Chapter 10

Chapter ten That day and the next, I spent every spare minute in the clubhouse with Frankie and Ashley, going over the magic trick again and again. Finally, on Friday night at exactly 8:17 p.m., I got it right. And not only that, I got it right three times in a row. Costume on. Hand into velvet bag. Find secret pocket. Pull out handkerchief chain. Say zengawii and produce rubber snake. Wave hands in the air and take a bow. I did it all. "See, Zip," Frankie said. "I told you that if you kept your mind on it, you could do it. And you did it!" "You are now officially the Westside Wizard," Ashley added. "There's only one thing left to do. Hand over your beard." "Excuse me," I said in my wizardy voice. "It took me a long time to grow this."

那一天和第二天，我利用每一分钟的空闲时间，同弗兰基和艾希礼呆在俱乐部里，一遍又一遍地练习魔术。 终于，在周五晚上8点17分整，我猜对了。 不仅如此，我连续三次都答对了。 服装上。手放进天鹅绒的袋子里。 找到秘密口袋。拔出手帕链。 说增加威，生产橡皮蛇。 在空中挥手并鞠躬。 我都做了。“你看，次波，”弗兰基说。 “我告诉过你，只要你用心，你就能做到。 你做到了！”“你现在正式成为西区巫师了。”艾希礼补充说。 “现在只有一件事要做了。 把你的胡子交出来。”“对不起，”我用魔法般的声音说。 “我花了很长时间才把它种出来。”

"Now isn't the time to be cute, Hank," Ashley said. "I have to fill that hole with another cotton ball. You're going to have twenty-five kids looking at you tomorrow. That's fifty eyeballs." While Ashley glued a cotton ball onto my beard, Frankie and I opened a package of chocolate-chip cookies I had brought down to the clubhouse with me. As I chewed my cookie, I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my face. "Dude, don't smile so wide when you're eating," Frankie said. "I can see chocolate

“现在不是装可爱的时候，汉克，”艾希礼说。 “我得用另一个棉球把那个洞填上。 明天会有25个孩子看着你。 那是五十个眼球。”阿什利在我的胡子上粘棉花球的时候，我和弗兰基打开了我带到俱乐部会所的巧克力饼干包。 当我嚼着饼干时，我的脸上禁不住绽开了笑容。 “伙计，吃饭的时候别笑得那么开心，”弗兰基说。 “我能看到巧克力

chunks stuck to your teeth." "I can't help it, Frankie. I just feel so proud for learning something I thought I could never do." "You're going to be great," Ashley said. "Those little kids will be amazed. And Emily is going to be so happy, she won't know what to say." "Oh, that will never happen. She hasn't stopped talking about it all week." The last thing Ashley, Frankie, and I did that night was carefully pack the costume into a shopping bag so I could sneak it back into the apartment without Emily seeing it. We arranged to meet in our clubhouse at a few minutes before noon the next morning. When I got back to the apartment, Emily and my mom were busy decorating the living room for the party. My mom was blowing up balloons, and Emily was using her colored markers to draw pictures of snakes and lizards on them. She wasn't a bad artist. One of her drawings actually looked like Boris the blue

大块的东西粘在你的牙齿上。” “我没办法，弗兰基。 我只是觉得很自豪，因为我学会了一些我以为我永远做不到的事情。” “你会很棒的，”艾希礼说。 “那些小孩子会很惊讶的。 艾米丽会高兴得不知道说什么好。” “哦，那是不可能的。 她整个星期都在不停地谈论这件事。” 那天晚上，阿什莉、弗兰基和我做的最后一件事就是小心翼翼地把戏服装进购物袋，这样我就可以偷偷溜回公寓，不让艾米丽看到。 我们约定第二天中午前几分钟在俱乐部里见面。 当我回到公寓时，艾米丽和我妈妈正忙着为聚会装饰客厅。 我妈妈在吹气球，艾米丽用她的彩色马克笔在气球上画蛇和蜥蜴。 她是个不错的艺术家。她的一幅画看起来就像蓝色的鲍里斯

tailed skink. Without even looking up, Emily said, "What's in the bag, Hank?" I swear that girl has eyes glued to the side of her head. "Nothing," I answered, hurrying into my room and closing the door. My mom followed me into my room.

跟踪小蜥蜴。艾米丽头也不抬地说：“汉克，袋子里装的是什么？”我发誓那女孩的眼睛都粘在她的头两侧了。 “没什么，”我回答，匆匆走进我的房间，关上了门。 我妈妈跟着我进了房间。

"Hank," she said. "I know what you're up to. Frankie's mom and I have been talking, and I know that you're planning a surprise for Emily." "You didn't say anything to Emily, did you?" "Of course not. I wouldn't spoil your plan. But I just want to warn you: It's not easy to entertain twenty-five first-graders. I hope you know what you're doing." "Don't you worry, Mom. The wizard is with us." "Well then, good luck to you, honey. Oh, I mean, to him." As my mom walked out the door, Emily stuck her head in.

“汉克，”她说。“我知道你想干什么。 我和弗兰基的妈妈谈过了，我知道你在计划给艾米丽一个惊喜。” “你没跟艾米丽说什么吧？”“当然不是。 我不想破坏你的计划。 但我只是想提醒你：取悦25个一年级学生并不容易。 我希望你知道你在做什么。” “别担心，妈妈。巫师和我们在一起。” “那么，祝你好运，亲爱的。 哦，我是说，对他来说。”我妈妈走出门的时候，艾米丽把头伸了进来。

"Have you checked with the wizard lately?" she asked. "I can't wait to meet him. I've never met a real wizard before." "Me neither," I said. Emily looked surprised. "Wait a minute, Hank. I thought you said you knew him." There it was... my foot in my mouth. Actually, both my feet were in there. When would I learn to keep my big mouth shut?

“你最近问过巫师吗？”她问。 “我等不及要见他了。 我从来没见过真正的巫师。” “我也是，”我说。艾米丽显得很惊讶。 “等一下，汉克。我记得你说过你认识他。” 就在那儿……我说错话了。 事实上，我的两只脚都在里面。 我什么时候才能学会闭上我的大嘴巴？