做一个赞助的——hurrrrghhhhhhh-lence。“什么？”查理的妈妈喊道。 “你们为什么都发出奇怪的声音？”“有赞助的——”弗洛拉咽了口气，集中精神不让自己吐出来——“安静。”她捏着鼻子，急切地对查理低声说：“现在正是换回去的好时机！”查理闭上他那臭鼬般的小眼睛，拼命地试图放慢呼吸，想些快乐的事情，但如果你曾经拼命地试图让自己冷静下来，你就会知道这很难。 尤其是当你的三个好朋友在呕吐的时候，你妈妈在敲门，准备发现你变成了一只臭鼬。 “好悲伤!查理的妈妈喊道。 “那是什么味道？”马上把门打开！”查理可以看到妈妈的鼻子在门周围探来探去。 他忍不住——他慌了，又一阵恶臭从他的屁股腺里喷了出来。 弗洛拉看起来要晕倒了。 出于某种原因，沃根把查理的箱子顶在头上，试图保护自己不受气味的伤害，但这是徒劳的。 从他在里面发出的声音来看，它坏了。 莫森终于推开窗户，鼓起勇气回答。 “真的很抱歉，麦高芬夫人，沃根刚刚放屁了。”弗洛拉、臭鼬查理和沃根都把他们的头转向莫森。