Chapter 4

Chapter 4 During supper, Dink and Sammi told Dink's mom the real reason why Sammi was in the United States. "Oh, Sammi," Dink's mom said. "I am so sorry. Thank you for telling me." After they all had some ice cream, Dink and his mother helped Sammi unpack. Dink's mother held up a long wooden box decorated with gold. "This is heavy, Sammi. What's inside?" she asked.

晚饭时，丁克和萨米告诉了丁克的妈妈萨米来美国的真正原因。 “哦，萨米，”丁克的妈妈说。 “我很抱歉。谢谢你告诉我。” 他们都吃了一些冰淇淋后，丁克和他的妈妈帮萨米打开行李。 丁克的母亲举起一个装饰着金子的长木盒。 “这个很重，萨米。里面是什么?”她问。

Sammi opened the lid and took out a shiny kaleidoscope. Its golden sides were encrusted with jewels. "This kaleidoscope has been in my family for many years," Sammi explained. "It belonged to my grandfather's grandfather and his grandfather! Now it is my father's." "What a lovely idea!" Dink's mother said. "Will the kaleidoscope belong to you someday?" "On my fifteenth birthday, my father will give this to me," Sammi said. He frowned. "At least he would have, but now… I don't know what will happen." Dink felt badly for Sammi. He couldn't imagine what he would feel like if his parents ever got kidnapped. Dink's mother sat on the bed next to Sammi. She took his hand. "Sammi, I'm sure your parents will be found soon," she said. "Didn't you tell us that your father's friends are searching every corner of your country?" Sammi nodded. "But his enemies are clever," he said. "They may have taken my parents far away from Costra."

萨米打开盖子，拿出一个闪亮的万花筒。 它金色的侧面镶满了珠宝。 “这个万花筒在我家已经很多年了，”萨米解释说。 “它属于我祖父的祖父和他的祖父!”现在是我父亲的了。” “多么可爱的主意!”丁克的妈妈说。 “万花筒有一天会属于你吗?”“在我15岁生日的时候，我爸爸会把这个送给我，”萨米说。 他皱起了眉头。“至少他会的，但现在……我不知道会发生什么。” 丁克为萨米感到难过。 他无法想象如果他的父母被绑架了他会是什么感觉。 丁克的妈妈坐在床上，紧挨着萨米。 她握住他的手。“萨米，我相信你的父母很快就会找到的，”她说。 “你不是告诉我们你父亲的朋友们正在搜查你们国家的每一个角落吗?”三美点了点头。 “但他的敌人很聪明，”他说。 “他们可能把我父母带离了科斯特拉。”

Dink's mother gave Sammi a hug. Then she laid his pajamas and slippers on his bed. The pj's were red silk, and the slippers were purple velvet with floppy gold tassels. "Pretty snazzy," Dink said, grinning at Sammi. "I usually sleep in an old T-shirt and shorts!" Just then, the front doorbell rang. Dink's mother left the room. "Watch," Sammi said, kneeling on the floor. He unscrewed the large end of the kaleidoscope and poured out all the pieces of glass. They made a red, yellow, and blue mound on the rug. "It comes apart!" Dink said. He picked up some of the glass. The thin pieces felt smooth in his fingers. A knock came at the door to Sammi's room. Joan Klinker poked her head in. "Hi, Sammi," she said. Sammi smiled and scooped up the glass. "I'm showing Dink my kaleidoscope," he said. Dink helped Sammi put the kaleidoscope back in its box. "Fine, Sammi," Joan said, looking at her watch. "It's almost eight. How about a short French lesson?"

丁克的妈妈给了萨米一个拥抱。 然后她把睡衣和拖鞋放在他的床上。 睡衣是红色丝绸做的，拖鞋是紫色天鹅绒做的，上面有松软的金流苏。 “很时髦，”丁克笑着对萨米说。 “我通常穿着旧t恤和短裤睡觉!”就在这时，前门的门铃响了。 丁克的妈妈离开了房间。 “看着，”萨米跪在地上说。 他拧开万花筒的大一端，把所有的玻璃碎片倒了出来。 他们在地毯上堆了一个红、黄、蓝三色的土堆。 “它散开了!”丁克说。 他捡起一些玻璃杯。 这些薄片在他的手指里摸起来很光滑。 有人敲了敲萨米的房间。 琼·克林克探出头来。 “嗨，萨米，”她说。萨米笑了笑，端起杯子。 “我在给丁克看我的万花筒，”他说。 丁克帮萨米把万花筒放回盒子里。 “很好，萨米，”琼看了看表说。 “快八点了。上一节简短的法语课怎么样?”

She dropped a yellow book on Sammi's bed. "Will you excuse Sammi for a little while?" she said to Dink. "Can't he stay?" Sammi asked. "Dink can have a lesson with me!" Joan Klinker looked at Dink for a moment, then said, "Sure. Why not?" "Great!" Dink said. He sat next to Sammi on the floor. Joan perched on the bed and opened the yellow book. "First, some colors," Joan said. She pointed at Dink's shirt. "Blue. But in French, we say bleu. Repeat, Sammi." Sammi said, "Bleu." To Dink, it sounded almost the same as "blue." Joan pointed at Dink. "Now you, please." "Bleu," said Dink, trying to imitate Sammi. "Good!" Joan put a hand on Sammi's folded pajamas. "Red," she said. "Rouge," said Sammi. To Dink, it sounded almost like "rooj," so that's what he said. Joan Klinker held up the yellow book. "Jaune," she said. "Le livre est jaune. The book is yellow." She pointed at Dink. "Can you say jaune?"

她把一本黄色的书掉在萨米的床上。 “请原谅萨米离开一会儿好吗?”她对丁克说。 “他不能留下来吗?”三美问道。 “丁克可以和我一起上课!”琼·克林克看了丁克一会儿，然后说:“当然。 为什么不呢?”“太好了!”丁克说。 他坐在萨米旁边的地板上。 琼坐在床上，打开那本黄色的书。 “首先是一些颜色，”琼说。 她指着丁克的衬衫。 “蓝。但在法语中，我们说bleu。 重复,三美”。萨米说:“蓝色。” 对丁克来说，它听起来几乎和“蓝色”一样。 琼指着丁克。“现在请你。” “蓝色，”丁克说，试图模仿萨米。 “好!”琼把手放在萨米叠好的睡衣上。 “红色，”她说。“胭脂，”萨米说。 对丁克来说，这听起来几乎像“rooj”，所以他就是这么说的。 琼·克林克举起那本黄皮书。 “六月，”她说。“Le livre est jaune”。 这本书是黄色的。”她指着丁克。 “你会说‘黄’吗?”

Dink blushed. "Joan," he finally said. "No, Joan is my name," the tutor said. Dink tried again. "Zhone," he said. Sammi laughed. "That's okay," he said. "It took me a month to learn to say jaune." "Now we will do some numbers," Joan said. A half hour later, she closed the yellow book. "That's all for tonight," she said. "Tomorrow we will continue." She checked the locks on Sammi's window, his bathroom door, and the door out into the hall. Then she turned and smiled. "Bonsoir, Sammi." "Bonsoir, madame," Sammi answered. After Joan left, Dink stood up and yawned. "Night, Sammi. I'll wake you up for breakfast." Dink headed into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror. Tomorrow, he decided, he'd learn how to say "My toothbrush is purple." In French!

丁克脸红了。“琼，”他最后说。 “不，琼是我的名字，”家庭教师说。 丁克又试了一次。“中，”他说。 三美笑了。“没关系，”他说。 “我花了一个月的时间才学会说‘jaune’。” “现在我们来做一些数字，”琼说。 半小时后，她合上了那本黄色的书。 “今晚到此为止，”她说。 “明天我们将继续。” 她检查了萨米的窗户、浴室门和通往大厅的门上的锁。 然后她转过身来，笑了。 “晚上好,三美”。“晚安，夫人。”萨米回答。 琼走后，丁克站起来打了个哈欠。 “晚上,三美。我会叫你吃早饭的。” 丁克走进浴室，刷了牙。 他对着镜子里的自己微笑。 他决定，明天他要学会怎么说“我的牙刷是紫色的”。 在法国!