1. It’s a Puppy!

Calendar Mysteries December Dog by Ron Roy

罗恩·罗伊的《日历之谜》十二月狗

Chapter 1 It's a Puppy! "Let's go see the puppies," Nate said. "And the Christmas decorations," Lucy added. It was the afternoon before Christmas. Nate, Lucy, Bradley, and his twin, Brian, were in the twins' yard playing with their basset hound, Pal. "I can't believe tomorrow morning is Christmas!" Brian said. Pal barked at Brian.

第1章是一只小狗！“我们去看看小狗吧，”内特说。 “还有圣诞装饰品。”露茜补充说。 那是圣诞节前的一个下午。 内特、露西、布拉德利和他的双胞胎兄弟布莱恩在双胞胎家的院子里和他们的巴吉特猎犬帕尔玩耍。 “我不敢相信明天早上就是圣诞节了！”布莱恩说。 帕尔冲布莱恩吠叫。

"Do you think dogs know it's Christmas?" Nate asked. "He just wants to go for a walk," Brian said. "Come on, Pal. Want to go see some puppies?" Bradley asked. He snapped Pal's leash on, and the kids started walking toward Main Street in Green Lawn. The four kids were best friends. Nate's older sister, Ruth Rose, was friends with Lucy's cousin Dink. Bradley and Brian's older brother, Josh, was also pals with Dink and Ruth Rose. The sun was behind some dark clouds. Snowflakes were falling, beginning to cover last week's snow. "Yippee, we can have a Christmas snowball fight later!" Brian said. He stuck out his tongue and caught a snowflake. Main Street was busy. It was Christmas Eve, and some people were still shopping. The parking lot behind the supermarket was crowded. Light poles were decorated with shiny red balls. Christmas carols played from speakers. A plastic Santa sat on top of Ellie's Diner.

“你认为狗知道今天是圣诞节吗？”内特问道。 “他只是想出去走走，”布莱恩说。 “来吧，伙计。想去看看小狗吗？”布拉德利问。 他把帕尔的皮带系好，孩子们开始朝绿草坪的主街走去。 这四个孩子是最好的朋友。 内特的姐姐露丝·罗斯是露西的堂兄丁克的朋友。 布拉德利和布莱恩的哥哥乔什也是丁克和露丝·罗斯的好朋友。 太阳被乌云遮住了。 雪花纷飞，开始覆盖上周的积雪。 “耶，我们待会儿可以打圣诞雪仗！”布莱恩说。 他伸出舌头捉住了一片雪花。 主街很繁忙。那是平安夜，有些人还在购物。 超市后面的停车场很拥挤。 灯杆上装饰着闪亮的红球。 扬声器里播放着圣诞颂歌。 一个塑料圣诞老人坐在埃莉餐厅的顶上。

"Maybe Mrs. Wong will let us hold the puppies," Nate said. Mrs. Wong owned Furry Feet, the pet store on Main Street. The kids knew she had puppies up for adoption. But when they got to Furry Feet, the store window was dark. The sign was turned off. "Furry Feet is closed," Lucy said. The kids put their faces against the cold glass. Pal stood on his hind legs and sniffed the window. A wooden box stood behind the glass. A few dog toys were scattered around in the box. Food and water bowls sat empty. A big sign on the box said: THE PUPPIES HAVE GONE TO GOOD HOMES. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

“也许黄太太会让我们抱小狗，”内特说。 黄太太在主街开了一家宠物店Furry Feet。 孩子们知道她有小狗要领养。 但当他们来到“毛脚”店时，橱窗里一片漆黑。 标志被关掉了。“毛脚关门了。”露茜说。 孩子们把脸贴在冰冷的玻璃上。 帕尔用后腿站立，嗅着窗户。 玻璃后面立着一个木盒。 盒子里散落着一些狗玩具。 食物和水的碗空着。 盒子上的一个大牌子写着：小狗们已经找到了好主人。 圣诞快乐!

Inside the shop were cages of mice, rats, ferrets, and parakeets, and tanks of fish. No puppies. "Mrs. Wong has found homes for all of them," Nate said. Bradley thought Nate looked sad. "Maybe you'll get one for Christmas," he said, smiling. He knew that Nate really wanted a puppy. "No way," Nate said. "Tiger is the only pet my parents will let us have. It's so not fair." The other three kids knew all about Tiger, Ruth Rose's cat. She was big and sassy and had long, sharp claws. "I bought Ruth Rose one of those little mechanical mice," Nate went on. "It has a remote so she can make it go all over the house. Tiger will go crazy chasing it!" "Cool," Bradley said. "Maybe your sister will give you a mechanical dog," he joked. Nate shook his head. "Probably more socks," he said. "Every year it's socks or mittens." Just then, Pal barked. He tugged on his leash and pulled Bradley toward the shop door. "It's closed, Pal," Bradley said. "Mrs. Wong isn't here."

店里有老鼠、雪貂和长尾小鹦鹉的笼子，还有鱼缸。 没有小狗。内特说：“黄太太给它们都找了家。” 布拉德利觉得内特看起来很伤心。 “也许你会得到一个作为圣诞礼物，”他笑着说。 他知道内特很想要一只小狗。 “不可能，”内特说。“老虎是我父母唯一允许我们养的宠物。 这太不公平了。”其他三个孩子都知道露丝·罗斯的猫“老虎”。 她又大又时髦，有又长又尖的爪子。 “我给露丝·罗斯买了一只那种小机械老鼠，”内特接着说。 “它有一个遥控器，所以她可以让它在房子里的任何地方播放。 老虎会疯狂地追它的！”“酷，”布拉德利说。 “也许你姐姐会送你一只机械狗，”他开玩笑说。 内特摇了摇头。“可能更多的袜子，”他说。 “每年都是袜子或连指手套。” 就在这时，帕尔叫道。他拉着皮带，把布拉德利拉向商店门口。 “关门了，伙计，”布拉德利说。 “黄太太不在这儿。”