10. The Toe-Tapping Trick

Chapter 10 The Toe-Tapping Trick It was warm and sunny on Saturday morning. That was a good thing. Because I didn't need to wear my sweater. And because when Martin brought Edward over, Martin wasn't wearing my sweater. His sweater, I mean. "I'll pick Edward up after my tuba lesson," Martin said. I took Edward's leash.

星期六的早晨，天气温暖，阳光明媚。 这是一件好事。因为我不需要穿毛衣。 因为马丁带爱德华过来的时候，他没穿我的毛衣。 我是说他的毛衣。“我上完大号课就去接爱德华，”马丁说。 我拿走了爱德华的皮带。

"Hey, did you know that sweater has 'I love you' written on the right sleeve in teensy yellow letters?" Martin asked. "No," I said quietly. "And I found a mouse and a raccoon on it," Martin said. "That's not a mouse," I said. "It's a possum. My grandma and grandpa have a possum family living in their backyard." "It's a great sweater," Martin said. "I wish Edward had one so we could match." Today Edward was wearing a green T-shirt. It said "World's Smartest Dog" on it. "Almost forgot," Martin said. He pulled Frog on a Log out of his backpack. "That's okay," I said. "I have a book he'll like even better. It's Goofy's favorite. Bad Cat Goes to the Vet."

“嘿，你知道那件毛衣的右边袖子上用小黄字写着‘我爱你’吗?”马丁问道。 “不，”我平静地说。“我在上面发现了一只老鼠和一只浣熊，”马丁说。 “那不是老鼠，”我说。 “这是一只负鼠。我爷爷奶奶的后院住着一家负鼠。” “这是一件很棒的毛衣，”马丁说。 “我希望爱德华也有一个，这样我们就可以配对了。” 今天爱德华穿着一件绿色的t恤。 上面写着"世界上最聪明的狗" “差点忘了，”马丁说。 他从背包里掏出了一只木头上的青蛙。 “没关系，”我说。“我有一本书，他会更喜欢的。 这是高飞的最爱。坏猫去看兽医。”

"Well, there's something I need to tell you," Martin said. He made a throat noise. "See, Edward can't exactly read." "What do you mean?" I asked. What about my trophy? I was thinking. "It's a trick. I just signal him how many times to bark," Martin said. "I count the words on a page. Then I tap my foot. If it says, 'Jump, frog, jump!' then I tap my foot three times. And Edward barks three times." "So it only looks like he's reading," I said. "Oh." I was disappointed. I sort of liked believing dogs could read. Also I could see how I'd been a little hard on Goofy. "You'd better stick with Frog on a Log since Edward is used to it. It's a cool trick," Martin said.

“嗯，我有件事要告诉你，”马丁说。 他发出喉咙的声音。“你看，爱德华根本不识字。” “你是什么意思?”我问。 我的奖杯怎么办?我在想。 “这是个骗局。我只是示意它叫几次，”马丁说。 “我数着一页纸上的字。 然后我敲我的脚。如果它说，“跳，青蛙，跳!”然后我用脚敲了三下。 爱德华叫了三声。” “所以他只是看起来在看书，”我说。 “哦。”我很失望。我有点喜欢相信狗会读书。 我也意识到我对高飞有点苛刻。 “你最好还是坚持叫‘青蛙在木头上’，因为爱德华已经习惯了。 这是一个很酷的把戏，”马丁说。

"I'm sure you guys will win." Martin patted Edward's poodle pompom. "Be sure he gets plenty of water," he said. "He likes springwater. Cold. But not too cold." "Goofy likes toilet water," I said. "He's very open-minded." "He's a nice dog," Martin said. Goofy licked Edward. Then he licked Martin. Then he licked me. "Yes," I said. "He really is."

“我相信你们会赢的。” 马丁拍了拍爱德华的狮子狗。 “一定要给他喝足够的水，”他说。 “他喜欢泉水。冷。 但不要太冷。”“高飞喜欢花露水，”我说。 “他思想非常开放。”“它是条好狗，”马丁说。 高飞舔了舔爱德华。然后他舔了舔马丁。 然后他舔了舔我。“是的，”我说。 “他真的是。”

Dad drove me and Edward to the contest. I'd told him and Mom a teensy little fib about why I was taking Edward instead of Goofy. I said Martin had to go to his tuba lesson. So he couldn't take Edward to the contest. Which was true. Then I said I was doing Martin a favor. Because he really wanted Edward in the show, so he asked me to help out. That part was not so true. Mom and Max and Hazel were coming to the show later. But I had to get there early to sign up. "I'll say this for you, Edward," Dad said as we parked. "You sure smell better than Goofy." "I think he's wearing doggie perfume, Dad," I said.

爸爸开车送我和爱德华去比赛。 我对他和妈妈撒了个小谎，告诉他们为什么我要带上爱德华而不是高飞。 我说马丁得去上大号课了。 所以他不能带爱德华去比赛。 这是真的。然后我说我是在帮马丁的忙。 因为他真的很想让爱德华出演，所以他让我帮忙。 这部分不太真实。 妈妈、麦克斯和黑兹尔稍后会来看演出。 但我得早点去报名。 “我跟你说，爱德华，”我们停车时爸爸说。 “你闻起来比高飞好多了。” “我想他喷了狗狗香水，爸爸，”我说。

The contest was in a park by the street fair. Dogs and kids were everywhere. We walked over to a long table covered with paper and pencils. Dad helped me fill out a form so I could enter the contest. A lady gave me a number to pin to my shirt. It was 13. "Thirteen is not very lucky," I said. "Could be your lucky number today," the lady said. "What's your dog's name?" I started to say, "He's not my dog." But instead I just said, "Edward." As we walked toward the big field, Dad said, "Goofy looked a little forlorn as we drove away." "What's forlorn?" I asked. "It's how you feel when you think your boy doesn't like you anymore."

比赛在集市旁的公园举行。 到处都是狗和孩子。 我们走到一张放满纸和铅笔的长桌旁。 爸爸帮我填了一张表格，这样我就可以参加比赛了。 一位女士给了我一个号码，让我别在衬衫上。 是13。“13不是很幸运，”我说。 “可能是你今天的幸运号码，”女士说。 “你的狗叫什么名字?”我开始说:“他不是我的狗。” 但我只是说，“爱德华。” 当我们向那块大田野走去时，爸爸说:“我们开车离开的时候，高飞看起来有点孤独。” “孤独是什么?”我问。 “当你觉得你的儿子不再喜欢你时，你就是这种感觉。”