4. The Door Key

Chapter 4 The Door Key On Tuesday, Joe wore the same clothes he had worn on Monday: Mickey Mouse T-shirt, baggy pants, untied sneakers. But there was one difference. He wore a Chicago Bears cap instead of a Dallas Cowboys cap. "Good morning, Mrs. North," he said. "I hope I learn a lot today." Then he took his seat next to Nick. Marvin could practically see the hate coming out of Nick's eyes. "His name should be Joe Weird, not Joe Normal," said Casey Happleton. "He's just new here, that's all," said Marvin. "You'd probably seem weird, too, if you had to move to Chicago."

星期二，乔穿着和星期一一样的衣服:米老鼠t恤，宽松的裤子，没有系鞋带的运动鞋。 但有一点不同。 他戴着芝加哥熊队的帽子，而不是达拉斯牛仔队的帽子。 “早上好，诺斯太太，”他说。 “我希望我今天能学到很多。” 然后他在尼克旁边坐下。 马文几乎可以看到尼克眼中流露出的仇恨。 “他的名字应该是奇怪的乔，而不是正常的乔，”凯西·哈普尔顿说。 “他只是新来的，仅此而已。”马文说。 “如果你必须搬到芝加哥，你可能也会显得很奇怪。”

"He likes to kiss the flagpole!" said Casey. Marvin wondered if she was making that up. "I saw him do it," said Casey. "He just walked right up to it and kissed it!" "Well, maybe that's what they do in Chicago," said Marvin. "Instead of saying the pledge, they kiss the flagpole. He was probably just being patriotic." "Your name should be Marvin Stupid," said Casey. Later, at recess, Joe asked Marvin if they were going to play wall-ball again. "No!" said Nick, before Marvin could answer. "Why not?" asked Joe. "Because it's Tuesday," said Nick. "You can't play wallball on Tuesday, can you, Marvin?" Marvin didn't know what to say. Just then, two girls from his class, Gina and Heather, came running toward them. They seemed very excited about something. "Hey, Joe!" said Gina. "Do you know what this is?" She was holding some kind of key. "It's what you are!" said Heather.

“他喜欢亲吻旗杆!”凯西说。 马文怀疑这是不是她编的。 “我看到他这么做了，”凯西说。 “他径直走到它面前，吻了它!”“嗯，也许芝加哥人就是这么做的，”马文说。 他们不是宣誓，而是亲吻旗杆。 他可能只是出于爱国。” “你的名字应该是愚蠢的马文，”凯西说。 后来，课间休息时，乔问马文他们要不要再玩墙球。 “不!”马文还没来得及回答，尼克就说。 “为什么不?”乔问。“因为今天是星期二，”尼克说。 “马文，星期二你不能打壁球了，是吗?”马文不知道该说什么。 就在这时，他班上的两个女孩吉娜和希瑟向他们跑来。 他们似乎对什么事情很兴奋。 “嘿，乔!”吉娜说。“你知道这是什么吗?”她拿着某种钥匙。 “这就是你!”希瑟说。

Joe smiled. "What is it?" asked Gina. "A key?" said Joe. "What kind of key?" asked Heather. Joe didn't know. Neither did Marvin.

乔笑了笑。“这是什么?”吉娜问。 “钥匙?”乔说。“什么样的钥匙?”希瑟问。 乔不知道。马文也没有。

"It's a door key," said Gina. "That's what you are!" Heather exclaimed. "Dorky!" The two girls laughed.

“这是一把门钥匙，”吉娜说。 “你就是这样的人!”希瑟说。 “古怪!”两个女孩笑了。

Nick and Stuart laughed, too. "Dorky!" Nick repeated. "Don't you get it?" asked Gina. "Door key, dorky?" Joe didn't say anything. "He doesn't even get it," said Heather. Joe walked away. He got it. "Good. Now that he's gone, let's play wall-ball," said Nick. "C'mon, Marvin," said Stuart, grabbing him by the arm. Marvin played wall-ball, but he didn't have any fun. He knew Joe was watching.

尼克和斯图亚特也笑了。 “古怪!”尼克重复。“你还不明白吗?”吉娜问。 “门钥匙，笨蛋?”乔什么也没说。 “他根本不懂，”希瑟说。 乔走开了。他明白了。 “很好。现在他走了，我们来玩墙球吧，”尼克说。 “来吧，马文，”斯图亚特抓住他的胳膊说。 马文玩壁球，但他没有任何乐趣。 他知道乔在看着他。