Chapter 10

Chapter ten The good news was, I didn't have to shovel up monkey poop. The bad news was, I actually got all of the other punishments, plus some I had never thought of. First of all, I had to sit next to Nick McKelty on the bus ride back to school. His armpits were especially stinky after spending the day at the zoo. My poor nose got so tired from trying to block the smell that I was going to have to put it to bed early. Second, when Ms. Flowers told my parents what I had done, I got grounded. My dad said for the next two weeks, I could eat, breathe, and go to school. And that was it.

好消息是，我不用铲猴子屎了。 坏消息是，我实际上受到了所有其他惩罚，加上一些我从未想过的惩罚。 首先，在回学校的公交车上，我必须坐在尼克·麦凯尔蒂旁边。 在动物园呆了一天后，他的腋窝特别臭。 我可怜的鼻子在试图阻挡气味的过程中太累了，所以我不得不早点把它放在床上。 第二，当弗劳尔斯女士告诉我父母我的所作所为时，我被禁足了。 我爸爸说在接下来的两个星期里，我可以吃饭，呼吸，上学。 就是这样。

Third, all of my screen time was taken away for two weeks. That meant no computer, no video games, and I couldn't even use my mom's phone to play a math game she had downloaded for me. When I tried to tell my dad that math was good for me, he said, "Use a pencil and paper instead." Then he put a whole sheet of subtraction problems in front of me. Was he kidding? I couldn't even do them behind me. The hardest part of the punishment was writing the three-paragraph report on my experience at the zoo. For me, writing even one sentence is hard. Writing a paragraph is very, very hard. Writing three paragraphs is as close to impossible as a person can get. After dinner that night, my dad set me up at the desk in my room. He gave me strict instructions.

第三，我所有的屏幕时间被剥夺了两周。 这意味着没有电脑，没有电子游戏，我甚至不能用我妈妈的手机玩她为我下载的数学游戏。 当我试图告诉爸爸数学对我有好处时，他说：“用铅笔和纸代替吧。” 然后他把一整张减法题放在我面前。 他是在开玩笑吗？我在后面都做不到。 惩罚中最难的部分是写一篇关于我在动物园经历的三段报告。 对我来说，写一个句子都很困难。 写一段话是非常非常难的。 一个人写三段文字几乎是不可能的。 那天晚饭后，爸爸把我安置在我房间的桌子旁。 他给了我严格的指示。

"Don't come out of your room until you've written the three paragraphs," he said. "But Dad," I answered. "This isn't fair. My brain is already cream cheese from working on those subtraction problems. Besides, I'm not a good paragraph writer." "You should have thought of that before you wandered away, Hank. Now get to work. I want you in bed with the lights out at eight- thirty. And remember, don't get up from your desk until you finish the assignment." As soon as my dad left the room, the first thing I did was get up from my desk. I had to.

“在你写完这三段之前，不要走出你的房间，”他说。 “但是爸爸，”我回答。“这不公平。 由于做了那些减法题，我的脑子已经是奶油奶酪了。 此外，我不擅长写段落。” “你走之前就应该想到这一点，汉克。 现在开始工作吧。我要你8点30分上床睡觉，关灯。 记住，在完成作业之前不要离开办公桌。” 爸爸一离开房间，我做的第一件事就是从桌子上站起来。 我必须这么做。

My left leg was bouncing up and down like it had a motor in it. Or maybe it was my right leg. I have a hard time knowing my left from my right. But no matter what leg it was, I had to take it for a walk around my room. I meant to go right back to my desk, but I made a little stop at my dresser and opened the drawer. The next thing I knew, I was looking through my collection of baseball cards. I don't know how they got out of order, but the Mets were all mixed together with the Yankees. I knew those cards wouldn't be happy until I separated them, because those two teams don't get along at all. I took the cards out of my drawer and put them down on the carpet. I was busy sorting them into two piles when the door opened and my mom stuck her head in.

我的左腿像装了马达一样上下跳动。 也可能是我的右腿。 我分不清自己的左右。 但不管它是什么腿，我都得带着它在我的房间里散步。 我本想回到我的办公桌前，但我在梳妆台前停了一下，打开了抽屉。 接下来我所知道的是，我正在翻看我收集的棒球卡。 我不知道他们是怎么出问题的，但大都会队和洋基队混在一起了。 我知道除非我把他们分开，否则他们不会高兴的，因为这两支队伍根本处不来。 我把卡片从抽屉里拿出来，放在地毯上。 我正忙着把它们分成两堆，这时门开了，妈妈把头伸了进来。

"That doesn't look like writing to me," she said, coming in and closing the door behind her. "You always say I have to get organized," I answered. "Well, look. I'm organizing." "This is not going to help you get your report done," she pointed out. "You should be organizing your thoughts, not your baseball cards." That was easy for her to say. When I tell my brain to organize my thoughts, it doesn't listen. It just thinks about whatever it wants to think about. And at that moment, it was thinking about baseball cards.

“这看起来不像是给我写的，”她说着走进来，随手关上了门。 “你总是说我必须要有条理，”我回答。 “嗯,看。我组织了。” “这对你完成报告没有帮助，”她指出。 “你应该整理你的想法，而不是你的棒球卡。” 她说得很容易。 当我告诉我的大脑组织我的想法时，它不听。 它想想什么就想什么。 在那一刻，我想到了棒球卡。

"Hank," my mom said. "This assignment shouldn't be hard for you. You know a lot about elephants. You've watched so many shows about them on television. Just combine what you already know with what you remember about your field trip. You'll be done in no time." My mom helped me clean up the baseball cards and put them back in the drawer. "The Yankees and the Mets are going to have to learn to get along on their own," I told her. She laughed, but then put her hand on my shoulder like she does when she gets serious. "Get to work, honey. Once your report is done, you'll feel so much better." She left and I sat down at my desk, for real this time. I was determined to write my three paragraphs. I picked up one of the pencils and wrote my name at the top of the paper. Wow, that was a good start.

“汉克，”我妈妈说。“这个任务对你来说应该不难。 你很了解大象。 你在电视上看过很多关于他们的节目。 只要把你已经知道的和你对实地旅行的记忆结合起来。 你很快就会完蛋的。” 妈妈帮我把棒球卡清理干净，放回抽屉里。 “洋基队和大都会队必须学会自己相处，”我告诉她。 她笑了，然后把手放在我的肩膀上，就像她认真的时候那样。 “开始工作吧，亲爱的。一旦你的报告完成，你会感觉好多了。” 她走了，我坐在我的办公桌前，这次是真的。 我下定决心要写这三段话。 我拿起一支铅笔，在纸的顶部写下了我的名字。 哇，这是个好的开始。