63 A Puzzle

63 A Puzzle "So Stanley gave you the Post-it note?" said Little-Bit. "But where did Stanley get it from?" "OK. Strap in, because this is where it gets even stranger," said Leo. Apparently, a rat turned up in the gallery. Stanley said it appeared from behind a bust of Queen Victoria, and it was holding the note in its mouth." "A RAT?" shrieked Rockwell, flinging the note into the air as if it were suddenly on fire. "I'm scared of rats! Filthy creatures!" "You're scared of everything," said Little-Bit dismissively, before turning back to her brother. "So why did you then hide the note in Peanut's lunchbox?" "Because, according to Stanley, that's what the rat said I had to do."

63 一个谜题 “这么说这张便利贴是斯坦利给你的？”小比特说。 “可斯坦利是从哪儿拿到它的呢？” “好吧。 坐稳咯，接下来这事会越来越离奇，”里奥说。 据说，画廊里闯进来一只老鼠。 斯坦利说它是从维多利亚女王的半身像后面钻出来的，嘴里还叼着这张便签。” “一只老鼠？”洛克威尔尖叫起来，猛地把便签扔到半空，就好像它突然烧着了一样。 “我怕老鼠！ 这些脏家伙！” “你什么都怕，”小比特不屑地说，说完转回身对着自己的哥哥。 “那你为什么要把这张便签藏在皮纳特的午餐盒里？” “因为，按斯坦利的说法，那只老鼠就是这么命令我做的。”

"Whoa!" said Rockwell. "Rewind! This rat can talk now?" "I told you it got strange," said Leo. "So, the rat told Stanley to tell you to hide the note in Peanut's lunchbox," said Little-Bit. "Why not just give it straight to her?" "Cos of the whole placing-everyone-in-mortal-danger thing, I guess," replied Leo. "It had to remain a secret. Apparently, the rat said that, eventually, Peanut would know what do with the notes." "So, at this point, you knew there was going to be more of them arriving?" asked Peanut. "Yes," said Leo. "Stanley said that I needed to come back every day to fetch a new one. In fact, some days there were two, or even three. So that's what I did. Every day, after school, I'd get on the tube and go the National Portrait Gallery. And every morning I'd get up early and hide the new Post-it note between your sandwich and your cereal bar. Thank goodness Mum makes your lunch the night before!"

“哇哦！”洛克威尔说。 “倒回去说！ 这只老鼠还会说话？” “我早就说过这事很离奇了，”里奥说。 “这么说，那只老鼠让斯坦利转告你，把便签藏进皮纳特的午餐盒，”小比特说。 “为什么不直接交给她呢？” “我猜，还不是因为这事会把所有人都置于致命危险，”里奥回答。 “这件事必须保密。 据说，那只老鼠说了，到最后皮纳特会知道该怎么处理这些便签。” “这么说，那时候你就知道还会有更多便签陆续送来？”皮纳特问道。 “没错，”里奥说。 “斯坦利让我每天都回去拿一张新的。 实际上，有些日子一天会有两张，甚至三张。 所以我就一直这么做了。 每天放学，我都会坐地铁去国家肖像美术馆。 每天早上我都早早起床，把新便利贴藏在你的三明治和谷物棒中间。 谢天谢地 妈妈前一天晚上就给你装好午餐了！”

Peanut picked up the note that Rockwell had thrown across the room and walked over to her wardrobe door. She stuck it back up with the others. "But... Dad was wrong. I don't know what to do," she said. "What on earth does it all mean? What am I not seeing? Dad, what are you trying to tell me?" Little-Bit got up and stood next to her sister. She folded her arms and stared at the notes. "Hmmm. I wonder..." she said. "Here we go..." said Rockwell. Little-Bit started to move the notes around on the door. She spent about five minutes peeling them off and sticking them back on in different locations, occasionally punctuating proceedings with a "No, that's not right," or a "YES! It fits!" Gradually, her pace picked up until her arms were a frantic blur of activity. A few minutes later, she stepped away from the door. "There," she said triumphantly "I've finished."

皮纳特捡起洛克威尔扔到房间那头的便签，走到衣柜门边。 她把这张便签和其他便签贴在了一起。 “可是……爸爸错了。 我不知道该怎么做，”她说。 “这一切到底是什么意思？ 我到底漏掉了什么？ 爸爸，你到底想告诉我什么？” 小比特站起身，走到姐姐身边站好。 她抱着胳膊，盯着这些便签。 “嗯。 我想想……” 她说。 “又来了，又来了……”洛克威尔说。 小比特开始在柜门上挪动这些便签的位置。 她花了五分钟左右把便签揭下来，换位置重新贴，时不时念叨一句“不对，这样不对”，或是“对了！ 对上了！” 渐渐地，她的动作越来越快，最后胳膊快得只剩一片模糊的影子。 几分钟后，她从柜门旁退了开来。 “好了，”她得意地说 “我拼完了。”