Ch2-Silly Food

Silly Food It was daylight outside. A rooster crowed in the distance. The air was damp and cool. "Good, it's really early," said Jack. "So we have a whole day and night until break of day tomorrow to do our mission." "Perfect," said Annie. "And look—we get to wear our own clothes for once." "Oh, man," said Jack. He was still in his jeans and T-shirt, and his backpack was still a backpack. "Is that a mistake?" Jack and Annie looked out the window together. Mountains rose majestically above the town they had landed in. The tree house was in the tallest tree in a grove at the edge of a quiet street. Along the street were shops and other buildings—and a few cars. "Cars!" Jack said with relief.

外面是大白天。 一只公鸡在远处啼叫。 空气潮湿而凉爽。 “太好了，还真早。”杰克说。 “所以到明天天亮之前，我们有一整天的时间来完成我们的任务。” “太好了，”安妮说。“瞧——我们终于可以穿自己的衣服了。” “哦，天哪，”杰克说。他仍然穿着牛仔裤和t恤，他的背包仍然是背包。 “这是个错误吗？”杰克和安妮一起向窗外望去。 群山巍峨耸立在他们降落的城镇上空。 树屋在一条安静的街道边上的小树林里最高的树上。 街道两旁是商店和其他建筑物，还有几辆汽车。 “汽车!”杰克如释重负地说。

"No mistake," said Annie. "Our clothes didn't change because we came to China in modern times." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out some paper money. "Cool, my clothes didn't change, but my money changed from dollars to Chinese money." "Perfect," said Annie. She looked out the window again and read some signs from the buildings: "Wolong Town Bank, Wolong Town School, Wolong Town Bicycle Shop. I think we landed in Wolong Town."

“没错，”安妮说。“我们的衣服并没有因为我们是在近代来到中国而改变。” 杰克把手伸进口袋，掏出一些纸币。 “酷，我的衣服没变，但我的钱从美元换成了人民币。” “太好了，”安妮说。她又看了看窗外，看到了建筑物上的一些标志：“卧龙镇银行、卧龙镇学校、卧龙镇自行车店。 我想我们降落在卧龙镇了。”

"Wow," said Jack. "How did you figure that out?" Annie laughed. "So let's go look for some Wolong Town food." "Okay, but the food we have to find doesn't sound like normal food," said Jack. " 'Grainy and good' but 'tough as wood'?" Annie smiled. "You always find something to worry about," she said. "Come on." Annie headed down the tree house ladder. Jack packed away their book in his backpack and followed her. Together, they stepped out from the grove of trees and headed down a busy sidewalk. Vendors were setting up stalls to sell crafts and pottery. Some girls and boys were passing by, carrying book bags. They were dressed in jeans, Tshirts, and sweatshirts.

“哇，”杰克说。“你是怎么知道的？”安妮笑了。 “那我们去卧龙镇找点吃的吧。” “好吧，但是我们要找的食物听起来不像正常的食物，”杰克说。 “‘粒状的好’，但‘像木头一样坚硬’？”安妮笑了。 “你总能找到一些让你担心的事情，”她说。 “来吧。”安妮走下了树屋的梯子。 杰克把他们的书装进背包，跟在她后面。 他们一起走出树林，沿着一条繁忙的人行道走去。 小贩们摆起摊位出售工艺品和陶器。 一些女孩和男孩带着书包经过。 他们穿着牛仔裤、t恤和运动衫。

"See, kids just like us, on their way to school," said Annie. "Except we took a detour to have breakfast halfway around the world," said Jack. "Speaking of breakfast—how about going there?" Annie pointed to a restaurant with tables

“看，孩子们就像我们一样，在去学校的路上，”安妮说。 “除了我们绕了半个地球去吃早餐，”杰克说。 “说到早餐——去那儿吃怎么样？”安妮指着一家有桌子的餐馆

outside. "Garden Paradise?" Jack said, reading the sign. "Sounds like a good place to start." Jack and Annie crossed the street to the restaurant. Tables were set up near potted bamboo plants. A waiter poured tea for someone reading a newspaper. Jack glanced at the front page of the paper and saw the date. "It's May 12, 2008," he said. "Cool," said Annie. The waiter nodded at Jack and Annie. Then he led them to a table that had two small bowls on it. "Green tea?" he asked. "Or yak butter tea?" Jack and Annie answered together: "Green!" The waiter left and came back with a teapot. He poured pale green tea into two small bowls. Then he gave Jack and Annie menus and went to check on other customers. "Yak butter tea?" Jack said. "I don't think so." Annie giggled as she looked at her menu. "Hmm! How about some green bean jelly? I don't think so." Jack scanned his menu. "Aha! What about chicken feet?"

在外面。“天堂花园?”杰克读着牌子说。 “听起来是个不错的开始。” 杰克和安妮穿过街道来到餐馆。 桌子在盆栽竹子旁摆好。 服务员给一个正在看报纸的人倒茶。 杰克瞥了一眼报纸的头版，看到了日期。 “这是2008年5月12日，”他说。 “酷，”安妮说。服务员朝杰克和安妮点了点头。 然后他把他们带到一张桌子前，桌子上放着两个小碗。 “绿茶吗？”他问。“要不喝酥油茶？”杰克和安妮齐声回答：“绿色！”服务员走了，拿了一个茶壶回来。 他把淡绿茶倒进两个小碗里。 然后他给了杰克和安妮菜单，然后去查看其他顾客。 “酥油茶？”杰克说。 “我不这么认为。”安妮看着菜单咯咯地笑起来。 “嗯!来点绿豆冻怎么样？ 我不这么认为。”杰克浏览了一下菜单。 “啊哈!那鸡爪呢？”

"Eww!" said Annie. "Okay. How about this?" Jack said gleefully. "Fried stinky tofu?" "EWW!" said Jack and Annie together. They laughed loudly, and Annie nearly fell out of her chair. Jack saw the waiter frowning at them from across the garden. "Shhh," Jack said. "We're being rude." "Sorry, sorry," Annie whispered in the direction of the waiter. "We have funny-sounding food at home, too," she said to Jack. "Like hot dogs." "Oh, yeah. How about sour cream?" said Jack. "Or squash?" "Ahh! Squash!" Annie laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's get serious now," said Jack. "We have a mission." He took the little scroll from his pack, unrolled it, and read: A healthy food, grainy and good, baked with love, tough as wood, round in shape, the color of sand, given to those who have lost their land.

“哎呀！”安妮说。“好吧。这个怎么样？”杰克高兴地说。 “炸臭豆腐？”“哇！”杰克和安妮一起说。 他们大笑起来，安妮差点从椅子上摔下来。 杰克看见服务员正从花园对面朝他们皱着眉头。 “嘘，”杰克说。“我们太粗鲁了。” “对不起，对不起。”安妮朝服务员的方向小声说。 “我们家里也有听起来很有趣的食物，”她对杰克说。 “就像热狗一样。”“哦,是的。 酸奶油怎么样？”杰克说。 “还是南瓜?”“啊!南瓜!”安妮笑了。 “好吧,好吧。让我们认真点吧。”杰克说。 “我们有一个使命。”他从背包里拿出小书卷，展开，读道：一种健康的食物，颗粒状，美味，用爱烘烤，坚硬如木头，形状圆，沙子的颜色，给那些失去土地的人。