Chapter 8

Chapter eight On the way home from the animal shelter, we stopped at Pets for U and Me to buy Cheerio's supplies. I picked out a food bowl with a doggy bone on the bottom of it. I got a water bowl, too, and a neon blue collar. My dad got a crate and a sheepskin mat to put inside it. Cheerio picked out a squeaky toy shaped like a banana. My mom arrived at the cash register carrying a big package of something called wee-wee pads. "What are those?" I asked. "I've been reading up on how to train a puppy. Cheerio will have to be trained to go to the bathroom outside," she said. "If he starts

在从动物收容所回家的路上，我们在“你和我的宠物店”停了下来，买了麦圈的用品。 我挑了一个碗，碗底有一根狗骨头。 我也有一个水碗，还有一个霓虹蓝领。 我爸爸拿了一个板条箱和一个羊皮垫子放在里面。 Cheerio挑了一个香蕉形状的吱吱作响的玩具。 我妈妈来到收银台，手里拿着一个大包裹，里面装的是一种叫“wee-wee pads”的东西。 “那是什么？”我问。 “我一直在研究如何训练小狗。 Cheerio必须经过训练才能在外面上厕所。” 如果他开始

sniffing or turning around in circles, then he probably has to go. And if we're inside when this happens, we direct him to the wee- wee pad. That way, he'll learn to just go on the pad when he's inside the house." "Ewww," Emily groaned. "You're not putting those gross things down in my room. Katherine would hate them." "Don't worry," I told her. "Cheerio doesn't want to hang out with you guys, anyway. He's not interested in watching Katherine catch flies." "Good," Emily said. "Because we're not interested in watching him wee-wee." When we got home, Cheerio ran around and sniffed the entire apartment. He sniffed every piece of furniture until he found my dad's slippers, which he keeps tucked under his favorite leather chair. "Oh no, you don't," my dad said, diving for

闻着鼻子或转着圈，那他可能得走了。 如果这一切发生的时候我们在里面，我们会指引他去那个小垫子。 这样，他在屋里就能学会在垫子上走动了。” “呃，”爱米丽呻吟道。“你不能把那些恶心的东西放在我的房间里。 凯瑟琳会讨厌他们的。” “别担心，”我告诉她。 “反正麦圈不想和你们混在一起。 他对看凯瑟琳抓苍蝇不感兴趣。” “很好，”艾米丽说。“因为我们没兴趣看他的小屁孩。” 当我们回到家时，麦圈跑来跑去，嗅遍了整个公寓。 他嗅遍了每一件家具，直到找到了我爸爸的拖鞋，他把它藏在他最喜欢的皮椅子下面。 “哦，不，你不知道，”我爸爸说着，一头扎向

his slippers. But Cheerio was fast, and got one of them in his mouth before my dad could reach it. "That's my slipper," my dad said. "Drop it." Cheerio didn't. In fact, he bit down even harder. My dad reached down to take the slipper out of Cheerio's mouth. He pulled, but Cheerio pulled harder. It was a major tug-of war At last, Cheerio let go. My dad flew backward and bumped into the table where my mom kept her grandmother's glass vase.

他的拖鞋。但麦里奥动作很快，在我爸爸够到之前，他就把其中一个塞进了嘴里。 “那是我的拖鞋，”爸爸说。 “放弃”。恭喜恭喜没有。 事实上，他咬得更紧了。 我爸爸伸手把拖鞋从Cheerio的嘴里拿出来。 他拉着，但麦圈拉得更用力。 这是一场激烈的拉锯战，最后，麦圈放手了。 爸爸向后一飞，撞到了妈妈放奶奶玻璃花瓶的桌子上。

Crash! Boom! Bam! The vase fell off the table and smashed into a million pieces. "Now look what you've done," my dad said to Cheerio. "Actually, Dad, you did it," I pointed out. "I can see this dog is going to cause a lot of trouble," he answered, shaking his head. My mom came in from the kitchen carrying a broom and a dustpan. "Cheerio and I are so sorry about the vase,

崩溃!繁荣!砰!花瓶从桌子上掉下来摔得粉碎。 “看看你都干了些什么，”爸爸对麦圈说。 “实际上，爸爸，是你干的。”我指出来。 “我知道这只狗会制造很多麻烦，”他摇着头回答。 妈妈拿着扫帚和簸箕从厨房走了进来。 "我和麦里奥对花瓶的事很抱歉，

Mom," I said. "I know it was your grandma's." "Oh no, Hank. Grandma's vase is in the kitchen cabinet. I bought that old vase at a yard sale for fifty cents." While she swept up the mess, my dad turned to Cheerio, who had no idea he had done anything wrong. "Don't wag your tail at me," my dad said to him. "If you're to be in this family, you have to follow the Zipzer rules. No slipper chewing. No furniture sniffing. Is that clear?" Cheerio turned his head to one side, as if to say, I have no idea what you're talking about, but do you happen to have a hamburger in your pocket? "And while we're at it, Hank," my dad went on. "There are dog-care rules for you, too. I expect you to walk Cheerio every day. He must always be on a leash. And you are to keep his water bowl full and feed him every day. These are the responsibilities you assume when you get a dog." "No problem, Dad," I said. "I will be the

妈妈，”我说。“我知道那是你奶奶的。” “哦，不，汉克。奶奶的花瓶在厨房的橱柜里。 那只旧花瓶是我在庭院旧货拍卖会上花五毛钱买的。” 当她收拾残局的时候，我爸转向麦圈，麦圈完全不知道自己做错了什么。 “别对我摇尾巴，”爸爸对他说。 “如果你想成为这个家族的一员，你就必须遵守齐泽尔法则。 不要咬拖鞋。没有家具气味。 明白了吗？”麦里奥把头转到一边，好像在说，我不知道你在说什么，但你口袋里碰巧有汉堡包吗？ “说到这里，汉克，”爸爸接着说。 “你也有照顾狗的规定。 我希望你每天都去遛麦圈。 他必须一直被拴着。 你要把他的碗装满水，每天喂他。 这些都是你养狗时要承担的责任。” “没问题，爸爸，”我说。 “我将是……

picture of responsibility, I promise." I lifted Cheerio into my arms. "Let's go to our room." "Don't forget to take one of the wee-wee pads," my mom said. "We don't want Cheerio having an accident on the carpet." "Cheerio says he would never do a thing like that, Mom." "I didn't hear that dog say one word," Emily snorted. "That's because you don't speak puppy," I told her. "You only speak lizard." I went into the kitchen and took a wee-wee pad from the package. Tucking it under one arm, I picked up Cheerio with the other and headed to my room. Once we were inside, I put him down on the carpet. "Okay, boy, let's play catch," I said. I tossed the pad on my bed, then went to my desk drawer to look for my pink rubber ball. I found it and rolled it across the rug. Cheerio watched it go by. Nothing moved but his head.

我保证，这是负责任的表现。” 我把麦圈抱在怀里。 “我们回房间去吧。”“别忘了带一个尿垫，”我妈妈说。 “我们不希望麦圈在地毯上出事故。” “Cheerio说他永远不会做那样的事，妈妈。” “我没听到那只狗说一个字，”艾米丽哼了一声。 “那是因为你不会说小狗话，”我告诉她。 “你只会说蜥蜴语。”我走进厨房，从包裹里拿了一个尿垫。 我把它夹在一只胳膊下，另一只胳膊拿起麦圈，朝我的房间走去。 我们一进去，我就把他放在地毯上。 “好吧，孩子，我们来玩接球游戏吧，”我说。 我把垫子扔在床上，然后走到书桌抽屉里找我的粉红色橡皮球。 我找到了它，把它滚过地毯。 麦里奥看着它过去。除了他的头，什么也没动。