Chapter 8

Chapter eight Nora couldn't believe her eyes. "Did I just see what I think I saw?" she asked. Frankie, Ashley, and I all nodded at the same time, as if we had planned it. "You've seen her kick the ball like that before?" Nora asked me. "Sure," I said. "Elsie and I have been playing a lot of soccer this morning." Nora gave me a funny look. "I'd like to see this with my own eyes," Nora said. "Because since Elsie has been with us, she hasn't seemed at all playful. In fact, quite the opposite." "Then just watch this," I said to her. I put

诺拉简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 “我看到的是不是我以为看到的？”她问。 弗兰基、阿什莉和我同时点了点头，好像我们早就计划好了似的。 “你以前见过她那样踢球吗？”诺拉问我。 “当然，”我说。“埃尔西和我今天上午一直在踢足球。” 诺拉奇怪地看了我一眼。 “我想亲眼看看，”诺拉说。 “因为自从埃尔西和我们在一起以来，她看起来一点也不好玩。 事实上，恰恰相反。” “那就看这个，”我对她说。 我把

the soccer ball on the ground. "Okay, girl," I called out to Elsie. "Here it comes. Keep your eye on the ball." Elsie flapped her ears, which was a good sign because it meant she was excited. I took aim and kicked the ball hard, while lifting my foot. The ball sailed over the fence and right to Elsie. As the ball rolled toward her, she put out her gigantic foot and just like that, kicked it back to me. There was a gasp from the people in the crowd. "Amazing," I heard Nora whisper. We passed the ball back and forth again. When the ball was on my side of the fence, Elsie lifted her trunk and she trumpeted loudly, as if to say "She shoots, she scores!" Nora actually started to laugh out loud. "I don't know what you said to that elephant," she said to me, "but she sure is acting like a different animal." "I think Elsie's ready to make new friends," I told Nora.

足球在地上。 “好吧，姑娘。”我对埃尔西喊道。 “它来了。把你的眼睛放在球上。” 埃尔西拍打着耳朵，这是一个好迹象，因为这意味着她很兴奋。 我瞄准目标，用力踢了一脚，同时抬起了脚。 球飞过篱笆，正好打给了埃尔西。 当球滚向她时，她伸出她那巨大的脚，就这样，把球踢回给我。 人群中有人倒吸了一口气。 “太神奇了，”我听到诺拉低声说。 我们又一次来回传球。 当球落到我这边的篱笆上时，埃尔西抬起她的鼻子，大声地吹着号，好像在说：“她射门了，她得分了！”诺拉开始放声大笑。 “我不知道你对那头大象说了什么，”她对我说，“但她的行为确实像变了一个动物。” “我想埃尔西已经准备好交新朋友了，”我告诉诺拉。

"We have to be careful putting Elsie in with the others," she said. "Introducing a new elephant into a group can be risky. We have to be sure they all get along." "But if you put Elsie in with the other elephants, they could start their own soccer team. Maybe I'll help you think of a name. My soccer team was the Sharks, but that would be a weird name for elephants. How about—" Ms. Shimozato put her hand up to stop me. "I hate to block your creativity, Hank," she said, "but I think you should leave the decisions about this elephant up to the zookeepers. I need to get you back to your class right away. I

“我们必须小心地把埃尔西和其他人放在一起，”她说。 “在一个群体中引入一头新的大象是有风险的。 我们必须确保他们都能和睦相处。” “但如果你把埃尔西和其他大象放在一起，它们可以组建自己的足球队。 也许我能帮你想个名字。 我所在的足球队是鲨鱼队，但那对大象来说是个奇怪的名字。 这样怎么样——”Shimozato女士举起手来阻止我。 “我不想阻碍你的创造力，汉克，”她说，“但我认为你应该让动物园管理员来决定这头大象的事。 我得马上送你回教室。 我

know Ms. Flowers is very worried. I would call her to let her know you're okay, but I left my phone at the snack bar." "I'll let you go," Nora said. "Are you sure you know the way?" Ms. Shimozato nodded and thanked Nora for her help. Then she led us up the path toward the snack bar. "I hope Ms. Flowers hasn't called my parents," I said as we walked. "I'll be grounded until I'm old enough to shave." "I've got to hand it to you, Zip," Frankie said with a laugh. "No matter how much trouble you're in, you're always funny." We hurried up the red path, past the lions and the zebras. "Oh look," I said, pointing to an especially beautiful zebra that was standing by the fence. "Can we just stop and try to count his stripes?" "This is no time for stripe counting," Ms. Shimozato said. "Okay, but I still think it was a good suggestion," I answered.

我知道弗劳尔斯女士很担心。 我想打电话告诉她你没事，但我把手机落在小吃店了。” “我让你走，”诺拉说。 “你肯定认识路吗？”Ms。 下户点点头，感谢诺拉的帮助。 然后她领着我们沿着小路走向小吃店。 “我希望弗劳尔斯女士没有给我父母打电话，”我们边走边说。 “我会被禁足直到我长大能刮胡子为止” “我不得不称赞你，次波，”弗兰基笑着说。 “不管你遇到了多大的麻烦，你总是很有趣。” 我们匆匆走上红色的小路，经过狮子和斑马。 “哦，看，”我指着站在围栏旁的一只特别漂亮的斑马说。 “我们能不能停下来数一数他的条纹？”“现在不是数条纹的时候，”她说。 Shimozato说。“好吧，但我仍然认为这是一个很好的建议，”我回答。

"I don't think you understand how much trouble you're in, Hank," Ashley whispered. "Did you know that no two sets of zebra stripes are exactly alike?" I went on. "Very interesting, Zip," Frankie said. "Enough talking, kids," Ms. Shimozato said. "We've got to hurry." Up ahead, at the end of the red trail, I saw the snack bar. Our whole class was sitting at the tables, looking bored. Ms. Flowers was on her phone, pacing back and forth. Nick McKelty was the first to notice us approaching. "Well, it's about time, Zipper Teeth," he yelled out. "Our entire trip has been ruined because of you."

“我想你还不知道你惹了多大的麻烦，汉克，"艾希礼低声说。 “你知道没有两组斑马的条纹是完全一样的吗？”我接着说。 “很有趣，次波，”弗兰基说。 “别说了，孩子们。” Shimozato说。“我们得快点了。” 在前面那条红色小路的尽头，我看到了小吃店。 我们全班同学都坐在桌旁，看起来很无聊。 弗劳尔斯一边打电话，一边来回踱步。 尼克·麦凯尔蒂是第一个注意到我们靠近的人。 “好了，是时候了，拉链牙。”他喊道。 “我们的整个旅行都被你毁了。”

Ms. Flowers looked up from her phone and immediately ran toward us. "Oh, thank goodness," she called out. "I've been so worried. Hank, are you okay?" "He's fine," Ms. Shimozato said. "He was

弗劳尔斯女士从手机上抬起头来，立即向我们跑来。 “哦，谢天谢地，”她喊道。 “我一直很担心。汉克，你还好吗？”“他很好。” Shimozato说。“他是