1. Saturday Chores

Calendar Mysteries June Jam by Ron Roy

罗恩·罗伊的《日历之谜》《六月果酱》

Chapter 1 Saturday Chores Bradley Pinto and his twin brother, Brian, climbed into the backseat of the family car. Their older brother, Josh, got in front next to their dad. "How come you always get to sit up front?" Brian asked. "Because I'm older and wiser," Josh said. Their father smiled. "Dad, thanks for taking us out for breakfast," Bradley said.

布莱德利·平托和他的双胞胎兄弟布莱恩爬上了他们家汽车的后座。 他们的哥哥乔希坐在他们爸爸旁边。 “你怎么总是坐在前面？”布莱恩问。 “因为我长大了，也更聪明了，”乔希说。 他们的父亲笑了。“爸爸，谢谢你带我们出去吃早餐，”布拉德利说。

"You're welcome, Bradley," his father answered. "Did you three get enough to eat?" "I sure did!" Josh said. "I'll never eat again." "Yeah, right," Brian said. "For at least an hour." Bradley picked up the Junior Encyclopedia he'd been reading in the car. His teacher had asked each student to study one encyclopedia volume. Each kid had drawn a letter out of a bag. Bradley had gotten the letter J. So far, he had read about jaguars, Japanese fishing villages, javelin throwing, juggling, jungles, and a bunch of other stuff. He looked at a page about jam. "Why do you always have strawberry jam on your toast?" Bradley asked. His father grinned. "What else is there?" "Butter, marshmallow spread, peanut butter, grape jelly, lots of stuff!" Brian said. "Your grandmother Pinto, my mom, used to make strawberry jam when I was a kid," their father said. "I had her jam sandwiches for a snack every day after school. Her jam was the best in the world. Now that she's gone, I keep trying to find strawberry jam that tastes as good as hers. So far, I haven't found it."

“不用谢，布拉德利，”他父亲回答。 “你们三个吃饱了吗？”“当然了！”杰克说。 “我再也不吃东西了。”“是啊，没错，”布莱恩说。 “至少一个小时。”布拉德利拿起他在车里一直在读的《少年百科全书》。 他的老师要求每个学生学习一卷百科全书。 每个孩子都从书包里拿出了一封信。 布拉德利得到了字母J。 到目前为止，他读过美洲虎、日本渔村、投掷标枪、杂耍、丛林和其他一些东西。 他看了一页关于果酱的文章。 “你为什么总是在吐司上涂草莓酱？”布拉德利问。 父亲咧嘴一笑。“还有什么？”“黄油，棉花糖酱，花生酱，葡萄果冻，很多东西！”布莱恩说。 “你们的祖母平托，也就是我妈妈，在我小的时候经常做草莓酱，”他们的父亲说。 “我每天放学后都吃她的果酱三明治当零食。 她的果酱是世界上最好的。 现在她走了，我一直想找到和她的一样好吃的草莓酱。 到目前为止，我还没有找到。”

The car pulled into their driveway. "Don't forget your Saturday chores," Bradley's father said. "Aw, Dad, I was gonna play softball," Josh said. "Okay, but after you clean the barn," his father said. "If you get cracking, you'll be done in an hour." "What's our job?" Bradley asked. "You two can weed the garden," his father said. "Do we get paid?" Brian asked. His father laughed. "Yes! You get to sleep in a bed, and you get to have three meals a day!" They all climbed out of the car. "Change your clothes first," the boys' father said. "Can Lucy and Nate come over and help?" Bradley asked. "Sure, if they want to," his father said. "Okay, then I'm getting Dink and Ruth Rose to help me in the barn," Josh announced. "Fine," his father said. "Tell you what—if you kids do a great job, I'll buy ice cream later for everyone." The three boys tore up the stairs to their bedrooms. While Bradley and Brian were

汽车开进了他们的车道。 “别忘了周六的家务，”布拉德利的父亲说。 “啊，爸爸，我本来要去打垒球的，”乔希说。 “好吧，但你得先把谷仓打扫干净，”他父亲说。 “如果你动手，一个小时就能搞定。” “我们的工作是什么？”布拉德利问。 “你们俩可以给花园除草，”他父亲说。 “我们有工资吗？”布莱恩问。 他的父亲笑了。“是啊!你可以睡在床上，你可以吃一日三餐！”他们都从车里爬了出来。 “先换衣服，”孩子们的父亲说。 “露西和内特能过来帮忙吗？”布拉德利问。 “当然，如果他们愿意的话，”他父亲说。 “好吧，那我去叫丁克和露丝·罗斯来帮我收拾谷仓。”乔希宣布。 “很好，”他父亲说。“这样吧——如果你们的孩子们做得很好，我待会儿给大家买冰淇淋。” 三个男孩飞快地跑上楼去他们的卧室。 而布拉德利和布莱恩

changing their clothes, their mother knocked and poked her head into the room. "How was breakfast?" she asked. "Awesome, Mom," Bradley said. "Why didn't you come, too?" Brian asked. "I wanted to stay home to think about a present for Daddy," their mom said. "Why, is it his birthday?" Bradley asked. She shook her head. "No, Father's Day is tomorrow." After she left, the twins finished changing. "I'll call Lucy and Nate," Bradley said. "See you downstairs," Brian said. Bradley called Lucy Armstrong. She was visiting her cousin Dink while her parents were in Arizona helping to build a school. Dink lived next door to Nate and Ruth Rose. Bradley, Brian, Lucy, and Nate were best friends. Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose were all twelve and had been friends since kindergarten. Bradley ran out to the garden. "They're coming," he told his brother. "Good," Brian said. He pointed at the ground. "It'll only take a million years to pull all these

妈妈给他们换衣服时，敲了敲门，把头伸了进来。 “早餐怎么样？”她问。 “太棒了，妈妈，”布拉德利说。 “你为什么不一起来呢？”布莱恩问。 “我想呆在家里想给爸爸买件礼物，”他们的妈妈说。 “怎么，今天是他的生日吗？”布拉德利问。 她摇了摇头。“不，父亲节是明天。” 她走后，双胞胎换完衣服。 “我给露西和内特打电话，”布拉德利说。 “楼下见，”布莱恩说。 布拉德利打电话给露西·阿姆斯特朗。 当她的父母在亚利桑那州帮助建造一所学校时，她去看望她的堂兄丁克。 丁克住在内特和露丝·罗斯的隔壁。 布拉德利、布莱恩、露西和内特是最好的朋友。 约什、丁克和露丝·罗斯都是12岁，从幼儿园起就是好朋友。 布拉德利跑到花园。 “他们来了，”他告诉弟弟。 “很好，”布莱恩说。他指着地面。 “只需要一百万年就能把这些东西都拉出来

weeds." "No, it won't," Bradley said. "We can divide it up in sections. You take the tomatoes, Nate can do the lettuce, and Lucy will do around the zucchini." "What part will you do?" Brian asked. "I'll weed around the strawberries," Bradley said. "Hey, there they are!" Lucy and Nate walked into the garden through the gate. "Thanks for coming over to help, guys," Bradley said. "I think weeding is fun," Lucy told him. "I weed our garden in California all the time." "I hate weeding," Nate said. "My dad is buying us ice cream when we finish," Brian told Nate. "I love weeding!" Nate said. They all laughed. "Let's start," Bradley said. He told the other kids their sections. All four kids got down on their knees and started pulling weeds. They threw them into a pile in the corner of the garden. The sun warmed their backs.

杂草。”“不，不会的，”布拉德利说。 “我们可以把它分成几个部分。 你负责番茄，内特负责生菜，露西负责西葫芦的周围。” “你要演哪一个角色？”布莱恩问。 “我会在草莓周围除草，”布拉德利说。 “嘿，他们来了！”露西和内特穿过大门走进花园。 “谢谢你们过来帮忙，伙计们，”布拉德利说。 “我觉得除草很有趣，”露西告诉他。 “我一直在给我们加州的花园除草。” “我讨厌除草，”内特说。 “我爸爸会在我们吃完后给我们买冰淇淋，”布莱恩告诉内特。 “我爱除草！”内特说。 他们都笑了。“我们开始吧，”布拉德利说。 他告诉其他孩子他们的部门。 四个孩子都跪了下来，开始拔草。 他们把它们扔在花园角落里的一堆。 太阳温暖了他们的背。