7. Jell-O

Chapter 7 Jell-O "Fluffy wouldn't bite me," Joe said as they walked to Marvin's house. "I've been all over the—well, I've been lots of places. And I've never met a dog who didn't like me. People don't always like me. But their dogs always do." "Do you have to move around a lot?" asked Marvin. Joe nodded. "I guess it's hard to make new friends all the time." "I don't know what I do wrong," Joe said. "I try to be like the other kids. But somehow they always know I'm different." Marvin didn't know what to say. "It's not all bad," Joe said. "It's fun to get to see all

“路威不会咬我的，”他们朝马文家走去时，乔说。 “我到处都去过——嗯，我去过很多地方。 我从来没有遇到过不喜欢我的狗。 人们并不总是喜欢我。 但他们的狗总是这样。” “你得经常搬家吗?”马文问。 乔点了点头。“我想一直都很难交到新朋友。” “我不知道我做错了什么，”乔说。 “我试着像其他孩子一样。 但不知怎么的，他们总是知道我与众不同。” 马文不知道该说什么。 “也不全是坏事，”乔说。 “看到这一切很有趣

kinds of strange and interesting places." Marvin never thought that his hometown was strange or interesting. They came to Marvin's house. There was a fence around his house. The fence was white, except for one red post next to the gate. "Red post," said Joe. "That's your last name!" "That's right!" Marvin said, a little surprised that Joe had figured it out. Usually, he had to explain it to his friends. "My dad paints the post once a year." "Cool," said Joe. "My mom says she's glad she didn't marry someone whose last name was Purplehouse," said Marvin. "Why?" asked Joe. "I don't know," said Marvin. "I think it would be cool to live in a purple house." "Me, too," said Joe. "Back where I come from, the houses are a lot more colorful than they are here—stripes and polka dots." "Polka-dot houses?" asked Marvin. "Sure," said Joe. "Usually, each dot is a different color."

各种奇怪而有趣的地方。” 马文从不认为他的家乡奇怪或有趣。 他们来到马文家。 他的房子周围有篱笆。 除了大门旁边的一根红柱子外，栅栏是白色的。 “红柱子，”乔说。“那是你的姓!”“没错!”马文说，有点惊讶乔竟然猜到了。 通常，他必须向他的朋友解释。 “我爸爸每年给邮局刷一次漆。” “酷，”乔说。“我妈妈说她很高兴自己没有嫁给一个姓普尔豪斯的人，”马文说。 “为什么?”乔问。“我不知道，”马文说。 “我觉得住在紫色的房子里一定很酷。” “我也是，”乔说。“在我的家乡，房子的色彩要比这里丰富得多——条纹和圆点图案。” “圆点房子?”马文问。 “当然，”乔说。“通常，每个点都是不同的颜色。”

"Boy, I'd like to go to Chicago sometime," said Marvin. They went inside Marvin's dull gray house. "Hi, Marvin!" Linzy shouted from the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, eating something out of a bowl. Marvin set his backpack on the counter. "That's my sister, Linzy," he said. "She's five." Joe walked to the table. "How do you do, Linzy?" he said. "My name is Joe Normal." He held out his hand. Linzy giggled and shook his hand. "What's that red stuff?" asked Joe. "Jell-O," said Linzy. Joe stared at it. "What is it?" "Strawberry," said Linzy. Joe couldn't take his eyes off of it. "Is it a solid or a liquid?" "It's Jell-O," said Linzy. "He's from Chicago," Marvin explained. "I guess they don't eat much Jell-O there." "Can I touch it?" asked Joe. "Sure," said Linzy. Joe poked his finger into Linzy's Jell-O. "What holds it together?" he asked.

“孩子，我想找个时间去芝加哥，”马文说。 他们走进马文暗淡的灰色房子。 “嗨,马文!”林兹从厨房里喊道。 她坐在桌边，用碗吃东西。 马文把背包放在柜台上。 “那是我妹妹，林兹，”他说。 “她是五个。”乔走向桌子。 “你好，琳兹?”他说。 “我叫乔·诺曼。”他伸出手来。 林兹咯咯地笑着，握了握他的手。 “那个红色的东西是什么?”乔问。 “果冻，”林兹说。乔盯着它。 “什么事?”“草莓，”林兹说。 乔目不转睛地盯着它。 “它是固体还是液体?”“这是果冻，”林兹说。 “他来自芝加哥，”马文解释道。 “我猜他们在那里不怎么吃果冻。” “我能摸摸它吗?”乔问。 “当然，”林兹说。乔把手指伸进了林兹的果冻里。 “是什么把它们连在一起的?”他问。

Linzy thought it over. "It's sticky," she explained. "It sticks to itself." "You want some?" said Marvin. "I don't know," said Joe. "It's good. You'll like it," said Linzy. Marvin opened the refrigerator. He removed a large flat dish filled with strawberry Jell-O. Then he got a small bowl from the cabinet and served some Jell-O to Joe. Joe sat down next to Linzy. He stared at his Jell-O. He scooped some up on his spoon and watched it jiggle. "It's weird," he said. "I can cut through it with my spoon, like water. But it doesn't fall apart." "That's because it's sticky," said Linzy. Joe put some in his mouth. He swished it around and swallowed. "This is delicious!" he exclaimed.

林兹想了想。“它很粘，”她解释说。 “它会粘在自己身上。”“你想来点吗?”马文说。 “我不知道，”乔说。“这很好。 你会喜欢的，”林兹说。 马文打开了冰箱。 他拿出一个大盘子，里面装满了草莓果冻。 然后他从橱柜里拿出一个小碗，端了一些果冻给乔。 乔在琳兹旁边坐下。 他盯着他的果冻。他用勺子舀了一些，看着它摇晃。 “这很奇怪，”他说。“我可以用勺子把它切开，就像用水一样。 但它不会崩溃。” “那是因为它很粘，”林兹说。 乔往嘴里放了一些。 他把它转了一圈，吞了下去。 “真好吃!”他叫道。

"Told you," said Linzy. Joe finished his bowl of Jell-O, then ate a second bowlful, and then a third. "I like Joe," Linzy said to Marvin, while Joe slurped his Jell-O. "He's not like Nick and Stuart. They're weird."

“告诉过你了，”林兹说。乔吃完了一碗果冻，又吃了第二碗，又吃了第三碗。 “我喜欢乔，”林兹对马文说，这时乔在吃果冻。 “他不像尼克和斯图尔特。 他们奇怪的。”