12. Powering Up

POWERING UP 12 When the final bell rang, Sam and his friends sprinted to the art room. "Ready?" Jasper Eerie asked, greeting them. He was wheeling the huge machine out from its hiding place. "You bet!" Antonio said. He and Lucy helped Sam clear away chairs and tables, creating space.

当最后的铃声响起时，山姆和他的朋友们冲向美术室。 “准备好了吗?”贾斯帕·怪异问，向他们打招呼。 他正把那台巨大的机器从藏身处推出来。 “你赌!”安东尼奥说。他和露西帮山姆清理椅子和桌子，腾出空间。

The machine looked enormous as Jasper pushed it into the center of the room. He plugged in the power cord. "Run the hoses to the walls," Jasper said, reading from Orson's old notes. "We need the machine to be as connected to the school as possible."

贾斯帕把机器推到房间中央时，它看起来很大。 他插上电源线。 “把水管放到墙上，”贾斯帕说着，读着奥森的旧笔记。 “我们需要机器尽可能地与学校联系起来。”

Antonio attached hoses to air ducts. Sam and Lucy shoved tubes against cracks in the cinder-block wall. Then they all stared at the machine. Sam thought he saw something odd. He stepped closer. He couldn't quite tell. But it looked like ever so slowly a single screw was turning. Oh no. Orson Eerie knows what we're doing!

安东尼奥将软管连接到风管上。 萨姆和露西把管子顶在煤渣砖墙上的裂缝上。 然后他们都盯着那台机器。 山姆觉得他看到了一些奇怪的东西。 他走近了。他说不清。 但看起来好像有一颗螺丝钉在慢慢转动。 哦,不。奥森·怪诞知道我们在做什么！

"We can't wait any longer," Sam said. He stepped up onto a chair, grabbed hold of the machine's red lever, and pulled. ERRRR-ROOOOM! Sam jumped down as the machine rumbled to life. "Um, so what's supposed to happen now?" Antonio asked. The machine chugged and pumped. The hoses shook and snapped against the floor. "Just give it time..." Lucy replied.

“我们不能再等了，”萨姆说。 他站到椅子上，抓住机器的红色控制杆，拉了起来。 ERRRR-ROOOOM !当机器轰隆隆地启动时，萨姆跳了下来。 “嗯，那现在该怎么办呢？”安东尼奥问道。 机器发出咕嘟咕嘟的声音。 水管在地板上噼啪作响。 “给点时间……”露西回答道。

All of a sudden, Lucy's hair stood on end. Sam felt his own hair do the same. "The machine is creating static electricity," Lucy said. "Like when you rub your feet on the carpet and then touch a door knob." The air in the room felt electric. A strange wind began to blow. Papers whirled around. The curtains waved and the lights flickered. Suddenly, the color of the walls seemed to lighten — from top to bottom. It was like the darkness of Orson Eerie was being drained from the school.

突然间，露西的头发都竖起来了。 山姆觉得自己的头发也在变。 “这台机器正在产生静电，”露西说。 “就像你在地毯上摩擦脚，然后触摸门把手一样。” 房间里的空气有触电的感觉。 一阵奇怪的风刮了起来。 报纸到处乱转。窗帘飘动着，灯光闪烁着。 突然间，墙壁的颜色似乎从上到下都变浅了。 就像奥森·怪诞的黑暗正从学校里被抽走。

"It's working!" Jasper shouted over the rumbling machine. But Sam wasn't so sure. The bad feeling in his stomach was growing stronger. Then — SMASH! The ceiling lights BURST! Sam, Lucy, and Antonio reeled back as the floor buckled. The room turned pitch black. Jasper tripped. Everything was quiet. No one dared speak. No one dared even breathe. Then it happened. For the first time, Sam and his friends heard the voice of Orson Eerie. Orson Eerie spoke to them. And what he said chilled them to their bones...

“这是工作!”贾斯帕在隆隆作响的机器上喊道。 但是萨姆不太确定。他胃里的那种不舒服的感觉越来越强烈。 然后——猛击！天花板上的灯突然爆了！萨姆、露西和安东尼奥踉跄着退了回去。 房间里一片漆黑。 贾斯帕绊倒。一切都很安静。 没有人敢说话。没有人敢呼吸。 然后事情发生了。山姆和他的朋友们第一次听到了奥森·怪诞的声音。 奥森·怪诞对他们说。 他说的话使他们心寒……