Chapter 8

Chapter eight, "Hank," Frankie said to me. "This is the fifty- fifth time I've shown you this trick. You have to focus if you're ever going to learn it." We were in the clubhouse, and I had been working with Frankie after school for four days. I was proud of myself just for having found the velvet bag and the scarves. I had stuffed them into my backpack. But now, every time I tried to pull the snake out of the bag, something went wrong. "I'm really trying, Frankie, as hard as I can. I'm not messing up on purpose. I know I have to learn this trick, but I don't think I can." "Time is running out," Ashley said. "It's already Thursday, and Emily's party is on Saturday." "I'll never be able to do it by then," I said

第八章，“汉克”，弗兰基对我说。 “这是我第五十五次给你看这个把戏了。 如果你想学会它，你必须集中注意力。” 我们在俱乐部里，放学后我和弗兰基一起工作了四天。 我为自己找到了丝绒包和围巾而感到骄傲。 我把它们塞进了背包。 但现在，每次我想把蛇从袋子里揪出来，就会出问题。 “我真的在努力，弗兰基，尽我所能。 我不是故意搞砸的。 我知道我必须学会这个把戏，但我想我做不到。” “时间不多了，”艾希礼说。 “现在已经是星期四了，而艾米丽的聚会是在星期六。” “到那时我永远也做不到，”我说

with a big sigh. "You're the magician, Frankie. Why don't you do it?" "Hank, you can do this. I believe in you. If you give up now, you'll really feel bad." "But if you get it," Ashley added, "you're going to feel good forever. You'll never forget what you did for Emily." "But this is starting to really freak me out," I said. "All Emily talks about is how many people have said yes to her party. Last night at dinner, she said there were seventeen for-sures and another ten maybes. Not one person said no." "Okay," Frankie said, taking a deep breath. "Then let's stop wasting time. You're going to learn this." I rolled up my wizard-robe sleeves and put on the sunglasses with the beard attached. I took a moment to scratch my nose, because the cotton balls tickled my nostrils. "Hankster," Frankie said. "You have to become the Westside Wizard. And wizards don't scratch." "Well, this one does."

长叹一声。“你是魔术师，弗兰基。 你为什么不去做呢？”“汉克，你能做到的。 我相信你。如果你现在放弃，你会感觉很糟糕。” “但如果你得到了它，”阿什利补充说，“你会永远感觉良好。 你永远不会忘记你为艾米丽所做的一切。” “但这真的开始把我吓坏了，”我说。 “艾米丽一直在说有多少人同意参加她的派对。 昨晚吃饭时，她说有十七个“肯定”，还有十个“可能”。 没有人说不。”“好吧，”弗兰基说，深吸了一口气。 “那我们就别再浪费时间了。 你会学到这个的。” 我卷起巫师袍的袖子，戴上那副连着胡子的太阳镜。 我花了一点时间挠挠鼻子，因为棉球使我的鼻孔发痒。 “汉克斯特，”弗兰基说。“你必须成为西区巫师。 巫师是不会抓人的。” “嗯，这个人有。”

"Fine," Frankie said. "Just go on with the trick." "Okay," I began. "First, I lift my hand in the air. Then I drop it into the velvet bag until I find the secret pocket with the Velcro strip. Then, I say the magic word. What is it again, Frankie? Grapefruit?" "No, zengawii. It doesn't even sound like grapefruit." "Zengawii!" I repeated in my best wizardy voice. I thought I felt the scarves tucked into the secret pocket. So far, so good. But when I pulled on the scarves, the whole bag flew across the room and landed smack in the middle of Mrs. Fink's laundry basket.

“好吧，”弗兰基说。“继续变魔术吧。” “好吧，”我开始说。“首先，我举起我的手在空中。 然后我把它放进天鹅绒的袋子里，直到我找到那个有魔术贴的秘密口袋。 然后，我说出那个神奇的词。 什么来着，弗兰基？ 柚子吗?”“不,zengawii。 听起来都不像葡萄柚。” “Zengawii !”我用最好的魔法声音重复了一遍。 我好像感觉到围巾塞进了秘密口袋。 到目前为止，一切顺利。但当我拉上围巾时，整个袋子飞到房间的另一边，正好落在芬克太太的洗衣篮中间。

"That's it!" I yelled, pulling off my beard and pointy wizard hat. "I can't do this! I give up!" "But, Hank—" Ashley began. "No but Hanks," I told her. "I'm so frustrated I could scream. In fact, I think I will. Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggg!"I shouted so loud I thought my tonsils were going to fly out of my mouth. "Hank, this isn't helping," Frankie said, covering his ears. "If you keep this up, they're going to throw us out of here. Then you'll have no place to practice." "I'm done practicing," I declared. "Done,

“就是这样!”我嚷道，扯掉胡子，摘下尖尖的巫师帽。 “我不能这么做！”我放弃！”“可是，汉克——"艾希礼开口了。 “不，只有汉克斯，”我告诉她。 “我沮丧得想尖叫。 事实上，我想我会的。Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggg !我大声喊着，我觉得我的扁桃体都要从嘴里飞出来了。 “汉克，这没用，”弗兰基捂着耳朵说。 “如果你再这样下去，他们会把我们赶出去的。 那样你就没有地方练习了。” “我练完了，”我宣布。 “完成,

done, and done. Oh, by the way, have I said the word done?" "What about Emily and her party?" Ashley asked. "You promised her a snake. Are you just going to go back on your promise?" "I'm going to solve this another way," I said. "The right way." Before they could ask me another question, I hurried out of the clubhouse and headed for the elevator. Frankie and Ashley followed me up to my apartment. When I got inside, I picked up the phone and called Papa Pete. "Hankie," he answered. "What are you up to, my boy?" "Oh, about four foot three," I told him. He roared with laughter. That was our special joke. "Papa Pete, can you help me?" I asked him. "I need you to come and pick me up. I have to visit a friend. I have a favor to ask him, and I don't want my mom and dad to know." "You're not in any trouble, are you?" Papa Pete asked

好了，好了。哦，顺便问一下，我说完了吗？”“艾米丽和她的派对怎么办？”阿什利问道。 “你答应给她一条蛇。 你打算违背你的诺言吗？”“我要用另一种方法来解决这个问题，”我说。 “正确的方式。”他们还没来得及问我下一个问题，我就匆匆走出会所，朝电梯走去。 弗兰基和阿什莉跟着我到了我的公寓。 我进屋后，拿起电话给皮特爸爸打了个电话。 “手帕，”他回答。“你在干什么，我的孩子？”“哦，大约四英尺三英寸，”我告诉他。 他哈哈大笑。那是我们的特别玩笑。 “皮特爸爸，你能帮帮我吗？”我问他。 “我需要你来接我。 我得去拜访一个朋友。我要请他帮个忙，但我不想让我爸妈知道。” “你没有遇到什么麻烦吧？”皮特爸爸问

."No more than usual," I said. Papa Pete is great because he doesn't bother you with too many questions, like most grown-ups do. He just tries to help. "I'll be there soon," he said. As I hung up the phone, Frankie and Ashley were staring at me. "I'm not following this," Frankie said. "What friend? What favor?" "His name is Ralph," I explained. "He's Ginger's owner. I'm going to ask him if he and Ginger can come to Emily's party."

“不比平常多，”我说。 皮特爸爸很棒，因为他不会像大多数成年人那样，用太多问题来烦你。 他只是想帮忙。“我马上就到，”他说。 当我挂掉电话时，弗兰基和阿什利正盯着我看。 “我不明白，”弗兰基说。 “什么朋友?什么忙吗?”“他叫拉尔夫，”我解释道。 “他是金格的主人。我要问他和金格能不能来参加爱米丽的聚会。”