5. A Secret Language

5 A Secret Language Grown-ups always say practice makes perfect. And you know what? For once, they were right! We practiced after school with Mr. Ott on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And we were getting good. We hardly ever dropped our turtles. Mr.

大人总是说熟能生巧。 你知道吗？这一次，他们是对的！我们在周二、周三和周四放学后和奥特老师一起练习。 我们的关系越来越好了。我们几乎从不把乌龟掉在地上。 先生。

Ott taught us how to run the bases and how to bunt. Andrea was the best bunter, of course. "Can you teach us how to spit?" I asked Mr. Ott. "Baseball players spit all the time." "Maybe tomorrow," said Mr. Ott. "Today, you need to learn how to slide." Oooh, sliding is cool. When there's a close play, you're supposed to slide into the base to make it harder for the fielder to tag you. "I don't want to get my pants dirty," said Neil. "Yeah," agreed Emily. "Dirt is dirty." "That's why they call it dirt!" shouted Mr. Ott. He told us that sliding was

奥特教我们怎么跑垒，怎么打。 当然，安德里亚是最好的猎手。 “你能教我们怎么吐痰吗？”我问奥特先生。 “棒球运动员总是随地吐痰。” “也许明天吧，”奥特先生说。 “今天，你需要学习如何滑动。” 哦，滑动很酷。当有近距离的比赛时，你应该滑进垒位，让外野手更难追上你。 “我不想把我的裤子弄脏，”尼尔说。 “是的，”爱米丽同意道。“土是脏的。” “这就是他们叫它土的原因！”奥特先生喊道。 他告诉我们滑动是

dangerous, so we had to be really careful. He set up a slip 'n slide on the grass. Do you know what a slip 'n slide is? If you don't, what is your problem? Look it up! Everybody knows what a slip 'n slide is. It has the perfect name! Anyway, Mr. Ott showed us how to do a bent-leg slide. That's when you fold one leg under the other knee so your legs make a shape like the number four. Then you slide on your butt and touch the base with your toe. Sliding is fun, especially when you're sliding on a slip 'n slide. We all lined up and slid over and over again. Even Emily looked like she was enjoying herself. "Hit the dirt!" Mr. Ott shouted when it was time for us to slide. After a while, we were getting good

很危险，所以我们必须非常小心。 他在草地上搭了一个滑梯。 你知道滑梯是什么吗？ 如果你不知道，那你有什么问题？ 查一下吧！每个人都知道滑倒和滑动是什么。 它有一个完美的名字！不管怎样，奥特先生教了我们怎么做弯腿滑梯。 这是当你把一条腿折叠在另一条膝盖下面，这样你的腿就会形成数字4的形状。 然后你在你的屁股上滑动，用你的脚趾触摸底座。 滑行很有趣，尤其是当你在滑梯上滑行的时候。 我们都排好队，一遍又一遍地滑行。 就连艾米丽看起来也很开心。 “趴下！”我们该滑的时候，奥特先生喊道。 过了一段时间，我们相处得很好

at sliding. Andrea was the best slider, of course. "Okay, gather 'round," said Mr. Ott. "Take a knee." "How can we take a knee?" I asked. "Knees aren't removable." "It's just an expression, Arlo!" said Andrea.

在滑动。当然，安德里亚滑得最好。 “好吧，大家围过来，”奥特先生说。 “跪下。”“我们怎么能跪下呢？”我问。 “膝盖是不可移动的。”“这只是一种表达，阿乐！”

I knew that. I was just yanking Andrea's chain. We all gathered around Mr. Ott, like a football team in a huddle. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Okay, you kids have mastered the fundamentals," he said. "Now it's time for me to teach you some signs." "Signs?" we all said. Nobody knew what he was talking about. "It's like a secret language that only we understand," said Mr. Ott. "We don't want the Dirk team to know what we're planning to do." Secret languages are cool. Our bus driver, Mrs. Kormel, invented her own secret language. (You can read about it in a book called Mrs. Kormel Is Not Normal!) "When I touch my nose," Mr. Ott

我知道。我只是在拉安德里亚的链子 我们都围着奥特先生，就像一个足球队挤在一起一样。 他把声音压低成耳语。 “好了，你们这些孩子已经掌握了基本原理，”他说。 “现在是我教你一些征兆的时候了。” “迹象？”我们都说。没人知道他在说什么。 “这就像一种只有我们懂的秘密语言，”奥特说。 “我们不想让德克团队知道我们的计划。” 秘密语言很酷。 我们的巴士司机，考梅尔夫人，发明了她自己的秘密语言。 （你可以在《科梅尔夫人不正常》一书中读到。）“当我摸鼻子的时候，”奥特先生说

said as he touched his nose, "it means swing at the next pitch. And if I touch the brim of my cap, it means bunt the next pitch. Got that?" We all got it. "If I tug on my left ear," Mr. Ott said as he tugged on his left ear, "it means take." "Take what?" I asked. "Take the next pitch," he replied. "Where should we take it?" I asked. "Taking a pitch means you don't swing at it, Arlo!" Andrea told me, rolling her eyes. Oh. Why didn't he say so? "If I put my hands on my hips," Mr. Ott said as he put his hands on his hips, "it means steal a base." "Stealing is wrong," said Alexia. "That's what my parents tell me."

他边摸鼻子边说：“这意味着下一球要挥棒。” 如果我摸到帽檐，就表示要打下一球。 明白了吗?”我们都明白。“如果我拉我的左耳，”奥特一边拉左耳一边说，“这意味着拿走。” “什么?”我问。“投下一个球，”他回答。 “我们应该把它带到哪里去？”我问。 “投一个球就意味着你不用挥棒击球，阿乐！”安德里亚翻着白眼告诉我。 哦。他为什么不早说呢？“如果我把手放在屁股上，”奥特一边把手放在屁股上，一边说，“那就意味着偷垒。” “偷东西是不对的，”阿列克谢说。 “这是我父母告诉我的。”