124 熟能生巧

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After school Ben collected some books for homework

from his locker and headed outside.

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" What's wrong, Ben?" Waldo called." You look so glum."

“怎么了，本？”沃尔多喊道。“你看起来闷闷不乐的。”

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Ben told him about his lunchtime conversation with Winnie

本把他和温妮在午餐时的对话告诉了他。

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" I'm glad she's enjoying the circus, but I'm getting

a little tired of all the secrets."

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" I know what you mean," Waldo said

“我明白你的意思，”沃尔多说。

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" The show will be fun," Ben went on," but — oof!"

“演出会很有趣的，”本继续说道，“但是——哎哟！”

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Cleo had slammed into Ben, knocking him to the ground

克利奥猛地撞上了本，把他撞倒在地。

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" Sorry, Ben!" she said

“对不起，本！”她说。

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" I was on the field for gym class, and I'm running late for circus practice

“我刚才在操场上体育课，现在马戏团练习要迟到了。

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We can't miss a single minute of it!"

我们一分钟都不能错过！”

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Waldo scratched his head." How much could you

really miss in just one minute?"

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" There's a lot to learn!" Cleo said as Ben got up and dusted himself off

“要学的东西多着呢！”克利奥说，这时本站起身，拍了拍身上的灰。

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" You guys aren't performers so you probably wouldn't understand."

“你们又不是演员，所以大概不会明白。”

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" Come on, Cleo!" Ben burst out, exasperated

“拜托，克利奥！”本恼火地喊道。

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" It's not like our heads are filled with sludge or anything."

“我们的脑袋又不是装满了烂泥。”

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Cleo instantly stiffened

克利奥立刻僵住了。

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" Cleo?" Ben said." Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

“克利奥？”本说，“你没事吧？我说错什么了吗？”

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Cleo didn't say a word. Instead she turned to Waldo

and grabbed him by the waist.

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Then to Ben's astonishment, she lifted Waldo into the air

and began twirling him on her finger.

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" Ahh!" Waldo cried, his face turning a sickly green

“啊！”沃尔多大叫，脸色变得惨绿。

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" Put me down, Cleo! I'm going to be sick!"

“把我放下来，克利奥！我要吐了！”

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" Cleo!" Sarah Swingwire suddenly rushed toward them

nervously snapping her gum.

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" Put that wizard down and go to practice! You're already late!"

“把那个巫师放下来，快去训练！你已经迟到了！”

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Cleo set Waldo down as quickly as she had lifted him

克利奥把沃尔多放了下来，动作快得就像她把他举起来时一样。

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Then she turned and hurried into the building

然后她转过身，匆匆走进了大楼。

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" You monsters are such mysterious creatures!" Sarah said

“你们这些怪兽可真是神秘的生物！”萨拉说。

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" I had no idea the training would be so challenging

“我完全没想到训练会这么有挑战性。

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Have you seen Mr. Scribblebottom? I need to give him a message."

你们看到涂鸦博特姆先生了吗？我需要给他带个口信。”

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Ben pointed to the filmmaker, who was hurrying toward

them with his camera.

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" Sarah!" he called." I'm here to film today's practice. Has it started yet?"

“萨拉！”他喊道。“我来拍今天的训练。已经开始了吗？”

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Sarah flushed." I'm sorry, Mr. Scribblebottom, but you won't be able

to film today's session after all. Maybe another day though."

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" But..." The filmmaker looked confused

“可是……” 摄像师一脸困惑。

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" There are only two days of practice left. And Ronny said it would be fine."

“练习就剩两天了。而且罗尼说了没问题的。”

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" Unfortunately, things have changed because there's

so much work to do before the show."

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Mr. Scribblebottom let out a frustrated groan as Sarah hurried off

莎拉匆匆离去，斯克里博尔博特姆先生沮丧地呻吟了一声。

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" How am I supposed to make a movie when I'm not even

allowed in the practice session?" he muttered.

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Ben watched Waldo stagger to his feet

本看着沃尔多摇摇晃晃地站起来。

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" Is it me, Waldo," Ben asked slowly," or do you also get the feeling

that there's something weird about this traveling circus school?"

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" Maybe... I..." Waldo tried to take a step, but he

pitched forward instead.

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" Waldo!" Gaby rushed over with Jen." Are you okay?"

“沃尔多！” 加比和珍冲了过来。“你没事吧？”

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" I'm fine," Waldo said." Just a little dizzy."

“我没事，”沃尔多说，“只是有点晕。”

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" Cleo spun him on her finger," Ben said

“克利奥用一根手指把他转着圈举起来，”本说。

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" Huh?" Gaby cried." What in the world is going on around here?

Everyone's acting so weird lately."

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Jen nodded." And secretive!"

珍点点头。“还很遮遮掩掩的！”

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Ben had been thinking." Maybe it's time to do some investigating."

本一直在思考。“也许是时候去调查一下了。”

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" What do you mean?" Jen asked

“你什么意思？”珍问道。

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" I mean, we should spy on the circus practice," Ben said

“我的意思是，我们应该去偷偷看马戏排练，”本说。

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" Uh..." Waldo shook his head before realizing that it made him dizzy

“呃……”沃尔多摇了摇头，随即意识到这样会让他更晕。

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" That does not sound like a good idea. The circus practice

is closed, remember?"

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" Well, I think it's a great idea!" Gaby said

“嗯，我觉得这是个好主意！”加比说。

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" You could have gotten seriously hurt, Waldo

And spying would be easy—for Ben."

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" Huh?" Ben said." Me?"

“啊？”本说，“我吗？”

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Gaby nodded." You can just float up to the gym

windows and watch from there."

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" Perfect!" Ben said

“太棒了！”本说。

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" I don't know," Jen said." It doesn't seem — "

“我不太确定，”珍说，“这看起来不太——”

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" It's already decided," Gaby said." Follow me."

“已经决定了，”加比说，“跟我来。”

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A few minutes later, the four of them were outside the gym

几分钟后，他们四个来到了体育馆外面。

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Ben floated up and peeked through one of the windows

本飘了上去，透过一扇窗户往里偷看。

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In the room, ladders stood from a high wire and trapeze bar

房间里，梯子搭在高空钢丝和秋千横杆上。

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Winnie was standing on the trapeze platform, staring straight ahead

and Deb hung upside down from a bar by her knees.

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Maddy was onstage, calmly juggling slime balls, while Mog tried

to stuff himself into a large cannon.

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And Cleo was walking around on stilts as Ringmaster Ronny watched

克利奥正踩着高跷走来走去，马戏团团长罗尼在一旁看着。

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" Things look pretty normal to me," Ben called softly to his friends

“在我看来挺正常的，”本轻声对朋友们说。

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" I mean, I don't know what normal is for a traveling circus

from People Place, but I don't see anything odd."

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" Great," Jen said." Let's go before you get caught."

“太好了，”珍说，“趁你还没被发现，我们走吧。”

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Ben ignored her and went back to watching

本没理她，继续回头观看。

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" Cool! Zork is starting to walk across the high wire."

“酷！索克开始走高空钢丝了。”

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" Are you kidding?" Gaby said

“你在开玩笑吗？”加比说。

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" At the high-wire station yesterday, Zork told me he was afraid of heights."

“昨天在高空钢丝训练站，索克告诉我他恐高。”

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Suddenly Zork's foot slipped

突然，索克脚下一滑。

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Ben gasped." Zork's falling off the wire!"

本倒吸一口气。“索克要从钢丝上掉下来了！”