Chapter 1

Here's hank the soggy, foggy campout

这是潮湿的，有雾的露营地

chapter 1 "What rhymes with 'orange'?" I asked my best friend Frankie Townsend. We were sitting in Riverside Park having an after-school snack. "Nothing," he said. "There isn't one word in the English language that rhymes with 'orange.'" "How about 'borange'?" I asked. My other best friend, Ashley Wong, burst out laughing. "Can I just point out that 'borange' isn't a word in any language?" she said. "Then I give up." I threw my hands in the air. "Writing poetry is too hard. I quit."

第一章“什么和‘orange’押韵？”我问了我最好的朋友弗兰基·汤森。 我们坐在河滨公园吃放学后的点心。 “没什么，”他说。“英语中没有一个词和‘orange’押韵。“‘橘色’怎么样？”我问。 我的另一个好朋友阿什利·王（Ashley Wong）突然大笑起来。 她说：“我可以指出，‘橘色’在任何语言中都不存在吗？” “那我就放弃。”我把双手举在空中。 “写诗太难了。 我不干了。”

Our teacher, Ms. Flowers, had told us the day before that everyone in our class had to write a poem about nature. We were going to read them at the We Love Nature assembly on Monday in the auditorium. Frankie and Ashley wrote theirs right away. They never have a problem at school in any subject. I have a problem with every subject. I'm bad at reading, spelling, math, and science. But I'm great at lunch. The night before I had sat at my desk forever, staring at a blank piece of paper. There wasn't a poem in my head or anywhere else in my body. So this morning my mom suggested that we all go to the park after school. She said that maybe looking at the flowers and trees would help me come up with an idea. But it wasn't working. "Hank, you can't just give up," my mom said. "You have an assignment to write a poem. Quitting is not a choice." "Okay, Mom," I said. "I'll try one more time."

我们的老师，弗劳尔斯女士，前一天告诉我们，我们班上每个人都必须写一首关于自然的诗。 我们打算星期一在礼堂举行的“我们爱自然”大会上读这些书。 弗兰基和阿什莉马上就写了。 他们在学校里任何科目都没有问题。 我每门课都有问题。 我不擅长阅读、拼写、数学和科学。 但我午饭吃得很好。前一天晚上，我一直坐在书桌前，盯着一张空白的纸。 我脑子里没有诗，身体里也没有诗。 所以今天早上我妈妈建议我们放学后都去公园。 她说也许看看花草树木能帮我想出一个主意。 但这行不通。“汉克，你不能就这么放弃，”我妈妈说。 “你的作业是写一首诗。 放弃不是一种选择。” “好的，妈妈，”我说。“我再试一次。”

"Look around you and enjoy nature," she said. "Something will come to you." I concentrated on some bright purple flowers. They were just starting to bloom. "Okay, I've got the first lines for a poem," I said. "Ashley, would you please write these down when I say them?" Ashley took a pencil from behind her ear and pulled out her little spiral notebook that was covered in rhinestones. "I'm ready. Let it rip." I cleared my throat and began: "Oh pretty flowers so bright and purple... I love your smell, it is so gurple."

“看看你的周围，享受大自然，”她说。 “你会想起来的。” 我把注意力集中在一些鲜艳的紫色花朵上。 它们刚刚开始开花。 “好吧，我已经写出一首诗的第一行了，”我说。 “艾希礼，我说这些话的时候，请你把它们记下来好吗？"艾希礼从耳后掏出一支铅笔，掏出她那满是水钻的螺旋形小笔记本。 “我准备好了。让它裂开吧。”我清了清嗓子，开始说：“哦，漂亮的花，那么鲜艳、紫色…… 我喜欢你的味道，好紫。”

When I got to the end, I noticed that Ashley had stopped writing. "I've got to hand it to you, Zip," Frankie said. "'Purple' is the only other word I can think of that doesn't rhyme with anything." "What about 'gurple'?" I said. "That rhymes." "But it's not a word," Ashley said. I sighed loudly. This was just too frustrating. "I think the problem, honey," my mom said, "is that you're not inspired. Do you know what 'inspired' means?" "I do," Ashley said. "It means you're full of thoughts and ideas, and they just come pouring

当我读到结尾时，我注意到艾希礼已经不写了。 “我不得不称赞你，次波，”弗兰基说。 “‘紫色’是我能想到的唯一一个与任何东西都不押韵的词。” “那‘gurple’呢？”我说。 “那押韵。”“可那不是一个字，"艾希礼说。 我大声叹了口气。这太令人沮丧了。 “我觉得问题是，亲爱的，”妈妈说，“你没有灵感。 你知道‘灵感’是什么意思吗？”“是的，"艾希礼说。 “这意味着你充满了想法和想法，它们就像潮水一样涌来

out." "How am I supposed to get inspired about some purple flowers?" I asked. "I think we need to take you out into real nature," my mom said. "I know a beautiful campsite a few hours north of the city called Harmony Acres. I'll bet you could write a poem there. Maybe we could go this weekend." "Cool! Could we sleep over?" I asked. "In a tent and everything? Can Frankie and Ashley come?" "I can't," Ashley said. "It's my grandmother's birthday this weekend." "But I'd love to come, if it's okay with my parents," Frankie said. "We have to talk to Hank's dad," my mom said. "If he says yes, we'll leave Saturday morning." "Let's go talk to Dad," I said. "This is going to be great." We jumped up and hurried home. My dad was sitting at the dining-room table staring at his computer. He works at home. There's a

”。“紫色的花怎么能给我灵感呢？”我问。 “我想我们需要带你到真正的大自然中去，”我妈妈说。 “我知道一个美丽的露营地，在城市以北几小时车程的地方，叫做和谐亩地。 我打赌你可以在那里写一首诗。 也许我们可以这个周末去。” “酷!我们可以在这里过夜吗？”我问。 “在帐篷里？” 弗兰基和艾希礼能来吗？"“我不能，"艾希礼说。 “这个周末是我奶奶的生日。” “但我很想去，如果我父母同意的话，”弗兰基说。 “我们得和汉克的爸爸谈谈，”我妈妈说。 “如果他同意，我们星期六上午就走。” “我们去和爸爸谈谈，”我说。 “这将会很棒。” 我们跳起来，急忙回家。 我爸爸坐在餐桌旁盯着他的电脑。 他在家工作。有一个