11. Vanished

Chapter 11 Vanished Joe disappeared. "Where is he?" Marvin's mother demanded. "I don't know," said Marvin. "Maybe he walked home." "I told him I would drive him," said Marvin's mother. "He should know better than to walk home alone." It was late Saturday morning. Joe had eaten three bowls of Jell-O for breakfast. He played wizzle-fish with Marvin and his family. Even Marvin's mother and father liked playing wizzle-fish. Then Marvin's mother told Joe to get his things together, and she would drive him home. Joe didn't have any things. He just put his toothbrush

乔消失了。 “他在哪儿?”马文的母亲问道。 “我不知道，”马文说。 “也许他是走路回家的。”“我告诉他我会开车送他，”马文的母亲说。 “他应该知道不该一个人走回家。” 那是周六上午晚些时候。 乔早饭吃了三碗果冻。 他和马文和他的家人一起玩水飞鱼。 就连马文的父母也喜欢玩水飞鱼。 然后马文的妈妈告诉乔把东西收拾好，她会开车送他回家。 乔什么都没有。 他只是把他的牙刷

in his pocket. Nobody saw him after that. They looked all over the house for him. Then Marvin and his father got in the car and drove around the neighborhood. Marvin's mother stayed home with Linzy. "Do you know where he lives?" Marvin's father asked him. "No," said Marvin, looking out the window. "Don't worry. He's okay." "Do you know his phone number?" There was a phone in the car. "No," said Marvin. Marvin's father called Information and asked for the phone number for somebody named Normal. He spelled it "N-O-R-M-A-L" and looked to Marvin to make sure that was correct. Marvin shrugged. "It's a new listing," his father told the operator. "They just moved here last week … from Chicago." The operator couldn't find the number. Marvin's father tried other spellings—"N-O-R-M-E-LL" and "N-O-R-M-U-L" and "N-U-R-M-A-L." There was

在他的口袋里。从那以后就没人见过他了。 他们在房子里到处找他。 然后马文和他的父亲上了车，在附近转了一圈。 马文的妈妈和琳兹呆在家里。 “你知道他住在哪里吗?”马文的父亲问他。 “不，”马文看着窗外说。 “别担心。他好了。”“你知道他的电话号码吗?”车里有个电话。 “不，”马文说。马文的父亲给问讯处打了电话，要一个叫诺莫的人的电话号码。 他把它拼成“N-O-R-M-A-L”，然后看了看马文，以确保这是正确的。 马文耸耸肩。“这是新挂牌的，”他父亲告诉接线员。 “他们上周刚从芝加哥搬来这里。” 接线员找不到这个号码。 马文的父亲试过其他拼写——“N-O-R-M-E-LL”、“N-O-R-M-U-L”和“N-U-R-M-A-L”。 有

no listing. "It's my fault," Marvin's mother said when they got home. "I should have insisted upon speaking with his parents before I let him spend the night." "They were in a top-secret meeting with the president," Marvin pointed out. "Do you really believe that?" asked his father. "Yes!" Marvin declared. "He's my friend." "Joe wouldn't lie," said Linzy. Marvin smiled at his sister. "I'm just worried about him, that's all," said Marvin's mother. "He never even told his parents he was staying here." "He said he told them," said Marvin. "When?" asked his mother. "When did he have a chance to call them?" Marvin didn't know. "It's not fair!" he exclaimed. "Everybody picks on Joe. First the kids at school, and now my own parents!" "We're not picking on him. We're trying to help him." "You think he's a liar!" "I like Joe, but I'm worried about him. You have to

没有清单。“是我的错，”马文的妈妈回家后说。 “在我让他过夜之前，我应该坚持和他的父母谈谈。” “他们正在和总统进行一次绝密会议，”马文指出。 “你真的相信吗?”父亲问。 “是的!”马文宣称。“他是我的朋友。” “乔不会说谎，”林兹说。 马文对妹妹笑了笑。 “我只是担心他，仅此而已。”马文的妈妈说。 “他甚至从来没有告诉过父母他住在这里。” “他说他告诉他们了。”马文说。 “什么时候?”他妈妈问。“他什么时候有机会给他们打电话的?”马文不知道。 “这不公平!” “每个人都挑乔的毛病。先是学校里的孩子，现在是我自己的父母!”“我们不会挑他的茬。 我们正在努力帮助他。” “你认为他是个骗子!”“我喜欢乔，但我很担心他。 你必须

admit that some of the things he does are a bit odd." "He's my friend," said Marvin. "I think I better call the police," said Marvin's mother. Linzy began to cry. "He's not a criminal!" said Marvin. But despite all his protests, he was worried about Joe, too. Marvin's mother went to the phone, but just as she reached for it, it rang. She picked it up. "Hello?" Marvin saw her face brighten. "Hi, Joe," she said. "We were—You're very welcome. Well, thank you. We enjoyed your visit, too. May I please talk to your mother? Oh, I see. Listen, you really shouldn't have—what? Okay, well, bye." She hung up. "That was Joe. He called to thank us." "See, I told you everything was okay," said Marvin. Marvin's mother still looked worried.

承认他做的一些事情有点奇怪。” “他是我的朋友，”马文说。 “我想我最好叫警察，”马文的妈妈说。 琳兹哭了起来。“他不是罪犯!”马文说。 尽管他一再抗议，但他也很担心乔。 马文的妈妈去接电话，但就在她伸手去拿的时候，电话响了。 她把它捡起来。“喂?”马文看到她的脸亮了起来。 “嗨，乔，”她说。“我们——不客气。 好的，谢谢你。我们也很喜欢你的来访。 我能和你妈妈谈谈吗? 哦，我明白了。听着，你真的不应该……什么? 好吧，再见。”她挂了电话。 “那是乔。他打电话来感谢我们。” “看，我告诉过你一切都很好，”马文说。 马文的妈妈看起来仍然很担心。