Chapter 5

Chapter 5 WE ALL SOREAM FOR ICE CREAM, BUT MAYBE WE SHOULD USE OUR INSIDE VOICES. The giant spider was a creepy foe, to be sure. And Po had not loved being a target for the axolotls. But in the bright lights and open spaces of the real world, it was easy to let that stuff go. Besides, Po had a real-world hostile mob to worry about, and her name was Shelly Silver. And it was time to fight ice cream with ice cream. "I can't believe you brought a whole ice cream truck to school!" said Theo after the lunch bell rang the next day. He was clearly impressed. One down, thought Po. About four hundred more students to go. "It's my cousin's truck," explained Po. "She's in high school, and she sells ice cream on the weekends. And she owed me a favor."

我们都梦想着吃冰淇淋，但也许我们应该用内心的声音。 毫无疑问，这只大蜘蛛是个令人毛骨悚然的敌人。 阿宝也不喜欢成为蝾螈的目标。 但在现实世界的明亮灯光和开放空间中，很容易让那些东西离开。 此外，阿宝还要担心现实世界中的敌对暴徒，而她的名字叫雪莉·西尔弗。 是时候用冰淇淋来对抗冰淇淋了。 “我真不敢相信你把一整辆冰淇淋车带到学校来了！”第二天午餐铃响后，西奥说。 他显然被打动了。一只下来了，阿宝想。 还有大约400名学生要去。 “这是我表哥的卡车，”阿宝解释说。 “她在上高中，她在周末卖冰淇淋。 她欠我一个人情。”

"That's a pretty big favor," said Theo. "What did you do, save her cat or something?" "I fainted," said Po. "Or I pretended to." He smiled at the memory. "We were at a family wedding, and she was desperate to leave early. So I pretended to have a little fainting spell. She rushed to my 'rescue' and drove me home, which got her out of there—and made her look like a hero at the same time." He put his hand to his head and groaned as he slumped in his wheelchair. After a pausing a moment for dramatic effect, he added, "See. I told you guys I'm a good actor." "But what kind of politician are you?" asked Harper, giving him a quick eye roll before getting down to business. "Giving out ice cream to the whole student body is a good way to get everyone's attention. But what are your policies, your ideas?" Theo added, "You should use this opportunity to actually inform everybody about your platform." "Platform?" echoed Po. "You know," said Harper. "What kind of changes will you make if you're elected? What promises are you

“这可是个大忙，”西奥说。 “你做了什么，救了她的猫还是怎么的？”“我晕过去了，”阿宝说。 “或者我是假装的。”回想起来，他笑了。 “我们当时在参加一个家庭婚礼，她非常想早点离开。 所以我假装有点晕厥。 她冲过来‘救我’，开车送我回家，这让她离开了那里——同时也让她看起来像个英雄。” 他把手放在头上，瘫坐在轮椅上呻吟着。 为了达到戏剧效果，他停顿了一下，接着说：“你看。 我告诉过你们我是个好演员。” “但你是什么样的政治家？”哈珀问，在进入正题之前，他快速地翻了个白眼。 “向全体学生分发冰淇淋是吸引大家注意的好方法。 但你的政策是什么，你的想法是什么？”Theo补充道：“你应该利用这个机会让所有人都了解你的平台。” “站台？”阿宝附和道。“你知道，”哈珀说。 “如果你当选，你会做出什么样的改变？” 你有什么承诺？

making? Why are you a better candidate than Shelly Silver?" "Um…," said Po. "Well, my ice cream is soft serve, which is way better than those little cups." Harper frowned. "You need to give some thought to this, Po." "She has a point," said Theo, nodding in agreement with Harper. "If you don't have a plan for being president…if you don't have a reason why people should vote for you…then all of this is just a popularity contest." "I love popularity contests!" said Po. He saw Theo and Harper exchange a worried look. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll think about what you just said. Consider that my first campaign promise." He pressed the button for the automatic door that led out of the school. "But right now, I need to make sure my cousin does her part." Po's cousin, Hope, was in position and ready to go. She had parked her ice cream truck right

在做什么?为什么你比雪莉·西尔弗更合适？”“嗯……”阿宝说。 “嗯，我的冰淇淋是软的，比那些小杯子好多了。” 哈珀皱起了眉头。“你得好好考虑一下，阿宝。” “她说得有道理。”西奥点头表示同意哈珀的观点。 “如果你没有成为总统的计划……如果你没有一个人们应该投票给你的理由……那么所有这一切都只是一场人气竞赛。” “我喜欢人气竞赛！”阿宝说。 他看见西奥和哈珀交换了一个担心的眼神。 “别担心，”他说。“我会考虑你刚才说的话。 这是我的第一个竞选承诺。” 他按下了通往学校外面的自动门的按钮。 “但现在，我需要确保我的表妹尽她的职责。” 阿宝的表妹霍普已经就位，准备出发了。 她把冰淇淋车停对了

across the street, outside Stonesword Library. Po wheeled up to the truck and greeted his cousin with a high five. "Hey, Hope," he said. "Thanks for doing this." "Anything for you, little cousin," said Hope. "Especially since you'll owe me big-time." "I figured we'd be even," said Po. Hope chuckled. "That's cute," she said. "But this is a lot of ice cream, we've got two family weddings coming up, and I've had enough Chen family country line dances for this lifetime."

就在街对面，石字图书馆外面。 阿宝走到卡车前，和他的表弟击掌致意。 “嘿，霍普，”他说。“谢谢你这么做。” “愿意为你做任何事，小表弟，”喜旺说。 “尤其是你欠我一个大人情。” “我想我们扯平了，”阿宝说。 希望咯咯地笑了。“太可爱了，”她说。 “但冰淇淋太多了，我们家还有两场婚礼要举行，我这辈子已经看够了陈家的乡村排舞了。”

Po couldn't argue with that. His grandparents really liked to get down. It could be weird. "Hey, Po!" said a voice. It was Morgan, wearing a bright orange vest over his T-shirt. Despite the sunny outfit, he looked deeply tired. "Everything's all approved," said Morgan. "It took me most of the night, but I finished the paperwork to get you on the ballot and the paperwork that allows you to give out ice cream." He stifled a yawn. "The only catch is that we need a crossing guard to make sure students can safely cross the street between the school and the library."

阿宝对此无可辩驳。 他的祖父母真的很喜欢下来。 可能会很奇怪。“嘿，阿宝！”一个声音说。 是摩根，在t恤外面穿了一件亮橙色的背心。 尽管他穿着阳光的衣服，但他看起来很疲惫。 “一切都批准了，”摩根说。 “我花了大半夜的时间，但我完成了让你参加投票的文书工作，以及允许你分发冰淇淋的文书工作。” 他强忍住呵欠。“唯一的问题是我们需要一个十字路口的警卫，以确保学生可以安全地穿过学校和图书馆之间的街道。”

"And you volunteered?" asked Po, understanding now why Morgan was wearing the vest. "Thanks, Morgan. You're the best! When I'm president, I'm totally making you my second-in-command." "You know that's not how it works, right?" Morgan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "There's a whole separate election for vice president. And for class secretary, and treasurer…" "So many rules," said Po. "You can tell me all about it later. Right now, I've got an announcement to make." Po pulled a brand-new megaphone from his backpack, and he held it to his lips. "Free ice cream for all Woodsword students!" he bellowed. "Come and get it. And vote for me, Po!" Morgan winced at the noise, then hurried to stand at the crosswalk. The school lawn was full of students who had taken their lunches outside. They all perked up at Po's announcement. Most of them stood and stepped forward, drawn by the promise of free dessert. "Here they come, Hope," said Po. And then, into the megaphone again: "Vote for Po! Vote for Po!"

“你是自愿的吗？”阿宝问，现在他明白摩根为什么要穿背心了。 “谢谢,摩根。你是最棒的！如果我当上总统，我绝对会让你做我的副手。” “你知道不是这样的，对吧？”摩根捏着鼻梁说。 “副总统的选举是完全独立的。 还有班书记、司库……”“这么多规矩，”阿宝说。 “你以后再告诉我吧。 现在，我要宣布一件事。” 阿宝从背包里拿出一个全新的扩音器，放到嘴边。 “所有的林剑学生都有免费的冰淇淋！”他吼道。 “来拿吧。投我一票吧，阿宝！”摩根听到声音畏缩了一下，然后赶紧站在人行横道上。 学校的草坪上挤满了把午餐带出去吃的学生。 听到阿宝的通告，他们都兴奋起来。 他们中的大多数人被免费甜点的承诺所吸引，站起来向前走。 “他们来了，喜旺。”阿宝说。 然后，又对着扩音器说：“投阿宝一票！投阿宝一票！”