3. Wall-ball

Chapter 3 Wall-ball A plain concrete wall stood right in the middle of the playground. It wasn't attached to anything. Sometimes, Marvin wondered who built it, and why. But he didn't complain. Wall-ball was his favorite game. At recess, he got on line to play. "I can't believe I have to sit next to Joe!" Nick complained. "Duh, what's an elephant?" asked Stuart. Then he and Nick cracked up. "Joe was just nervous because he's new here," said Marvin. "Duh, how much does my brain weigh?" asked Nick. Stuart laughed.

一堵普通的混凝土墙矗立在操场的正中央。 它没有附着在任何东西上。 有时，马文想知道是谁建的，为什么要建。 但他没有抱怨。Wall-ball是他最喜欢的游戏。 课间休息时，他上网玩。 “我真不敢相信我要坐在乔旁边!”尼克抱怨。 “啊，大象是什么?”斯图亚特问。 然后他和尼克笑了。 “乔很紧张，因为他是新来的，”马文说。 “啊，我的大脑有多重?”尼克问。 斯图尔特笑了。

"His brain doesn't weigh anything," said Warren, who was in line in front of Stuart. "Because he doesn't have one!" Marvin looked around to make sure Joe wasn't able to hear them. He saw Joe standing all by himself, on the edge of the blacktop. He looked lost. "Save my place," Marvin said. He walked over to Joe. "Hi. I'm Marvin." Joe smiled. "Hello, Marvin. I'm Joe. How do you do?" He held out his hand for Marvin to shake. "Uh, fine," said Marvin. He shook Joe's hand. Kids in Chicago were obviously more polite than they were here. "You want to play wall-ball?" Marvin asked. "I don't know how," said Joe. "It's easy," said Marvin. "C'mon." He led Joe to the wall. Kenny and Stuart were now playing, and Nick was first in line. Marvin and Joe got on line behind him, and in front of Travis. "Hey!" said Travis. "I was here," said Marvin. "Nick saved our places,

“他的大脑没有任何重量，”排在斯图尔特前面的沃伦说。 “因为他没有!”马文环顾四周，确保乔听不见他们说话。 他看见乔一个人站在柏油路边上。 他看上去很迷茫。“给我留个位置。”马文说。 他走向乔。“嗨。 我马文。”乔笑了笑。“你好,马文。 我是乔。你好!”他伸出手来和马文握手。 “嗯，很好。”马文说。他握了握乔的手。 芝加哥的孩子显然比这里的孩子更有礼貌。 “你想玩墙球吗?”马文问道。 “我不知道怎么做，”乔说。 “很简单，”马文说。“来吧。” 他把乔领到墙边。肯尼和斯图亚特在玩，尼克排在第一个。 马文和乔排在他后面，排在特拉维斯前面。 “嘿!”特拉维斯说。“我刚才在这儿。”马文说。 “尼克保住了我们的位子，

didn't you, Nick?" Nick looked at Marvin, then glared at Joe, then looked back at Marvin. "Yeah, I guess," he said. Marvin knew what he was thinking. He had saved Marvin's place, not Joe's. Stuart beat Kenny, and now it was Nick's turn. Nick rubbed his hands together as he stepped onto the court. "I'm going to kill you, Stuart!" he said. "Not if I kill you first," said Stuart. "They're good friends," Marvin assured Joe. Stuart served. He bounced the big red ball on the ground, then hit it hard with both hands. The ball hit the ground, then the wall, then the ground. Nick hit it. The ball hit the ground, the wall, then the ground. "You get how it's played?" Marvin asked. "I think so," said Joe. They watched each boy hit it several more times. Then Nick hit his "world-famous cross-court slam," and Stuart was finished. "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the mighty Nick Tuffle has done it again," Nick proudly announced. "There is

是吗，尼克?”尼克看了看马文，然后怒视着乔，然后又看了看马文。 “是的，我想，”他说。马文知道自己在想什么。 他保住了马文的位置，而不是乔的。 斯图尔特打败了肯尼，现在轮到尼克了。 尼克踏上球场时搓着双手。 “我要杀了你，斯图亚特!”他说。 “除非我先杀了你，”斯图亚特说。 “他们是好朋友，”马文向乔保证。 斯图尔特。他把大红球在地上弹起，然后用双手用力击球。 球击中地面，然后是墙，然后是地面。 尼克击中了它。球击中地面，墙，然后地面。 “你知道是怎么玩的吗?”马文问道。 “我想是的，”乔说。他们看着每个男孩又打了几次。 然后尼克打出了他的“世界闻名的交叉球场大满贯”，斯图亚特就完蛋了。 “是的，女士们先生们，伟大的尼克·塔夫尔又成功了，”尼克自豪地宣布。 “有

nobody on this planet who can return Nick Tuffle's world-famous cross-court slam!" "Who's he talking to?" asked Joe. "The people watching on television at home," said Marvin. Nick beat Marvin, too, and then it was Joe's turn. "You can do it," Marvin encouraged. He patted Joe on the back as Joe stepped into the court. Nick served. Joe hit it back. Nick hit a long, high bouncer. Joe jumped up and hit it back. Nick hit a baby bouncer. Joe raced forward and got to it before it bounced twice. He was a very fast runner. Marvin found himself rooting for Joe, even though Nick was one of his best friends.

这个星球上没有人能逆转尼克·塔夫尔举世闻名的网球大满贯!”“他在跟谁说话?”乔问。 “那些在家里看电视的人，”马文说。 尼克也打败了马文，然后轮到乔了。 “你能行的，”马文鼓励道。 乔走进球场时，他拍了拍乔的背。 尼克。乔回击了。 尼克打了一个长而高的弹跳球。 乔跳起来还击。 尼克打了一个婴儿保镖。乔冲上前去，在球弹起两次之前拿到了球。 他跑得很快。 马文发现自己支持乔，尽管尼克是他最好的朋友之一。

Nick smashed the return, but Joe ran backward and got to that one, too. He hit the ball off the wall and back to Nick. Nick was way over on one side of the court when the ball came to him. He was in perfect position. He smashed his world-famous cross-court slam. Joe raced to it and hit it back. Nick was still way over on one side of the court. He couldn't get back to the center in time. The ball bounced

尼克把球击碎了，但乔也跑回去接住了那个球。 他把球从墙上打了出去，又打给了尼克。 当球传到尼克身边时，他已经站在球场的另一边了。 他处于完美的位置。 他完成了举世闻名的交叉球场大满贯。 乔跑过去还击。 尼克仍然远远地站在球场的一边。 他没能及时回到中心。 球弹了起来。

past him. Joe won. When the bell rang, Marvin, Nick, and Stuart headed back to class together. "I hate Joe," Nick said. "You're just mad because he beat you at wall-ball," said Stuart. "I am not," said Nick. "Besides, I would have beaten him, but I wore out my hand beating you and Marvin." Joe caught up to them, out of breath and smiling. "That was fun!" he exclaimed. "You ever play wall-ball before?" asked Stuart. "No, that was my first time." "Well, no wonder!" Nick exclaimed. "Beginner's luck!"

过去的他。乔赢了。下课铃响了，马文、尼克和斯图尔特一起回到教室。 “我讨厌乔，”尼克说。“你只是因为他打壁球赢了你而生气，”斯图亚特说。 “我不是，”尼克说。“而且，我本来想打败他的，但我打你和马文累坏了手。” 乔上气不接下气地微笑着赶上了他们。 “真好玩!”他叫道。 “你以前玩过壁球吗?”斯图亚特问。 “没有，那是我第一次。” “哦，难怪!”尼克说。 “狗屎运!”