3. Marvin Sees the King

3 Marvin Sees the King Marvin Redpost lived in a gray house. There was a fence around the house. The fence was all white except for one red post. He slapped the red post as he walked through the gate. He had an older brother, Jacob, who was eleven, and a younger sister, Linzy, who was four. Jacob met him at the front door. “Mom’s mad.” “I’m not mad!” said their mother, coming up behind him. She sounded mad. “Go clean your room,” she told Jacob. “I already cleaned my room,” said Jacob.

马文·雷德波斯特住在一所灰色的房子里。 房子周围有篱笆。 除了一根红柱子外，篱笆全是白色的。 他走过大门时拍了拍红柱子。 他有一个11岁的哥哥雅各布(Jacob)和一个4岁的妹妹林兹(Linzy)。 雅各布在前门迎接他。 “妈妈的疯了。“我没疯!”他们的母亲从他身后走过来说。 她听起来很疯狂。“去打扫你的房间，”她对雅各布说。 “我已经打扫了我的房间，”雅各布说。

“Clean it again,” she said. “Then help Linzy with hers.” Jacob was right. She was mad. “And where have you been?” she asked Marvin. “At Stuart’s,” he said. “Grandma and Grandpa are coming over.” “I forgot.” “You should have called,” said his mother. “You didn’t tell me you were going to Stuart’s house. I had no idea where you were!” “I always go to Stuart’s. Or Nick’s,” said Marvin. “You are supposed to call,” said his mother. “You could have been kidnapped, for all I knew!” “Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” said Marvin. He went upstairs to his room. “I was kidnapped, for all you know,” he muttered to himself. He wondered if his mother would say that if she was really a kidnapper. Probably not. “I want you to do your homework!” his mother yelled up to him. “Before Grandma and Grandpa get here!” “Okay, okay,” Marvin muttered. Marvin had a pet lizard named General Jackson.

“再擦一遍，”她说。 “那就帮琳兹做她的。”雅各布是对的。 她疯了。“你上哪儿去了?”她问马文。 “在斯图亚特家，"他说。 “爷爷奶奶要过来了。”“我忘了。“你应该打电话的，”他妈妈说。 “你没告诉我你要去斯图亚特家。 我不知道你在哪里!“我总是到斯图亚特家去。” 或者尼克的。”马文说。 “你应该打电话的，”他妈妈说。 “就我所知，你可能是被绑架了!””“好吧，好吧。 我很抱歉。”马文说。 他上楼回到自己的房间。 “你知道，我是被绑架了。”他自言自语道。 他不知道如果他母亲真的是个绑架者，她会不会这么说。 可能不会。“我要你做作业!”妈妈朝他喊道。 “在爷爷奶奶来之前!”“好吧，好吧。”马文咕哝着。 马文有一只宠物蜥蜴，名叫杰克逊将军。

General Jackson lived in a glass cage next to Marvin’s desk. “She probably has no idea I’m Prince Robert,” Marvin told the General. “If she did, she wouldn’t yell at me. She’d serve me breakfast in bed every morning.” General Jackson stuck out his tongue. For homework, Marvin had to practice his handwriting. He wrote as fast as he could. “If I was a prince,” he said, “I wouldn’t have to do homework. A servant would do it for me.” He finished his homework, then walked downstairs. His grandparents still had not arrived. His father was watching television in the den. “Dad,” said Marvin. “Was I adopted?” “What? No, of course not.” “Would you tell me if I was?” “Yes, but you weren’t.” Marvin rubbed his chin. His father seemed to be telling the truth. “What happened when I was born?” he asked. “What?” “Did anything unusual happen?”

杰克逊将军住在马文书桌旁边的一个玻璃笼子里。 “她可能不知道我是罗伯特王子，”马文告诉将军。 “如果她知道，她就不会对我大喊大叫了。 她每天早上都会把早餐端到我床上。”杰克逊将军伸出了舌头。 作为家庭作业，马文必须练习书法。 他尽可能快地写。 “如果我是王子，”他说，“我就不用做家庭作业了。 仆人会替我做的。”他做完作业，然后走下楼。 他的祖父母还没有到。 他的父亲正在书房看电视。 “爸爸，”马文说。“我是被收养的吗?””“什么? 不，当然不是。“如果我是，你会告诉我吗?”“是的，但你不是。”马文揉了揉下巴。 他父亲似乎说的是实话。 “我出生的时候发生了什么?”他问。 “什么?“有什么不寻常的事发生吗?”

His father looked away from the television. “Um, it seems there was something,” he said. “I forget what it was. But it was a false alarm. You were fine.” He turned back to the television. “Did they take me away?” asked Marvin. “Or was I with Mom every single second?” His father sighed. “No, you weren’t with Mom every single second. Can we please talk about this later? I’m trying to watch the news.” “Well, when I came back,” said Marvin, “did I look different?” “What?” “Okay,” said Marvin. “Like three days after I was born. Did I look exactly the same as the day I was born?” “I don’t remember. Probably not. Babies change quickly.” “What did I look like when I was born?” “You looked like a baby. All babies look pretty much the same. Now, please, Marvin. I want to watch this.” The doorbell rang. Marvin heard his grandparents enter. jmkfho. His father got up. “C’mon, Mar,” he said.

他的父亲把目光从电视上移开。 “嗯，好像有什么事，”他说。 “我忘了是什么了。但这是一场虚惊。 你很好。”他转过身去看电视。 “他们把我带走了吗?”马文问。 “还是我每时每刻都和妈妈在一起?”父亲叹了口气。 “不，你不是每时每刻都和妈妈在一起。 我们能晚点再谈这个吗? 我在看新闻呢。“嗯，当我回来的时候，”马文说，“我看起来不一样了吗?””“什么?“好吧，”马文说。 “大概在我出生三天后。 我看起来和我出生那天一模一样吗?”“我不记得了。 可能不会。婴儿变化很快。“我出生的时候长什么样子?””“你看起来像个婴儿。 所有的婴儿看起来都差不多。 好了，马文。我想看这个。”门铃响了。 马文听到爷爷奶奶进来了。 他的父亲站了起来。“来吧，妈妈，”他说。

But now Marvin was watching TV. The King of Shampoon was on the news. The King had wavy red hair underneath his gold crown. “I don’t know if my son is alive or dead,” said the King. Except he spoke with a strange accent. So it sounded like “I don’t know eef my son ees alive or dead.” The King’s face filled the TV screen. He spoke. “Robert, if you’re listening out there, please call me. Return to your rightful place on the throne. We need you. Your kingdom awaits you.”

但现在马文正在看电视。 洗发水之王上了新闻。 国王的金冠下有一头卷曲的红发。 “我不知道我的儿子是死是活。”国王说。 不过他说话的口音很奇怪。 所以听起来就像“我不知道我儿子是死是活。”国王的脸布满了电视屏幕。 他说话。“罗伯特，如果你在听，请给我打电话。 回到你应得的王位上。 我们需要你。你的王国等待着你。”

Except it sounded like “Vee need you. Your kingdom avaits you.” The newsman came on. “If you think you may know

但听起来像是"我们需要你" 你的国等候着你。”新闻记者走了进来。 “如果你知道的话