Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 The competition was scheduled for after lunch in the multipurpose room. I was so nervous during lunch that I didn't even eat. That's only happened to me two other times in my whole life. Once was before I played in the big basketball championship game against PS 91. The other time was when the cafeteria was serving fish sticks that looked like they were still swimming on the plate. After lunch, I walked down the hall to the multipurpose room. Frankie and Ashley were by my side. They never stopped encouraging me. And I never stopped thanking them. "You guys were with me all the way," I said.

比赛安排在午餐后，在多功能厅举行。 午饭时我太紧张了，甚至没吃东西。 这种事在我这辈子只发生过两次。 有一次是在我参加对阵ps91的篮球冠军赛之前。 另一次是餐厅里的鱼条看起来还在盘子里游来游去。 午饭后，我沿着大厅走到多功能厅。 弗兰基和艾希礼在我身边。 他们从未停止鼓励我。 我从未停止感谢他们。 “你们一直陪着我，”我说。

"Hey, that's what friends are for," Frankie said. "Stanley's going to knock everyone's socks off," Ashley said. "As a matter of fact, he already did," I answered, pointing to a girl in front of me who was wearing sneakers with no socks. We were laughing so hard, I almost dropped Stanley. "Be careful there," Frankie said. "Stanley's big moment is coming up. You don't want him to fall apart before you get onstage." When we walked into the multipurpose room, it was buzzing with excitement. All the kids in the school were there, except for the kindergartners, because those lucky little guys get to leave school early. All the parents that could come to watch the competition were there, and all the teachers, too. Leo, the school handyman, was sitting in the front row. Even the lunch ladies, with their hairnets still on, had shown up to watch.

“嘿，这就是朋友的作用，”弗兰基说。 “斯坦利会让所有人大吃一惊的，”阿什利说。 “事实上，他已经这么做了，”我回答，指着我前面一个穿着运动鞋，没有穿袜子的女孩。 我们笑得太厉害了，我差点把斯坦利摔在地上。 “小心点，”弗兰基说。 “斯坦利的重要时刻即将到来。 你不希望他在你上台之前就崩溃了。” 当我们走进多功能厅时，里面充满了兴奋的嗡嗡声。 学校里所有的孩子都来了，除了幼儿园的孩子，因为那些幸运的小家伙们可以早点离开学校。 所有能来看比赛的家长都来了，所有的老师也都来了。 学校的勤杂工利奥坐在前排。 甚至连带着发网的午餐女郎也来观看了。

Those of us who made robots got to sit up onstage in a semicircle around Principal Love. We each had our robots in our laps. Jaden was there holding his Alaskan husky robot that could bury bones. I wondered how he was going to demonstrate that, since the stage was made of wood. Then I noticed that he had a box of dirt at his feet. I should have known. He's the kind of kid who thinks of everything. Next to Jaden was Luke Whitman, whose robot looked like a hand with one long finger. Luke is a champion nose-picker. I had a creepy feeling that I knew what that long robot finger was for.

我们这些制造机器人的人在台上围着洛夫校长坐成一个半圆形。 我们每个人都把机器人放在腿上。 杰登在那里抱着他的阿拉斯加哈士奇机器人，可以埋葬骨头。 我想知道他将如何证明这一点，因为舞台是木头做的。 然后我注意到他脚边有一盒土。 我早该知道的。他是那种为一切着想的孩子。 坐在贾登旁边的是卢克·惠特曼，他的机器人看起来像一只长着一根手指的手。 卢克是个挖鼻孔高手。 我有一种诡异的感觉，我知道那长长的机器人手指是干什么用的。

Next to Luke was a girl whose name was George Henry. She was all smiles. I would have been grinning, too, if I had a cool robot like hers. It looked like a ballet dancer and even had a tutu made from sparkly tinsel that people put on Christmas trees. There were four other kids. They all had one thing in common. They looked pretty serious. And so did their robots. One robot looked like a car, one was a space rocket, and one was a giant ant with moving jaws. "Welcome to PS 87's first ever Build-a- Robot competition," Principal Love said into the microphone. "This is a day when we get to see how our young people have combined science with their imaginations."

卢克旁边是一个叫乔治·亨利的女孩。 她满脸笑容。如果我有一个像她那样酷的机器人，我也会笑的。 它看起来像一个芭蕾舞演员，甚至穿着人们挂在圣诞树上的闪闪发光的金属丝做的芭蕾舞裙。 还有另外四个孩子。 他们都有一个共同点。 他们看起来很严肃。 他们的机器人也是如此。一个机器人看起来像一辆汽车，一个是太空火箭，还有一个是一只巨大的蚂蚁，它的下巴会移动。 洛夫校长对着麦克风说：“欢迎来到p87第一次建造机器人比赛。” “在这一天，我们可以看到我们的年轻人如何将科学与他们的想象力结合起来。”

Wow, I actually understood what Principal Love said. Usually, he goes on so long that I'm lost after "Welcome." I took that as a sign that good things were about to happen for Stanley and me. "We have put the names of our contestants into a hat to see who goes first." Principal Love reached his hand into a PS 87 baseball cap and pulled out a slip of paper. "George Henry," he called out. "George, come forward and show us your robot." George took her ballerina and placed it on the floor in the center of the stage. "Hello, everyone," she began. "My robot is named Raspberry Swirl, because I love ice cream. Her talent is spinning on her toes, but

哇，我真的明白洛夫校长说的话了。 通常，他讲得太长了，我都听不懂“欢迎”了。 我认为这是一个信号，预示着我和斯坦利将会有好事发生。 “我们把参赛者的名字放在帽子里，看谁先到。” 洛夫校长把手伸进PS 87棒球帽里，抽出一张纸条。 “乔治·亨利，”他喊道。 “乔治，过来给我们看看你的机器人。” 乔治拿起她的芭蕾舞演员，把它放在舞台中央的地板上。 “大家好，”她开始说。 “我的机器人叫覆盆子漩涡，因为我喜欢冰淇淋。 她的才华在她的脚趾上旋转，但是

here's the special part. When she spins really fast, she turns a bowl filled with cream and sugar and chocolate syrup into chocolate ice cream." I looked down at Stanley. Suddenly he seemed very plain. I wanted to cover his ears so he wouldn't feel bad, but then I remembered that he didn't have ears. So I covered mine instead. When George turned the motor on, Raspberry Swirl started to spin so fast that all the tinsel on her skirt stuck straight out. The bowl spun really fast, too. When George hit the stop button, she showed everyone what was inside the bowl. It wasn't exactly ice cream. It was more like chocolate ice-cream soup. I think George Henry made up a brand-new dessert.

这是特别的部分。当她旋转得非常快时，她会把一个装满奶油、糖和巧克力糖浆的碗变成巧克力冰淇淋。” 我低头看着斯坦利。突然间，他显得很朴素。 我想捂住他的耳朵，这样他就不会觉得难受了，但后来我想起来他没有耳朵。 所以我把我的盖上了。 当乔治打开马达时，树莓旋风开始旋转得如此之快，以至于她裙子上的所有金属丝都直接伸出来了。 碗转得也很快。 当乔治按下停止按钮时，她给大家看了碗里的东西。 那不是冰激凌。 那更像是巧克力冰淇淋汤。 我觉得乔治·亨利发明了一种全新的甜点。