3. Duck

3 Duck Mr. Cooper turned off the smartboard. "Okay, open your math books," he said. "Any questions about page twenty-three?" "Yeah," I said. "Will you coach our class in the softball game against Dirk School?"

库伯先生关掉了智能板。 “好了，打开你们的数学书，”他说。 “关于第二十三页有什么问题吗？”“是的，”我说。 “你愿意指导我们班和德克学校的垒球比赛吗？”

"Uh, no," Mr. Cooper replied. "I don't know anything about coaching softball." Bummer in the summer! "Maybe Miss Small will coach us," said Ryan. Miss Small is our fizz ed teacher. She's really good at sports. "Miss Small broke her leg falling out of a tree over the weekend," said Andrea. Not again! Miss Small is always falling out of trees. (You can read about it in a book called Miss Small Is off the Wall!) What were we going to do? We needed a coach if we were going to beat Dirk School.* And you'll never believe who walked into the door at that moment.

“呃，没有，”库珀回答。 “我对执教垒球一窍不通。” 夏天的流浪者！“也许斯莫尔小姐会指导我们，”瑞恩说。 斯莫尔小姐是我们活泼的老师。 她很擅长运动。 “斯莫尔小姐周末从树上摔下来摔断了腿，”安德里亚说。 又不是!斯莫尔小姐总是从树上掉下来。 （你可以在《身材矮小的小姐》（Miss Small Is off the Wall）一书中读到。）我们要做什么？ 如果我们想打败德克学校，我们需要一个教练。你绝对不会相信那一刻谁走进了门。

Nobody! Who walks into doors? That would hurt. But you'll never believe who walked into the doorway. It was our principal, Mr. Klutz! He has no hair at all. I mean none. He looks a little bit like Mr. Clean. "I just heard about your softball game against Dirk School," Mr. Klutz said. "How exciting!" "We need a coach," said Alexia.

没有人!谁会走进门？ 那会很痛苦。但你绝对不会相信谁走进了门口。 是我们的校长，克鲁茨先生！他根本没有头发。 我是说没有。他看起来有点像干净先生。 “我刚听说你们和德克学校的垒球比赛，”克鲁茨说。 “多激动人心啊!”“我们需要一辆马车，”亚历克西娅说。

"Will you coach us, Mr. Klutz? The game is next Saturday." "Uh, sorry," said Mr. Klutz. "This is a busy week for me." "Please, please, please?" we begged. We put on our best puppy dog faces. That's when you make your face look like a cute little puppy dog's. It usually works. Grown-ups will do anything if you put on a puppy dog face. "After school on Tuesday, I have to blah blah blah blah," said Mr. Klutz. "On Wednesday after school, I have to blah blah blah blah..." He went on like that for a million hundred seconds. "Where are we gonna get a coach?" asked Neil. "Hmmmm," Mr. Klutz said as he rubbed his chin.

“你能指导我们吗，克鲁茨先生？” 比赛是下星期六。” “呃，对不起，”克鲁茨说。 “这对我来说是忙碌的一周。” “求你了，求你了，求你了？” 我们摆出最好的小狗脸。 这时候你就会把自己的脸弄得像只可爱的小狗狗。 这通常是有效的。如果你摆出一张小狗脸，大人会做任何事的。 “周二放学后，我得废话连篇，”克鲁兹说。 “星期三放学后，我得……” 他这样说了一百万分之一秒。 “我们到哪里去找教练？”尼尔问。 “嗯，”克鲁茨一边揉着下巴一边说。

Grown-ups always say "Hmmmm" and rub their chin when they don't have any ideas. Nobody knows why. "I've got it!" Mr. Klutz finally said, snapping his fingers. Grown-ups always snap their fingers when they get a good idea. Nobody knows why. "There's a man named Willie Ott who lives in town," Mr. Klutz told us. "He used to be a big league coach. I bet he would help you." "Will you ask him?" Andrea said. "No, but you can ask him," said Mr. Klutz. "Let's go to his house!" Mr. Klutz walked out of the room and we all rushed to follow him. Yay! No math! We were going on a field trip to Willie Ott's house. Field trips are cool. Well, except for

大人们没主意的时候总是会说“嗯”，然后揉下巴。 没人知道为什么。“我找到了！”最后，克鲁兹打了个响指说。 大人们一有好主意就会打响指。 没人知道为什么。“镇上有个叫威利·奥特（Willie Ott）的人，”克鲁兹告诉我们。 “他曾经是一个大联盟的教练。 我打赌他会帮你的。”“你会问他吗？”安德里亚说。 “不知道，但你可以问他，”克鲁兹说。 “我们去他家吧！”克鲁茨先生走出了房间，我们都跟着他跑了出去。 耶!没有数学!我们要去威利·奥特家实地考察。 实地考察很酷。嗯，除了

field trips to a field. Those field trips are boring. We left Ella Mentry School and made a left at the corner. Then we made a right at the next corner. Then we made another left at the corner after that. But who cares? Don't you hate it when they give directions in books? You're not going to that place. So why would you care about how to get there? Finally, we reached the street where Willie Ott lives. "There's Mr. Ott's house," Mr. Klutz said as he pointed. "They used to call him Duck."

实地考察。那些实地考察很无聊。 我们离开艾拉门特里学校，在拐角处左转。 然后我们在下一个拐角处右转。 然后我们在拐角处再左转。 但谁在乎呢？你不讨厌书上的指示吗？ 你不能去那个地方。 那你为什么要关心如何到达那里呢？ 最后，我们到了威利·奥特住的那条街。 “那是奥特先生的房子，”克鲁茨指着说。 “他们以前都叫他鸭子。”