6. Great-Aunt Imogene to the Rescue

Chapter 6 Great-Aunt Imogene to the Rescue The next morning at school, Coco had on her pink Walkie-Talkies. Hassan had on his blue lightning Walkie-Talkies. All the rest of us had on our usual, boring feet. Maya said, "My mom called six different shoe stores, but no luck. Everybody was sold out. They all said check back next week." "Everybody wants a pair, I guess," said Coco. She tied her right shoe while a bunch of us watched. I have never been jealous of shoe tying before. "I wore two pairs of socks so my blisters wouldn't hurt so much," Coco said. "But it's worth it." "I wore about twenty Band-Aids," Hassan agreed. "Talk to the shoe, Hassan," Coco directed. "Band-Aids," Hassan repeated into his left toe.

第六章伊莫金姨婆的救援第二天早上，可可在学校戴上了她的粉红色对讲机。 哈桑戴着他的蓝色闪电对讲机。 我们其余的人都穿着平常的无聊的脚。 玛雅说:“我妈妈给六家不同的鞋店打了电话，但都没有成功。 每个人的票都卖光了。他们都说下周再来看看。” “我想每个人都想要一双，”可可说。 她在我们一群人的注视下系好了右脚的鞋带。 我以前从来没有嫉妒过系鞋带。 “我穿了两双袜子，这样我的水泡就不会那么疼了，”可可说。 “但这是值得的。”“我贴了大约二十个创可贴。”哈桑同意道。 “跟鞋说话，哈桑，”可可指挥道。 “创可贴。”哈桑对着自己的左脚趾重复道。

"I asked my mom again if I could get some," Gus said. He sighed. "But she just said 'No means no, honey.' And then Babette spit up on her jeans." "My dad said something about singing underwear," I said. "What does that mean?" Gus asked. I watched Coco tie her other shoe. I sighed, just like Gus. "It means no in Dadspeak," I said. That afternoon after school, Max and I were in the front yard playing where-did-Goofy-bury-the-Frisbee-this-time. A big truck parked in front of the house. A man in a brown hat jumped out.

“我又问我妈能不能弄点，”格斯说。 他叹了口气。“但她只是说‘不就是不，亲爱的。’”然后巴贝特吐在了她的牛仔裤上。” “我爸爸说过关于唱歌内衣的事，”我说。 “这是什么意思?”格斯问道。 我看着可可系她的另一只鞋。 我叹了口气，就像格斯一样。“用爸爸的话来说就是不。”我说。 那天下午放学后，麦克斯和我在前院玩“高飞把飞盘埋在哪里”的游戏。 一辆大卡车停在房子前面。 一个戴棕色帽子的人跳了出来。

He was carrying a shoebox-sized package and a clipboard. "Is that for me?" I asked, because you never know. "That depends," he said. "Are you Master Roscoe Reginald Riley?" "That's me!" I cried. "Sign at the X, sir," he said. I wrote my name very carefully and took the package. "Who's that from?" Max asked. He looked at the return address. "Too bad," he said. I tried to read the handwriting. But it was full of loops and squiggles. "Why too bad?" I asked. "It's from Great-aunt Imogene," he said. "Tough luck, kid." Great-aunt Imogene has about two hundred great-nieces and great-nephews. Sometimes she gets us mixed up. She gets birthdays and holidays mixed up too. Last year she sent me an electric razor for Saint Patrick's Day. Which was very nice of her.

他拿着一个鞋盒大小的包裹和一个剪贴板。 “那是给我的吗?”我问，因为你永远不会知道。 “那得看情况，”他说。“您是罗斯科·雷金纳德·莱利少爷吗?”“那是我的!”我哭了。 “在X号处签名，先生，”他说。 我很仔细地写了我的名字，然后拿了包裹。 “谁寄来的?”马克斯问道。 他看了看寄信人的地址。 “太糟糕了，”他说。我试着辨认字迹。 但它满是圈圈和弯弯曲曲。 “为什么太糟糕了?”我问。“这是伊莫金姨妈送的，”他说。 “真倒霉，孩子。”姨婆伊莫金有大约200个侄孙和侄孙。 有时她会把我们搞混。 她也把生日和节日搞混了。 去年圣帕特里克节她送了我一把电动剃须刀。 她真是太好了。

Except that I am not doing a whole lot of shaving just yet. The year before that, she sent me a frilly pink ballet tutu. I gave it to Hazel. I tore open the box. Inside was a present wrapped in yellow paper. I opened the card attached to it. "Happy Fourteenth Birthday to Roscoe!" I read out loud. "With love and kisses from your Great-aunt Imogene." Which was also very nice of her. Except that my birthday was five and a half months away. And I will not exactly be fourteen for another eight years. "Oh, well," Max said with a big-brother grin. "Mom always says it's the thought that counts." "Remember that time she sent Hazel boxing gloves?" I asked. "And Hazel was only two weeks old?" I crossed my fingers. Maybe there were boxing gloves in the box. That would be a big improvement over a tutu. I tore off a little paper.

不过我现在还不怎么刮胡子。 再往前一年，她送了我一件粉红色的褶边芭蕾短裙。 我把它给了海瑟。我撕开了盒子。 里面是一份用黄色纸包着的礼物。 我打开了附在上面的卡片。 “罗斯科14岁生日快乐!”我大声朗读。 “你的姨婆伊莫金爱你，吻你。” 她人也很好。 除了我的生日还有五个半月。 再过8年我就不是14岁了。 “哦，好吧，”麦克斯带着大哥的笑容说。 “妈妈总是说，心意最重要。” “还记得那次她送海柔拳击手套吗?”我问。 “而海柔尔只有两周大?”我交叉着手指。 也许盒子里有拳击手套。 这可比芭蕾舞裙好多了。 我撕下一张小纸。

I saw a big W on the box. I tore off a little more. I saw a big T. No way. It couldn't be. I was afraid to hope. I closed my eyes and tore off the rest of the paper.

我看到盒子上有一个大大的W。我又撕下了一点。 我看到一个大t，不可能。不可能。 我不敢抱有希望。我闭上眼睛，把剩下的纸撕了下来。

"Whoa," Max said. "Double whoa. Triple whoa." I opened my eyes. I would have whoaed along with Max. But I was too busy screaming for joy. It was a miracle. There was no other way to explain it. Great-aunt Imogene had sent me a pair of bright red, shiny, brand-new, right-size shoes. I had my very own Walkie-Talkies!

“哇，”马克斯说。“双哇。 三重哇。”我睁开眼睛。 我会和麦克斯一起去的。 但我忙着高兴得尖叫。 这是一个奇迹。没有别的办法来解释。 姨婆伊莫金送给我一双亮红色的、闪闪发光的、崭新的、尺码合适的鞋子。 我有了自己的对讲机!