Chapter 3

Chapter three I don't want to brag, but of all the kids in our class, I'm sure Fred liked me best. When it was feeding time, three kids got to drop a live cricket into his tank. I didn't get a chance to feed him, but when I put my hand into his tank to change his water, he'd jump into my palm and sit there for a long time. On Thursday, when I put my face next to the glass, he hopped out from underneath the leaves. He jumped onto the glass next to my face and shot his tongue out, just like my dog, Cheerio, does when I come home from school. On Friday, I took over the job of misting his tank with water. When I did it, he hopped off his log and let the drops of water fall down on him

我不想吹牛，但在我们班上所有的孩子中，我敢肯定弗雷德最喜欢我。 喂食时间到了，三个孩子把一只活蟋蟀扔进了他的水箱。 我没有机会喂他，但当我把手伸进他的水箱给他换水时，他会跳到我的手掌里，在那里坐了很长时间。 星期四，当我把脸靠近玻璃时，他从树叶下面跳了出来。 它跳到我脸旁边的玻璃上，吐出舌头，就像我放学回家时我的狗狗Cheerio做的那样。 星期五，我接管了给他的水箱洒水的工作。 当我这样做的时候，他从他的圆木上跳下来，让水珠落在他身上

like a shower. People don't usually think of frogs as cute. But I'm telling you this: Fred was the cutest. Before lunch on Friday, Ms. Flowers told us it was time to pick who would get to take Fred home for the weekend. Katie Sperling raised her hand. "I nominate Hank," she said. "Everybody can see how much Fred likes him, and how well Hank takes care of him." "That's because they both have webbed feet," Nick McKelty shouted out. "And slimy skin." "Okay, that's enough, Nick," Ms. Flowers said. "Does anyone else have a nomination?" "Yeah," McKelty called out. "I nominate myself." Ms. Flowers wrote both our names on the board. "Boys, can you each tell us what would make Fred's visit to your house special?" Ms. Flowers asked. "Yeah," McKelty said. "I'll teach that slimy frog to dance. I'll show him some of my

像阵雨一样。人们通常认为青蛙不可爱。 但我告诉你，弗雷德是最可爱的。 在周五的午餐前。 弗劳尔斯告诉我们，是时候决定谁来带弗雷德回家过周末了。 凯蒂·斯珀林举起了手。 “我提名汉克，”她说。 “每个人都能看到弗雷德有多喜欢他，汉克把他照顾得有多好。” “那是因为它们都有蹼脚，”尼克·麦凯尔蒂喊道。 “还有黏糊糊的皮肤。”“好了，够了，尼克。” 花说。“还有其他人获得提名吗？”“是啊，”麦凯尔蒂喊道。 “我提名我自己。”弗劳尔斯女士把我们俩的名字都写在黑板上了。 “孩子们，你们每个人都能告诉我们，弗雷德来你家有什么特别之处吗？”Ms。 花问。“是的，”麦凯尔蒂说。 “我要教那只黏糊糊的青蛙跳舞。 我会给他看一些我的

awesome moves." "Like tripping over your own big feet?" Katie Sperling said. McKelty stuck his tongue out at her. It still had some of his yellow breakfast on it. "Hank," Ms. Flowers said. "Your turn." "Well, I don't know if I could teach Fred anything," I said. "But I sure would try to be his friend." "Very good," Ms. Flowers said. "Now can we take a vote?" Ashley asked.

很棒的动作。”“就像被自己的大脚绊倒一样？”凯蒂·斯珀林说。 麦凯尔蒂朝她吐了吐舌头。 上面还残留着一些他的黄色早餐。 “汉克，”弗劳尔斯说。“你的。” “嗯，我不知道我能不能教弗雷德什么，”我说。 “但我肯定会努力成为他的朋友。” “很好，”弗劳尔斯说。 “现在我们可以投票了吗？”阿什利问道。

Ms. Flowers hesitated for a minute, and I noticed she looked a little worried. "Before we vote, I want to remind you what a big job it is to take care of another living thing," she said. "Especially when you are in charge twenty-four hours a day." I could tell that Ms. Flowers was talking directly to me. I'm not always as responsible as I should be. I mean to do the right thing, but sometimes my brain takes a vacation and forgets. "Hank, if you win, are you sure you want to take on this responsibility?" Ms. Flowers asked. Frankie's hand shot up in the air. "Ashley and I live in the same apartment building as Hank," he said. "We will be right there if he needs any help." "Thank you, Frankie," Ms. Flowers answered. "That's being a good friend. So... all in favor of having Hank take Fred home, raise your hand." ( Every hand went up except one. I think you can guess who didn't vote for me. That's right.

弗劳尔斯女士犹豫了一会儿，我注意到她看起来有点担心。 “在我们投票之前，我想提醒你们，照顾另一种生物是一项多么艰巨的工作，”她说。 “尤其是当你一天24小时负责的时候。” 我能感觉到弗劳尔斯女士在直接跟我说话。 我并不总是像我应该做的那样负责任。 我想做正确的事，但有时我的大脑休假而忘记了。 “汉克，如果你赢了，你确定要承担这个责任吗？”Ms。 花问。弗兰基的手猛地举了起来。 “阿什利和我和汉克住在同一栋公寓楼里，”他说。 “如果他需要任何帮助，我们就会在那里。” “谢谢你，弗兰基，”弗劳尔斯女士回答。 “这就是一个好朋友。 所以…赞成汉克带弗雷德回家的，请举手。” (除一人外，所有人都举手了。 我想你能猜到谁没有投我的票。 这是正确的。

Nick McKelty. He only got one vote and that was his own. Maybe next time he calls me a loser, he'll think about that!

尼克McKelty。他只有一票，那是他自己的。 也许下次他叫我窝囊废的时候，他会好好想想的！

When everyone else left for lunch, I stayed with Ms. Flowers to go over all the rules for taking Fred home. She called my mom at our deli, the Crunchy Pickle, and got her permission for Fred to spend the weekend with us. My mom even told her that my grandfather, Papa Pete, would come after school and bring one of our delivery carts from the deli so we could roll Fred's tank home. "It may smell a little like pickles and pastrami," my mom said. "I hope the frog doesn't mind." "Oh, he won't," I shouted into the phone. "Fred and I like the same things... except crickets. I'm not a fan of crunchy crickets." I could hardly wait for school to end. When the bell rang and all the kids filed out of class, Nick McKelty hung around just long enough to make a final nasty comment. "I bet you and the frog get married this

当其他人都去吃午饭时，我留下来陪她。 送我花，让我重温带弗雷德回家的所有规矩。 她打电话给我们的熟食店“脆泡菜”的妈妈，让她同意弗雷德和我们一起过周末。 我妈妈甚至告诉她，我的祖父皮特爸爸放学后会从熟食店带来一辆送货车，这样我们就可以把弗雷德的坦克推回家了。 “它可能闻起来有点像咸菜和熏牛肉，”我妈妈说。 “我希望青蛙不要介意。” “哦，他不会的，”我对着电话喊道。 “弗雷德和我喜欢同样的东西…… 除了蟋蟀。我不喜欢脆脆的蟋蟀。” 我几乎等不及放学了。 下课铃响了，所有的孩子都鱼贯而入，尼克·麦凯尔蒂在教室里逗留了很长时间，最后说了一句难听的话。 “我打赌你和青蛙会在今天结婚