4 Frankenrhyme

4 Frankenrhyme When I got back from Ms. Coco's room, it was the middle of recess, so I went out to the playground. Andrea was sitting on a bench in the corner. She was writing in her poetry book. Of course. And Emily was sitting next to her, probably telling her how great she was. Of course.

当我从史密斯小姐那儿回来的时候。 可可的房间，当时是课间休息，所以我去了操场。 安德里亚坐在角落里的长凳上。 她在写她的诗集。 当然可以。艾米丽坐在她旁边，可能在告诉她她有多棒。 当然可以。

I went over to the swings, where Ryan, Michael, Neil, and Alexia were hanging out. I told them about what happened in Ms. Coco's office.

我走到秋千旁，瑞恩、迈克尔、尼尔和亚历克西娅正在那儿玩。 我告诉他们发生了什么。 可可的办公室。

"Now I have to write a real poem," I said. "I hate National Poetry Month." "Poetry is dumb," agreed Alexia. "Instead of putting criminals in jail," said Neil, "they should force them to write poems." "Or read them," added Michael. "There's only one thing worse than National Poetry Month," said Ryan. "TV Turnoff Week!" we all said at the same time. "I thought all the poets died a long time ago," said Alexia. "Dead poets are the lucky ones," I said. "They don't have to celebrate National Poetry Month." We made a list of things we would rather do than write poetry. Alexia said she would rather bungee jump off the Empire State Building. Ryan said he would rather eat a tarantula. Michael said he would rather have his head get caught in a revolving door. Neil said he would rather listen to his dad's old CDs. Me? I'd rather go to school over summer vacation. But none of that mattered. National Poetry Month was happening whether we liked it or not.

“现在我得写一首真正的诗了，”我说。 “我讨厌全国诗歌月。” “诗歌是愚蠢的，”亚历克西娅同意道。 “与其把罪犯关进监狱，”尼尔说，“他们应该强迫他们写诗。” “或者读一读。”迈克尔补充说。 “只有一件事比全国诗歌月更糟糕，”瑞安说。 “关掉电视周！”我们异口同声地说。 “我以为所有的诗人都死了很久了，”亚历克西娅说。 “死去的诗人是幸运的，”我说。 “他们不需要庆祝全国诗歌月。” 我们列了一张单子，上面写着我们宁愿做的事，也不愿写诗。 亚历克西娅说她宁愿从帝国大厦上蹦极。 瑞安说他宁愿吃狼蛛。 迈克尔说他宁愿自己的头被旋转门夹住。 尼尔说他宁愿听他爸爸的旧cd。 我吗?比起暑假，我更愿意去上学。 但这些都不重要。 不管我们喜不喜欢，全国诗歌月都开始了。

So I needed to write a poem that would beat Andrea and win me a lifetime supply of Zip-Zaps. And I couldn't cheat by using flash cards. "I have an idea," said Neil. "Why don't you just find a real poem in a poetry book and say you wrote it?" "That's a great idea!" said Michael. "Nobody will ever know the difference." "You can't copy something that somebody else wrote," Alexia told us. "That's plagiarism." "HUH?" we all said, which is also "HUH" backward. I never heard of plagiarism.* But Alexia was right. I couldn't copy somebody else's poem. Ms. Coco would probably find out. I would have to come up with my own original poem. "Why bother writing more poems at all?" asked Ryan. "Andrea is sure to win the contest and get all those Zip-Zaps. She wins everything." It was true. Andrea has to win everything, all the time. She has to answer every question first. She has to get the best grades in the class. When we have fizz ed, she has to be the fastest at running, jumping, or climbing the ropes. She

所以我需要写一首诗来打败安德里亚，为我赢得一辈子的Zip-Zaps。 而且我不能用抽认卡作弊。 “我有个主意，”尼尔说。 “你为什么不在诗集里找一首真正的诗，然后说是你写的呢？”“好主意！”迈克尔说。 “没有人会知道其中的区别。” “你不能抄袭别人写的东西，”亚历克西娅告诉我们。 “这是剽窃。”“HUH?”我们都说，这也是反向的“HUH”。 我从没听说过抄袭。但是Alexia是对的。 我不能抄袭别人的诗。 可可可能会发现。 我必须写出自己的原创诗歌。 “为什么还要写更多的诗呢？”瑞恩问道。 “安德里亚肯定会赢得比赛，得到所有的Zip-Zaps。 她赢得了一切。”这是真的。 安德里亚每时每刻都要赢得一切。 她得先回答所有问题。 她必须在班上取得最好的成绩。 当我们嘶嘶作响时，她必须跑得最快，跳得最快，或者爬绳子。 她

probably has a room in her house filled with all the trophies she's won. Nobody said anything for a million hundred seconds. "I hate poetry," Neil finally said. "Poetry is dumb," said Alexia. "It's hard to write poems when you're chewing gum," I said. "Hey, that rhymes!" said Michael, and everybody laughed. "I can rhyme anytime," I said. "Even when there's no sunshine?" asked Ryan. "Even when I'm on cloud nine," I told him. "Is that a crime? I must decline. Drop me a line, or give me a sign. I'll pay you a dime. That's just fine. They should call me Frankenrhyme!" Everybody laughed again. "Hey, I just realized something," said Alexia. "What?" "Poetry is rap," she said. "It is?" Neil asked. "Sure it is," Alexia said. "Rap can be poetry and poetry can be rap. They're the same thing. They just have different names. Rappers are poets."

她家里可能有个房间装满了她赢得的奖杯。 有一百万分之一秒没人说话。 “我讨厌诗歌，”尼尔最后说。 “诗歌是愚蠢的，”亚历克西娅说。 “嚼口香糖的时候很难写诗，”我说。 “嘿，这很押韵！”迈克尔说，大家都笑了。 “我随时都能押韵，”我说。 “即使没有阳光？”瑞恩问。 “即使在我飘飘欲仙的时候，”我告诉他。 “那是犯罪吗？”我必须拒绝。 给我写封信，或者给我个提示。 我给你一毛钱。这很好。 他们应该叫我弗兰肯莱姆！”大家又笑了。 “嘿，我刚意识到一件事，”亚历克西亚说。 “什么?”“诗歌就是说唱，”她说。 “这是什么?”尼尔问。“当然是，”亚历克西娅说。 “说唱可以是诗歌，诗歌也可以是说唱。 它们是一样的。它们只是名字不同而已。 说唱歌手是诗人。”

"I'm a rapper," I said. "So that means I'm a poet!" "And you didn't know it!" shouted Ryan. Ryan and Michael started beatboxing. I started rapping the first words that popped into my head. I'm a poet, but I didn't know it! And now it's time for me to show it. If you have a lawn, ya gotta mow it. If you start a garden, ya wanna grow it. If you're playing catch, ya have to throw it. If you borrow money, yer gonna owe it.

“我是说唱歌手，”我说。“那就是说我是个诗人！”“你不知道！”瑞恩喊道。 Ryan和Michael开始练口技。 我开始把脑子里蹦出来的第一个词说唱出来。 我是个诗人，但我不知道！现在是时候让我展示一下了。 如果你有草坪，你必须修剪它。 如果你开始一个花园，你想要种植它。 如果你在玩接球游戏，你就得把球扔出去。 如果你借钱，你会欠的。