14

Monday All anyone at school can talk about these days is Mariana Mendoza's Halloween party, which is this coming Friday. But it's a little annoying for me, because I won't be getting an invitation. Mariana's parties are kind of legendary because her parents don't care WHAT goes on, as long as it stays in the basement.

这些天学校里所有人都在谈论玛丽安娜·门多萨的万圣节派对，这周五就要开始了。 但这对我来说有点烦，因为我不会收到邀请。 玛丽安娜的派对有点传奇，因为她的父母不在乎发生了什么，只要它留在地下室就行。

Last year's party got TOTALLY out of control. It started OFF in the basement, but so many people showed up that it spilled out into the yard, and the cops came to shut it down. And that's a pretty big deal for a middle school party. This year, Mariana's parents said she has to keep it SMALL, so she's only inviting people who are in the school band with her. That's bad news for kids like me who were hoping to get invited this time around. Rowley's gonna get invited, though, because he's in the band. But believe me, if he goes to a party like THAT, he's gonna be in over his head.

去年的派对完全失控了。 一开始是在地下室，但来的人太多了，火势蔓延到了院子里，警察来把火势扑灭了。 这对中学派对来说可是件大事。 今年，玛丽安娜的父母说她必须保持小规模，所以她只邀请和她一起参加学校乐队的人。 这对像我这样希望这次能被邀请的孩子来说是个坏消息。 罗利会被邀请的，因为他是乐队成员。 但是相信我，如果他去参加那样的派对，他会不知所措的。

I was thinking about this at school today when I had a genius idea. If I join the BAND, I can get invited to Mariana's party. Tonight, when I told Mom and Dad I wanted to join the band, Mom was all for it. She was really excited I wanted to challenge myself and try something new. But Dad wasn't crazy about the idea. Dad said instruments are EXPENSIVE, and he doesn't think I'll stick with it. But Mom said Rodrick stuck with the DRUMS, which I don't think really helped my case. That's when Dad brought up the PIANO.

我今天在学校思考这个问题，突然有了一个天才的主意。 如果我加入乐队，我就能被邀请参加玛丽安娜的派对。 今晚，当我告诉爸爸妈妈我想加入乐队时，妈妈完全同意。 她真的很兴奋，我想挑战自己，尝试一些新的东西。 但是爸爸并不喜欢这个主意。 爸爸说乐器很贵，他认为我不会坚持下去。 但妈妈说罗德里克坚持加入鼓队，我觉得这对我的案子没什么帮助。 这时爸爸提起了钢琴。

Two years ago, Mom saw me fooling around with one of those little electronic keyboards at the mall the week before Christmas. I liked it because it had all these buttons that made different sound effects. QUACK QUACK QUACK I think Mom got a little overly excited that I was showing interest in a musical instrument, because on Christmas Eve a truck rolled up to deliver a full-size piano.

两年前，在圣诞节的前一周，妈妈看到我在商场里摆弄那种小电子键盘。 我喜欢它，因为它有很多按钮，可以发出不同的声音效果。 我想妈妈对我对乐器表现出兴趣有点过于兴奋了，因为在圣诞节前夕，一辆卡车开过来运来一架全尺寸的钢琴。

Judging by Dad's reaction, I don't think Mom checked with him before buying it. At first I was excited about the piano, but when I realized it didn't make laser sounds and stuff like that, I lost interest real quick. But Mom wasn't gonna let me give up so fast. She hired a lady named Mrs. French to come to the house and give me private lessons twice a week.

从爸爸的反应来看，我认为妈妈在买之前没有和他商量过。 一开始我对钢琴很感兴趣，但当我意识到它不能发出激光的声音时，我很快就失去了兴趣。 但妈妈不会让我这么快就放弃的。 她雇了一位名叫弗兰奇太太的女士来家里，每周给我上两次私人课。

Mrs. French knew her stuff when it came to the piano, but I was a TERRIBLE student. The first problem was Mrs. French's teaching style. She'd sit right behind me on the bench and put her fingers on top of MY fingers. That approach might work for SOME of Mrs. French's students, but it definitely didn't work for ME. Then there was the music itself. If I was gonna play the piano, I wanted to learn cool songs like the ones you hear on the radio. But Mrs. French said I had to start with the BASICS, and she gave me a "Beginner's Songbook" that looked like it was older than Mrs. French.

说到钢琴，弗兰奇太太很在行，但我是个糟糕的学生。 第一个问题是弗兰奇夫人的教学风格。 她会坐在我后面的长凳上，把她的手指放在我的手指上。 这种方法可能对弗兰奇夫人的一些学生有用，但对我绝对不起作用。 然后是音乐本身。 如果我要弹钢琴，我想学一些很酷的歌曲，就像你在收音机里听到的那些。 但弗兰奇太太说我必须从基础开始，她给了我一本《初学者的歌书》，看起来比弗兰奇太太还老。