《怕过万圣节的巫婆》

《怕过万圣节的巫婆》
Once upon a time, there was a girl called Katie.
Katie was seven.
And she lived in nice house with her mum and dad, and her little brother Joey, and a dog called Muffin.

Except for one thing.
They were witches.
Well, except for her Dad, who was a Wizard.
And the dog, Muffin, who was a D-witch, which is a dog who casts spells.

从前有一个七岁的小女孩叫凯蒂，她和爸爸、妈妈、弟弟乔依还有狗儿马芬住在一个舒适的房子里。除了他们是女巫这件事情之外，所有的事情都相当平常。噢！除了爸爸是巫师之外，狗儿马芬也是一只会下咒语的巫犬。
Anyway being a witch wasn’t so bad.
Mum would just twitch her nose and all the cleaning would get done.
Dad would wave his stick, and the lawn would cut itself.
Muffin would click his paws, and a few dog treats would tumble out of the sky.
　　不管怎么说，当巫婆还不错，妈妈扭扭鼻子，所有的清洁工作马上就做好了；爸爸挥挥魔杖草坪就会自动修剪整齐；马芬敲敲脚爪，狗食就会从半空中掉下来。

They’d even taught Katie some magic.
She knew how to make her homework do itself.
And her room got tidied just by twitching her ear.
But there was just one thing Katie really didn’t like.
Halloween.
　　爸爸妈妈教过凯蒂一些魔术，她知道怎样让作业自动完成，拉拉耳朵房间就可以变得很整齐，但是只有一件事情凯蒂非常不喜欢──万圣节。
Once a year, when the leaves were falling off the trees, and the nights were getting longer, all the children in her school and along her street would get terribly excited about Halloween.
They made costumes of horrible looking witches.
With long pointy noses, and spots, and nasty black hats, and broomsticks.
　　又是树叶从树上落下的时候，夜晚也越来越长。因为万圣节快到了，学校里所有的同学和同条街上的小孩子们都变得非常兴奋。他们缝制了看起来很吓人的巫婆服，长长的尖鼻子、斑斑点点的疤痕，还有黑色邪门的帽子和扫把。
And Katie said in school: “Witches aren’t like that, really. My mum looks quite nice.”
And all the other girls fell about laughing.
“Katie thinks she’s a witch,” they laughed. “She’s ugly and horrible, just like a witch.”
　　凯蒂在学校里告诉大家：“巫婆不是那个样子的，真的！我妈妈看起来很美的。”
　　所有的女孩子们都笑翻了。
“凯蒂以为自己是巫婆呢！”她们笑着。
“她就像巫婆一样丑又恐怖！”
And when Katie went home that day, she was really upset.
She cried and cried and cried. And when her mum asked her what the matter was, she said: “Everyone hates witches. And they especially hate them at Halloween.”
And her mum tried to explain that although some people didn’t like witches, it was also quite useful sometimes, like when the washing up got done all by itself.
“I don’t ever want to have anything to do with witch-craft again,” said Katie angrily.
凯蒂回家以后觉得十分沮丧，她哭了又哭，哭个不停。
妈妈问她为什么哭呀？
她说：“每个人都不喜欢巫婆，尤其在万圣节这一天。”
　　妈妈解释说：“虽然有些人不喜欢巫婆，但是做巫婆有时候还是有好处的，比如让要清洗的东西自动完成。
　　“我再也不想和巫术扯上任何关系了！”凯蒂生气地说。
But on Halloween night, all the girls from her school were organizing a trick or treat tour of the street.
And Katie didn’t want to go, because she’d decided she didn’t want to have anything to do with witch-craft.
Never, never, never….
But her mum said she had to.
Because a witch can hardly stay in on Halloween.
And she whispered something in Katie’s ear.
Do you know what it was?
Well, I’ll tell you in a minute.
　　在万圣节的晚上，学校里所有的女孩组织了“trick or treat（不请客，就捣蛋！）”的游街活动，但是凯蒂不想去，因为她决定不和巫术扯上任何关系。
不要！不要！不要…
但是妈妈说：“你一定要去！”
因为巫婆在万圣节这天是不能待在家里的，妈妈在凯蒂的耳边小声地说了一些话。
你知道是什么吗？
好啦！我马上会告诉你的。
Anyway, Katie went to join the other girls.
And some of them started laughing at her.
“Katie doesn’t have to dress up, because she’s already a witch,” they laughed.
And Katie felt cross.
And embarrassed.
But she decided to say nothing.
At the first house, they got a load of sherbet lemons.
At the second, a jumbo pack of sweeties.
At the third, loads and loads of crisps.
And at the forth, a giant packet of chocolate biscuits.
不管怎样，凯蒂和其它的女孩子们一起去参加活动了。
有些人开始嘲笑她。
“凯蒂不用打扮，因为她本来就是巫婆。”她们嘲笑着。
凯蒂既生气又尴尬，她决定一句话也不说。
她们在第一户人家得到了一堆柠檬奶冻。
在第二家得到一大包糖果。
第三家是满满的一大袋炸薯片。
第四家是超大包的巧克力饼干。
But at the fifth house, there lived a man called Mr Bones.
And Mr Bones didn’t like children.
He certainly didn’t see why he should give them any treats.
Buzz off, you stupid kids,” he said when they knocked on the door.
“Trick or treat, trick, or treat…” cried the girls.
“Yes, well, I think I’ll take the trick, if it’s all the same to you,” said Mr Bones.
And a horrible smile creased up his face.
“Because you’re just a bunch of stupid little girls, and you don’t scare me.”
“But one of us is a real witch,” said Amelia, the biggest of the girls.
“Yes, yes, Katie’s a real witch,” they all cried.
But Mr Bones just laughed and laughed.
“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard,” he said.
第五家是邦司先生的家，他不喜欢小孩子，所以当然不明白为什么一定要招待他们。
“别吵！你们这些蠢孩子！”当她们去敲门的时候，他这样说。
“不请客，就捣蛋！不请客，就捣…”孩子们喊着。
好呀！我想要选择“捣蛋”，反正你们都一样的吵人，邦司先生说。
然后，他的脸上露出恐怖的笑容。
“因为你们只是一群愚蠢的小女孩，你们吓不倒我的。”
“但是，我们当中有一位是真的女巫呢！”年纪最大的爱蜜莉说。
“是呀！是呀！凯蒂是一个真正的女巫！”大家都这样喊着。
而邦司先生只是笑笑说：“这是我所听过的最愚蠢的事。”
And so Katie stepped forwards.
“You don’t look scary to me,” said Mr Bones. “You’re just a stupid little girl.”
But Katie remembered what her mum had whispered in her ear.
Do you know what it was?
A special spell.
So right then, Katie recited the magic words.
And she wriggled her ear.
And all the girls gasped in amazement.
“来吧！凯蒂！”爱蜜莉说。“让他瞧瞧！你真的是一个女巫！”
凯蒂走向前去。
“你看起来吓不倒我的，”邦司先生说。“你只是一个笨笨的小女孩。”
但是凯蒂想起妈妈在她耳边说的话。
你知道是什么吗？
是一个很特别的咒语。
就在这时候，凯蒂念起魔咒，扭扭耳朵，所有的女孩都吃惊得倒抽一口气。
Because suddenly Mr Bones wasn’t Mr Bones anymore.
He was a little brown, fluffy hamster. Inside a cage. Running around and around on a wheel.
All the girls laughed and laughed.
Katie leaned into the cage. “Is it fun being a hamster?”
The little creature squeaked and shook its head.
And Katie spun the wheel, so that he had to run faster and faster.
And then she recited the magic words and Mr Bones was turned back into a man again.
因为邦司先生一下子变成了别人，不再是邦司先生，他变成一只棕色的仓鼠，在笼子里的转轮上跑来跑去。
女孩们不停地笑。
凯蒂靠近笼子问：“变成仓鼠好玩吗？”
小仓鼠摇着头吱吱地叫着，凯蒂转动轮子，所以它必须跑得越来越快。接着她又念起咒语，邦司先生就变回人样了。

“I’ll get you some treats, girls,” he said very quickly and nervously
And he came back with tons of chocolate bars, fizzy drinks, biscuits, and even a new Barbie DVD for each girl.
“我要给你们拿些吃的，孩子们！”
他说得很快并且很紧张，一边转身走进屋子。回来的时候拿了很多巧克力条、汽水、饼干，甚至给每个女孩最新的芭比娃娃DVD。
“Please come back next year girls,” he said. “I’ll have even better stuff for you.”
And he went back inside, looking very nervous.
“请你们明年再来，孩子们！”他说。“我会给你们更多好东西！”接着就走回屋里，看起来十分紧张。
And as they went down the rest of the street, everyone had heard that there was a real witch out trick and treating tonight, so they all gave the girls even more sweets and biscuits than usual, and even some toys.
And Katie was the most popular girl in her class.
“You know, maybe it’s not so bad being a witch after all,” she said when she got home. “And I think I’m going to enjoy Halloween from now on.”
　　当她们走向其余的街道的时候，每个人都已经听说了，今晚的万圣节活动里出现了一位真的女巫，因此所有的人都给孩子们更多的糖果饼干，甚至还有一些玩具。
　　而凯蒂也成为班上最受欢迎的人了。
“结果你知道吗？当女巫可能还不赖呢！”她回到家的时候这样说。
“还有，我想，从现在开始要好好的享受欢乐的万圣节啦！”