Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 The whole next week seemed like it took forever to happen. I had actual dreams about standing in front of the bulletin board, watching my picture get put up. In my dreams, I was six feet tall and sitting on a white horse. The horse and I both took a bow as the entire school cheered my name. One of the best parts of the dream was when Ms. Adolf presented me with a bouquet of flowers. On the actual day, I'm sorry to say there was no white horse involved, and no flowers, either. But I did wear the brand-new red sneakers that my grandpa, Papa Pete, bought me just for my special day.

第十一章接下来的整个星期似乎永远不会发生。 我真的梦到自己站在公告板前，看着我的照片被贴出来。 在我的梦里，我六英尺高，骑在一匹白马上。 马和我都鞠了一躬，整个学校都为我的名字欢呼。 这个梦中最精彩的部分之一是当她的妻子。 阿道夫送给我一束花。 在婚礼当天，我很遗憾地说，没有白马，也没有鲜花。 但我确实穿了一双崭新的红色运动鞋，那是我爷爷皮特爸爸专门为我这个特别的日子买的。

Principal Love arranged for us all to meet after school. Ashley came with her mom and dad, Dr. and Dr. Wong. Frankie came with his mother and father and his big brother, Otis. They were all wearing T-shirts that said GO, FRANKIE. My mom and dad were wearing the green buttons that say I'M A PROUD PS 87 PARENT. Usually they wear those for Emily's events, but this time, the buttons were for me. That was pretty cool. Our group included the whole Zipzer family: Mom, Dad, Papa Pete, and Emily, who came with her iguana, Katherine. As always, Katherine was wrapped around Emily's neck like a short green scarf.

爱校长安排我们放学后见面。 阿什莉和她父母一起来的。 和黄博士。弗兰基和他的父母以及他的哥哥奥蒂斯一起来了。 他们都穿着t恤，上面写着加油，弗兰基。 我的爸爸妈妈穿着绿色的徽章，上面写着我是一个骄傲的ps87家长。 通常他们是在艾米丽的活动上穿的，但这次，纽扣是给我的。 那很酷。我们一行人包括齐泽尔全家：妈妈、爸爸、皮特爸爸和艾米丽，艾米丽带着她的鬣蜥凯瑟琳来了。 像往常一样，凯瑟琳像一条绿色的短围巾一样围着艾米丽的脖子。

"Who invited the lizard?" I asked when I spotted Katherine. "Katherine's feelings would be hurt if I left her home," Emily said. "Katherine is very sensitive." "How do you think Cheerio feels," I asked, "being in the apartment all by himself? Poor guy. I wish he was here." Papa Pete cleared his throat a couple of times to get my attention. "Look at this, Hankie," he whispered. He slowly unzipped his red sweatshirt just enough for me to see a cute little wet nose poking out from his chest.

“谁请的蜥蜴？”当我看到凯瑟琳时，我问道。 “如果我把凯瑟琳留在家里，她的感情会受到伤害，”艾米丽说。 “凯瑟琳很敏感。” “你觉得麦里奥是什么感觉，”我问，“一个人待在公寓里？ 可怜的家伙。我真希望他在这里。” 皮特爸爸清了几次嗓子以引起我的注意。 “看这个，汉克。”他低声说。 他慢慢拉开红色运动衫的拉链，刚好让我看到他胸前露出一个可爱的小鼻子。

"You brought Cheerio?" I whispered. "He wouldn't miss this for anything," Papa Pete said. "Don't tell. It's our secret." Then he winked at me, and I winked back, except I'm not good at winking so both eyes closed instead of just one. We heard Principal Love coming down the hall before we saw him. His sneakers were especially loud as they squeaked toward us. I wondered if his sneakers have a special button that lets him turn up the squeak.

“你把麦圈带来了？”我低声说。 “他无论如何也不会错过这个，”皮特爸爸说。 “不要告诉。这是我们的秘密。” 然后他对我眨了眨眼，我也对他眨了眨眼，不过我不擅长眨眼，所以我闭上了两只眼睛，而不是一只眼睛。 在我们看到洛夫校长之前，我们听到他从大厅里走了下来。 他的运动鞋吱吱作响地朝我们走来，声音特别大。 我想知道他的运动鞋是否有一个特殊的按钮，可以让他把吱吱声调大。

"Well, hello, everyone," he said, taking a brown manila envelope from his jacket. "We're here to celebrate a special moment for these three young people. And as I always say, childhood is a time to climb the mountain of moments until you reach the moment of adulthood. And what a moment that is." I wish he would get to the moment of putting up our picture! I looked around at all our families. They seemed just as confused as we were. They weren't used to hearing Principal Love's speeches, which are even longer than a spider monkey's tail. And he still wasn't finished. "You children have represented PS 87 in the best possible light," he went on. "You showed Paula Hart what a warm welcome is all about. Ashley and Frankie, you were your usual outstanding selves. And Hank, you certainly added your own personal touch to the event." I was standing there, thinking that I couldn't listen to one more word. But when I realized he

“大家好，”他说着，从夹克里掏出一个棕色的马尼拉纸信封。 “我们在这里庆祝这三个年轻人的特殊时刻。 正如我常说的，童年是一段攀登瞬间之山的时光，直到你长大成人。 这是一个多么伟大的时刻啊。” 我真希望他能马上把我们的照片贴出来！我看了看我们所有的家庭。 他们似乎和我们一样困惑。 他们不习惯听拉夫校长的演讲，他的演讲比蜘蛛猴的尾巴还长。 他还没有完成。 他接着说：“你们这些孩子代表了PS 87最好的一面。” “你向保拉·哈特展示了什么是热烈欢迎。 阿什莉和弗兰基，你们还是一如既往的出色。 汉克，你当然为这次活动增添了自己的个人色彩。” 我站在那里，觉得我一个字也听不进去了。 但当我意识到他

was talking about me, suddenly his speech wasn't so bad. In fact, I was really liking it. Then came the best part. Principal Love opened the brown envelope and took out the picture. It showed Frankie, Ashley, and me, standing next to Paula Hart. It was the one where we were all smiling, not making goofy faces. You could tell that we were having a great time. Principal Love took down the picture of Emily and handed it to my dad. I looked over at Emily. I was pretty sure that this was going to upset her. But Emily is full of surprises. She gave me a big smile.

说我的时候，他的演讲突然没那么糟糕了。 事实上，我真的很喜欢。 接下来是最精彩的部分。洛夫校长打开棕色信封，拿出照片。 照片上，弗兰基、阿什利和我站在宝拉·哈特旁边。 我们都在笑，而不是做鬼脸。 你能看出来我们玩得很开心。 洛夫校长把艾米丽的照片取下来，交给了我爸爸。 我看着艾米丽。我很确定这会让她不高兴。 但艾米丽充满了惊喜。 她给了我一个大大的微笑。