12. Crutching

Chapter 12 Crutching I crutched into class. Everybody stared at me as I made my way to my desk. I showed all the kids how to use my crutches. I told them about my busted body. And how I'd have to miss the talent show. I didn't look at Emma when I said that part. While I let some of the other kids try my crutches, Emma came over.

我一拐一拐地走进教室。 当我走向我的办公桌时，每个人都盯着我。 我教所有的孩子怎么用我的拐杖。 我跟他们说了我的尸体。 我还得错过才艺表演。 我说那部分的时候没有看艾玛。 当我让其他孩子试我的拐杖时，艾玛走了过来。

"I'm really sorry about your accident," she said. "Does it hurt a lot?" "Not so much," I said. "I'm sad about the show, though." "I really wanted to dance for Mrs. Herman," Emma said. "Wait a minute, Emma," I said. "Just because I can't dance doesn't mean that you shouldn't." Emma sighed. "How can I be a dancing elephant and a dancing mouse? It will look silly." "No it won't!" I said. I felt pretty bad. I never thought that my crutches would keep Emma from dancing. And I knew how much she liked Mrs. Herman. "Come on, Emma," I said. "You can do it!" "I guess I could just dance the mouse part," Emma said.

“对于你的意外，我真的很抱歉，”她说。 “疼吗?”“没那么多，”我说。 “不过，我对这部剧感到难过。” “我真的很想为赫尔曼夫人跳舞，”艾玛说。 “等一下，艾玛，”我说。 “就因为我不会跳舞，不代表你不应该跳舞。” 艾玛叹了口气。“我怎样才能成为跳舞的大象和跳舞的老鼠呢?” 那会看起来很傻。”“不，不会的!”我说。 我感觉很糟糕。我从没想过我的拐杖会阻止艾玛跳舞。 我知道她有多喜欢赫尔曼夫人。 “来吧，艾玛，”我说。“你能行的!”“我想我可以只跳老鼠的部分，”艾玛说。

"That's great!" I said. "I mean—you'll be great!" Emma looked at me a long time. She has black, smart eyes. They're the kind of eyes that can see inside you. Just like a doctor with an X-ray machine. By afternoon time, I was kind of tired of those crutches. After a while with those pokey sticks, your armpits get awfully sore. It took me a long time to crutch to the talent show in the auditorium. Right in front of the stage there was a big table with flowers and cookies on it. Mrs. Herman was sitting there.

“太好了!”我说。“我是说——你会很棒的!”艾玛盯着我看了很久。 她有一双聪明的黑眼睛。 它们是那种能看到你内心的眼睛。 就像医生拿着x光机一样。 到了下午，我有点厌倦了那些拐杖。 用了一段时间后，你的腋窝会非常疼。 我花了很长时间拄着拐杖去看礼堂里的才艺表演。 舞台正前方有一张大桌子，上面放着鲜花和饼干。 赫尔曼夫人坐在那里。

"My goodness, Roscoe," she said as I crutched past. "What on earth happened to you?" "I busted my body," I said. Mrs. Herman gave me a gentle hug. "You watch yourself, you old rascal." I nodded. I didn't know what to say.

“我的天哪，罗斯科，”我拄着拐杖走过时她说。 “你到底发生了什么事?”“我累坏了我的身体，”我说。 赫尔曼夫人轻轻地拥抱了我一下。 “你给我小心点，你这个老流氓。” 我点了点头。我不知道该说什么。

It felt like a cheating hug I didn't really deserve. "You watch your old rascal self too," I said at last. Ms. Diz showed us the row of chairs where our class was going to sit. "Those of you who are going to be in the talent show, follow me backstage," she said. Thomas and Coco and Emma started to go. Thomas was going to whistle "Skip to My Lou" on his skateboard. And Coco was going to sing a Raffi song.

这感觉就像一个我不应该得到的欺骗拥抱。 最后我说:“你也要注意你以前的无赖样子。” 迪兹老师给我们看了我们班将要坐的那排椅子。 “那些将要参加才艺表演的人，跟我到后台来，”她说。 托马斯、可可和艾玛开始走了。 托马斯要在滑板上吹"跳到我的路" 可可要唱一首拉菲的歌。

Coco does not sing very in tune. But she makes up for it with loudness. I started to follow Emma backstage. "Roscoe," said Ms. Diz. "You can stay here, since you're not going to be dancing." "But what if Emma gets nervous or something?" I asked. "All right, then." Ms. Diz waved for me to come along. Slowly I crutched my way up to the stage. Behind the giant red curtain, lots of kids were warming up for their acts. Emma tied on her tap shoes. She'd brought mine along too. "They were in your cubby," she said. "I don't know why I brought them. Guess I was hoping for a miracle cure."

可可唱得不太准。 但她用声音来弥补。 我开始跟着艾玛到后台。 “罗斯科，”迪斯说。“你可以待在这里，因为你不会跳舞。” “但如果艾玛紧张了怎么办?”我问。 “那好吧。”迪兹女士挥手让我过去。 我慢慢地拄着拐杖走上舞台。 在巨大的红色幕布后面，许多孩子正在为他们的表演做热身。 艾玛系上踢踏舞鞋。 她把我的也带来了。 “它们在你的柜子里，”她说。 “我不知道我为什么要带它们来。 我想我是在期待奇迹的治愈。”