Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 On Friday, Frankie, Ashley, and I got all dressed up in our best clothes, the ones that our parents make us wear when we go out to dinner with them. It was very uncomfortable sitting in class wearing my blue suit. It made me feel like I wanted to scratch all over. Finally, at eleven o'clock, Ms. Flowers dismissed us so that we could go welcome Paula Hart. We hurried down the hall to the entrance of our school. Principal Love stood on the steps with us as we waited for Paula Hart to arrive. I was excited to meet a real author. I was nervous,

第七章星期五，弗兰基、艾希礼和我都穿上了我们最好的衣服，就是父母让我们和他们一起出去吃饭时穿的衣服。 穿着蓝西装坐在教室里很不舒服。 这让我想抓遍全身。 最后，在11点钟的时候。 弗劳尔斯把我们打发走了，好让我们去欢迎宝拉·哈特。 我们匆匆穿过大厅来到学校门口。 洛夫校长和我们一起站在台阶上等待宝拉·哈特的到来。 我很兴奋能见到一个真正的作家。 我很紧张，

too, knowing that I hadn't finished her book yet. In fact, I still hadn't finished Chapter One. A yellow taxi pulled up in front of our school. Before the door opened, a woman with purple streaks in her hair poked her head out of the window. "Hi, kids!" she shouted. "Is this PS 87?" "Yes, it is," we shouted back. "Well, then I'm in the right place," she said with a big laugh. The taxi door flew open, and out came Paula Hart. The first thing I noticed was her shoes— pink, glittery army boots with purple shoelaces. She had silver rings on every finger and a long dress with giraffes all over it. You couldn't miss her earrings, which were sparkly books covered with red rhinestones.

我知道我还没有读完她的书。 事实上，我还没有读完第一章。 一辆黄色出租车停在我们学校前面。 在门打开之前，一个头发上有紫色条纹的女人从窗口探出头来。 “嗨，孩子们！”她喊道。“这是ps87吗？”“是的，它是。”我们喊道。 “好吧，那我就来对地方了，”她大笑着说。 车门突然打开，保拉·哈特走了出来。 我首先注意到的是她的鞋子——粉红色闪闪发光的军靴，上面系着紫色的鞋带。 她每个手指上都戴着银戒指，穿着一件满是长颈鹿的长裙。 你不会错过她的耳环，那是镶着红色水钻的闪闪发光的书。

"Oh my gosh," Ms. Hart said, walking right up to Ashley. "I love your rhinestone glasses. As far as I'm concerned, a person can't sparkle enough." Ashley giggled so much, she forgot what she was supposed to say. Frankie stuck his hand out and jumped into the conversation. "Welcome to our school," he said to Ms. Hart. "I'm Frankie Townsend, and this is Ashley Wong and Hank Zipzer. We're the welcoming

“哦，我的天哪，”哈特说着，径直走向阿什莉。 “我喜欢你的水钻眼镜。 在我看来，一个人再闪耀也不为过。” 艾希礼咯咯地笑个不停，连自己该说些什么都忘了。 弗兰基伸出手，加入了谈话。 “欢迎来到我们学校，”他对刘老师说。 哈特。“我是弗兰基·汤森，这是阿什利·王和汉克·齐泽尔。 我们是欢迎的

committee. We are all looking forward to hearing you speak." "My oh my, you have a great handshake," Ms. Hart said, pumping Frankie's arm so hard it made his head jiggle. "Hey, look," I said to her. "You turned my best friend into a bobblehead doll. Maybe I can put him on the shelf with my baseball-player collection. I have six bobbleheads. I got the last one when my grandpa took me to a Mets night game." I felt Principal Love's hand land like a jet plane on my shoulder. "Hank," he said. "I'm sure Ms. Hart does not want to hear the details of your toy collection." "Are you kidding me?" Ms. Hart said. "I am a huge fan of bobblehead dolls. I have a really cool hula dancer standing right next to my computer and a jiggly wiener dog on my kitchen windowsill." "I have a wiener dog, too," I said. "But he's real. And his name is Cheerio. I named him that

委员会。我们都期待着听您讲话。” “天啊，天啊，你的握手真棒。” 哈特说着，使劲地抽着弗兰基的胳膊，弄得他的头直抖。 “嘿，看，”我对她说。 “你把我最好的朋友变成了一个摇头娃娃。 也许我可以把他和我的棒球运动员收藏品放在一起。 我有六个摇头娃娃。最后一个是我爷爷带我去看大都会棒球队的比赛时买的。” 我感到拉夫校长的手像一架喷气式飞机一样落在我的肩上。 “汉克，”他说。“我敢肯定。 哈特不想听你收集玩具的细节。” “你在开玩笑吧？”哈特说。 “我是摇头娃娃的超级粉丝。 我的电脑旁边站着一个很酷的草裙舞舞者，厨房窗台上有一只摇摇晃晃的腊肠狗。” “我也有一只腊肠狗，”我说。 “但他是真实存在的。他的名字叫Cheerio。 我给他起了这个名字

because when he chases his tail, he spins in a circle and looks like a Cheerio." Ms. Hart laughed so hard that I thought the sixth-grade class on the third floor could hear her. "I like you, Hank," she said. "You're funny. I was a funny kid, too, which always got me into trouble with my teachers." "Me too," I whispered. She gave me a fist bump. "From now on, call me Paula," she said. And then she winked at me. "The second-and third-grade classes are waiting for us in the library," Principal Love said. "Children, let's show Ms. Hart the way."

因为当他追逐自己的尾巴时，他会旋转成一个圈，看起来像一个麦圈。” 哈特女士笑得那么厉害，我觉得三楼的六年级同学都能听到她的笑声。 “我喜欢你，汉克，”她说。 “你是有趣的。我也是一个有趣的孩子，这总是让我在老师那里惹上麻烦。” “我也是，”我低声说。她和我碰了一下拳头。 “从现在开始，叫我保拉吧，”她说。 然后她对我眨了眨眼睛。 洛夫校长说：“二年级和三年级的学生正在图书馆等我们。” “孩子们，我们给哈特女士带路吧。”

He turned and led us into school and down the main hall to the library. We passed the bulletin board with my sister's face plastered right in the middle of it. The hall was quiet, and we could hear Principal Love's Velcro sneakers squeaking across the floor. "It sounds like he's got a live mouse in his shoes," Paula whispered to us. We covered our mouths so we didn't laugh too loud. Principal Love glanced over his shoulder with a look that said, "Behave yourselves." That look even wiped the smile off Paula Hart's face. When we reached the library, the Queen of Wipe-That-Smile-Off-Your-Face, Ms. Adolf, was waiting in the doorway. "I'm glad you're finally here," Ms. Adolf said. "I've had a hard time keeping the children sitting still on the rug." "That's okay," Paula said. "They can squirm a little. I don't mind." "I'm kind of squirmy myself," I piped up. "It's not something to brag about, Henry," Ms. Adolf said.

他转身带我们进了学校，穿过大厅来到图书馆。 我们经过公告牌，我妹妹的脸就贴在中间。 大厅里很安静，我们可以听到拉夫校长的魔术贴球鞋在地板上吱吱作响。 “听起来他的鞋子里好像有一只活老鼠，”宝拉低声对我们说。 我们捂着嘴，这样就不会笑得太大声了。 洛夫校长回头看了一眼，好像在说：“规矩点。” 这个表情甚至抹去了宝拉·哈特脸上的笑容。 当我们到达图书馆时，“抹去你脸上笑容的女王”，史密斯女士。 阿道夫正在门口等着。 “我很高兴你终于来了。” 阿道夫说。“我很难让孩子们安静地坐在地毯上。” “没关系，”宝拉说。 “它们会有点蠕动。 我不介意。”“我自己也有点坐立不安，”我尖声说。 “这没什么好吹嘘的，亨利。” 阿道夫说。