Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 The first Saturday morning after the first full week of school is probably the best Saturday morning of the entire year. While your brain is adjusting to school time, your body is still on summer time, and after a few days of getting up early, nothing could be sweeter than sleeping in! "Michael? Michael?!?!" Jane called out. Loudly. Having a four-year-old sister can put a damper on your first-Saturday plans. "Whaaaaat?" Michael groaned. He rolled over and opened his eyes just enough to see the clock on his nightstand. "Leave me alone. It's only eight o'clock." Jane danced into his room. "Guess what?! I'm going to a birthday party!" she chirped. "That's nice," Michael responded groggily. "Have fun." "It's for Kennedy, and there's gonna be a pi.ata and a cake and a bouncy castle." "MOOOOOM! Jane won't let me sleep!" "C'mon, sweetie!" Mrs. Gomez called from the living room. "We've got to go. Let your brother sleep."

开学第一周后的第一个星期六早晨可能是一年中最美好的星期六早晨。 当你的大脑还在适应上学时间的时候，你的身体还处于夏天，早起几天后，没有什么比睡懒觉更甜蜜的了！“迈克尔? 迈克尔? ! ? !”简叫道。 大声。有一个四岁的妹妹会给你的第一个周六计划泼冷水。 “Whaaaaat ?”迈克尔呻吟着。 他翻了个身，把眼睛睁开，刚好看见床头柜上的钟。 “别烦我。现在才八点钟。” 简跳着舞走进他的房间。 “你猜怎么着? !我要去参加一个生日聚会！”她叽叽喳喳地说。 “那很好。”迈克尔昏昏沉沉地回答。 “有趣。”“这是给肯尼迪的，而且会有一个pi。爱塔、蛋糕和充气城堡。” “MOOOOOM !简不让我睡觉！”“来吧,亲爱的!”戈麦斯太太从客厅打来电话。 “我们得走了。让你哥哥睡觉吧。”

Jane didn't budge. "Guess what present I got her?" "MOOOOOM!" Michael yelled out again. "A Puny Puppy, with a windup bark. It's SO cute." Michael pulled his pillow over his head. Jane finally got the hint and exited the room. No sooner had Michael closed his eyes than he heard another familiar voice. "So! What's the plan?" Merle asked as he and Pearl bounced back into Michael's room through the open window, carrying armloads of acorns. Michael, realizing he wasn't going to be doing any more sleeping on this first Saturday morning, rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. "You guys like soccer?" he asked. "Can't say I've heard of it," Pearl responded. Merle shook his head.

简没有动。“猜猜我给她买了什么礼物？”“MOOOOOM !”迈克尔又喊道。 “一只小狗，带着发条的吠叫。 它太可爱了。”迈克尔把枕头拉到头上。 简终于得到了暗示，走出了房间。 迈克尔刚闭上眼睛，就听到了另一个熟悉的声音。 “所以!计划是什么？”莫尔问，他和珠儿抱着一袋袋橡子，从敞开的窗户跳回迈克尔的房间。 迈克尔意识到，在这第一个星期六的早晨，他再也睡不着了，他翻了个身，睁开了眼睛。 “你们喜欢足球吗？”他问。 “我没听说过，”珠儿回答。 莫尔摇了摇头。

"Come with me." Michael got out of bed and grabbed his soccer ball from the closet. If anything was going to drag him out of bed on a first Saturday when he should be sleeping, it might as well be soccer. He walked down the hallway, past the closed door of Jane's room. "Good morning, Mr. Nemesis!" Merle called through the door. "Meowwwrrr," Mr. Nemesis replied grumpily. Once in the living room, Michael began juggling the ball with his bare feet. He wasn't allowed to play soccer in the house, but with his dad at work and his mom and Jane on their way to a birthday party, he figured he could get away with it. Plus, he was still in his pajamas, so playing outside was not an option. "Soccer is a game where you can't touch the ball with your hands, so you have to be really good with your feet." Michael juggled the ball, getting 10 clean hits before it fell to the ground. "Nice!" Merle commented. "But what if you have four paws?" "Just use your bottom ones," Michael answered. Merle gave it a try. He got off a couple of hits before the ball sailed off his right paw and struck the side of the sofa.

“跟我来。”迈克尔下了床，从壁橱里抓起他的足球。 如果在第一个周六他本该睡觉的时候，有什么东西能把他从床上拖起来，那最好是足球。 他走过走廊，经过简关着的房门。 “早上好，宿敌先生！”莫尔隔着门喊道。 “喵——呜——呜，”涅梅西斯先生暴躁地回答。 一进客厅，迈克尔就开始光着脚颠球。 他不被允许在家里踢足球，但他爸爸在上班，他妈妈和简在去生日派对的路上，他想他可以逃脱惩罚。 另外，他还穿着睡衣，所以不能在外面玩。 “足球是一项你不能用手触球的运动，所以你必须非常擅长用脚。” 迈克尔杂耍球，在球落地前干净利落地命中了10次。 “好!”默尔说。“但是如果你有四只爪子呢？”“就用你的屁股吧。”迈克尔回答。 梅尔试了试。他打了几下球，然后球从他的右爪上飞出去，击中了沙发的侧面。

"Good try," Michael said. "Watch this!" He began juggling again, bouncing the ball high in the air. Pearl glanced around the room, noting all the items that could potentially be damaged by a flying soccer ball. "Wouldn't it be better to do this outside?" she asked. "You sound like my mom!" Michael laughed as he passed 15 hits. Feeling more confident, he bounced the ball higher. "My record is 50!" "But don't you think you might—?" Before Pearl could finish her thought, the ball bounced off the side of Michael's left foot and struck the top of his mom's prized ceramic elephant table. The table teetered over and fell onto the hard wood floor, followed by the lamp sitting on top of it.

“干得好，”迈克尔说。“看这个!”他又开始玩杂耍，把球弹到空中。 珀尔环视了一下房间，注意到所有可能被飞行的足球损坏的物品。 “在外面做不是更好吗？”她问。 “你说话像我妈妈！”迈克尔笑了，因为他命中了15次。 感觉更有信心了，他把球弹得更高了。 “我的记录是50!”“但是你不认为你可以——？”珀尔还没来得及想完，球就从迈克尔的左脚侧面弹了起来，撞到了他妈妈那张珍贵的陶瓷大象桌的顶部。 桌子摇摇晃晃地倒在了硬木地板上，桌子上的台灯也跟着倒了下去。

The wooden lamp was unharmed, its shade bent slightly. But the elephant table was in about 100 pieces. "Oh no!" Michael gasped. "Is that bad?" Merle asked. "It's worse than bad," Michael said. And just like that, Michael had two large problems to deal with: his dad finding out about the squirrels and his mom finding out about her busted elephant. So much for a relaxing first Saturday.

木灯完好无损，灯罩微微弯曲。 但那张大象桌子有大约100块。 “哦,不!”迈克尔气喘吁吁地说。“那不好吗？”默尔问道。 “糟透了，”迈克尔说。 就像这样，迈克尔有两个大问题要处理：他爸爸发现松鼠的事，他妈妈发现她的大象被撞坏了。 第一个放松的周六到此为止了。