6

I didn't notice. And let me tell you, that wasn't easy to do. Chirag might be small, but that kid can really punch. Friday Well, I guess Chirag must have complained to a teacher about my little joke, because today I got called down to the front office. When I got to Vice Principal Roy's room, he was pretty mad. He knew all about how I started the joke, and he gave me a speech about "respect" and "decency" and all that. But luckily, Mr. Roy got one crucial fact wrong, and

我没注意到。让我告诉你，这并不容易做到。 奇拉格也许个子小，但那孩子真的很会出拳。 哦，我猜齐拉格一定是跟老师抱怨我的小玩笑了，因为今天我被叫到前台。 当我到罗伊副校长的房间时，他非常生气。 他知道我是怎么开这个玩笑的，他给了我一个关于“尊重”和“体面”之类的演讲。 但幸运的是，罗伊先生搞错了一个关键事实

that was the identity of the person we were playing the joke on. So that made the apology part a whole lot easier. I AM DEEPLY SORRY, AND NOW I DO INDEED ADMIT THAT YOU EXIST, SHARIF. Mr. Roy seemed pretty satisfied with my apology, and he let me go without even tacking on any detention. I've always heard that when Mr. Roy is done chewing a kid out, he sends them off with a pat on the back and a lollipop. And now I can tell you firsthand that it's true.

那就是我们开的玩笑的那个人的身份。 这样道歉就容易多了。 我很抱歉，现在我确实承认你的存在，沙里夫。 罗伊先生似乎对我的道歉很满意，他让我走了，甚至连留堂都没加。 我总是听说罗伊先生骂完一个孩子后，会拍拍他们的背，给他们一根棒棒糖，然后把他们打发走。 现在我可以直接告诉你这是真的。

Saturday Rowley's birthday party is tomorrow, so Mom took me to the mall to get him a gift. I picked out this cool video game that just came out, and I handed it to Mom so she could pay for it. But Mom said I had to buy it with my own money. I told Mom that first of all, I have zero money. And second of all, if I DID have any money, I wouldn't be wasting it on ROWLEY.

星期六罗利的生日派对是明天，所以妈妈带我去商场给他买礼物。 我挑了一个刚上市的很酷的电子游戏，把它递给妈妈，让她付钱。 但是妈妈说我必须用自己的钱买。 我告诉妈妈，首先，我没有钱。 其次，如果我真的有钱，我不会把钱浪费在罗利身上。

Mom didn't seem too happy with what I said, but it's not MY fault I'm broke. I actually had a job this summer, but the people I worked for stiffed me, so I didn't earn a single penny. We have these neighbors named the Fullers who live a few doors up, and they go away on vacation every summer. They usually leave their dog, Princess, in the kennel, but this year, they told me they'd pay me five bucks a day to feed Princess and take her out. I figured I'd earn enough to buy a whole pile of video games with that kind of money. nkledc. But I guess Princess is gun-shy about going to the bathroom in front of strangers, so I ended up spending a lot of time standing around in the hot sun waiting for this dumb dog to hurry up and go.

妈妈似乎对我说的话不太高兴，但我破产并不是我的错。 事实上，今年夏天我有一份工作，但是我的老板不给我钱，所以我一分钱也没挣到。 我们的邻居富勒一家就住在隔壁，他们每年夏天都会出去度假。 他们通常把他们的狗，公主，留在狗窝里，但今年，他们告诉我，他们每天付给我五美元，让我喂公主，带她出去。 我想我挣的钱足够买一大堆电子游戏了。 但我猜公主对在陌生人面前上厕所很害羞，所以我最后花了很多时间站在烈日下等这只笨狗快点走。

I'd wait and wait and nothing would happen, and then I'd just take Princess back inside. But EVERY time I'd leave, Princess would make a big mess in the foyer, and I'd have to clean it up the next day. Toward the end of the summer I got smart and realized it would be a whole lot easier to just clean up all of Princess's messes at once instead of doing it every single day. So I fed her and let her do her business on the foyer floor for about two weeks. Then, the day before the Fullers were due back, I headed up the hill with all my cleaning supplies.

我等啊等，什么也没发生，然后我就把公主带回去。 但每次我离开的时候，“公主”都会把门厅弄得一团糟，第二天我还得收拾干净。 夏天快结束的时候，我变聪明了，意识到一次清理公主的烂摊子比每天都清理要容易得多。 所以我给她喂食，让她在门厅的地板上做她的生意，大概有两个星期。 然后，在富勒一家要回来的前一天，我带着所有的清洁用品上山了。

But guess what? The Fullers cut their trip short and got home a day EARLY. I guess they didn't know it's polite to call ahead and let people know when your plans have changed. Tonight, Mom called a house meeting with me and Rodrick. She said that the two of us are always complaining that we don't have any money, so she came up with a way for us to earn some cash. Then she pulled out some play money she must've dug

但你猜怎么着？富勒一家缩短了行程，提前一天到家。 我猜他们不知道提前打电话告诉别人你的计划有变是有礼貌的。 今晚，妈妈召集了我和罗德里克的家庭会议。 她说我们俩总是抱怨没钱，所以她想了一个办法让我们赚点钱。 然后她拿出了一些她一定是挖出来的赌资