Epilogue

EPILOGUE*"fn1 Sometimes, Charlie thought, life picks you up, shakes you like a baby with a rattle, then drops you on your bum, and there's not a single thing you can do about it. That's what he had learned: you can change some things, but with others all you can do is try to accept them. And his dad packing the last of his things in the small removal van parked outside their house was the latest part of life he just had to accept. It was sad– he was sad– and that was all right. It was OK to be sad, sometimes. His dad slammed the van door shut, came up to Charlie and squatted down on his haunches. 'That's the lot, son. You doing OK?' Charlie nodded. 'Yes, Dad.' And Charlie nearly was. SmoothMove came up behind him. 'OK, Dad. We'll see you next weekend, yeah?' 'That's right. I'll have your new bedroom sorted for you. OK, boys. Look after your mum for me.' And with a last hug, Charlie's dad got into the van and drove off, leaving the two boys standing next to each other in the early-morning drizzle.

“有时，”查理想，“生活把你抱起来，像摇摇摇铃的婴儿一样摇晃你，然后把你摔得屁滚尿流，你对此毫无办法。 这就是他所学到的：你可以改变一些事情，但对于另一些事情，你所能做的就是试着接受它们。 他的父亲把他最后的东西装进停在他们房子外面的小搬运车里，这是他不得不接受的最新生活。 这是悲哀的——他是悲哀的——不过没关系。 有时候伤心是可以的。 他爸爸砰的一声关上货车门，走到查理身边，蹲下来。 “就是这些，儿子。你还好吗？”查理点了点头。 “是的,爸爸。”查理差点就死了。 SmoothMove从他身后走过来。 “好吧,爸爸。我们下周末见，好吗？”“是的。 我把你的新卧室整理好。 好吧,男孩。替我照顾你妈妈。”在最后一次拥抱之后，查理的爸爸上了车，开走了，留下两个男孩在清晨的细雨中并肩站着。

'Come on then,' said SmoothMove, putting his arm round Charlie. 'Let's get in out of the rain.' Charlie nodded, the rain washing away his tears. When he turned around, there was his mum waiting for him, arms open. Charlie ran and buried himself into the hug. Later that day, though, something extraordinary happened, which finally gave Charlie his smile back. Charlie had been playing FIFA with SmoothMove (and almost beating him), and afterwards he went up to his bedroom. As usual, Chairman Meow was

“那就来吧，”滑头说着，用胳膊搂住了查理。 “我们进去避雨吧。”查理点点头，雨水冲走了他的眼泪。 当他转身时，妈妈正张开双臂等着他。 查理跑过去，把自己埋在拥抱里。 然而，那天晚些时候，一件不寻常的事情发生了，终于让查理恢复了笑容。 查理一直在和SmoothMove玩FIFA（差点打败了他），然后他回到卧室。 像往常一样，“喵”主席很高兴

sitting on top of the laundry basket and something niggled at Charlie's memory. Charlie shut the door and quickly changed into a cat. 'Oh, how marvellous,' Chairman Meow said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm. 'You're back.' 'Chairman Meow,' Charlie said, ignoring his mocking. 'You said before that you knew where the Great Catsby– the cat who sits in boxes– went. Would you please tell me?' Chairman Meow thought for a while, licked himself, and then said: 'If I do, you must do something for me in return.' 'What?' Charlie asked. 'First, you must agree to bathe more than once a week. The smell of you is indescribably awful. It causes my nose actual physical pain and–' 'Fine!' Charlie snapped. 'Second, I want you to promise never to change into a cat ever again.' 'OK, agreed–' 'You see, if you're human, it's easier for me to pretend you don't exist. You're the most tedious creature I have ever had the misfortune–' 'OK, OK!' Charlie flashed. 'I've already agreed! Believe me, I'm in absolutely no rush to talk to you again. You're the rudest, most– Anyway,' Charlie said, trying to control his temper. 'Tell me what you know. Where is the Great Catsby?' 'He's beneath me,' Chairman Meow said, licking a paw.

坐在洗衣篮上，有什么东西勾起了查理的记忆。 查理关上门，迅速变成一只猫。 “哦，太神奇了，”喵主席用一种充满讽刺的声音说。 “你回来了。“喵主席，”查理说，不理会他的嘲笑。 “你以前说过你知道大猫比——坐在盒子里的那只猫——去了哪里。 你能告诉我吗？”猫主席想了一会儿，舔了舔自己，然后说：“如果我这样做了，你必须为我做点什么作为回报。“什么?”查理问道。 “首先，你必须同意每周洗澡不止一次。 你身上的气味难闻得难以形容。 它使我的鼻子疼痛，而且——”“好吧！”查理。 “第二，我要你保证永远不再变成一只猫。“好吧，我同意——”“你看，如果你是人类，我更容易假装你不存在。” 你是我不幸遇到的最乏味的人——”“好吧，好吧！”查理闪过。 “我已经同意了！”相信我，我一点也不急着再跟你说话。 “你是最粗鲁的，最——不管怎样，”查理说，努力控制自己的脾气。 “把你知道的都告诉我。伟大的猫比在哪里？“他在我下面，”喵主席舔着一只爪子说。

Charlie rolled his eyes. 'There's no need to be mean,' he said. 'No, he's right beneath me,' replied Chairman Meow. 'What do you mean? Like downstairs?!' 'No. He's literally beneath me. In this basket. I've had him trapped here for days.' 'WHAT?!' exclaimed Charlie. 'WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?' 'You will never understand the workings of the feline brain,' Chairman Meow replied haughtily. 'My reasons will be forever beyond your tiny monkey- mind. But basically, I did it because it was funny.' 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU ARE ACTUALLY THE WORST ANIMAL IN THE WHOLE WORLD.'fn2 Charlie immediately changed back into Charlie. Chairman Meow jumped off the laundry basket and stalked out of the room. Charlie lifted the lid and, sure enough, curled up in a ball inside, was the Great Catsby. He blinked in the light, then jumped out and ran downstairs, presumably very hungry.

查理翻了个白眼。“没必要这么刻薄，”他说。 “不，他就在我下面，”喵主席回答。 “你是什么意思？”喜欢在楼下吗? !“没有。 他真的比我低。 在这个篮子里。我把他困在这里好几天了。“什么? !查理叫道。 “你为什么要那样做？”“你永远也不会明白猫的大脑是怎么运作的，”喵主席傲慢地回答。 “我的理由将永远超越你的小猴子头脑。 但基本上，我这么做是因为它很有趣。“你怎么啦？” 你其实是世界上最坏的动物。查理立刻变回了原来的样子。 喵主席从洗衣篮上跳下来，大步走出房间。 查理掀开盖子，果然，里面蜷缩成一团的是伟大的猫比。 他在灯光下眨了眨眼睛，然后跳下车跑下楼，大概是饿了。

The next day at lunch, Charlie told the gang– Flora, Mohsen, Wogan and Dylan– how Chairman Meow had been keeping the Great Catsby prisoner the whole time. 'I knew it!' said Wogan, thumping his palm.fn3 'OK, guys, actually I lied, I didn't know.'fn4 Charlie was happy to be with his friends but inside he was feeling very conflicted. 'I feel very conflicted,' he said, as if he was reading the mind of the narrator. Charlie would be staying over at his dad's new flat for the first time that weekend, which he was very excited about. But he was also sad because his friends

第二天吃午饭的时候，查理告诉他们——弗洛拉、莫森、沃根和迪伦——猫主席是如何一直囚禁着大猫比的。 “我就知道！”沃根拍着手掌说。好吧，伙计们，实际上我撒谎了，我不知道。查理很高兴和他的朋友们在一起，但内心却感到很矛盾。 “我觉得很矛盾，”他说，好像他读懂了叙述者的心思。 那个周末查理将第一次在他爸爸的新公寓过夜，他对此非常兴奋。 但他也很伤心，因为他的朋友

had organized a play date on the Sunday morning and Charlie couldn't come because his dad couldn't afford a car yet and the new flat was miles away. Charlie was about to explain to his friends why he was feeling conflicted, but the narrator had just done it for him, so there was no need. Flora waggled her eyebrows. She had a plan. And her plan was this: if Charlie– 'I have a plan,' Flora said, rudely interrupting the narrator. 'And the plan is this…' Charlie's weekend with his dad and SmoothMove was great fun. On Saturday, they all went to the cinema to see the latest Star Wars movie, and then had curry for dinner. Their dad's new flat was small but, much to Charlie and SmoothMove's surprise, it was fun sharing a room. Charlie kept changing into different animals to surprise SmoothMove and they giggled until late into the night. The next morning, Charlie was woken by rain hammering on the skylight above his head. He got up, wolfed his breakfast and sidled up to his dad. 'Daaaad…?' 'Yes, son?' his dad smiled. 'Can I go and explore the area? There's a park with a playground down the road.' 'Okey-dokey. Make sure you're back for lunch, yes?'

我安排了一个星期天早上的游戏约会，但是查理不能来，因为他爸爸还买不起车，而且新公寓在很远的地方。 查理正要向他的朋友们解释他为什么感到矛盾，但叙述者已经为他做了，所以没有必要。 弗洛拉摇了摇眉毛。 她有个计划。她的计划是这样的：如果查理——“我有个计划，”弗洛拉粗鲁地打断了叙述者的话。 “计划是这样的……”查理和他爸爸以及SmoothMove共度的周末非常有趣。 星期六，他们都去电影院看了最新的《星球大战》电影，然后晚餐吃了咖喱。 他们爸爸的新公寓很小，但是，让查理和SmoothMove惊讶的是，分享一个房间很有趣。 查理不停地变成不同的动物，给SmoothMove一个惊喜，他们一直笑到深夜。 第二天早上，查理被雨水敲打着头顶天窗的声音吵醒了。 他站起身来，狼吞虎咽地吃完早饭，悄悄地走到他爸爸跟前。 “Daaaad……?“什么事，儿子？”爸爸笑着说。 “我能去那里看看吗？” 在这条路的尽头有一个带操场的公园。”“好。 一定要回来吃午饭，好吗？”