Chapter 9

Chapter nine When he was finished peeing, Cheerio wagged his tail and looked at me happily. He had no idea he had done anything wrong. "You wait here," I said to him. "I'll go get help." I opened the door and tiptoed into the living room. "Mom," I whispered. "I have a little problem. Can I talk to you in the kitchen? I don't want to disturb Dad." "Don't worry about that, Hank," my dad said from his chair. "What's on your mind?" I had no choice. I took a breath and began. "Cheerio peed in my room," I said. "All over the carpet." "What happened?" my mom asked.

麦圈尿完后，摇了摇尾巴，高兴地看着我。 他不知道自己做错了什么。 “你在这儿等着，”我对他说。 “我去找人帮忙。”我打开门，蹑手蹑脚地走进客厅。 “妈妈，”我低声说。“我有个小问题。 我能和你去厨房谈谈吗？ 我不想打扰爸爸。” “别担心，汉克。”爸爸坐在椅子上说。 “你在想什么？”我别无选择。 我吸了口气，开始说。 “Cheerio在我房间里撒尿，”我说。 “地毯上都是。”“发生什么事了？”妈妈问。

"Did you forget to put the wee-wee pad down?" my dad asked me. "I meant to put it down, Dad. My brain just didn't remember." "Okay, Hank," he said with a sigh. "I think it's best if Cheerio doesn't spend any more time in your room—at least until you can be more responsible." "But, Dad, it's almost time for bed. Where's he going to sleep?" "We'll put his crate in the kitchen, and he'll sleep there," he answered. "All alone? He'll be so sad." "He'll be fine," my dad said. "That's what you do when you're training a puppy. And as for you, I believe you have some cleanup work to do in your room." My mom helped me clean the carpet with tons of paper towels and a special spray that would stop Cheerio from peeing there again. While we were doing that, my dad got Cheerio and put him in his crate in the kitchen.

爸爸问我：“你忘了把尿垫放下吗？” “我是想把它放下的，爸爸。 我的大脑就是不记得了。” “好吧，汉克，”他叹了口气说。 “我认为麦圈最好不要再在你的房间里呆了——至少在你能更负责任之前。” “可是，爸爸，差不多该睡觉了。 他要睡在哪里？”“我们把他的板条箱放在厨房里，他就睡在那里，”他回答。 “独自一人?他会很伤心的。” “他会没事的，”爸爸说。 “当你训练一只小狗时，你就会这样做。 至于你，我相信你有一些打扫房间的工作要做。” 我妈妈帮我清洁地毯，用了很多纸巾和一种特殊的喷雾，可以防止麦圈再在那里撒尿。 当我们这样做的时候，我爸爸把麦圈放在厨房的板条箱里。

"Can I at least say good night to him?" I asked when I had finished cleaning up. "Of course," my dad said. "Just make it short. It's been an exciting day. Both you and Cheerio need to get some rest." I went into the kitchen and knelt down by Cheerio's crate. His tail wagged when he saw me. "Good night, boy," I said. "We'll go on a nice walk tomorrow. I promise. It will be morning before you know it." With one last look at him, I turned out the lights and went to my room.

“至少我能跟他说声晚安吗？”我问他我什么时候收拾好了。 “当然，”爸爸说。“简短点就行。 这是令人兴奋的一天。 你和麦圈都需要休息。” 我走进厨房，跪在麦圈的板条箱旁。 他看见我时摇了摇尾巴。 “晚安，孩子。”我说。 “我们明天去散步。 我保证。不知不觉就天亮了。” 我最后看了他一眼，关上灯，回到自己的房间。

As I climbed into bed, I could hear Cheerio crying for me. "Cheerio, that's enough!" my dad yelled. "Go to sleep." I lay there in bed, thinking of poor little Cheerio alone in the kitchen. He was there because of me. If only I had remembered to put down that pad, maybe I could have kept his crate in my room, right next to my bed. I couldn't sleep. Listening to Cheerio cry was just too sad. Then I remembered that the store owner at Pets for U and Me had said to put a piece of my clothing into Cheerio's crate. If it smelled like me, Cheerio would feel like I was there with him. So I crept out of bed and pulled a Mets sock from the dirty-laundry hamper. I sniffed it. Oh yeah, that was me, all right. I tiptoed into the kitchen. Cheerio was lying in his crate, his little nose sticking through the front gate. The minute he saw me, he almost did a backflip. I slid my fingers as far as I could into his crate, and felt his wet tongue licking

当我爬上床时，我能听到麦圈在为我哭泣。 “喂，够了！” “去睡觉吧。”我躺在床上，想着可怜的小麦圈独自在厨房里。 他在那里是因为我。 如果我记得放下那个垫子，也许我可以把他的板条箱放在我的房间里，就在我的床边。 我睡不着。听麦圈的哭声太悲伤了。 然后我想起了“你和我的宠物”的店主说过要把我的一件衣服放进Cheerio的板条箱里。 如果它闻起来像我，Cheerio就会觉得我和他在一起。 于是我爬下床，从脏衣服篮里拿出一只大都会队的袜子。 我闻了闻。是的，是我，好吧。 我蹑手蹑脚地走进厨房。 麦里奥躺在他的板条箱里，他的小鼻子从前门伸出来。 他看到我的那一刻，几乎要后空翻了。 我把手指尽可能地伸到它的板条箱里，感觉到它湿漉漉的舌头在舔

them. Boy, that felt good. Cheerio whimpered a little louder. "I miss you, too, puppy," I said. "Here, I've brought something so you won't be so lonely." I held up my sock for him to smell. He stuck his nose into them and took a big whiff. Then his tail started to wag like crazy. He was the only living thing on the planet who liked the way my sock smelled. "Okay, boy," I whispered. "I'll just open the door and put it right next to you. Keep very quiet so you don't wake Dad." As soon as I opened the door just a crack, he shot out of there like a jet plane.

他们。天啊，那感觉真好。 麦圈呜咽得更大声了。 “我也想你，小狗，”我说。 “来，我给你带了点东西，这样你就不会那么孤单了。” 我举起袜子让他闻。 他把鼻子伸进去，吸了一大口。 然后它的尾巴开始疯狂地摇。 他是这个星球上唯一一个喜欢我袜子味道的生物。 “好吧，孩子，”我低声说。“我就打开门，把它放在你旁边。 保持安静，不要吵醒爸爸。” 我刚把门打开一条缝，他就像喷气式飞机一样飞了出去。

"Cheerio! Get back here!" I yell-whispered. He didn't listen. He pushed open the kitchen door and disappeared. I followed him as fast as I could. I couldn't see him in the dark, but I could hear the clicking of his toenails on the wood floor. He was running in giant circles all around the dining- room table.

“恭喜恭喜!给我回来！”我yell-whispered。 他不听。他推开厨房的门，消失了。 我尽可能快地跟着他。 黑暗中我看不见他，但我能听到他的脚趾甲踩在木地板上的咔哒声。 他绕着饭厅的桌子跑了一大圈。