Chapter 4

Chapter four, I asked Frankie and Ashley to meet me in our clubhouse at four o'clock. It's not a real clubhouse. It's a storeroom in the basement of our apartment building where we hang out. They arrived exactly on time. "Okay, Hankster," Frankie said. "Let's see this big idea you have." I reached into one of the cardboard boxes labeled SUMMER VACATION STUFF. I pulled out a pair of neon yellow flippers, a snorkel, and some goggles. I put on the flippers and slipped the goggles over my face. "You look an outer-space creature," Ashley said. Then I reached into a box labeled EMILY'S

第四章，我让弗兰基和阿什利四点钟在俱乐部会所等我。 这不是一个真正的俱乐部。 这是我们公寓地下室的一个储藏室，我们经常在那里闲逛。 他们正好准时到达。 “好吧，汉克斯特，”弗兰基说。 “让我们看看你有什么好主意。” 我把手伸进一个标有“暑假用品”的纸板箱里。 我拿出一双霓虹黄色的脚蹼，一个通气管和一些护目镜。 我穿上脚蹼，把护目镜戴在脸上。 “你看起来像个外太空生物，”阿什利说。 然后我把手伸进一个标有“艾米丽的”的盒子里

BABY TOYS and pulled out two stuffed animals. One was a fuzzy purple octopus who she used to call Morton. The other was a creepy-looking jellyfish with rainbow-colored tentacles. I held Morton in one hand and the jellyfish in the other. Then I stuffed the snorkel into my mouth. Proudly, I strutted back and forth in front of Frankie and Ashley. "What do you think, guys?" I tried to say. "Huh? I can't understand you," Frankie answered. Of course he couldn't. I took the snorkel out of my mouth.

然后拿出两个毛绒玩具。 一只是毛茸茸的紫色章鱼，她以前叫它莫顿。 另一个是一只长着彩虹色触须的令人毛骨悚然的水母。 我一手抓着莫顿，一手抓着水母。 然后我把通气管塞进嘴里。 我骄傲地在弗兰基和阿什莉面前趾高气扬地走来走去。 “你们觉得怎么样，伙计们？”我试着说。 “嗯?我听不懂你说什么，”弗兰基回答。 他当然不能。我把通气管从嘴里拿了出来。

"I'm a shark," I explained, "swimming in the ocean with my underwater friends. I'm going to do my report as Shark Boy. I know a whole lot of scientific shark facts. Like, did you know that sharks don't have a single bone in their bodies? And that they can swim forty to sixty miles an hour? And that they have three fins?" "All of which you are missing," Frankie pointed out. "And that's where you come in," I said. "I need you to help me make some fins." "Oh, I love art projects!" Ashley said, jumping off the couch and heading right for our cardboard boxes. She ripped off one of the flaps and tore it into the shape of a triangle. "Here's a fin," she said. "I can attach some string to tie it to your body," Frankie said. "And for a really special touch," Ashley added, "I'll decorate it with blue and green sparkly rhinestones." "Easy there, Ashweena," I said. "Sharks don't sparkle."

“我是一条鲨鱼，”我解释说，“和我的水下朋友在海里游泳。 我要以鲨鱼男孩的身份写报告。 我知道很多关于鲨鱼的科学知识。 比如，你知道鲨鱼身体里没有一根骨头吗？ 它们每小时能游四十到六十英里？ 它们有三个鳍？”“这些都是你错过的，”弗兰基指出。 “这就是你要进来的地方，”我说。 “我需要你帮我做一些鱼鳍。” “哦，我喜欢艺术项目！”艾希礼说着，从沙发上跳起来，径直朝我们的纸板箱走去。 她扯下其中一个褶边，把它撕成一个三角形。 “这是鱼鳍，”她说。“我可以用绳子把它绑在你身上，”弗兰基说。 阿什利补充说：“为了营造一种特别的感觉，我会用蓝色和绿色闪闪发光的水钻来装饰它。” “别紧张，阿什维娜。”我说。 “鲨鱼不会发光。”

"They do if they want a good grade," she said. By dinnertime, I had the best shark costume of any second-grader in America. Maybe even the world. When we got to school the next morning, Ms. Flowers collected everyone's science book report. "Where is your report, Hank?" she asked as she stood next to my desk. "Ms. Flowers, you're going to have to see it to believe it," Frankie told her. "Hank's report is alive," Ashley added. "And it's amazing." "Amazingly bad, you mean," Nick McKelty said with a snort. "It sounds interesting to me,"

“如果他们想要一个好成绩，他们就会这么做，”她说。 到了晚餐时间，我的鲨鱼戏服已经是全美国最棒的二年级学生了。 甚至可能是整个世界。第二天早上我们到学校的时候。 花收集了大家的科学读书报告。 “汉克，你的报告呢？”她站在我的桌子旁边问。 “弗劳尔斯女士，你得亲眼看看才会相信，”弗兰基对她说。 “汉克的报告还活着，”艾希礼补充说。 “这太神奇了。”“你的意思是，坏得出奇。”尼克·麦凯尔蒂哼了一声说。 “这听起来很有趣。”

Luke Whitman said, taking his finger out of his nose. That finger spends most of the day in there. Ms. Flowers thought it over. "Okay," she said. "Why don't we see what you've come up with, Hank." I took my costume and went into the hall. Ashley came to help tie on my fins. While I was slipping into my flippers and mask, Frankie went to the front of the class to introduce me. "The subject of this book report is sharks," he said. "And now, coming to you direct from the undersea world is Hank Zipzer, otherwise known as Shark Boy."

卢克·惠特曼说着，把手指从鼻子里拿了出来。 那根手指一天大部分时间都在里面。 弗劳尔斯仔细考虑了一下。 “好吧，”她说。“汉克，我们来看看你想出了什么吧。” 我拿着戏服走进大厅。 阿什莉来帮我系脚蹼。 当我穿上脚蹼和面具时，弗兰基走到教室前面介绍我。 “这篇读书报告的主题是鲨鱼，”他说。 “现在，直接从海底世界向你们走来的是汉克·齐泽尔，也被称为鲨鱼男孩。”

I flopped to the center of the classroom. Then I turned in a circle so everyone could get a good look at the sparkly fin that Ashley had made. I began to recite my shark facts. When I saw the blank looks on everyone's faces, I realized that I still had the snorkel in my mouth. No one could understand me. It just sounded like I was blowing bubbles underwater. I took out the mouthpiece and started again. I said everything I had learned about

我扑通一声站到教室中央。 然后我转了一个圈，好让每个人都能好好看看阿什利做的闪闪发光的鳍。 我开始背诵关于鲨鱼的知识。 当我看到每个人脸上茫然的表情时，我意识到我嘴里还含着通气管。 没有人能理解我。 听起来就像我在水下吹泡泡。 我拿出话筒，重新开始。 我说了我所知道的一切