5 Dodgeball and Electric Eels

CHAPTER FIVE DODGEBALL AND ELECTRIC EELS GYM CAME RIGHT after lunch. It was a dodgeball day. You know what dodgeball is, right? It's when two classes run around and throw balls at each other. Mr. Gumposer (we call him Mr. Bulldozer) picked Katie Cunningham and Burt Glass to be captains. They chose the teams. Katie picked Rosie first, which was kind of weird because Rosie isn't very good. In the first couple of minutes of the game, Rosie,

第五章闪避球和电鳗健身房就在午饭后。 这是一个躲避球的日子。你知道躲避球是什么吧？ 就是两个班跑来跑去，互相扔球。 甘珀斯先生（我们称他为推土机先生）选择凯蒂·坎宁安和伯特·格拉斯担任队长。 他们选择球队。凯蒂先选了罗西，这有点奇怪，因为罗西不太好。 在比赛开始的几分钟里，罗西，

Simon, and I all got hit. We were the first three out. We did it on purpose—we had things to talk about. We sat together near the stacked gym mats by the basketball hoop. "Okay," I said, looking around at the fifty-seven remaining kids playing dodgeball. "Anybody have any ideas?" Rosie shook her head, but Simon spoke up quickly. "I came up with something," he said confidently. "Awesome," I said. "Let's hear it." "Okay, we need a light that's big and bright to attract lots of fireflies, right?" Simon asked quickly. He talked fast. He had that glazy look in his eyes.

西蒙和我都被击中了。我们是前三个出来的。 我们是故意这样做的——我们有事情要谈。 我们一起坐在篮筐旁边的体操垫旁边。 “好吧，”我说，看着周围57个正在玩躲避球的孩子。 “有人有什么想法吗？”罗茜摇了摇头，但西蒙很快就说了出来。 “我想到了一些东西，”他自信地说。 “太棒了，”我说。“让我们听听。” “好吧，我们需要一盏又大又亮的灯来吸引很多萤火虫，对吧？”西蒙赶紧问。 他说得很快。他的眼神呆滞。

Rosie and I nodded. Ten more kids had been hit in dodgeball. "Okay, we go to the city zoo," Simon began. "When we get there, we head straight to the electric eel tank in the Sea Life exhibit. When nobody's watching, I'll climb up to the top of the tank. Will you two hold my ankles so I don't fall in?" We said we would—although I could tell Rosie, like me, was a little worried about where Simon's idea was going. "Great, thanks," he said and continued. He spoke even faster. "I'll reach into the tank and grab an electric eel. We'll hurry home and put it in a bucket of water in Molly's backyard. It will light up! Electric eels are real bright, I think. Then all the fireflies in the surrounding area will be like, 'Hey, look at that crazy- big light down there in Molly's yard! Let's go check it out!' There you go. Problem solved."

罗西和我点了点头。又有十个孩子在躲避球比赛中被击中。 “好吧，我们去城市动物园，”西蒙开始说。 “当我们到达那里时，我们直接前往海洋生物展览中的电鳗箱。 没人看的时候，我就爬到水箱顶上。 你们俩能抓住我的脚踝，免得我掉下去吗？”我们说好了，不过我能看出来，罗西和我一样，有点担心西蒙的主意会怎样。 “太好了，谢谢。”他说，接着说。 他说得更快了。“我要把手伸进水箱里，抓一条电鳗。 我们赶紧回家，把它放在莫莉家后院的一桶水里。 它会亮起来的！我觉得电鳗很亮。 然后周围所有的萤火虫都会说，“嘿，看看莫利院子里那个疯狂的大光！”我们去看看吧！”好了。 问题解决了。”

I looked out at the dodgeball game. Half the kids had been eliminated. We were running out of time. "Umm, Simon," I said. "It's a great idea and everything, but—" I didn't say anything else. Because Rosie interrupted me. "You can't grab an electric eel!" she yelled. The dodgeball game was loud, so only Simon and I heard her.

我看着外面的躲避球比赛。 一半的孩子被淘汰了。 我们快没时间了。 “嗯，西蒙，”我说。“这是个好主意，但是——”我什么也没说。 因为罗茜打断了我。 “你抓不到电鳗！”她喊道。 躲避球比赛很吵，所以只有我和西蒙听到了她的声音。

"I can't?" "No!" Rosie exclaimed. "You'll get electrocuted!" "Oh," Simon said and paused. Apparently, he hadn't thought of that. "Right. Umm, bad idea." "Plus, it needs to be firefly light," I reminded him. "It's not just any light that fireflies are attracted to. It's

“我不能?”“不!”罗西喊道。 “你会触电的！”“哦，”西蒙说，停顿了一下。 显然，他没有想到这一点。 “正确。嗯，坏主意。”“另外，它需要萤火虫的光芒。”我提醒他。 “萤火虫并不是被任何光线吸引的。 这是