Chapter 9

Chapter nine We took the bus to Ralph's apartment. It was downtown on 19th Street, above a discount suitcase store. We had to walk up three flights of stairs, slower than usual because Papa Pete had to rest on each landing. When we got to Ralph's door, the bell didn't work, so we knocked. And waited. And waited. "Maybe he's not home," Ashley said. "Oh, he's there," I answered. "I called ahead and told him we were coming." "How'd you get his number?" "From his brochure in Emily's room. She sleeps with it under her pillow." "Good planning, Hankie," Papa Pete said. "I like the way you're thinking ahead." Suddenly, the door flew open and there

第九章我们乘公共汽车去拉尔夫的公寓。 它在市中心的第19街，一家折扣旅行箱店的楼上。 我们不得不爬上三层楼梯，比平时要慢，因为皮特爸爸每次都要在楼梯上休息。 当我们走到拉尔夫家门口时，门铃坏了，所以我们敲了敲门。 等着。等着。“也许他不在家，"艾希礼说。 “哦，他在那儿。”我回答。 “我事先打过电话，告诉他我们要来。” “你怎么知道他的电话号码的？”这是他在艾米丽房间里的宣传册上写的。 她睡觉时把它放在枕头下面。” “计划得好，汉克，”皮特爸爸说。 “我喜欢你未雨绸缪的方式。” 突然，门开了

was Ralph. Ginger was wrapped around his arm, and Boris, the blue-tailed skink, was relaxing on his shoulder. Ginger shot her tongue out at us, which made Frankie and Ashley take a giant step backward. Ralph laughed. "You don't have to be afraid, kids," he said. "Ginger flicks her tongue to help her smell. It's how she knows you're here." "Good thing I took a shower this morning," I said. "I wouldn't want to gross Ginger out." Ralph threw his head back and laughed loudly. We all joined in. "Our friend Hank is really funny," Frankie said. "So I see," Ralph answered. "Come on in and meet the rest of the family." The inside of Ralph's apartment was like a zoo, except you didn't have to pay to get in. There were glass cages everywhere, and inside each cage was some kind of reptile. Speedy, the giant tortoise, was sitting on the couch watching TV. I think it was an infomercial about

拉尔夫。金格搂着他的胳膊，蓝尾巴的小蜥蜴鲍里斯在他的肩膀上休息。 金吉朝我们吐了吐舌头，这让弗兰基和阿什利后退了一大步。 拉尔夫笑了。“孩子们，你们不必害怕，”他说。 金吉尔轻弹舌头，帮助自己闻味道。 她就是这样知道你在这儿的。” “幸好我今天早上洗了个澡，”我说。 “我可不想让金吉觉得恶心。” 拉尔夫仰起头，大声笑了起来。 我们都参加了。“我们的朋友汉克真的很有趣，”弗兰基说。 “我明白了，”拉尔夫回答。 “进来见见我们家的其他成员吧。” 拉尔夫的公寓里面就像一个动物园，只不过你不用付钱就可以进去。 到处都是玻璃笼子，每个笼子里都有某种爬行动物。 大乌龟斯皮迪正坐在沙发上看电视。 我想是一个电视广告

an exercise machine. "Is Speedy interested in working out?" I asked. "I bet it would be hard to do sit-ups with that shell in the way." Ralph laughed again. "You're on a roll, kid. Now, what can I do for you? You said you needed a favor." I put on my biggest smile, and took a deep breath so all the words would come out right. "Ralph," I began. "Here is my problem: My sister, as annoying as she is, has only one wish in the whole wide world. And that wish is for you and Ginger to come to her birthday party. It's this Saturday at noon." "I remember talking about this with your

健身器。“飞毛腿有兴趣健身吗？”我问。 “我敢打赌，有那个壳挡着，你肯定很难做仰卧起坐。” 拉尔夫又笑了。“你很走运，孩子。 我能为你做什么？ 你说你需要帮忙。” 我露出最大的笑容，深吸一口气，好让所有的话都能脱口而出。 “拉尔夫，”我开始说。“我的问题是：我的妹妹，虽然她很烦人，但她在这个世界上只有一个愿望。 那个愿望就是让你和金吉来参加她的生日派对。 是这个星期六的中午。” “我记得我和你说过这个

family at the street fair, but your parents never called," Ralph said. "That's why I'm here. I think a personal invitation is always best. Don't you think so, Papa Pete?" "Personal is good," Papa Pete agreed. "Ralph," I said, "I'm going to give you three reasons why you have to come to Emily's party. One: The birthday cake will be so delicious it'll make your socks go up and down. Two: You will make an almost-seven-year-old girl's dream come true. And three: I have here in my pocket two dollars and sixty-three cents... and it's all yours." I paused and gave him my best upper and lower teeth grin.(

你的家人在集市上，但你父母从来没有打电话来，”拉尔夫说。 “这就是我来这里的原因。我认为私人邀请总是最好的。 你不这样认为吗，皮特爸爸？”“个人化是好的，”皮特爸爸同意道。 “拉尔夫，”我说，“我要给你三个你一定要来艾米丽的聚会的理由。 第一：生日蛋糕会很好吃，会让你的袜子上蹿下跳。 二：你会让一个快七岁的小女孩梦想成真。 第三，我口袋里有2美元63美分…… 现在都是你的了。”我停顿了一下，对他龇牙咧嘴地笑。（

He was quiet for a minute. I took that as a good sign. I flashed Frankie and Ashley a confident grin. Yup, this was Hank "the Hurricane" Zipzer in action, I thought. Hank, you have done a good job here. I think you've saved the day. Ralph walked over to his dusty desk and pulled out a spiral notebook with a picture of two snakes on the cover. I think they were hugging, but without arms. He brought the notebook over to me and opened it to a page with a calendar on it.

他沉默了一会儿。 我认为这是个好兆头。 我给弗兰基和艾希礼一个自信的微笑。 我想，这就是“飓风”汉克·齐泽尔在行动。 汉克，你做得很好。 我觉得你挽救了局面。 拉尔夫走到他满是灰尘的书桌前，拿出一个螺旋形的笔记本，封面上有两条蛇的图案。 我想他们是在拥抱，但没有胳膊。 他把笔记本拿给我，打开一页，上面有日历。

"Hank, I am so sorry," he said. "But as you can see on this calendar, I am busy every day for the next three weekends. This Saturday, Ginger and I have an appearance at the Central Park Zoo. And then we're performing at Tiffany Nelson's birthday party on Park Avenue." "But, Ralph," I said, "you know how much you love your reptiles. There is only one other person on the planet who feels the way you do about them—my sister. If you come to her party, it will be the best birthday present I could ever give her. Forever." You're not going to believe this, but when I said those words, I actually felt a lump in my throat, the kind you get before you cry. I meant every word I was saying. Ralph reached out and put his hand on my shoulder, which brought Ginger dangerously close to my nose. "Hank," he said, "I think you're a wonderful young man and a great big brother. But there is nothing I can do. Saturday is just completely booked. I'm so sorry."

“汉克，我很抱歉，”他说。 “但正如你在这张日历上看到的，接下来的三个周末我每天都很忙。 这周六，我和金吉要去中央公园动物园。 然后我们要在公园大道蒂芙尼·纳尔逊的生日派对上表演。” “但是，拉尔夫，”我说，“你知道你有多喜欢你的爬行动物。 这个世界上只有一个人跟你有同样的感觉，那就是我妹妹。 如果你来参加她的派对，这将是我能给她的最好的生日礼物。 永远。”你可能不会相信，但当我说这些话的时候，我真的感到喉咙哽咽，就像你哭之前的那种感觉。 我说的每句话都是认真的。 拉尔夫伸出手来，把手放在我的肩膀上，这让金格危险地靠近了我的鼻子。 “汉克，”他说，“我认为你是一个了不起的年轻人，也是一个伟大的哥哥。 但我也无能为力。 星期六已经全部订满了。 我很抱歉。”