Chapter 9

Chapter nine After lunch, we went back to class. Ms. Flowers had moved all the desks into a wide semicircle, so we had the entire center of the room to rehearse our play. "Let's have all people playing books stand on the left," she said, "and everyone else on the right." I followed her directions. "No, Hank," Ms. Flowers said. "You're supposed to be on the right." "I know," I answered. "That's where I am." "Hank, you are on the left side," she explained. "Do you know which way is left and which is right?" "I always guess, and every now and then

第九章午饭后，我们回到教室。 弗劳尔斯女士把所有的桌子都移成了一个大半圆形，这样我们就有了整个房间的中央来排练我们的剧本。 “让所有玩书的人站在左边，”她说，“其他人站在右边。” 我按照她的指示去做。 “不，汉克，”弗劳尔斯说。 “你应该在右边。” “我知道，”我回答。“这就是我所在的地方。” “汉克，你在左边，”她解释说。 “你知道哪条路是左，哪条是右吗？”“我总是猜，而且时不时地猜

I'm right." "Well, not this time, Zipperfang," McKelty said with a snort. "Only a birdbrain doesn't know right from left." "You better not ruffle the feathers of this bird, McKelty!" I shot back. Everyone laughed, and I felt pretty good about that. The score: Hank Zipzer, one. Nick McKelty, zero. Ms. Flowers led me to my place. Then Frankie sat down at a table she had put in the center of the circle. "You may begin reading your lines," she said to him. "Remember that you are alone in the library, and it's late at night." Frankie yawned and stretched. "'The library is so dark and quiet when everyone is gone,'" he read. "'It feels like a magical place where anything could happen.'" He put his head down on the table and pretended to fall asleep. "'I wonder if I'll dream about books,'" he muttered, just before he closed his eyes.

我是对的。”“好吧，这次不是了，Zipperfang，”麦凯尔蒂哼了一声说。 “只有笨蛋才分不清左右。” “你最好别弄乱这只鸟的羽毛，麦凯尔蒂！”我反驳道。 每个人都笑了，我感觉很好。 比分：汉克·齐泽尔，一分。 尼克·麦凯尔蒂，零分。弗劳尔斯女士带我去了我家。 然后弗兰基在她放在圆圈中心的一张桌子旁坐了下来。 “你可以开始读你的台词了，”她对他说。 “记住，你一个人在图书馆里，而且已经很晚了。” 弗兰基打了个哈欠，伸了个懒腰。 “‘大家都走了，图书馆又黑又安静，’”他念道。 “感觉就像一个神奇的地方，任何事情都可能发生。’”他把头放在桌子上，假装睡着了。 “‘我不知道我会不会梦见书。’”他在闭上眼睛之前喃喃地说。

"Excellent," Ms. Flowers said. "Remember to say your lines loud enough so everyone can hear you. And now, all the children who are playing books start to come alive. Think about the title of your book, and then come up with the way you would move." Instantly, Ashley went into her zombie walk. McKelty flapped his arms and started to buzz like Aqua Fly. Luke threw his arms over his head and pretended he was an erupting volcano. I was standing next to Luke, and let me tell you, this volcano never showered. When his arms went over his head, his armpits smelled like rotten bananas.

“太好了，”弗劳尔斯说。 记得大声说台词，这样每个人都能听到。 现在，所有玩书的孩子都开始活跃起来。 想想你的书名，然后想出你的行动方式。” 艾希礼立刻开始了她的僵尸步。 麦凯尔蒂拍打着手臂，开始像水蝇一样嗡嗡作响。 卢克把双臂举过头顶，假装自己是一座正在喷发的火山。 我站在卢克旁边，让我告诉你，这座火山从来没有淋浴过。 当他的手臂越过头顶时，他的腋窝闻起来像腐烂的香蕉。

My nose started to twitch. The hairs inside felt like they were curling up into little hair balls. Without even thinking, I moved away from him and found myself in the middle of the circle. "Hank," Ms. Flowers said. "You're playing a bookmark. You're supposed to be in the books, not in front of them."

我的鼻子开始抽动。 里面的头发感觉像是卷成小毛球。 我想都没想就离开了他，发现自己站在了圈子的中央。 “汉克，”弗劳尔斯说。“你在玩书签。 你应该在书里，而不是在书面前。”

"But I'm a bookmark with a lot of personality," I said. Everyone laughed again, so I started to think about what a bookmark with a lot of personality would do. He wouldn't just sit between the pages of a book. Maybe he would wiggle his way to another page. You know, like a worm crawling around on the ground. As soon as that thought popped into my brain, I dropped to the floor. My body was off and wiggling across the stage area.

“但我是一个很有个性的书签，”我说。 大家又笑了起来，于是我开始思考，一个有个性的书签会有什么用。 他不会只是坐在书页之间。 也许他会翻到另一页。 就像在地上爬来爬去的虫子。 这个想法一进入我的脑海，我就倒在了地板上。 我的身体在舞台上扭动着。

"What are you doing, Hank?" Ms. Flowers said with a smile. I guess she had never seen a bookmark flopping across her classroom before. "I am looking for my place in the best book," I said. "Well then, wiggle on over to me," Ashley said. "Zombies are always fun to read about." I twisted and squirmed and rolled all the way over to Ashley. Everybody in class was cracking up. Even Ms. Flowers couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You're not going to put that stupid wiggling junk in the play, are you?" McKelty grumbled. His face was as red as a radish. "Are you kidding?" Frankie said to him. "Hank is being really funny." "But he's not supposed to be funny," McKelty answered. "Besides, the parents are here to see me in the play. I'm the star."

“你在干什么，汉克？”Ms。 花儿笑着说。 我猜她以前从来没有见过一个书签在她的教室里乱扔。 “我在寻找我在最好的书里的位置，”我说。 “好吧，那就到我这儿来吧，"艾希礼说。 “僵尸的故事读起来总是很有趣。” 我扭动着，扭动着，一路滚到艾希礼身边。 班上的每个人都大笑起来。 就连弗劳尔斯也忍不住笑了起来。 “你不会把那个愚蠢的扭来扭去的东西放进戏里吧？”McKelty咕哝道。 他的脸红得像个萝卜。 “你在开玩笑吧？”弗兰基对他说。 “汉克真的很有趣。” “但他不应该是有趣的，”麦凯尔蒂回答。 “此外，父母是来看我演戏的。 我是明星。”