Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE Valentina shrieked like a banshee as the storm raccoon bounded towards her. They were smelly, mischievous creatures. She threw the carrot at it, tripped over a water bucket and sat down in a pile of straw. The raccoon caught the carrot, stuffed it in its mouth and then scampered to the water trough. It leaped on top and swished its tail, dark eyes gleaming cheekily. "I'll catch him," called Miki from Topaz dorm, hurrying to the trough with his best friend, Himmat. "Stand back, everyone."

第三章当暴风浣熊向瓦伦蒂娜扑来时，瓦伦蒂娜像女妖一样尖叫起来。 它们又臭又淘气。 她把胡萝卜扔向它，被一个水桶绊倒，坐在一堆稻草上。 浣熊抓住了胡萝卜，把它塞进嘴里，然后蹦蹦跳跳地跑向水槽。 它跳到上面，甩着尾巴，黑眼睛无耻地闪着光。 “我会抓住他的。”来自Topaz宿舍的Miki喊道，和他最好的朋友Himmat一起匆匆走向食槽。 “大家退后。”

"Don't hurt him," called Violet anxiously, joining them with Rosa. "Don't worry. Miki's brilliant with animals," said Himmat. Miki produced a biscuit from his pocket and held it out flat on his hand. The raccoon cocked his head, his blue and grey ringed tail swishing as his eyes went from Miki to the biscuit.

“别伤害他。”维奥莱特焦急地喊道，和罗莎一起加入了他们。 “别担心。Miki对动物很有天赋。”Himmat说。 美琪从口袋里掏出一块饼干，平摊在手上。 浣熊歪着头，蓝灰相间的环形尾巴嗖嗖作响，眼睛从米基转到饼干上。

Speaking softly, Miki said, "Go on, take it. I'm not going to hurt you." The raccoon hesitated then slowly reached out a paw. "Don't feed it, dumbo. We'll never get rid of it if you do!" Valentina exclaimed as she struggled up from the straw. She grabbed a stripy rug hanging over a stable door and threw it over the raccoon. The startled creature let out an indignant squeak as the rug fell over it and it lost its balance, falling backwards into the water trough, showering the nearby pupils with multicoloured water. The raccoon leaped out of the trough, splashing even more water, and charged around the stable block. There was uproar as some of the students chased after it, while others tried to keep out of the way. The unicorns whinnied and Valentina screamed as the raccoon flew at her, using her head as a springboard to jump to the ladder that led up to the hayloft.

美琪轻声说：“来吧，拿着。 我不会伤害你的。” 浣熊犹豫了一下，然后慢慢地伸出一只爪子。 “别喂它，小飞象。如果你这样做，我们永远也摆脱不了它！”瓦伦蒂娜一边从稻草里挣扎着爬起来，一边叫道。 她抓起一块挂在马厩门上的条纹地毯，把它扔到浣熊身上。 地毯压在它身上，它失去了平衡，向后掉到水槽里，五彩缤纷的水洒在旁边的学生身上，吓得它发出一声愤怒的尖叫。 浣熊跳出食槽，溅起更多的水，绕着马厩块冲过去。 一些学生追着它跑，引起了一阵骚动，而另一些学生则试图让开。 独角兽们呜呜叫着，瓦伦蒂娜尖叫着，浣熊向她飞来，用她的头作为跳板，跳到通往干草棚的梯子上。

"It touched my hair! Its smelly feet were on me!" screamed Valentina. "Keep back," cried Violet anxiously. "You're scaring it!" She spread her arms wide to protect the raccoon, now scaling the ladder, with Miki climbing after it. The raccoon didn't stop until it reached the trapdoor to the hayloft. Miki waited a few rungs below, holding up the biscuit again. The raccoon peered down warily, chattering a warning each time Miki went to climb higher. Miki froze and for a long moment he and the raccoon stared at each other. Then the raccoon shook vigorously, water from its fur spraying Miki. Miki burst out laughing, his dark brown eyes sparkling. The raccoon made a squeaky noise that sounded as if he was laughing too. He came down the ladder and jumped on to Miki's shoulder, snatching the biscuit from him. Miki stood very still and the raccoon took a bite, his

“它碰到了我的头发！”它的臭脚踩在我身上了！”瓦伦蒂娜尖叫着。 “退后，”维奥莱特焦急地叫道。 “你吓到它了！”她张开双臂保护浣熊，浣熊正在爬上梯子，美琪也在后面爬。 浣熊一直走到通往干草棚的活板门前才停下来。 美琪在下面等了几级，再次举起饼干。 浣熊小心翼翼地往下看，每次美琪爬到更高的地方，它都会叽叽喳喳地发出警告。 美琪僵住了，他和浣熊对视了很长时间。 然后浣熊使劲摇晃，皮毛上的水喷在美琪身上。 三木大笑起来，深棕色的眼睛闪闪发光。 浣熊发出吱吱的声音，听起来好像他也在笑。 他从梯子上下来，跳到美琪的肩膀上，从他手里抢过饼干。 美琪一动不动地站着，浣熊咬了他一口

sharp teeth crunching noisily on the biscuit. "I'm telling a teacher," said Valentina, hands on hips. "You shouldn't be feeding it, you stupid boy." The raccoon chattered at Miki. "Mm, I agree," said Miki, pretending to understand. He grinned at Valentina. "He says you're the stupid one and that if I hadn't given him something to eat, we'd never have caught him. Oh, and he also says you've got straw on your bum." There were shouts of laughter from everyone watching. Valentina's eyes narrowed and she turned round and marched back into Golden Briar's stable in a huff. "Whatever is going on?" a voice cut through the laughter. They all swung round to see Ms Rosemary, the Care of Unicorns teacher, and Ms Rivers, the strict new Geography and Culture teacher, standing in the stable entrance. "Miki, why have you got a storm raccoon?"

锋利的牙齿嘎吱嘎吱地咬着饼干。 “我要告诉老师，”瓦伦蒂娜双手叉腰说。 “你不应该喂它，你这个笨孩子。” 浣熊对着美琪叽叽喳喳地叫。 “嗯，我同意。”美琪假装理解地说。 他朝瓦伦蒂娜咧嘴一笑。“他说你是傻瓜，如果我不给他吃的，我们永远也抓不到他。 哦，他还说你屁股上有稻草。” 在场的每个人都发出了哄堂大笑。 瓦伦蒂娜眯起眼睛，怒气冲冲地转身走进金荆棘的马厩。 “到底发生了什么事？”一个声音打断了笑声。 他们都转过身来，看到照顾独角兽的老师罗斯玛丽女士和严厉的新地理文化老师里弗斯女士正站在马厩的入口处。 “美琪，你为什么有一只风暴浣熊？”

Ms Rosemary said in astonishment. "We've just found it in the stables," said Miki. Ms Rivers frowned. "Well, you shouldn't be feeding it a biscuit!" "See?" said Valentina, poking her head out of the stable. "I tried telling him that, but he wouldn't listen. Raccoons are pests. They shouldn't be encouraged, should they?" "It's not that," said Ms Rivers, going over and stroking the raccoon. "Biscuits are not good for storm raccoons' digestion. He'd be better with something less sweet." "Well done for catching him, dear," Ms Rosemary said to Miki. "Now, why don't you take him back to the outskirts of the woods in the grounds and release him there? I wonder what he's doing here in school. They hardly ever venture out of the trees." Miki set off with the raccoon. "Everyone else, back to grooming your

罗斯玛丽女士惊讶地说。 “我们刚刚在马厩里发现了它，”美琪说。 里弗斯女士皱起了眉头。“嗯，你不应该喂它饼干！”“看到了吗？”瓦伦蒂娜从马厩里探出脑袋说。 “我试着告诉他，但他不听。 浣熊是害虫。他们不应该被鼓励，不是吗？”“不是那样的，”里弗斯女士说着走过去抚摸着这只浣熊。 “饼干对风暴浣熊的消化不好。 他吃点不那么甜的东西会好些。” “抓住他做得好，亲爱的，”罗斯玛丽老师对美琪说。 “现在，你为什么不把他带到树林边缘的空地上，把他放了呢？” 我想知道他在学校做什么。 他们几乎从不冒险走出树林。” 美琪带着浣熊出发了。 “其他人，回去梳理你们的。