Chapter 8

Chapter eight, We ran all the way to the corner of 78th and Amsterdam Avenue. It's only half a block away, but it seemed like a hundred miles because I was so worried about Fred. When we got there, Mr. Park was outside his grocery store, putting water into the buckets that held all the flowers for sale. He looked at the three of us wearing rubber gloves and carrying our supplies. "Are you going fishing?" he asked with a laugh. "No, Mr. Park," I answered seriously. "We're going frogging." He looked puzzled. "I've never heard of this sport," he said. "It's not a sport," Ashley explained. "We're

第八章，我们一直跑到78街和阿姆斯特丹大道的拐角处。 只有半个街区远，但好像有一百英里，因为我太担心弗雷德了。 当我们到达那里时，朴先生正在他的杂货店外面，把水倒进装鲜花的桶里。 他看着我们三个人戴着橡胶手套，拿着我们的用品。 “你要去钓鱼吗？”他笑着问。 “不，帕克先生，”我严肃地回答。 “我们要去采蛙。”他看起来很困惑。 “我从来没听说过这项运动，”他说。 “这不是一项运动，”阿什利解释说。 “我们

on a mission to find a lost tree frog named Fred." "You didn't happen to see him hopping by, did you?" Frankie asked. "I see many strange things on this corner. I see dogs wearing red boots. I see ladies wearing the same boots. I see children with shoes that light up. But one thing I don't see is frogs." Mr. Park went back to watering his flowers, and we gathered around the puddle to check it out. The puddle had started out pretty big, but it was getting even bigger from Mr. Park's watering hose. If we stepped in it, it would probably come up to our ankles. "So what's your plan, frog finders?" Papa Pete asked. "First, we check it out with our eyes," I said. Frankie, Ashley, and I all stared down into the puddle.

去寻找一只名叫弗雷德的走失树蛙。” “你不会碰巧看到他跳过去吧？”弗兰基问道。 “我在这个街角看到了许多奇怪的东西。 我看见狗穿着红色的靴子。 我看到女士们穿着同样的靴子。 我看到孩子们的鞋子会发光。 但有一样东西我没有看到，那就是青蛙。” 朴先生又回去浇花了，我们围在水坑周围看个究竟。 水坑一开始相当大，但从朴先生的水管开始，水坑变得更大了。 如果我们踩进去，它可能会到我们的脚踝。 “那么你们的计划是什么，青蛙发现者们？”皮特爸爸问。 “首先，我们用眼睛检查一下，”我说。 弗兰基、阿什莉和我都低头盯着水坑。

"Anybody see anything frog-like?" I asked. "Does a green leaf count?" Frankie said. "No." "Then I don't see anything." "So now we have to use our nets," Ashley said, pulling the strainer out of the shopping bag. She put the strainer at the edge of the puddle and pulled it through the water. I could

“有人看到什么像青蛙的东西吗？”我问。 “一片绿叶算吗？”弗兰基说。 “没有。”“那我什么也没看见。” “所以现在我们必须使用我们的网，”阿什利说，从购物袋里拿出过滤器。 她把过滤器放在水坑边上，把它拉过水。 我可以

hear the metal scraping against the pavement. "Look what I found!" she exclaimed. "Is it Fred?" Frankie and I asked at the same time. "No. A nickel." Papa Pete laughed. "This frog search pays well," he said. "Find another nickel and you can buy yourself a gumball." Ashley continued to scrape her strainer around the edges of the puddle. She found a soggy candy wrapper, a gray pebble, and half a yellow crayon. "If Fred is in here, I think he'd be in the deeper part of the puddle," I said. "In the middle. I'm going to use my net. It has a longer handle." I took a step or two into the puddle. "Don't get yourself wet, Hankie," Papa Pete warned. "Don't worry," I told him. "I have my boots on." I leaned over and held my net out as far as

听金属摩擦人行道的声音。 “看我找到了什么！” “是弗雷德吗？”弗兰基和我同时问道。 “没有。一个镍。”皮特爸爸笑了。 他说：“寻找青蛙很划算。” “再找个五分钱，你就可以给自己买颗口香糖了。” 艾希礼继续在水坑边上刮她的滤网。 她找到了一个湿透的糖果包装纸、一块灰色的鹅卵石和半支黄色的蜡笔。 “如果弗雷德在这里，我想他应该在水坑的深处，”我说。 “在中间。我要用我的网。 它的手柄更长。”我在水坑里走了一两步。 “别把自己弄湿了，汉克，”皮特爸爸警告说。 “别担心，”我告诉他。 “我穿了靴子。”我俯下身，把网伸到

it would go. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something move. Could it be Fred? My heart started to race, and I reached out to dip my net into the water. WHOMP! Before I knew what had happened, I was facedown in the puddle. When I looked up, I saw a French poodle in a pink sweater zooming by me. "What happened?" I said. "That little dog cut you off at the knees,"

它会走的。我的余光好像看到有东西在动。 会是弗雷德吗？我的心开始狂跳，我伸出手把网浸入水中。 重击!在我知道发生了什么事之前，我已经脸朝下掉进了水坑里。 当我抬起头时，我看到一只穿着粉红色毛衣的法国贵宾犬从我身边疾驰而过。 “发生什么事了?”我说。“那只小狗咬了你的膝盖，”

Frankie said, laughing so hard he was almost crying. "Fifi!" a woman called. "Get back here at once. Look what you did to that nice young man." Fifi zoomed by me again, dashing through the puddle and splashing me in the face. Now it was Ashley's turn to laugh. "I'm sorry, Hank," she said, trying to control herself. "It's just that you look so funny sprawled out in that puddle." "It's a good thing Fred isn't in there, or you would have crushed him Frankie added. Papa Pete reached his big, strong hand out to me. "Let's get you out of there," he said. "You're soaked." When I stood up, I was covered with puddle water. "Look, there's hardly any water left on the pavement," Frankie said. "The puddle's all over you." "Check your pockets for Fred," Ashley

弗兰基说，笑得都快哭出来了。 “菲菲！”一个女人喊道。“马上回来。 看看你对那个善良的年轻人做了什么。” 菲菲又从我身边呼啸而过，冲过水坑，溅到了我的脸上。 现在轮到艾希礼笑了。 “对不起，汉克，”她说，试图控制自己。 “只是你躺在水坑里看起来太滑稽了。” 弗兰基补充说：“幸好弗雷德不在里面，不然你会把他揍扁的。 皮特爸爸伸出他又大又壮的手给我。 “我们把你弄出去吧，”他说。 “你湿透了。”我站起来时，浑身都是水坑里的水。 “看，人行道上几乎没有水了，”弗兰基说。 “你身上全是水坑。” “看看口袋里有没有弗雷德，”艾希礼说