1. A Leprechaun Named Pal

CALENDAR MYSTERIES MARCH MISCHIEF BY RON ROY

日历之谜三月恶作剧罗恩·罗伊

Chapter 1 A Leprechaun Named Pal "Batman!" shouted Nate. "A pirate!" yelled Brian. "Groucho!" cried Lucy. It was Friday, March 15. In two days it would be St. Patrick's Day. Every year people in Green Lawn had a St. Patrick's Day contest. They dressed leprechaun statues in funny outfits. The mayor chose a winner, and there was a prize.

“蝙蝠侠！”内特喊道。 “海盗！”布赖恩喊道。“格劳乔！”露茜叫道。 那天是3月15日，星期五。再过两天就是圣。 帕特里克节。每年绿草坪的人们都会有一个圣。 帕特里克节比赛。他们给小矮妖雕像穿上滑稽的服装。 市长选出了一位获胜者，并颁发了奖品。

Everyone who entered the contest bought a leprechaun statue for five dollars. The money went to help a local food bank. The four kids had chipped in and bought their statue together. They were on Bradley and Brian's front porch with a cardboard box of costumes. The kids were trying costumes on the leprechaun and on themselves. Lucy was in first grade with the three boys. She was staying with her cousin, Dink Duncan, for a year. Her parents were in Arizona helping to build a school on a reservation. Nate Hathaway and his big sister, Ruth Rose, lived next door to Dink on Woody Street. Bradley and Brian Pinto were twins and lived with their parents and older brother, Josh, on Farm Lane. Pal, the Pintos' dog, sniffed the green leprechaun statue. It stood about two feet tall. The statue looked like a little green man with a bow tie. Its face had plump green cheeks and a green beard. Green buckled shoes were on its feet.

每个参加比赛的人都花五美元买了一个小妖精雕像。 这笔钱捐给了当地一家食品银行。 四个孩子凑钱一起买了他们的雕像。 他们拿着装戏服的纸板箱站在布拉德利和布莱恩家的前廊上。 孩子们在小矮妖身上和自己身上试穿服装。 露西和三个男孩一起上一年级。 她和她的堂兄丁克·邓肯一起住了一年。 她的父母当时在亚利桑那州的一个保留地帮忙建一所学校。 内特·海瑟薇和他的姐姐露丝·罗斯住在伍迪街丁克的隔壁。 布莱德利和布莱恩·平托是一对双胞胎，他们和父母以及哥哥乔什一起住在农场巷。 平托家的狗狗帕尔嗅了嗅绿色的小妖精雕像。 它大约有两英尺高。 这座雕像看起来像一个戴着领结的小绿人。 它的脸长着丰满的绿脸颊和绿胡子。 它的脚上穿着绿色带扣的鞋子。

Pal licked the leprechaun's face. "Hey, that gives me another idea!" Bradley said. "Why don't we dress the statue as Pal?" "Huh?" Nate said. "A leprechaun dog?" "Sure, why not?" Bradley asked. "Everyone else will make theirs some sports hero or comic book guy. We'd be the only ones with a dog!" "Can we do that?" Brian asked. "Why not?" Bradley asked. "The mayor's rules didn't say it had to be human!" "That's a great idea!" Lucy said. "We can make floppy ears, a tail, and a doggy nose! And we can name it Pal." Bradley pulled off the hat he'd been trying on and ran inside. A minute later he came back with a box of art supplies. Bradley took out scissors, glue, clay, markers, and construction paper. The kids spent the rest of the afternoon changing the leprechaun into a basset hound. Lucy made floppy ears. They looked just like Pal's ears.

帕尔舔了舔小妖精的脸。 “嘿，这让我有了另一个想法！”布拉德利说。 “我们为什么不把雕像打扮成朋友的样子呢？”“嗯?”内特说。 “一只小矮妖狗？”“当然可以，为什么不呢？”布拉德利问。 “其他人都会把他们的梦想变成体育英雄或漫画人物。 我们将是唯一有狗的人！”“我们能做到吗？”布莱恩问。 “为什么不?”布拉德利问。“市长的规定没有说必须是人！”“这是个好主意！”露西说。 “我们可以做出松软的耳朵、尾巴和狗鼻子！”我们可以给它取名为Pal。” 布拉德利脱下他一直在试的帽子，跑了进去。 一分钟后，他拿着一盒美术用品回来了。 布拉德利拿出剪刀、胶水、粘土、记号笔和建筑纸。 孩子们花了一个下午的时间把小妖精变成了一只巴吉特猎犬。 露西耷拉着耳朵。它们看起来就像帕尔的耳朵。

Nate molded some brown clay into a nose. Brian used a tube sock for the tail. He made brown marks on it, like the ones on Pal's tail. "It doesn't look like a dog," Brian said. "He needs fur." "I have an idea," Bradley said. He went in the kitchen to Pal's bed. Pal liked to sleep on one of Bradley's old brown sweaters. Bradley grabbed the sweater and took it outside. "What're you doing?" Brian asked. "You'll see," Bradley said. He cut the sweater's sleeves off. Then he pulled it over the leprechaun's head. The sweater made the leprechaun look furry. Sort of. "He looks good," Lucy said. "He smells bad," Brian said. Bradley put his nose next to the leprechaun. "It's the sweater," he said. "Well, if the mayor picks the smelliest statue, we should win," Nate said.

内特用棕色粘土做了个鼻子。 布莱恩用短袜做尾巴。 他在上面留下了棕色的印记，就像帕尔尾巴上的那些一样。 “它看起来不像狗，”布莱恩说。 “他需要皮毛。”“我有个主意，”布拉德利说。 他走进厨房，走到帕尔的床前。 帕尔喜欢睡在布拉德利的旧棕色毛衣上。 布拉德利抓起毛衣拿到外面。 “你在干什么？”布莱恩问。 “你会看到的，”布拉德利说。 他把毛衣的袖子剪掉了。 然后他把它拉到小矮妖的头上。 这件毛衣让小妖精看起来毛茸茸的。 排序的。“他看起来不错。”露茜说。 “他身上很难闻，”布莱恩说。 布拉德利把他的鼻子靠近小妖精。 “是毛衣的问题，”他说。 “好吧，如果市长选了最臭的雕像，我们就赢了，”内特说。

Pal barked at the leprechaun. He rubbed his nose against the sweater. Then he curled up near its green feet and went to sleep.

帕尔对着小妖精狂吠。 他用鼻子蹭毛衣。 然后，他蜷缩在它绿色的脚边睡着了。