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E-Books (english-e-reader), Changes (1)

Changes (1)

Time: the present Place: Sheffield, England

Everybody knew about the comet. It was in all the newspapers. When it finally passed close to the Earth, it lit up the sky for three nights. It was beautiful. People who were not usually interested in looking beyond their television screens took at least one look outside.

Even people like Darren.

Darren was looking in the bathroom mirror at the spots on his face. They were near his nose. His mum always said he got spots because he ate too many sweets. But he hated sweets. And he never ate chocolate. His mum loved chocolate and she never got spots. It wasn't fair. Darren was just going to examine his biggest spot when his mum called out.

'Darren! Darren, look at this!'

'Aw, Mum. I'm busy!'

But Darren's mum refused to take no for an answer. She knew her thirteen-year-old son liked science fiction. A bit of science fact would do him no harm. This sort of thing didn't happen every day, after all. They said that this comet was only going to pass the Earth once. She didn't want Darren to miss it.

'Darren Miller, come down right now!'

When Darren got downstairs, the door to the garden was open. He could see both his parents outside. They were looking up, their faces lit by a gentle light. He went out and stood next to them. Then he, too, looked up.

It was, indeed, a lovely thing to see. Darren was pleased his mum had called him. The sky was full of beautiful, coloured light. It made Darren think of Christmas lights and all the bright colours he loved when he was younger.

It was so beautiful that he almost forgot about his spots.

The next day all of the newspapers were full of pictures and stories about the comet. Some of the newspapers were quite excited about it, because the comet had passed very close to the Earth.

'Comet nearly hits Earth!' said one headline in a newspaper.

'Earth escapes comet!' said another.

Most of the newspaper reports also mentioned the beauty of the comet. They all said how lucky we were to see such a wonderful thing.

Of course, there were the usual pessimists who said that the comet would put something nasty into the air we breathe. Others said the comet was a sign that the end of the Earth was coming. However, most people took no notice of these warnings.

Life went on as usual.

Life for Darren meant getting ready for school again after the holidays. Comets were nice but now he had more important things to think about. He had to make himself look good for the beautiful Vanessa.

Darrens school was just an ordinary school in the city of Sheffield in England. It was no better than any other school in Sheffield.

But it did have Vanessa.

Vanessa was a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl in the same year as Darren. She had smiled at Darren once. He remembered it well. It had happened in the last week before the holidays. He had let her go in front of him in the queue for lunch. She hadn't said 'thank you,' but she had given him a little smile. It had showed her perfect white teeth.

He had been too nervous to speak to her. He just couldn't do it. It would be easier, he felt, to grow wings and fly up to the ceiling.

This time he would be ready. He would put on lots of deodorant to make himself smell nice. He wanted to have another look at his spots and, just maybe, have a shave. The night before he had felt something above his mouth that might be the first hairs of a moustache.

He made sure he got to the bathroom before everyone else that morning. He wanted to have a close look at those spots... and his new moustache.

'Darren, will you be in there for a long time?' It was Darren's mum. 'Your father wants to use the bathroom.'

Darren knew his dad always spent ages in the bathroom. Well, his dad could wait today, for a change.

'I'll be out soon, Mum,' said Darren.

But he was lying. He wanted to look good and smell good. It could take a long time. His new deodorant smelled very good this morning. He suddenly noticed all the different smells that went into it. There were flowers, spices - lots of things he had never smelled before. His nose felt a bit wet too. Was he getting a cold? Probably not, if he could smell things so well.

Darren walked over to the mirror and looked at his face. His face looked worse than ever!

His nose was wet and shiny. It was moving a lot, like an animal's nose. It looked like a rabbit smelling its breakfast. But this wasn't the most shocking thing. His top lip had long, thick hairs on it. They were like the hairs on an animal's nose. They were like the whiskers of a rabbit!

Darren screamed.

Time: the present Place: Singapore

Julie Ong had been fourteen for three weeks. A lot of her friends were fourteen too. They all agreed that a young woman should watch her weight. It was especially important not to eat sweets and cakes. Julie hadn't eaten a cake or a piece of chocolate since her birthday. But there were still no signs that her parents saw Julie as a young woman. To them, she was still a child.

Then there was the strange thing with the comet. Everybody was talking about it. Julies English teacher gave her class homework about it. They had to describe the comet in a poem. It was so unfair! The comet had been quite beautiful, but writing about it was no fun at all. Julie decided to take a break from her Sunday morning homework. Instead of writing she would comb her long black hair in the mirror. It was more interesting than writing a poem, at least.

Her parents wouldn't notice that she was wasting time. She could hear them at the other end of the house talking about the comet. They weren't talking loudly, but she could still hear them. Her hearing wasn't normally that good. It was very odd.

Julie picked up her hairbrush - her favourite pink one - and walked towards her bedroom mirror. But when she looked at herself, she immediately noticed something strange. There were two things rising up and out from her hair. They were on both sides of her head. Julie pushed back her hair and saw that the two things were her ears. They were now pointed at the top, like an animal's ears, and they were bigger too. Much bigger.

Julie fainted.

Darrens new whiskers grew even longer over the next week. His nose became much, much better at smelling things too. He could smell almost anything from a long distance away now. His dad had his own smell, so had his mum. Everybody had their own smell.

Having a good nose was useful and Darren liked it. He liked his whiskers too, and he couldn't really shave them off. It would hurt, he was sure, if he tried. Anyway, he was getting used to them.

In Singapore, Julie Ong discovered that her hearing had become extremely good. She could hear almost everything.

Darren didn't know it yet, but the beautiful Vanessa had now grown long teeth like a cat's. She had whiskers too. And suddenly she seemed to enjoy eating a lot of fish.

Darren, Julie and Vanessa were not alone.

Sudden changes were happening all over the world. Many young people between the ages of twelve and eighteen had developed the special strength of some kind of animal. Sometimes it wasn't immediately obvious - like having the fantastic eyesight of a hunting bird. But often the changes were obvious. Some had grown long tails and they could hold on to things with them. Some had webbed skin on their hands and feet so that they could swim fast. Some had the strength of a bull; others could run as fast as a horse. They all looked human still, but in some way they had changed.

Of course, adults everywhere were extremely worried. Why had their children changed? What had produced the changes? What could they do to help their children?

Darren discovered that his amazing nose had many advantages too. He found that he could tell what mood people were in just by their smell - even if they were trying to hide it. That was useful.

This new sense of smell was useful in other ways too. If he lost something, he could always find it by using his nose. He helped his mum buy the freshest and tastiest food in the supermarket.

He now used deodorant which didn't have a strong smell. His new nose didn't like strong smells any more.

'You'd better not get too used to it,' said his dad. 'Some day soon we'll be able to get you back the way you were.'

'Maybe, Dad,' Darren said. 'But what if I don't want to go back to the way I was?'

Darrens father didn't say anything. Like many other parents, he didn't understand how his son could like the changes. He wanted the old Darren back - the Darren without the whiskers and the amazing sense of smell.

And why had some young people changed while others hadn't? That was the question every adult in the world was asking.

Some adults blamed the children themselves for the changes. They said they watched too much TV or ate the wrong things or didn't behave in the right way.

Most people blamed the comet.

'Comet causes horrible teenage changes!' was the kind of headline found on the front page of many newspapers. They all had similar stories. Everybody was saying that it must have been the comet - what else could it have been? The comet had, in some strange way, affected the bodies of some teenagers.

'I don't think the changes are horrible!' said Julie to her friends. 'I think my new hearing is very useful. I think my ears are rather beautiful too!'

Some of Julie's friends agreed with her.

'I like my new wings,' said one.

'I can change colour like a chameleon - isn't that cool?' said another.

Teenagers everywhere were comparing their changes.

Some were stronger, others were faster, others could jump higher. But no matter what changes happened, they were still teenagers.

But then something strange happened. Some teenagers began to return to normal. Some eventually lost all sign of their changes and went back to what they had been before.

But why?

The answer came almost by accident.

A teen called Danny was given a job in an advertisement. Danny had wings and he could fly. In the advertisement, Danny had to fly over a childrens party and give out chocolate biscuits. Danny hated chocolate biscuits, but he had to eat some during the advertisement. It was after he ate his second biscuit that something started happening. His wings started to get smaller. Soon they disappeared completely. He couldn't fly any more. Danny was a 'normal' teenager again. Why had it happened?

It was the chocolate. It had to be.

Scientists tested the effect of chocolate on other teenagers. They discovered that if the teenagers ate a few things with chocolate in them, they went back to normal. The world now knew why some children hadn't been affected by the comet. The mystery was solved.

The comet had only changed teenagers who didn't eat chocolate!

'I don't like chocolate, you know that,' Darren told his parents. 'I've never liked it.'

'But all you have to do is eat a bit and you'll go back to normal!' said Dad. 'You want to be normal again, don't you, Darren?'

Darren thought about Vanessa. He liked her new cat looks. Vanessa had found Darrens changes attractive too. She had spoken to him quite a lot lately.

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Changes (1) Änderungen (1) Cambios (1) Changements (1) 변경 사항 (1)

Time: the present Place: Sheffield, England ||||Sheffield|

Everybody knew about the comet. ||||Komet 誰もが彗星について知っていました。 It was in all the newspapers. それはすべての新聞にありました。 When it finally passed close to the Earth, it lit up the sky for three nights. ようやく地球に近づくと、3夜空を照らしました。 It was beautiful. People who were not usually interested in looking beyond their television screens took at least one look outside. テレビ画面の向こう側を見ることに通常は興味がなかった人々は、少なくとも1回は外を見ました。 Люди, які зазвичай не зацікавлені в тому, щоб виходити за межі екранів своїх телевізорів, принаймні один раз подивилися на вулицю.

Even people like Darren. ダレンのような人でさえ。

Darren was looking in the bathroom mirror at the spots on his face. |||||||||Pickel||| ダレンはバスルームの鏡で顔のスポットを見ていました。 They were near his nose. His mum always said he got spots because he ate too many sweets. But he hated sweets. And he never ate chocolate. His mum loved chocolate and she never got spots. It wasn't fair. Це було несправедливо. Darren was just going to examine his biggest spot when his mum called out. Даррен саме збирався дослідити свою найбільшу пляму, коли його мама покликала його.

'Darren! Darren, look at this!'

'Aw, Mum. I'm busy!'

But Darren's mum refused to take no for an answer. |Darrens|||||||| しかし、ダレンの母親は答えを拒否することを拒否しました。 She knew her thirteen-year-old son liked science fiction. 彼女は13歳の息子が空想科学小説が好きだと知っていました。 Вона знала, що її тринадцятирічний син любить наукову фантастику. A bit of science fact would do him no harm. 少しの科学的事実は彼に害を及ぼさないでしょう。 This sort of thing didn't happen every day, after all. 結局のところ、この種のことは毎日起こりませんでした。 Зрештою, таке траплялося не щодня. They said that this comet was only going to pass the Earth once. 彼らは、この彗星が地球を通過するのは一度だけだと言いました。 She didn't want Darren to miss it.

'Darren Miller, come down right now!'

When Darren got downstairs, the door to the garden was open. ダレンが階下に降りたとき、庭への扉が開いていました。 He could see both his parents outside. They were looking up, their faces lit by a gentle light. 彼らは見上げていました、彼らの顔は穏やかな光で照らされていました。 He went out and stood next to them. Then he, too, looked up.

It was, indeed, a lovely thing to see. 確かに、見るのは素敵なことでした。 Darren was pleased his mum had called him. ダレンは彼のお母さんが彼に電話したことを喜んでいました。 The sky was full of beautiful, coloured light. ||||||buntem| 空は美しい色の光でいっぱいでした。 It made Darren think of Christmas lights and all the bright colours he loved when he was younger. それはダレンにクリスマスライトと彼が若い頃に愛したすべての明るい色について考えさせました。

It was so beautiful that he almost forgot about his spots.

The next day all of the newspapers were full of pictures and stories about the comet. Some of the newspapers were quite excited about it, because the comet had passed very close to the Earth.

'Comet nearly hits Earth!' ||trifft| said one headline in a newspaper.

'Earth escapes comet!' |entkommt| 「地球は彗星から逃げる!」 said another.

Most of the newspaper reports also mentioned the beauty of the comet. They all said how lucky we were to see such a wonderful thing.

Of course, there were the usual pessimists who said that the comet would put something nasty into the air we breathe. ||||||Pessimisten|||||||||||||| もちろん、彗星は私たちが呼吸する空気に何か厄介なものを置くだろうと言った通常の悲観論者がいました。 Others said the comet was a sign that the end of the Earth was coming. However, most people took no notice of these warnings. ||||||||Warnungen しかし、ほとんどの人はこれらの警告に気づいていませんでした。

Life went on as usual. 人生はいつものように続いた。

Life for Darren meant getting ready for school again after the holidays. Für Darren bedeutete das Leben, sich nach den Ferien wieder auf die Schule vorzubereiten. ダレンの人生は、休暇の後に再び学校の準備をすることを意味しました。 Comets were nice but now he had more important things to think about. Kometen|||||||||||| 彗星は素晴らしかったが、今では彼はもっと重要なことを考える必要があった。 He had to make himself look good for the beautiful Vanessa. ||||||||||Vanessa 彼は美しいヴァネッサに似合うようにしなければなりませんでした。

Darrens school was just an ordinary school in the city of Sheffield in England. Darrens||||||||||||| ダレンスの学校は、イギリスのシェフィールド市にある普通の学校でした。 It was no better than any other school in Sheffield. Elle n'était pas meilleure que n'importe quelle autre école de Sheffield. シェフィールドの他のどの学校よりも優れていませんでした。

But it did have Vanessa. しかし、それはヴァネッサを持っていました。

Vanessa was a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl in the same year as Darren. ||||||äugige||||||| ヴァネッサは、ダレンと同じ年に茶色の髪と茶色の目の女の子でした。 She had smiled at Darren once. 彼女はかつてダレンに微笑んだことがあった。 He remembered it well. It had happened in the last week before the holidays. それは休日の前の先週に起こっていました。 He had let her go in front of him in the queue for lunch. |||||||||||Schlange|| 彼は彼女を昼食のために列に並んで彼の前に行かせていた。 Він пропустив її перед собою в черзі за обідом. She hadn't said 'thank you,' but she had given him a little smile. 彼女は「ありがとう」とは言わなかったが、彼に少し笑顔を与えた。 It had showed her perfect white teeth. それは彼女の完璧な白い歯を見せていた。 На ньому було видно її ідеальні білі зуби.

He had been too nervous to speak to her. 彼は緊張しすぎて彼女と話すことができなかった。 He just couldn't do it. 彼はそれをすることができませんでした。 It would be easier, he felt, to grow wings and fly up to the ceiling. ||||||||Flügel|||||| 翼を伸ばして天井まで飛ぶほうが簡単だと彼は感じた。

This time he would be ready. 今回は彼は準備ができているでしょう。 He would put on lots of deodorant to make himself smell nice. ||||||Deodorant||||| He wanted to have another look at his spots and, just maybe, have a shave. Il voulait revoir ses taches et, peut-être, se raser. 彼は自分のスポットをもう一度見て、おそらく剃りたいと思っていました。 The night before he had felt something above his mouth that might be the first hairs of a moustache. 彼が口ひげの最初の毛であるかもしれない何かを彼の口の上に感じた前の夜。 Напередодні ввечері він відчув щось над ротом, що могло бути першою волосиною вусів.

He made sure he got to the bathroom before everyone else that morning. 彼はその朝、誰よりも早くトイレに着くようにした。 He wanted to have a close look at those spots... and his new moustache. Il voulait voir de près ces taches... et sa nouvelle moustache. 彼はそれらの場所を詳しく調べたかった...そして彼の新しい口ひげ。 Він хотів ближче придивитися до цих плям... і до своїх нових вусів.

'Darren, will you be in there for a long time?' 「ダレン、あなたは長い間そこにいますか?」 It was Darren's mum. 'Your father wants to use the bathroom.'

Darren knew his dad always spent ages in the bathroom. ダレンは彼のお父さんがいつもトイレで何年も過ごしたことを知っていました。 Well, his dad could wait today, for a change. さて、彼のお父さんは今日、変化を待つことができました。

'I'll be out soon, Mum,' said Darren.

But he was lying. しかし、彼は嘘をついていました。 He wanted to look good and smell good. It could take a long time. 時間がかかる場合があります。 His new deodorant smelled very good this morning. He suddenly noticed all the different smells that went into it. 彼は突然それに入るすべての異なる匂いに気づきました。 Раптом він помітив усі ці різні запахи, що входили в нього. There were flowers, spices - lots of things he had never smelled before. |||Gewürze|||||||| 花や香辛料がありました。彼がこれまでに匂いを嗅いだことのないものがたくさんありました。 His nose felt a bit wet too. 彼の鼻も少し濡れた感じがしました。 Was he getting a cold? Він застудився? Probably not, if he could smell things so well. もし彼が物事をとてもよく嗅ぐことができれば、おそらくそうではないでしょう。

Darren walked over to the mirror and looked at his face. His face looked worse than ever! 彼の顔はこれまで以上に悪く見えた!

His nose was wet and shiny. 彼の鼻は濡れていて光沢がありました。 It was moving a lot, like an animal's nose. 動物の鼻のように大きく動いていました。 It looked like a rabbit smelling its breakfast. 朝食の匂いを嗅ぐうさぎのようでした。 But this wasn't the most shocking thing. しかし、これは最も衝撃的なことではありませんでした。 Але це не було найбільш шокуючою річчю. His top lip had long, thick hairs on it. 彼の上唇には長くて太い髪がありました。 They were like the hairs on an animal's nose. 彼らは動物の鼻の毛のようでした。 They were like the whiskers of a rabbit! うさぎのひげのようでした!

Darren screamed. ダレンは叫んだ。

Time: the present Place: Singapore 時間:現在場所:シンガポール

Julie Ong had been fourteen for three weeks. |Ong|||||| ジュリー・オンは3週間14歳でした。 A lot of her friends were fourteen too. 彼女の友達の多くも14歳でした。 They all agreed that a young woman should watch her weight. 彼らは皆、若い女性が彼女の体重を監視するべきであることに同意しました。 It was especially important not to eat sweets and cakes. お菓子やケーキを食べないことが特に重要でした。 Julie hadn't eaten a cake or a piece of chocolate since her birthday. ジュリーは誕生日以来、ケーキやチョコレートを食べていませんでした。 Джулі не їла жодного торта чи шматочка шоколаду з дня свого народження. But there were still no signs that her parents saw Julie as a young woman. しかし、彼女の両親がジュリーを若い女性として見たという兆候はまだありませんでした。 Але все ще не було жодних ознак того, що батьки бачили в Джулі молоду жінку. To them, she was still a child. Для них вона була ще дитиною.

Then there was the strange thing with the comet. それから、彗星には奇妙なことがありました。 Everybody was talking about it. Julies English teacher gave her class homework about it. Julies|||||||| They had to describe the comet in a poem. 彼らは彗星を詩で描写しなければなりませんでした。 It was so unfair! |||unfair The comet had been quite beautiful, but writing about it was no fun at all. Julie decided to take a break from her Sunday morning homework. ジュリーは日曜日の朝の宿題から休憩することにしました。 Instead of writing she would comb her long black hair in the mirror. 書く代わりに、彼女は鏡の中で長い黒髪をとかしました。 It was more interesting than writing a poem, at least.

Her parents wouldn't notice that she was wasting time. 彼女の両親は、彼女が時間を無駄にしていることに気づきませんでした。 She could hear them at the other end of the house talking about the comet. 彼女は家の反対側で彼らが彗星について話しているのを聞くことができました。 They weren't talking loudly, but she could still hear them. 彼らは大声で話していませんでしたが、彼女はまだ彼らの声を聞くことができました。 Her hearing wasn't normally that good. 彼女の聴力は通常それほど良くありませんでした。 Зазвичай її слух не був настільки хорошим. It was very odd. それは非常に奇妙でした。 Це було дуже дивно.

Julie picked up her hairbrush - her favourite pink one - and walked towards her bedroom mirror. But when she looked at herself, she immediately noticed something strange. There were two things rising up and out from her hair. 彼女の髪の毛から立ち上がったり出たりすることが2つありました。 They were on both sides of her head. 彼らは彼女の頭の両側にいました。 Julie pushed back her hair and saw that the two things were her ears. ジュリーは髪を押し戻し、2つが彼女の耳であることに気づきました。 They were now pointed at the top, like an animal's ears, and they were bigger too. 彼らは今や動物の耳のように上を向いていて、それも大きかった。 Much bigger.

Julie fainted. ジュリーは気を失った。

Darrens new whiskers grew even longer over the next week. ダレンスの新しいウィスカーは、来週にかけてさらに長く成長しました。 His nose became much, much better at smelling things too. 彼の鼻はずっと良くなり、匂いもずっと良くなりました。 He could smell almost anything from a long distance away now. 彼は今、遠くからほとんど何でもにおいをかぐことができた。 Тепер він міг відчути майже будь-який запах на великій відстані. His dad had his own smell, so had his mum. Son père avait sa propre odeur, tout comme sa mère. 彼のお父さんは彼自身の匂いを持っていたので、彼のお母さんも持っていました。 Його тато мав свій власний запах, як і мама. Everybody had their own smell.

Having a good nose was useful and Darren liked it. 良い鼻を持つことは役に立ちました、そして、ダレンはそれが好きでした。 He liked his whiskers too, and he couldn't really shave them off. 彼は自分のひげも好きで、実際にひげを剃ることはできませんでした。 Йому також подобалися його вуса, і він не міг їх збрити. It would hurt, he was sure, if he tried. 彼が試みたならば、それは傷つくだろう、と彼は確信していた。 Anyway, he was getting used to them. とにかく、彼は彼らに慣れていました。

In Singapore, Julie Ong discovered that her hearing had become extremely good. She could hear almost everything.

Darren didn't know it yet, but the beautiful Vanessa had now grown long teeth like a cat's. ||||||||||||||||Katze ダレンはまだそれを知りませんでしたが、美しいヴァネッサは今や猫のように長い歯を育てていました。 She had whiskers too. And suddenly she seemed to enjoy eating a lot of fish.

Darren, Julie and Vanessa were not alone.

Sudden changes were happening all over the world. Many young people between the ages of twelve and eighteen had developed the special strength of some kind of animal. 12歳から18歳までの多くの若者は、ある種の動物の特別な力を発達させていました。 Sometimes it wasn't immediately obvious - like having the fantastic eyesight of a hunting bird. |||||||||Sehkraft|||| 時々それはすぐには明らかではありませんでした-狩猟鳥の素晴らしい視力を持っているように。 But often the changes were obvious. しかし、多くの場合、変更は明白でした。 Some had grown long tails and they could hold on to things with them. ||||Schwänze||||||||| 何人かは長い尻尾を伸ばしていて、彼らは彼らと一緒に物事を握ることができました。 Some had webbed skin on their hands and feet so that they could swim fast. ||schwimmhäutig|||||||||||| 速く泳ぐことができるように、手と足に水かきのある皮膚を持っている人もいました。 Some had the strength of a bull; others could run as fast as a horse. 雄牛の強さを持っている人もいました。他の人は馬のように速く走ることができます。 They all looked human still, but in some way they had changed. それらはすべてまだ人間のように見えましたが、何らかの形で変化していました。 Всі вони виглядали як люди, але в чомусь вони змінилися.

Of course, adults everywhere were extremely worried. Why had their children changed? なぜ子供たちが変わったのですか? What had produced the changes? ||verursacht|| 何が変化をもたらしましたか? What could they do to help their children? 彼らは子供たちを助けるために何ができるでしょうか?

Darren discovered that his amazing nose had many advantages too. ダレンは、彼の驚くべき鼻にも多くの利点があることを発見しました。 He found that he could tell what mood people were in just by their smell - even if they were trying to hide it. 彼は、たとえ彼らがそれを隠そうとしていたとしても、彼らの匂いだけで人々がどんな気分であるかを知ることができることを発見しました。 That was useful. それは役に立ちました。

This new sense of smell was useful in other ways too. この新しい嗅覚は他の方法でも役に立ちました。 If he lost something, he could always find it by using his nose. 彼が何かを失った場合、彼はいつも鼻を使ってそれを見つけることができました。 He helped his mum buy the freshest and tastiest food in the supermarket. ||||||frischeste|||||| 彼は母親がスーパーマーケットで最も新鮮でおいしい食べ物を買うのを手伝いました。

He now used deodorant which didn't have a strong smell. 彼は今、強い臭いのないデオドラントを使用しました。 His new nose didn't like strong smells any more. 彼の新しい鼻はもはや強い匂いが好きではありませんでした。

'You'd better not get too used to it,' said his dad. Du solltest dich besser nicht zu sehr daran gewöhnen", sagte sein Vater. 「あなたはそれにあまり慣れないほうがいいです」と彼のお父さんは言いました。 "Ти краще не звикай до цього", - сказав його батько. 'Some day soon we'll be able to get you back the way you were.' Eines Tages werden wir dich wieder so machen können, wie du warst. 「いつの日か、私たちはあなたを元の状態に戻すことができるでしょう。」

'Maybe, Dad,' Darren said. 'But what if I don't want to go back to the way I was?' 「でも、元の状態に戻りたくない場合はどうすればよいですか?」

Darrens father didn't say anything. Like many other parents, he didn't understand how his son could like the changes. 他の多くの親のように、彼は息子がどのように変化を好むことができるかを理解していませんでした。 He wanted the old Darren back - the Darren without the whiskers and the amazing sense of smell. 彼は古いダレンを取り戻したかった-ひげと驚くべき匂いのないダレン。

And why had some young people changed while others hadn't? そして、なぜ一部の若者は変わったのに、他の若者は変わっていなかったのでしょうか。 That was the question every adult in the world was asking. それは世界中のすべての大人が尋ねていた質問でした。

Some adults blamed the children themselves for the changes. ||gaben die Schuld|||||| Certains adultes ont accusé les enfants eux-mêmes d'être à l'origine de ces changements. 何人かの大人は変化のために子供たち自身を非難しました。 They said they watched too much TV or ate the wrong things or didn't behave in the right way. 彼らは、テレビを見すぎたり、間違ったものを食べたり、正しい行動をしなかったと言いました。 Вони казали, що забагато дивляться телевізор, їдять неправильну їжу або поводяться неправильно.

Most people blamed the comet.

'Comet causes horrible teenage changes!' 「彗星は恐ろしい10代の変化を引き起こします!」 was the kind of headline found on the front page of many newspapers. 多くの新聞のトップページに見られるような見出しでした。 They all had similar stories. Everybody was saying that it must have been the comet - what else could it have been? 誰もがそれは彗星だったに違いないと言っていました-他に何ができたでしょうか? Всі говорили, що це, мабуть, комета - що ще це могло бути? The comet had, in some strange way, affected the bodies of some teenagers. ||||||||||||Jugendlichen 彗星は、奇妙な方法で、何人かのティーンエイジャーの体に影響を及ぼしました。

'I don't think the changes are horrible!' said Julie to her friends. 'I think my new hearing is very useful. I think my ears are rather beautiful too!' 私の耳もかなり美しいと思います!」

Some of Julie's friends agreed with her. ||Julies||||

'I like my new wings,' said one.

'I can change colour like a chameleon - isn't that cool?' ||||||Chamäleon||| 「カメレオンのように色を変えることができます-それはクールではありませんか?」 said another.

Teenagers everywhere were comparing their changes. |||vergleichen|| どこのティーンエイジャーも彼らの変化を比較していました。

Some were stronger, others were faster, others could jump higher. いくつかはより強く、他はより速く、他はより高くジャンプすることができました。 But no matter what changes happened, they were still teenagers. しかし、どんな変化が起こったとしても、彼らはまだティーンエイジャーでした。 Але які б зміни не відбувалися, вони все одно залишалися підлітками.

But then something strange happened. Some teenagers began to return to normal. Some eventually lost all sign of their changes and went back to what they had been before. 最終的には、変更の兆候をすべて失い、以前の状態に戻った人もいます。

But why?

The answer came almost by accident. 答えはほとんど偶然でした。

A teen called Danny was given a job in an advertisement. |Teenager||Danny||||||| ダニーと呼ばれる十代の若者は、広告で仕事を与えられました。 Danny had wings and he could fly. In the advertisement, Danny had to fly over a childrens party and give out chocolate biscuits. |||||||||Kinder-|||||| 広告では、ダニーは子供たちのパーティーの上を飛んでチョコレートビスケットを配らなければなりませんでした。 Danny hated chocolate biscuits, but he had to eat some during the advertisement. ダニーはチョコレートビスケットが嫌いでしたが、広告中にいくつか食べなければなりませんでした。 It was after he ate his second biscuit that something started happening. 彼が2番目のビスケットを食べた後、何かが起こり始めました。 His wings started to get smaller. Soon they disappeared completely. He couldn't fly any more. Danny was a 'normal' teenager again. Why had it happened?

It was the chocolate. It had to be. そうでなければなりませんでした。

Scientists tested the effect of chocolate on other teenagers. 科学者たちは、他の10代の若者に対するチョコレートの効果をテストしました。 They discovered that if the teenagers ate a few things with chocolate in them, they went back to normal. 彼らは、ティーンエイジャーがチョコレートを入れたものをいくつか食べると、通常の状態に戻ることを発見しました。 The world now knew why some children hadn't been affected by the comet. なぜ一部の子供たちが彗星の影響を受けなかったのか、世界は今や知っています。 Тепер світ знав, чому деякі діти не постраждали від комети. The mystery was solved. |||gelöst

The comet had only changed teenagers who didn't eat chocolate!

'I don't like chocolate, you know that,' Darren told his parents. 'I've never liked it.' 「私はそれが好きではありませんでした。」

'But all you have to do is eat a bit and you'll go back to normal!' 「しかし、あなたがしなければならないのは少し食べることだけです、そしてあなたは通常に戻るでしょう!」 "Але все, що тобі потрібно зробити, це трохи поїсти, і ти повернешся до нормального життя! said Dad. 'You want to be normal again, don't you, Darren?' 「あなたは再び正常になりたいですよね、ダレン?」

Darren thought about Vanessa. He liked her new cat looks. Vanessa had found Darrens changes attractive too. She had spoken to him quite a lot lately. ||||||||letztens 彼女は最近彼とかなり話をしていました。 Останнім часом вона досить часто з ним розмовляла.