Chapter 1

here's hank robot on the loose

这是汉克机器人

CHAPTER 1 "Attention, all students," the voice on the school loudspeaker boomed. It was Principal Love. "We have just cleaned out the Lost and Found, and discovered thirty-seven single shoes," he announced. "A lot of you must be hopping home. If you are missing a shoe, please hop to Mrs. Crock's desk in the front office." I looked down at my feet. I'm the kind of kid who would lose a shoe, but this time it wasn't me. I'm proud to report that I had two matching blue shoes. Of course, my socks didn't match. One was yellow and one had stripes. I can only get so many things right at one time.

第一章“同学们，请注意。”学校的扩音器里响起了响亮的声音。 是洛夫校长。“我们刚刚清理了失物招领处，发现了三十七只鞋，”他宣布。 “你们很多人肯定都在往家跑。 如果你丢了一只鞋，请跳到前厅克罗克夫人的桌子上。” 我低头看了看自己的脚。我是那种会丢鞋的孩子，但这次不是我。 我很自豪地告诉大家，我有两只相配的蓝鞋。 当然，我的袜子不相配。 一个是黄色的，一个是条纹的。 我一次只能做好那么多事。

"We also found half a pickle," Principal Love went on. "But the owner does not have to come and pick that up." "Hey, Zip," my best friend Frankie Townsend said with a laugh. "I bet that's yours." Frankie has known me since we were babies. Anyone who's been around me that long knows that I am a huge pickle fan. My grandfather Papa Pete and I always share a pickle when we have something serious to talk over. He says pickles clear the brain. The recess bell rang, and we all got up and headed for the door. But then we realized that Principal Love had more to say. I should have known. He always has more to say. "Let me remind you that Friday is our Build- a-Robot competition," he announced. "This year, the competition is open to our second

“我们还发现了半个泡菜，”洛夫校长接着说。 “但老板不必亲自来取。” “嘿，次普，”我最好的朋友弗兰基·汤森笑着说。 “我打赌那是你的。”弗兰基从小就认识我了。 跟我在一起这么久的人都知道我是泡菜的超级粉丝。 当我们有严肃的事情要讨论时，我的祖父皮特爸爸和我总是分享泡菜。 他说咸菜可以清理大脑。 课间休息铃响了，我们都站起来朝门口走去。 但后来我们意识到，爱校长还有更多的话要说。 我早该知道的。他总是有更多的话要说。 “让我提醒你，周五是我们的建造机器人比赛，”他宣布。 “今年，比赛向我们的第二名开放

and third-graders. We have made a special category for beginning builders. You can power your robots simply with a motor and a remote control. No need for computer skills. Isn't that exciting?" "It'd be more exciting if he said we could have the rest of the week off school," I muttered. "I'm looking forward to seeing all of your dazzling creations," Principal Love went on. "Until then, this is your principal and my pet frog, Fred, saying 'ribbit.' That is all." My other best friend, Ashley Wong, cracked up. She thinks it's so funny that Principal Love is always putting Fred on the loudspeaker. Principal Love thinks that just because he understands frog talk, the rest of us do, too.

三。我们为初学者做了一个特别的分类。 你可以简单地用马达和遥控器驱动你的机器人。 不需要电脑技能。 这不是很令人兴奋吗？”“如果他说这周剩下的时间我们可以放假，那就更令人兴奋了。”我喃喃自语。 “我期待着看到你们所有令人眼花缭乱的创作，”洛夫校长继续说道。 “在那之前，这是你们的校长和我的宠物青蛙弗雷德在说‘兔子’。”就这些。” 我的另一个好朋友阿什利·王（Ashley Wong）笑了。 她觉得洛夫校长总是把弗雷德放在扩音器里很有趣。 洛夫校长认为，就因为他懂青蛙的语言，我们其他人也都懂。

Ashley, Frankie, and I ribbitted all the way down the hall. "I'm going to enter the Build-a-Robot contest," I said as we walked down the stairs. "You can't just enter," Ashley said. "You have to sign up on the bulletin board outside Principal Love's office." "Okay, I'll do it after recess," I said. "You better do it right now," Frankie answered. "I know you. And you know you. 'I forgot' is your middle name." We stopped outside Principal Love's office door. There was a bulletin board with a pencil on a string. I took the pencil and proudly wrote "HANK ZIPZER" on line 10. "It's official," I said to Frankie and Ashley. "I can hardly wait. I have some great robot ideas sitting right here in my mind, in between my phone number and last week's spelling words. All I have to do is build my little robot." "Hank, you're not being realistic," Ashley said. "That robot contest was announced a

阿什莉，弗兰基和我一路跑到大厅。 “我要参加建造机器人比赛，”我们走下楼梯时，我说。 “你不能就这么进来，"艾希礼说。 “你必须在拉夫校长办公室外的布告栏上报名。” “好吧，休息后我再做，”我说。 “你最好现在就做，”弗兰基回答。 “我了解你。你知道你自己。 ‘我忘了’是你的中间名。” 我们在洛夫校长办公室的门外停了下来。 有一块布告栏，上面用绳子拴着一支铅笔。 我拿起铅笔，骄傲地在第十行写上“汉克·齐泽尔”。 “正式了，”我对弗兰基和艾希礼说。 “我都等不及了。在我的电话号码和上周的拼写单词之间，有一些很棒的机器人想法就在我的脑海里。 我所要做的就是建造我的小机器人。” “汉克，你太不现实了，”阿什利说。 “那个机器人比赛被宣布为

month ago. All the other kids have been building their robots for weeks." "So?" I said. "I'll work fast. I'll just give it the old Zipzer attitude." "Hank," Frankie said. "The contest is on Friday. As in the day after tomorrow." "So I'll work extra fast." "You can't build a whole robot in a day," Ashley pointed out. "Oh yeah? Just watch me. I'm going to start collecting robot parts right now." We walked out onto the playground. I looked around at the swings and slides and handball court and sandbox and benches. I didn't see one thing that looked like a robot to me. What I did see was a kid I had never noticed before. He was sitting by himself on a bench along a fence. He looked like any other third-grader except he was wearing a tie and a vest, which was all buttoned up. The reason I noticed him, aside from his weird clothes, was that he was building a robot.

月前。其他的孩子已经做机器人好几个星期了。” “所以?”我说。“我会很快的。 我就用齐泽尔老一套的态度。” “汉克，”弗兰基说。“比赛在星期五举行。 就像后天一样。” “所以我会加倍努力。” “你不可能在一天之内造出一个完整的机器人，”阿什利指出。 “哦,是吗?看着我。我现在就要开始收集机器人零件了。” 我们走到操场上。 我环顾四周，看看秋千、滑梯、手球场、沙盘和长凳。 我没有看到一个看起来像机器人的东西。 我看到的是一个我以前从未注意过的孩子。 他一个人坐在篱笆边的长凳上。 他看起来和其他三年级的学生没什么两样，只是他系着领带，穿了一件背心，而且全扣上了扣子。 我注意到他的原因，除了他奇怪的衣服，是他在做一个机器人。