The Gossip Gremlin
嘘，你嚼舌根时有小魔怪在听哦！

"Happy birthday, Princess!!!!" Mom and Dad presented the large box to 12-year-old Amy with great pride. "What is it, what is it, Daddy?" Amy squealed with excitement. She tore the wrapping paper. "It is a pet, is it?" she squealed and then she stopped and just stared down in wonder.
“生日快乐，我们的小公主!!!!”爸爸、妈妈十分自豪地将一个大盒子送给了12岁的艾米。“这是什么，爸爸，这是什么啊？”艾米兴奋地尖叫起来。然后，她撕开了包装纸。“是一只宠物，没错吧？”她再次尖叫起来，然后停了下来，惊讶地凝视着盒子里的东西。
Standing in the middle of the box, just barely 3 inches tall, was a tiny human-like figure. It had arms and legs, a head and a face, but it was so oddly shaped. Its legs were furry and the fur was a flow of purples, greens and pinks. The feet were not feet at all but tiny hooves. The hooves had toes with sharp, tiny toenails for gripping. The torso, arms, neck and face were similarly wildly coloured, so bright it hurt their eyes, and its head was pointy so it always looked surprised and fascinated.
盒子里站着一个只有3英寸高的小人儿一样的东西。它有两只胳膊、两条腿、一个头和一张脸，但外形却很奇怪。它的腿毛茸茸的，皮毛夹杂着紫色、绿色和粉红色。它的双脚根本算不上脚，而是两只小蹄子。蹄子上长着用于抓握东西的尖尖的小指甲。它的躯干、手臂、脖子和脸上同样夹杂着各种颜色，颜色鲜艳到简直能够亮瞎观看者的双眼。它的头部尖尖的，总是给人一种惊讶和着迷的感觉。
Amy named the gremlin Stanley. Every time she called its name, it squeaked and did a dance. Stanley stayed in his box, very happy at first, but then he slowly got sick. One night, Amy was watching Stanley and talking to Courtney, her friend, on the phone.
艾米给这个小精灵起了个名字叫“斯坦利”。每次艾米叫他的名字时，他都会发出吱吱的叫声，并跳起舞来。斯坦利每天呆在他的盒子里，起初非常开心，但不久后便慢慢生病了。一天晚上，艾米一边守护着患病的斯坦利，一边与她的朋友考特尼通电话。
"Courtney, did you see what Janie was wearing? Wow, it was so stupid! She has such ugly clothes!" Just then a big squeak erupted from the little box. Stanley jumped to his feet and did a dance. "Courtney, it's Stanley. He got better. We were gossiping and he suddenly got well. He eats gossip, Courtney, he eats gossip!" And it was true. Each time Amy gossiped, Stanley grew larger.
“考特尼，你看见詹妮穿成什么样子了吗？哇，真是蠢透了！她怎么能穿这么丑的衣服！”就在这时，小盒子里迸发出一阵巨大的吱吱声。斯坦利一跃而起，跳起舞来。“考特尼，是斯坦利。他病情好转了。我们闲聊时，他突然就好起来了。他爱听嚼舌根，考特尼，他原来爱听嚼舌根啊！”事实也的确如此。每当艾米嚼舌根时，斯坦利都会变得更大。

Then came the Thursday when Amy broke the rules, and she sneaked Stanley into her backpack and took him to school. All of the 6th grade girls gathered to hold Stanley and pet him and tell him how cute he was. And then they started.
时间来到了周四，艾米打破了规矩，偷偷把斯坦利装进背包带到了学校。所有六年级的女孩全都聚集在一起，手里捧着斯坦利，爱抚他，并诉说着他有多可爱。然后，她们的“嚼舌根大会”开始了。
"Nikki called Cassie a dumb girl...." "Sandra has ugly hair" "Linda was mean to Susan" ...And with each tiny piece of gossip, Stanley did a little yip, a back flip, danced and grew bigger and fatter. The girls didn't notice it happening, but as the gremlin was handed from girl to girl, he slipped through their hands to the floor, and ran off.
“尼基给凯西起了个外号叫‘傻女’......”“桑德拉的发型真难看”“琳达对苏珊真刻薄......”每当有人嚼舌根时，斯坦利都会尖叫一声，然后做一个后空翻，跳起舞来，同时变得更大、更胖。女孩们并没有注意到斯坦利发生的变化。不过，在女孩们的手间传递时，斯坦利被不小心滑落到了地板上，于是逃跑了。
The students began to panic at the appearance of the large, fat gremlin. It gave a low yelp, then danced and flipped, but he was so large by now that he broke the table and escaped into the hallway. The frightened students rushed into the halls, seeing tufts of multi-coloured fur flying everywhere.
见到这个庞然大物，学生们开始出现恐慌。他低吟了一声，然后开始跳起舞来，并做空翻动作，但现在他的体型太庞大了，以至于砸坏了课桌，随即他逃进了走廊。受到惊吓的学生们冲进了走廊，见到的是四处飞扬的多色软毛。
Suddenly, Mr Bixley, the school principal, came marching down the hall and shouted orders. "Students, to the gym. We are going to put a stop to this!" In the gym, Mr. Bixley and Stanley faced each other like cowboys in a western duel. The principal spoke.
突然，学校校长比克斯利先生出现在走廊中，大声命令着：“同学们，到体育馆集合。我们将结束这荒唐的一幕！”在体育馆里，比克斯利先生和斯坦利面面相觑，就如同西部片里两个决斗的牛仔。校长开始发言了。
"Heather, come here, tell the truth." Heather moved to the front, to a microphone the AV-guy had quickly brought up. "Leslie didn't cheat on the test. I lied. Leslie is a good person." "Phillip, Jessica, Sarah...tell the truth," the principal commanded. One by one the students stepped forward and spoke the truth into the microphone, correcting their gossiping lies. Each time, Stanley moaned, grabbed his ears and cried big green gremlin tears.
“希瑟，来这里，说出真相。”希瑟走到音频师刚刚快速架好的麦克风前，说道：“莱斯利并没有在考试中作弊。我撒了谎。莱斯利是个好学生。”“菲利普、杰西卡、莎拉......说出真相”校长命令道。学生们一个接一个地走到麦克风前讲出了真相，并纠正她们嚼舌根时说的谎言。每当有人说出真相，斯坦利都会发出呻吟声，并抓住自己的耳朵，哭泣着，同时流下大大的绿色精灵眼泪。
"Now, Amy—come here—tell the truth," Mr. Bixley ordered. Amy stepped up, looked nervous and then said loudly into the microphone, "JANIE HAS PRETTY CLOTHES!"
“轮到你了，艾米，到这里来，说出真相。”比克斯利先生命令道。艾米走了上来，露出紧张的神情，然后对着麦克风大声说：“詹妮穿的衣服其实非常漂亮！”
That was all it took. Stanley fell back into the bleachers and moaned so loudly the students held their ears. He did a forward flip and then just like that with a loud BLIP, he vanished, leaving just a puddle of green gossip goo on the gym floor. "EVERYBODY BACK TO CLASS!" commanded the good principal and with that, there was never again another gossip gremlin in Amy's town.
问题就此解决。此时，斯坦利后退着跌倒在露台上，发出一阵大大的呻吟声，学生们都捂住耳朵。他做了一个前空翻，然后伴随着一阵短促而尖锐的声音就消失了，只在体育馆的地板上留下了一滩绿色的精灵眼泪。“大家各回各班！”校长满意地下令说。从此以后，艾米居住的小镇里再也没出现过其他爱听嚼舌根的小精灵。