The Gossip Gremlin
噓，你嚼舌根時有小魔怪在聽哦！

"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.
“生日快樂，我們的小公主!!!!”爸爸、媽媽十分自豪地將一個大盒子送給了12歲的艾米。“這是什么，爸爸，這是什么啊？”艾米興奮地尖叫起來。然后，她撕開了包裝紙。“是一只寵物，沒錯吧？”她再次尖叫起來，然后停了下來，驚訝地凝視著盒子里的東西。
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.
盒子里站著一個只有3英寸高的小人兒一樣的東西。它有兩只胳膊、兩條腿、一個頭和一張臉，但外形卻很奇怪。它的腿毛茸茸的，皮毛夾雜著紫色、綠色和粉紅色。它的雙腳根本算不上腳，而是兩只小蹄子。蹄子上長著用于抓握東西的尖尖的小指甲。它的軀干、手臂、脖子和臉上同樣夾雜著各種顏色，顏色鮮艷到簡直能夠亮瞎觀看者的雙眼。它的頭部尖尖的，總是給人一種驚訝和著迷的感覺。
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.
艾米給這個小精靈起了個名字叫“斯坦利”。每次艾米叫他的名字時，他都會發出吱吱的叫聲，并跳起舞來。斯坦利每天呆在他的盒子里，起初非常開心，但不久后便慢慢生病了。一天晚上，艾米一邊守護著患病的斯坦利，一邊與她的朋友考特尼通電話。
"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，你看見詹妮穿成什么樣子了嗎？哇，真是蠢透了！她怎么能穿這么丑的衣服！”就在這時，小盒子里迸發出一陣巨大的吱吱聲。斯坦利一躍而起，跳起舞來。“考特尼，是斯坦利。他病情好轉了。我們閑聊時，他突然就好起來了。他愛聽嚼舌根，考特尼，他原來愛聽嚼舌根啊！”事實也的確如此。每當艾米嚼舌根時，斯坦利都會變得更大。

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.
時間來到了周四，艾米打破了規矩，偷偷把斯坦利裝進背包帶到了學校。所有六年級的女孩全都聚集在一起，手里捧著斯坦利，愛撫他，并訴說著他有多可愛。然后，她們的“嚼舌根大會”開始了。
"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.
“尼基給凱西起了個外號叫‘傻女’......”“桑德拉的發型真難看”“琳達對蘇珊真刻薄......”每當有人嚼舌根時，斯坦利都會尖叫一聲，然后做一個后空翻，跳起舞來，同時變得更大、更胖。女孩們并沒有注意到斯坦利發生的變化。不過，在女孩們的手間傳遞時，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.
見到這個龐然大物，學生們開始出現恐慌。他低吟了一聲，然后開始跳起舞來，并做空翻動作，但現在他的體型太龐大了，以至于砸壞了課桌，隨即他逃進了走廊。受到驚嚇的學生們沖進了走廊，見到的是四處飛揚的多色軟毛。
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，學校校長比克斯利先生出現在走廊中，大聲命令著：“同學們，到體育館集合。我們將結束這荒唐的一幕！”在體育館里，比克斯利先生和斯坦利面面相覷，就如同西部片里兩個決斗的牛仔。校長開始發言了。
"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，來這里，說出真相。”希瑟走到音頻師剛剛快速架好的麥克風前，說道：“萊斯利并沒有在考試中作弊。我撒了謊。萊斯利是個好學生。”“菲利普、杰西卡、莎拉......說出真相”校長命令道。學生們一個接一個地走到麥克風前講出了真相，并糾正她們嚼舌根時說的謊言。每當有人說出真相，斯坦利都會發出呻吟聲，并抓住自己的耳朵，哭泣著，同時流下大大的綠色精靈眼淚。
"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!"
“輪到你了，艾米，到這里來，說出真相。”比克斯利先生命令道。艾米走了上來，露出緊張的神情，然后對著麥克風大聲說：“詹妮穿的衣服其實非常漂亮！”
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.
問題就此解決。此時，斯坦利后退著跌倒在露臺上，發出一陣大大的呻吟聲，學生們都捂住耳朵。他做了一個前空翻，然后伴隨著一陣短促而尖銳的聲音就消失了，只在體育館的地板上留下了一灘綠色的精靈眼淚。“大家各回各班！”校長滿意地下令說。從此以后，艾米居住的小鎮里再也沒出現過其他愛聽嚼舌根的小精靈。