12. Beast From Below

12 BEAST FROM BELOW It was opening night, and the school auditorium was packed. Sam stuck his head through the red curtains and peered out. He saw hundreds of parents and teachers in the audience. He even saw his mom, and Lucy's little brother.

这是首演之夜，学校的礼堂里挤满了人。 萨姆从红色窗帘里探出头往外看。 他看到观众席上有数百名家长和老师。 他甚至看到了他妈妈，还有露西的弟弟。

Students were changing into their costumes backstage. Antonio, as Peter Pan, was wearing green from head to toe. And Lucy wore a yellow dress as Wendy. Sam pulled Antonio aside. "I've got a feeling something really bad is going to happen," he whispered. "Maybe we should stop the play. We could tell Ms. Grinker—" Antonio cut him off. "Sam, everyone will think we're crazy. I'm still not sure we aren't."

学生们在后台换戏服。 扮成彼得·潘的安东尼奥从头到脚都穿着绿色的衣服。 露西穿了一件黄色的衣服，扮成温迪。 萨姆把安东尼奥拉到一边。“我有一种不祥的预感，”他低声说。 “也许我们应该停止演出。 我们可以告诉格林克女士——”安东尼奥打断了他的话。 “山姆，每个人都会认为我们疯了。 我仍然不确定我们不是。”

Sam sighed. He knew Antonio was right. "Besides," Antonio said, "I've got my lucky peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my pocket! What could go wrong?" Sam rolled his eyes. "Lucky sandwich Before Sam could say anything else, the lights dimmed. The audience went quiet. The play was about to start. Lucy rushed over. She pulled Antonio toward the stage. "Wish us luck, Sam!" she whispered as she and Antonio marched out onstage. Sam sighed. "Good luck...."

山姆叹了口气。他知道安东尼奥是对的。 “而且，”安东尼奥说，“我口袋里有幸运花生酱和果冻三明治！会出什么问题呢？”萨姆翻了个白眼。 山姆还没来得及说什么，灯光就暗了下来。 观众安静了下来。戏就要开始了。 露西冲了过来。她把安东尼奥拉向舞台。 “祝我们好运吧，山姆！”当她和安东尼奥走上舞台时，她低声说。 山姆叹了口气。“祝你好运……”

Two hours later, Sam was smiling from ear to ear he couldn't believe it: The play was actually going okay! Lucy was saying her lines perfectly, Antonio made an awesome Peter Pan, and the audience was clapping a ton. Maybe he had been worried for nothing. The next scene was the most exciting part of the play: the big finish. Antonio and Lucy were strung up on wires high above the stage like they were flying.

两个小时后，山姆笑得合不拢嘴，他简直不敢相信：演出真的进行得很顺利！露西把台词说得很好，安东尼奥把彼得潘演得很好，观众们都鼓掌了。 也许他杞人忧天。 下一场戏是全剧最激动人心的部分：大结局。 安东尼奥和露西被吊在高台上的钢丝上，就像在飞一样。

"Sam!" Ms. Grinker said. "It's your turn onstage!" "Oh, right," Sam muttered. He stepped out into the spotlight and began to say his lines: "I am Noodler, Captain Hook's friendly pirate. And I order you to—" Sam stopped. He felt something move below his feet RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

“山姆!”格林克说。“轮到你上台了！”“哦，对了，”萨姆喃喃地说。 他走到聚光灯下，开始念台词：“我是努德勒，胡克船长的友好海盗。 我命令你——”萨姆停住了。 他感到脚下有东西在动

With horror, Sam realized the school had been waiting for him. Now that he was onstage, the school was coming to life! This was it. There were some whispers in the audience. People thought Sam had forgotten his lines. But Sam didn't care about his lines. He cared about what he saw next: A trapdoor in the floor was opening! From up high, Lucy and Antonio saw it, too. The trapdoor was opening wider and wider. It was like the wooden stage was suddenly made of rubber.

山姆惊恐地意识到学校一直在等着他。 现在他站在舞台上，整个学校都活了起来！就是这样。 观众中有人窃窃私语。 人们以为萨姆忘记了台词。 但是山姆并不在意他的台词。 他关心接下来看到的是什么：地板上的一扇活板门打开了！露茜和安东尼奥从高处也看到了它。 活板门开得越来越大。 就好像木制的舞台突然变成了橡胶。