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凯特·迪卡米洛（Kate Dicamillo）是美国最当红的儿童文学作家，被美国国会图书馆任命为第四任“青少年文学国家大使”，曾获迈克奈特基金会作家奖金、纽伯瑞儿童文学奖银奖（2001年）和金奖（2004年、2014年）、波士顿全球号角书奖金奖等诸多奖项。《纽约时报》称赞她是“继J. K. 罗琳后，美国童书界最耀眼的明星！”《弗罗拉与松鼠侠》（Flora & Ulysses： The Illuminated Adventures）在美国出版后，连续四十多周稳居美国童书畅销榜榜首，并一举摘得2014年纽伯瑞儿童文学奖金奖。
故事的开端便是一出惨剧，一只松鼠被一台呼啸而来的吸尘器吸了进去，叛逆的小姑娘弗罗拉救下了这只松鼠，并将它带回家。重生后的松鼠变得力大无穷，不仅会飞，还能用弗罗拉妈妈的打字机写诗，这深深激怒了弗罗拉的作家妈妈，她决心铲除这只松鼠！一直对妈妈心存不满的弗罗拉一气之下离家出走……
如果你看过迪卡米洛的《爱德华的奇妙之旅》（CT曾在2014年6月号推荐过哦），那么你就会明白，迪卡米洛的手里有一大串神奇的钥匙，她能够随意打开一扇你从未想过的门，把主人公送上一段不可思议的旅程。现在，让我们跟着《弗罗拉与松鼠侠》踏上一段光明之旅吧！（编者注：
译文参考自新蕾出版社2014年版。）
Chapter 1 A Natural-Born Cynic[愤世嫉俗者]
Flora Belle Buckman was in her room at her desk. She was very busy. She was doing two things at once. She was ignoring[忽略] her mother， and she was also reading a comic book entitled The Illuminated[被照明的] Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto注1！
“Flora，” her mother shouted， “what are you doing up there？”
“I’m reading！” Flora shouted back.
“Remember the contract[合同]！” her mother shouted.
“Do not forget the contract！”
At the beginning of summer， in a moment of weakness， Flora had made the mistake of signing a contract that said she would “work to turn her face away from the idiotic[愚蠢的] hijinks[狂欢作乐] of comics and toward the bright light of true literature.”
Those were the exact words of the contract. They were her mother’s words.
Flora’s mother was a writer. She was divorced[离婚的]，
and she wrote romance novels.
Talk about idiotic hijinks.
Flora hated romance novels.
第一章 一个天生的愤世嫉俗者
弗罗拉·贝拉正坐在书桌前。她可忙着呢。她正在同时做两件事情——一边无视她的妈妈，一边读一本漫画书，书的名字叫作《神奇白炽灯侠的光明之旅》。
“弗罗拉，”妈妈吼道，“你在上面干什么呢？”
“我读书呢！”弗罗拉吼回去。
“记着点儿合同！”妈妈接着喊，“千万别忘了合同！”
在夏天刚开始的时候，弗罗拉一时疏忽犯了错。她签了份合同，规定她要“努力远离那些愚蠢、乱七八糟的漫画，然后投身到真正的文学之光中去”。
那份合同就是这么写的——她妈妈的手笔。
弗罗拉的妈妈是个作家，她离婚后，以写爱情小说为生。
爱情小说才是真正愚蠢、乱七八糟的东西。
弗罗拉讨厌爱情小说。
In fact， she hated romance.
“I hate romance，” said Flora out loud to herself. She liked the way the words sounded. She imagined them floating above her in a comic-strip bubble. It was a comforting[令人安慰的] thing to have words hanging over her head， especially negative[消极的] words about romance.
Flora’s mother had often accused[指责]
Flora of being a “natural-born cynic.”
Flora suspected that this was true.
“She was a natural-born cynic who lived in defiance[无视] of contracts！”
Yep， thought Flora， that’s me. She bent her head and went back to reading about the amazing Incandesto. She was interrupted[打断] a few minutes later by a very loud noise.
It sounded as if a jet plane had landed in the Tickhams’ backyard.
实际上，她讨厌爱情。
“我讨厌爱情！”弗罗拉大声对自己说。她喜欢这种说话的感觉。她想象着这些词全变成了漫画里对话框中的文字，浮在她脑袋上方。想说的话若能悬在头上，肯定是件很惬意的事，特别是这种关于爱情的反面论调。
妈妈常指责弗罗拉是个“天生的愤世嫉俗者”。
弗罗拉认为她说得很对。
“她就是个天生的愤世嫉俗者，无视合同的约束而活着！”
是啊，弗罗拉想，这就是我。于是，她低下头继续读她那神奇的白炽灯侠。
几分钟后，她的思绪被一声巨响打断了。
这响声就像一架小型飞机降落到了邻居蒂汉家的后院。
“What the heck？注2” said Flora. She got up from her
desk and looked out the window and saw Mrs. Tickham running around the backyard with a shiny， oversize[超大型的] vacuum cleaner[真空吸尘器]. It looked like she was vacuuming the yard.
That can’t be， thought Flora. Who vacuums their yard？
Actually， it didn’t look like Mrs. Tickham knew what she was doing. It was more like the vacuum cleaner was in charge[主管]. And the vacuum cleaner seemed to be out of its mind. Or its engine. Or something.
“A few bolts shy of a load注3，” said Flora out loud.
And then she saw that Mrs. Tickham and the vacuum cleaner were headed directly for a squirrel.
“Hey， now，” said Flora.
She banged on the window.
“Watch out！” she shouted. “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”
She said the words， and then she had a strange moment of seeing them， hanging there over her head.
“You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”
There is just no predicting what kind of sentences you might say， thought Flora. For instance， who would ever think you would shout， “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”？
It didn’t make any difference， though， what words she said. Flora was too far away. The vacuum cleaner was too loud. And also， clearly， it was bent on[专心致志于] destruction[破坏].
“This malfeasance[坏事] must be stopped，” said Flora in a deep and superheroic[超级英雄式的] voice.
“This malfeasance must be stopped” was what the unassuming[谦逊安静的] janitor[看门人] Alfred T. Slipper always said before he was transformed into the amazing Incandesto and became a towering[卓越的]， crime-fighting pillar of light.
Unfortunately， Alfred T. Slipper wasn’t present.
Where was Incandesto when you needed him？
Not that Flora really believed in superheroes. But still.
She stood at the window and watched as the squirrel was vacuumed up.
Poof. Fwump.
“Holy bagumba，” said Flora.
“这是怎么了？”弗罗拉纳闷儿地从书桌旁站起来向窗外望去，只见蒂汉太太正绕着自己家的后院跑来跑去，她身旁有一台闪闪发亮的超大号吸尘器！她看起来像是在给院子吸尘。 这不可能吧，弗罗拉想，谁会给院子吸尘呢？
实际上，蒂汉太太看起来好像根本不知道自己在干什么。这情形更像是那台吸尘器在掌控一切，它像是得了“失心疯”，或者应该说是“发动机疯”，或者是其他什么“疯”。
“真是大材小用！”弗罗拉大声说着。
接着，她看到蒂汉太太和那台吸尘器直冲着一只松鼠而去。
“嘿，快看呀！”弗罗拉说道。
她一下撞到了玻璃窗上。
“小心！”她大叫道，“你要把那只松鼠吸进去了！”
她说出这些话后，有那么一个奇怪的时刻，她仿佛看到这些字跑到气泡里挂在她的头上。
“你要把那只松鼠吸进去了！”
人们无法预知自己能说出什么话来，弗罗拉想，就好像你永远不会想到有一天你会喊出“你要把那松鼠吸进去了”这样的话来一样。
可是不管她说什么，也改变不了什么。因为弗罗拉离得太远了，而吸尘器发出的声响又太大了，而且它显然是要拼尽全力毁灭一切。
“这种不法行为必须被阻止。”弗罗拉用一种低沉的、超级英雄般的声音说。
“这种不法行为必须被阻止。”这是阿尔弗雷德每次变身为白炽灯侠前都要说的话。说完这句话，他就会变成一个顶天立地的、抗击犯罪的光柱。
不幸的是，阿尔弗雷德并没有出现。
在你需要白炽灯侠的时候，他在哪儿呢？
弗罗拉并不是真的相信超级英雄，但这一刻她还是有这样的疑问。
她站在窗边眼睁睁地看着那只松鼠被吸进去。
噗。哗。
“我的天哪！”弗罗拉说。
Chapter 2 The Mind of a Squirrel
Not much goes on in the mind of a squirrel.
Huge portions of what is loosely termed “the squirrel brain” are given over to one thought： food.
The average squirrel cogitation[深思]
goes something like this： I wonder what there is to eat.
This “thought” is then repeated with small variations[变更] （e.g.， Where’s the food？ Man， I sure am hungry. Is that a piece of food？ And Are there more pieces of food？） some six or seven thousand times a day.
All of this is to say that when the squirrel in the Tickhams’ backyard got swallowed up by the Ulysses 2000X， there weren’t a lot of terribly profound[意义深远的] thoughts going through his head.
As the vacuum cleaner roared toward him， he did not （for instance） think， Here， at last， is my fate come to meet me！
He did not think， Oh， please， give me one more chance and I will be good.
What he thought was Man， I sure am hungry.
And then there was a terrible roar， and he was sucked right off his feet.
At that point， there were no thoughts in his squirrel head， not even thoughts of food.
Chapter 3 The Death of a Squirrel
Seemingly， swallowing a squirrel was a bit much even for the powerful， indomitable[不屈不挠的]， indoor/outdoor Ulysses 2000X. Mrs. Tickham’s birthday machine let out an uncertain roar and stuttered[结结巴巴地说话] to a stop.
Mrs. Tickham bent over and looked down at the vacuum cleaner.
There was a tail sticking out of it.
“For heaven’s sake，” said Mrs. Tickham，“what next？”
She dropped to her knees and gave the tail a tentative[踌躇的] tug[拖曳].
第二章 一只松鼠的内心世界
一只松鼠的所思所想其实并不多。
松鼠大脑的很大一部分都被一种想法所占据：食物。
松鼠一般都盘算着：我想知道哪儿有什么吃的。 这个“想法”一天之内会变着花样地重复六七千遍。（比如：吃的在哪儿？伙计，我确定我饿了。那是食物吗？还有哪儿还有更多的食物呢？）
以上都是想说明，当那只松鼠在蒂汉家的后院被尤利西斯2000X吸进去的时候，并没有什么意义深远的想法在它的脑海中闪过。
当吸尘器咆哮着冲向它的时候，它并没有思考诸如“难道我的命数已尽”之类的问题。
它没有想：哦，求求你，再给我一次机会，我会做得更好。
或许，它当时想的是：伙计，我确定我饿了。
然后，随着一声可怕的咆哮，它就被吸离了地面。
那一刻，在那颗松鼠脑袋里没有任何想法，连有关食物的想法都没有。
第三章 松鼠之死
看起来，即使对于一只动力强劲、不可战胜、室内室外皆可使用的尤利西斯2000X来说，吞下一只松鼠的工作也未免有些艰巨了。蒂汉太太的生日礼物发出一声闷闷的咆哮后颤颤巍巍地停止了工作。
蒂汉太太弯下腰打量着这台吸尘器。
那儿有一条尾巴垂在外面。
“天哪！”蒂汉太太说，“接下来怎么办？”
她双膝跪地，试探性地拉了一下那条小尾巴。
She stood. She looked around the yard.
“Help，” she said. “I think I’ve killed a squirrel.”Chapter 4 A
Surprisingly Helpful Cynic
Flora ran from her room. She ran down the stairs. As she ran， she thought， for a cynic， I am a surprisingly helpful person.
She went out the back door.
Her mother called to her. She said， “Where are you going， Flora Belle？”
Flora didn’t answer her. She never answered her mother when she called her Flora Belle.
Sometimes she didn’t answer her mother when she called her Flora， either.
Flora ran through the tall grass and cleared the fence between her yard and the Tickhams’ in a single bound[跳跃].
“Move out of the way，” said Flora. She gave Mrs. Tickham a shove and grabbed hold of the vacuum cleaner. It was heavy. She picked it up and shook it. Nothing happened. She shook harder. The squirrel dropped out of the vacuum cleaner and landed with a plop[扑通声] on the grass.
He didn’t look that great.
He was missing a lot of fur. Vacuumed off， Flora assumed.
His eyelids fluttered[拍动]. His chest rose and fell and rose again. And then it stopped moving altogether.
Flora knelt. She put a finger on the squirrel’s chest. She bent down and put her mouth on the squirrel’s mouth.
It tasted funny.
If she were forced to describe it， she would say that it tasted exactly like squirrel： fuzzy[绒毛的]， damp[潮湿的]， slightly nutty[多坚果的].
“Have you lost your mind？” said Mrs. Tickham.
Flora ignored her.
She breathed into the squirrel’s mouth. She pushed down on his small chest.
She started to count.
然后，她站起来，环视着院子。
“救命啊！”她大叫道，“我想我杀死了一只松鼠。”
第四章 一个乐于助人的愤世嫉俗者
弗罗拉冲出她的房间，
冲下楼梯。她边跑边想：作为一个愤世嫉俗者，我可真是乐于助人。
她从后门冲了出去。
妈妈叫住了她：“弗罗拉·贝拉，你要去哪儿？”弗罗拉没有回答。妈妈叫她弗罗拉·贝拉的时候，她从不回答。有时，妈妈叫她弗罗拉，她也不予回应。弗罗拉一跃穿过高高的草
丛，然后越过她家和蒂汉家院子的栅栏，就来到了事发现场。
“让开些。”弗罗拉说。她将蒂汉太太推开，然后抓起吸尘器。这东西可真沉！她把它拎起来晃动，不管用。于是，她晃动得更用力些，那只松鼠便从吸尘器里掉了出来，“噗”的一声摔在草地上。
它看起来不太好。
它掉了好多毛。应该是被吸尘器吸掉的，弗罗拉这么认为。
它的眼皮轻轻颤动，胸口起伏着。突然，一切动作同时停止。
弗罗拉跪了下去，将一只手指按在松鼠的小胸膛上。她弯下腰将自己的嘴唇覆在松鼠的嘴上。
它的嘴巴尝起来很有趣。
如果必须要她形容，她会说是松鼠的味道——毛茸茸的、潮湿的，还有一点点坚果味。
“你疯了吗？”蒂汉太太说道。弗罗拉没有理她。
她向松鼠的嘴中吹气，然后按压它那小小的胸膛。
她开始计数。
故事的开端便是一出惨剧，一只松鼠被一台呼啸而来的吸尘器吸了进去，叛逆的小姑娘弗罗拉救下了这只松鼠，并将它带回家。重生后的松鼠变得力大无穷，不仅会飞，还能用弗罗拉妈妈的打字机写诗，这深深激怒了弗罗拉的作家妈妈，她决心铲除这只松鼠！一直对妈妈心存不满的弗罗拉一气之下离家出走……
如果你看过迪卡米洛的《爱德华的奇妙之旅》（CT曾在2014年6月号推荐过哦），那么你就会明白，迪卡米洛的手里有一大串神奇的钥匙，她能够随意打开一扇你从未想过的门，把主人公送上一段不可思议的旅程。现在，让我们跟着《弗罗拉与松鼠侠》踏上一段光明之旅吧！（编者注：
译文参考自新蕾出版社2014年版。）
Chapter 1 A Natural-Born Cynic[愤世嫉俗者]
Flora Belle Buckman was in her room at her desk. She was very busy. She was doing two things at once. She was ignoring[忽略] her mother， and she was also reading a comic book entitled The Illuminated[被照明的] Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto注1！
“Flora，” her mother shouted， “what are you doing up there？”
“I’m reading！” Flora shouted back.
“Remember the contract[合同]！” her mother shouted.
“Do not forget the contract！”
At the beginning of summer， in a moment of weakness， Flora had made the mistake of signing a contract that said she would “work to turn her face away from the idiotic[愚蠢的] hijinks[狂欢作乐] of comics and toward the bright light of true literature.”
Those were the exact words of the contract. They were her mother’s words.
Flora’s mother was a writer. She was divorced[离婚的]，
and she wrote romance novels.
Talk about idiotic hijinks.
Flora hated romance novels.
第一章 一个天生的愤世嫉俗者
弗罗拉·贝拉正坐在书桌前。她可忙着呢。她正在同时做两件事情——一边无视她的妈妈，一边读一本漫画书，书的名字叫作《神奇白炽灯侠的光明之旅》。
“弗罗拉，”妈妈吼道，“你在上面干什么呢？”
“我读书呢！”弗罗拉吼回去。
“记着点儿合同！”妈妈接着喊，“千万别忘了合同！”
在夏天刚开始的时候，弗罗拉一时疏忽犯了错。她签了份合同，规定她要“努力远离那些愚蠢、乱七八糟的漫画，然后投身到真正的文学之光中去”。
那份合同就是这么写的——她妈妈的手笔。
弗罗拉的妈妈是个作家，她离婚后，以写爱情小说为生。
爱情小说才是真正愚蠢、乱七八糟的东西。
弗罗拉讨厌爱情小说。
In fact， she hated romance.
“I hate romance，” said Flora out loud to herself. She liked the way the words sounded. She imagined them floating above her in a comic-strip bubble. It was a comforting[令人安慰的] thing to have words hanging over her head， especially negative[消极的] words about romance.
Flora’s mother had often accused[指责]
Flora of being a “natural-born cynic.”
Flora suspected that this was true.
“She was a natural-born cynic who lived in defiance[无视] of contracts！”
Yep， thought Flora， that’s me. She bent her head and went back to reading about the amazing Incandesto. She was interrupted[打断] a few minutes later by a very loud noise.
It sounded as if a jet plane had landed in the Tickhams’ backyard.
实际上，她讨厌爱情。
“我讨厌爱情！”弗罗拉大声对自己说。她喜欢这种说话的感觉。她想象着这些词全变成了漫画里对话框中的文字，浮在她脑袋上方。想说的话若能悬在头上，肯定是件很惬意的事，特别是这种关于爱情的反面论调。
妈妈常指责弗罗拉是个“天生的愤世嫉俗者”。
弗罗拉认为她说得很对。
“她就是个天生的愤世嫉俗者，无视合同的约束而活着！”
是啊，弗罗拉想，这就是我。于是，她低下头继续读她那神奇的白炽灯侠。
几分钟后，她的思绪被一声巨响打断了。
这响声就像一架小型飞机降落到了邻居蒂汉家的后院。
“What the heck？注2” said Flora. She got up from her
desk and looked out the window and saw Mrs. Tickham running around the backyard with a shiny， oversize[超大型的] vacuum cleaner[真空吸尘器]. It looked like she was vacuuming the yard.
That can’t be， thought Flora. Who vacuums their yard？
Actually， it didn’t look like Mrs. Tickham knew what she was doing. It was more like the vacuum cleaner was in charge[主管]. And the vacuum cleaner seemed to be out of its mind. Or its engine. Or something.
“A few bolts shy of a load注3，” said Flora out loud.
And then she saw that Mrs. Tickham and the vacuum cleaner were headed directly for a squirrel.
“Hey， now，” said Flora.
She banged on the window.
“Watch out！” she shouted. “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”
She said the words， and then she had a strange moment of seeing them， hanging there over her head.
“You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”
There is just no predicting what kind of sentences you might say， thought Flora. For instance， who would ever think you would shout， “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel！”？
It didn’t make any difference， though， what words she said. Flora was too far away. The vacuum cleaner was too loud. And also， clearly， it was bent on[专心致志于] destruction[破坏].
“This malfeasance[坏事] must be stopped，” said Flora in a deep and superheroic[超级英雄式的] voice.
“This malfeasance must be stopped” was what the unassuming[谦逊安静的] janitor[看门人] Alfred T. Slipper always said before he was transformed into the amazing Incandesto and became a towering[卓越的]， crime-fighting pillar of light.
Unfortunately， Alfred T. Slipper wasn’t present.
Where was Incandesto when you needed him？
Not that Flora really believed in superheroes. But still.
She stood at the window and watched as the squirrel was vacuumed up.
Poof. Fwump.
“Holy bagumba，” said Flora.
“这是怎么了？”弗罗拉纳闷儿地从书桌旁站起来向窗外望去，只见蒂汉太太正绕着自己家的后院跑来跑去，她身旁有一台闪闪发亮的超大号吸尘器！她看起来像是在给院子吸尘。 这不可能吧，弗罗拉想，谁会给院子吸尘呢？
实际上，蒂汉太太看起来好像根本不知道自己在干什么。这情形更像是那台吸尘器在掌控一切，它像是得了“失心疯”，或者应该说是“发动机疯”，或者是其他什么“疯”。
“真是大材小用！”弗罗拉大声说着。
接着，她看到蒂汉太太和那台吸尘器直冲着一只松鼠而去。
“嘿，快看呀！”弗罗拉说道。
她一下撞到了玻璃窗上。
“小心！”她大叫道，“你要把那只松鼠吸进去了！”
她说出这些话后，有那么一个奇怪的时刻，她仿佛看到这些字跑到气泡里挂在她的头上。
“你要把那只松鼠吸进去了！”
人们无法预知自己能说出什么话来，弗罗拉想，就好像你永远不会想到有一天你会喊出“你要把那松鼠吸进去了”这样的话来一样。
可是不管她说什么，也改变不了什么。因为弗罗拉离得太远了，而吸尘器发出的声响又太大了，而且它显然是要拼尽全力毁灭一切。
“这种不法行为必须被阻止。”弗罗拉用一种低沉的、超级英雄般的声音说。
“这种不法行为必须被阻止。”这是阿尔弗雷德每次变身为白炽灯侠前都要说的话。说完这句话，他就会变成一个顶天立地的、抗击犯罪的光柱。
不幸的是，阿尔弗雷德并没有出现。
在你需要白炽灯侠的时候，他在哪儿呢？
弗罗拉并不是真的相信超级英雄，但这一刻她还是有这样的疑问。
她站在窗边眼睁睁地看着那只松鼠被吸进去。
噗。哗。
“我的天哪！”弗罗拉说。
Chapter 2 The Mind of a Squirrel
Not much goes on in the mind of a squirrel.
Huge portions of what is loosely termed “the squirrel brain” are given over to one thought： food.
The average squirrel cogitation[深思]
goes something like this： I wonder what there is to eat.
This “thought” is then repeated with small variations[变更] （e.g.， Where’s the food？ Man， I sure am hungry. Is that a piece of food？ And Are there more pieces of food？） some six or seven thousand times a day.
All of this is to say that when the squirrel in the Tickhams’ backyard got swallowed up by the Ulysses 2000X， there weren’t a lot of terribly profound[意义深远的] thoughts going through his head.
As the vacuum cleaner roared toward him， he did not （for instance） think， Here， at last， is my fate come to meet me！
He did not think， Oh， please， give me one more chance and I will be good.
What he thought was Man， I sure am hungry.
And then there was a terrible roar， and he was sucked right off his feet.
At that point， there were no thoughts in his squirrel head， not even thoughts of food.
Chapter 3 The Death of a Squirrel
Seemingly， swallowing a squirrel was a bit much even for the powerful， indomitable[不屈不挠的]， indoor/outdoor Ulysses 2000X. Mrs. Tickham’s birthday machine let out an uncertain roar and stuttered[结结巴巴地说话] to a stop.
Mrs. Tickham bent over and looked down at the vacuum cleaner.
There was a tail sticking out of it.
“For heaven’s sake，” said Mrs. Tickham，“what next？”
She dropped to her knees and gave the tail a tentative[踌躇的] tug[拖曳].
第二章 一只松鼠的内心世界
一只松鼠的所思所想其实并不多。
松鼠大脑的很大一部分都被一种想法所占据：食物。
松鼠一般都盘算着：我想知道哪儿有什么吃的。 这个“想法”一天之内会变着花样地重复六七千遍。（比如：吃的在哪儿？伙计，我确定我饿了。那是食物吗？还有哪儿还有更多的食物呢？）
以上都是想说明，当那只松鼠在蒂汉家的后院被尤利西斯2000X吸进去的时候，并没有什么意义深远的想法在它的脑海中闪过。
当吸尘器咆哮着冲向它的时候，它并没有思考诸如“难道我的命数已尽”之类的问题。
它没有想：哦，求求你，再给我一次机会，我会做得更好。
或许，它当时想的是：伙计，我确定我饿了。
然后，随着一声可怕的咆哮，它就被吸离了地面。
那一刻，在那颗松鼠脑袋里没有任何想法，连有关食物的想法都没有。
第三章 松鼠之死
看起来，即使对于一只动力强劲、不可战胜、室内室外皆可使用的尤利西斯2000X来说，吞下一只松鼠的工作也未免有些艰巨了。蒂汉太太的生日礼物发出一声闷闷的咆哮后颤颤巍巍地停止了工作。
蒂汉太太弯下腰打量着这台吸尘器。
那儿有一条尾巴垂在外面。
“天哪！”蒂汉太太说，“接下来怎么办？”
她双膝跪地，试探性地拉了一下那条小尾巴。
She stood. She looked around the yard.
“Help，” she said. “I think I’ve killed a squirrel.”Chapter 4 A
Surprisingly Helpful Cynic
Flora ran from her room. She ran down the stairs. As she ran， she thought， for a cynic， I am a surprisingly helpful person.
She went out the back door.
Her mother called to her. She said， “Where are you going， Flora Belle？”
Flora didn’t answer her. She never answered her mother when she called her Flora Belle.
Sometimes she didn’t answer her mother when she called her Flora， either.
Flora ran through the tall grass and cleared the fence between her yard and the Tickhams’ in a single bound[跳跃].
“Move out of the way，” said Flora. She gave Mrs. Tickham a shove and grabbed hold of the vacuum cleaner. It was heavy. She picked it up and shook it. Nothing happened. She shook harder. The squirrel dropped out of the vacuum cleaner and landed with a plop[扑通声] on the grass.
He didn’t look that great.
He was missing a lot of fur. Vacuumed off， Flora assumed.
His eyelids fluttered[拍动]. His chest rose and fell and rose again. And then it stopped moving altogether.
Flora knelt. She put a finger on the squirrel’s chest. She bent down and put her mouth on the squirrel’s mouth.
It tasted funny.
If she were forced to describe it， she would say that it tasted exactly like squirrel： fuzzy[绒毛的]， damp[潮湿的]， slightly nutty[多坚果的].
“Have you lost your mind？” said Mrs. Tickham.
Flora ignored her.
She breathed into the squirrel’s mouth. She pushed down on his small chest.
She started to count.
然后，她站起来，环视着院子。
“救命啊！”她大叫道，“我想我杀死了一只松鼠。”
第四章 一个乐于助人的愤世嫉俗者
弗罗拉冲出她的房间，
冲下楼梯。她边跑边想：作为一个愤世嫉俗者，我可真是乐于助人。
她从后门冲了出去。
妈妈叫住了她：“弗罗拉·贝拉，你要去哪儿？”弗罗拉没有回答。妈妈叫她弗罗拉·贝拉的时候，她从不回答。有时，妈妈叫她弗罗拉，她也不予回应。弗罗拉一跃穿过高高的草
丛，然后越过她家和蒂汉家院子的栅栏，就来到了事发现场。
“让开些。”弗罗拉说。她将蒂汉太太推开，然后抓起吸尘器。这东西可真沉！她把它拎起来晃动，不管用。于是，她晃动得更用力些，那只松鼠便从吸尘器里掉了出来，“噗”的一声摔在草地上。
它看起来不太好。
它掉了好多毛。应该是被吸尘器吸掉的，弗罗拉这么认为。
它的眼皮轻轻颤动，胸口起伏着。突然，一切动作同时停止。
弗罗拉跪了下去，将一只手指按在松鼠的小胸膛上。她弯下腰将自己的嘴唇覆在松鼠的嘴上。
它的嘴巴尝起来很有趣。
如果必须要她形容，她会说是松鼠的味道——毛茸茸的、潮湿的，还有一点点坚果味。
“你疯了吗？”蒂汉太太说道。弗罗拉没有理她。
她向松鼠的嘴中吹气，然后按压它那小小的胸膛。
她开始计数。