Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 After school, I hurried to the gym. I thought that being the first one at tryouts would impress Ms. Adolf. Maybe I couldn't dribble, but at least I could be on time. When I was halfway down the hall, I realized that my body felt awfully light. I looked over my shoulder and noticed that my backpack straps were missing. So was my backpack. I spun around and sprinted back to class. When I reached the door, my teacher, Ms. Flowers, was standing there holding my backpack out in front of her. She knows me so well. "Forget something?" she asked with a smile. "Thanks, Ms. Flowers," I said, taking the backpack and flinging it over my shoulder.

放学后，我匆匆赶往体育馆。 我以为成为选拔赛的第一人会给她留下好印象。 阿道夫。也许我不会运球，但至少我能准时到达。 当我走到一半的时候，我意识到我的身体感到非常轻。 我回头一看，发现背包的背带不见了。 我的背包也是。我转身跑回教室。 当我走到门口时，我的老师。 弗劳尔斯站在那里，把我的背包放在她面前。 她很了解我。“忘了什么吗？”她笑着问。 “谢谢，弗劳尔斯女士，”我说着，拿起背包，甩在肩上。

"By the way, Hank," she whispered. "Did you know your backpack smells strongly of pickles?" "Yeah, isn't it great? I sprinkle a little pickle juice in there sometimes, just to keep my nose happy." "You're an interesting boy," she said. "Thanks again," I shouted as I took off down the hall. When I got to the gym, I flew through the door. Unfortunately, Ms. Adolf was standing right in front of it, and I ran smack into her.

“顺便说一句，汉克，”她低声说。 “你知道你的背包里有一股泡菜味吗？”“是啊，很棒吧？” 我有时会在里面撒一点泡菜汁，只是为了让我的鼻子开心。” “你是个有趣的男孩，”她说。 “再次谢谢你。”我喊道，然后沿着走廊往前走。 当我到达健身房时，我飞快地穿过了门。 不幸的是，阿道夫女士就站在它前面，我撞到了她。

She didn't exactly fall down, but she stumbled forward a few steps, which made her blow her whistle really loud. The whole gym got quiet, waiting to see how mad she was going to get. She got pretty mad. "Of course it's you, Henry," she said, squinting at me with her beady gray eyes. "I'm sorry, Ms. Adolf. I didn't mean to knock you over." "But you did," she said. "Everyone else seems to have gotten here without creating an accident. And what is that terrible pickle odor?" "Garlic dills," I answered. "They're my favorite." "Perhaps you and your pickles can stand farther away," she said, holding her nose. I took a few steps back. It was then I noticed that Ms. Adolf was wearing shorts. My eyes almost popped out of my head. She isn't the kind of person who wears shorts. Her bony gray knees looked like they had never seen daylight before.

她并没有摔倒，但她跌跌撞撞地向前走了几步，这让她的哨子吹得很响。 整个健身房都安静下来，等着看她会有多生气。 她非常生气。“当然是你，亨利，”她说着，用她那明亮的灰色眼睛眯着眼睛看着我。 “对不起，阿道夫女士。我不是故意要把你撞倒的。” “但你做到了，”她说。“其他人似乎都没有发生事故。 那股可怕的泡菜味是什么？”“蒜头。”我回答。 “它们是我的最爱。”“也许你和你的泡菜可以站得远一点，”她捏着鼻子说。 我后退了几步。就在那时，我注意到。 阿道夫穿着短裤。我的眼睛都快跳出来了。 她不是那种穿短裤的人。 她那骨瘦如柴的灰色膝盖看上去从未见过阳光。

I looked around the room. Frankie and Ashley were sitting in the bleachers, and next to them were Heather Payne and Nick McKelty. There were five other second-graders waiting to try out for the team, just like me. "Based on their excellent performance in gym class, I have already chosen the following students for our team," Ms. Adolf said, reading from a clipboard. "Frankie Townsend, Ashley Wong, Heather Payne, and Nick McKelty." Nick McKelty! Why would anyone choose Nick the Tick? That guy moves like a dump truck. And besides, he's the worst sport in the world. Maybe he got picked because his head looks like a basketball, only with teeth. "Today, I will pick five more players to complete our team," Ms. Adolf said. "One to play on the main team, and the other four will serve as backup on the bench." "I'm really good at backing up," I said with a big smile. "I can walk backward from Ms. Flowers's classroom all the way to the water fountain."

我环顾了一下房间。弗兰基和艾希礼坐在露天看台上，他们旁边坐着希瑟·佩恩和尼克·麦克尔蒂。 还有五个二年级的学生和我一样等着参加选拔。 “鉴于他们在体育课上的出色表现，我已经为我们的团队选择了以下学生。” 阿道夫边说边读着写字板上的内容。 “Frankie Townsend, Ashley Wong， Heather Payne和Nick McKelty ” 尼克McKelty !为什么会有人选择扁虱尼克？ 那家伙走起路来像翻斗卡车。 而且，他是世界上最差劲的运动员。 也许他被选中是因为他的头长得像个篮球，只不过长了牙齿。 “今天，我将再挑选五名队员，让我们的队伍更加完整。” 阿道夫说。“其中一人将在主力阵容中出场，另外四人将在板凳席上担任替补。” “我真的很擅长倒车，”我笑着说。 “我可以从Ms。 花的教室一直到饮水机。”

Everyone in the bleachers howled. Well, everyone except McKelty. Even though I didn't mean to be funny, it sure felt good hearing them laugh. "As usual, Henry, you have misunderstood," Ms. Adolf snarled. "I'm asking you to sit on the bench as a backup player who goes in the game when we need a substitute." "But I don't want to be a substitute, I want to be one of the main guys."

看台上的每个人都在嚎叫。 好吧，除了麦凯尔蒂。 虽然我不是故意搞笑，但听到他们笑的感觉确实很好。 “像往常一样，亨利，你误解了。” 阿道夫咆哮。“我要求你作为替补球员坐在替补席上，在我们需要替补球员的时候上场。” “但我不想成为替补，我想成为主力之一。”

"In that case," Ms. Adolf said, "you may try out first. Let's see if you qualify. I want you to pick up the basketball, dribble from one end of the court to the other, and when you get to the basket, shoot." "No problem," I said, tossing my backpack on the floor. Frankie got up from the bleachers and handed me a basketball. "Stay calm, Zip," he whispered in my ear. "Focus. You can do this." I took the ball and walked to the end of the court. When I turned around and looked up at the basket, it seemed like it was miles away. On the one hand, that was bad. On the other hand, that was really bad. But I told myself that if I just used the old Zipzer attitude, I could do it. I took a deep breath and bounced the ball. To my surprise, it came right back to the palm of my hand. Hey, this wasn't so hard. I took a few more steps and bounced the ball again. There it was, right back in my hand. Look at me, world, I'm dribbling!

“那样的话，”阿道夫女士说，“你可以先试试。 看看你是否符合条件。我要你拿起篮球，从球场的一端运球到另一端，当你到达篮筐时，投篮。” “没问题，”我说着，把背包扔到地上。 弗兰基从看台上站起来，递给我一个篮球。 “冷静点，次波，”他在我耳边低语。 “焦点。你能做到的。”我拿起球，走到球场的尽头。 当我转身抬头看篮筐时，它似乎离我很远。 一方面，这很糟糕。 另一方面，那真的很糟糕。 但我告诉自己，只要我用齐泽尔的老态度，我就能做到。 我深吸一口气，把球弹了起来。 令我惊讶的是，它又回到了我的手掌。 嘿，这也没那么难。我又走了几步，又把球弹了起来。 就在那儿，又回到了我手里。 看着我，世界，我在运球！