13. Twinkles and Clomps

Chapter 13 Twinkles and Clomps Finally it was time. The CD player came on with our "Mice and Elephants" music. The curtain opened. Emma swallowed. Then she tapped across the stage. I leaned on my crutches and crossed my fingers. The music was loud and echoey.

第十三章闪闪发光的糖果终于到了。 CD播放机播放了我们的《老鼠和大象》音乐。 窗帘拉开了。艾玛吞下。 然后她在舞台上轻拍。 我拄着拐杖，交叉着手指。 音乐响亮而有回声。

Boy, that was a giant audience. From the stage, it looked like a monster with too many heads. When the tinkly mouse part of the music played, Emma made teensy tapping steps. She even smiled a little.

天啊，观众可真多。 从舞台上看，它就像一个长了很多头的怪物。 当音乐中叮当作响的鼠标部分响起时，艾玛轻轻地拍了几下。 她甚至微微一笑。

When the elephant part of the music played, Emma just stood there. Waiting. Since I wasn't there to stomp. To tell you the truth, it did look just a little bit silly. You could tell an elephant was supposed to be on the stage too.

当音乐播放大象的部分时，艾玛只是站在那里。 等待。因为我不在那里跺脚。 说实话，这看起来确实有点傻。 你可以看出舞台上也应该有一头大象。

The elephant stomping part stopped. The tinkly music came back. And Emma started dancing her mouse part again. She was tapping her heart out. Being the very best mouse she could be. And I was hiding behind a curtain. Being a chicken. The elephant music came back. Emma stopped tapping. She wasn't smiling anymore. In fact, she looked a little sad. I could hear kids whispering, and I thought about the big boys watching Emma dance all alone. Without an elephant in sight.

大象跺脚的部分停止了。 丁当的音乐又回来了。 艾玛又开始跳她的老鼠舞了。 她在敲打她的心脏。 尽她所能成为最好的老鼠。 我躲在帘子后面。 做个胆小鬼。大象的音乐又回来了。 艾玛停止了敲击。她不再笑了。 事实上，她看起来有点悲伤。 我能听到孩子们的窃窃私语，我想起了那些大男孩独自看着艾玛跳舞的情景。 看不到一头大象。

I dropped my crutches. I kicked off my sneakers. I shoved on my tap shoes. And I tapped right onto that stage. Emma stared at me. Her mouth made an O shape. I think maybe she was in chalk. That's when you can't believe what your eyes are saying. "I'm cured!" I whispered. "It's a miracle!" The elephant music played on. I clomped like a pro. The mouse music played. Emma twinkle-tapped like she'd been dancing forever.

我的拐杖掉在地上了。我踢掉了我的运动鞋。 我匆匆穿上踢踏舞鞋。然后我就跳上了舞台。 艾玛盯着我。她的嘴呈O形。 我想她可能是用粉笔写的。 那就是你无法相信眼睛所说的。 “我治好了!”我低声说。“真是个奇迹!”大象的音乐继续播放着。 我像个行家一样跺着脚。鼠标音乐响起。 艾玛跳着舞，就像跳了一辈子舞一样。

We tapped and clapped and twirled. I was so busy making noise with my feet, I forgot all about the big boys. I forgot all about my busted body and my broken left appendix. I forgot all about whether tap dancing was just for girls or just for boys or maybe just for everybody. I also forgot all about the edge of the stage. I twinkle-tapped right off that stage like a giant flying mouse-elephant-boy. I probably would have busted my whole body for real. If I'd landed on the floor. But lucky for me, old Mrs. Herman saved the day!

我们敲打、鼓掌、旋转。 我忙着用脚制造噪音，把那些大男孩都忘了。 我完全忘记了我受伤的身体和受伤的左阑尾。 我完全忘了踢踏舞是女孩的专属，还是男孩的专属，还是所有人的专属。 我也完全忘记了舞台的边缘。 我从舞台上一闪而过就像一个巨大的飞行老鼠大象男孩。 我可能真的会把我的整个身体都打碎。 如果我掉在地板上。 但幸运的是，赫尔曼太太救了我!