7 Magician’s Assistant

Chapter 7 Magician's Assistant magician's assistant (n) the person who helps the magician perform onstage; the assistant is a highly skilled performer who often executes the most difficult maneuvers of an illusion Usually Jessie loved school, especially on Mondays. She loved walking into the classroom first thing and finding the morning worksheet of math problems waiting for her on her desk. She loved talking to her teacher, Mrs. Overton, and hearing about what her cat, Langston, had done over the weekend. She loved reading and writing and science and social studies. Most of all, she loved taking quizzes, because she always got one hundred percent, and that was the best you could get. Jessie liked knowing she was the best at some things. It helped even out the other

第七章魔术师的助手魔术师的助手(n)在舞台上帮助魔术师表演的人；这位助理是一位技艺高超的表演者，经常表演最难的幻术。杰西通常很喜欢上学，尤其是在星期一。 她喜欢走进教室的第一件事就是发现书桌上有数学题的晨间练习册在等着她。 她喜欢和她的老师奥弗顿夫人聊天，也喜欢听她的猫兰斯顿在周末做了什么。 她喜欢阅读、写作、科学和社会研究。 最重要的是，她喜欢参加小测验，因为她总是得到一百分，这是你能得到的最好成绩。 杰西喜欢知道自己在某些方面是最好的。 它帮助平衡了对方

things she wasn't so good at. But today she couldn't wait for the school day to end. The day had gotten off to a bad start. Her father hadn't gotten up early enough to make breakfast for them. In fact, he hadn't gotten up at all by the time they headed out the door. It's not that Jessie needed anyone to make her breakfast. She knew how to pour herself a bowl of cereal. She was allowed to put toast in the toaster. But her dad had bought these special bagels from a deli several towns away, almost in the city, and she had wanted one, cut in half and toasted with cream cheese. But Jessie wasn't allowed to cut a bagel by herself. Even Evan wasn't allowed to use the heavy, serrated bread knife. If her mom had been home, she would have had the bagel ready for Jessie by the time she came downstairs dressed and with her hair combed. Then her mom would have helped her with her ponytail. Instead, she'd gone to school with several weird bumps in her hair. Jessie also wanted the day to end because she

她不太擅长的事情。 但是今天她等不及放学了。 这一天一开始就不太顺利。 她父亲起得不够早，没有给他们做早餐。 事实上，他们出门的时候，他根本就没起床。 并不是说杰西需要别人给她做早餐。 她知道怎么给自己倒一碗麦片粥。 她被允许在烤面包机里放烤面包。 但她爸爸从几个城镇外的熟食店买了这些特别的百吉饼，几乎就在城里，她想要一个，切成两半，用奶油奶酪烤。 但是杰西不允许自己切百吉饼。 就连埃文也不允许使用那把笨重的、锯齿状的面包刀。 如果她妈妈在家，她会在杰西穿好衣服梳头下楼的时候为她准备好百吉饼。 然后她妈妈会帮她扎马尾辫。 相反，她去上学时头发上有几个奇怪的肿块。 杰西也想结束这一天，因为她

wanted to get home and work on the latest edition of The 4-O Forum. She thought the front-page story about the magic show would drum up business for ticket sales. Plus there was going to be a special section on the weather, including an article on how to prepare for a storm emergency. Jessie always included the month's weather statistics in The 4-O Forum. She loved collecting the data from the school weather station. At the beginning of the year, the fourth-graders used to fight about who got to climb out onto the flat roof of the gym and write down the data from the thermometer, barometer, weathervane, anemometer, and rain gauge that were mounted there. But now that the school year was almost over, she and David Kirkorian were the only two who still vied for the privilege.

我想回家继续写最新一期的《4- 0论坛》。 她认为关于魔术表演的头版报道会为门票销售招揽生意。 此外，还会有一个关于天气的特别部分，包括一篇关于如何为风暴紧急情况做准备的文章。 杰西总是在“4- 0论坛”中包括当月的天气统计数据。 她喜欢从学校气象站收集数据。 年初的时候，四年级的学生常常为了谁能爬到体育馆的平屋顶上，记下安装在那里的温度计、气压计、风向标、风速计和雨量计的数据而打架。 但现在学年快结束了，她和大卫·柯克里安是仅有的两个还在争夺这个特权的人。

Mrs. Overton had told them that the weather instruments were going to do some very strange things because of the tropical storm forming over the Bahamas and that they should all "keep a weather eye out." Already the air was hot and sticky, and there was no wind at all. It was as if the air had been sucked out of the atmosphere, and everything was heavy and still. Mostly Jessie wanted the day to end because she wanted to ask Evan if he would let her be in the

奥弗顿夫人告诉他们，由于热带风暴在巴哈马群岛上空形成，气象仪器将会做出一些非常奇怪的事情，他们都应该“密切关注天气”。 空气已经又热又粘，一点风也没有。 就好像空气都被抽走了，一切都沉甸甸的，静止不动。 杰西最希望这一天快点结束因为她想问埃文能不能让她去

magic show. Yesterday she'd told him that she wanted to be his assistant, and he had said, "We'll see." So today she wanted to see. "I'm home!" she shouted as she came in through the front door. Nobody answered. Usually her mom was in the kitchen, waiting for her to walk in the door. But of course, her mom wouldn't be there today. She was in San Francisco and wouldn't get back until Saturday at noon. Today was only Monday. That meant five more days. Jessie checked the kitchen counter for a note. No note. Evan, she knew, was helping his friend Ryan carry home his social studies project: a Lego recreation of an Abenaki village in 1700. It took two people to carry the thing or all the wigwams would slide off the edge of the foam core. Jessie turned on the kitchen computer, then pulled a black-cherry Jell-O cup out of the refrigerator. She'd had an idea in school that day about how she could convince Evan to let her be his magician's assistant for the show. She sat down at the computer

魔术表演。昨天她告诉他，她想当他的助理，他说：“我们走棋吧。” 所以今天她想看看。 “我回来了！”她从前门进来时喊道。 没有人回答。通常她妈妈都在厨房里，等着她进门。 当然，她妈妈今天不会在那里。 她在旧金山，要到星期六中午才回来。 今天只是星期一。这意味着还要再过五天。 杰西在厨房柜台上找纸条。 没有注意。埃文，她知道，正在帮他的朋友瑞恩把他的社会研究项目带回家：一个1700年的阿本纳基村庄的乐高复制品。 这东西需要两个人搬，否则所有的棚屋都会从泡沫核心的边缘滑落。 杰西打开厨房的电脑，然后从冰箱里拿出一个黑樱桃果冻杯。 那天她在学校有了一个主意，她想如何说服埃文让她做他表演的魔术师助理。 她坐在电脑前

and typed her question into Google: How do I catch a rabbit? Jessie didn't really like animals. She didn't like the way they smelled, or that they peed and pooped unexpectedly, or the way they would sometimes growl or hiss even if you were trying to be nice. When she saw a dog walking down the street, she crossed to the other side. When she was at the house of someone who had a cat, she kept her arms crossed and her hands tucked under her armpits, safe and out of the way. And horses? Jessie wouldn't get within twenty feet of a horse. One kick and you'd be in the hospital with a broken cranium. But Evan needed a rabbit, and Jessie wanted to be in his show. Maybe they could work something out. The front door groaned open and Evan walked into the kitchen, slinging his backpack to the floor in the front hallway. "Mom says put it away," said Jessie. "Mom's not here," growled Evan. "Still, you should," said Jessie. She wouldn't tattle

然后把她的问题输入谷歌：我怎么抓兔子？ 杰西其实不喜欢动物。 她不喜欢它们的气味，不喜欢它们意外地大小便，也不喜欢它们有时咆哮或嘶嘶的样子，即使你想对它们好一点。 当她看到一条狗在街上走时，她走到街的另一边。 当她在一个养猫的人家里时，她总是双臂交叉，双手夹在腋下，这样既安全又不碍事。 和马吗?杰西不敢靠近马20英尺之内。 踢一脚，你就会头盖骨骨折进医院了。 但埃文需要一只兔子，杰西想参加他的表演。 也许他们能想出办法。 前门吱的一声开了，埃文走进厨房，把背包扔在门厅的地板上。 “妈妈说把它收起来，”杰西说。 “妈妈不在这里，”埃文咆哮道。 “不过，你还是应该这么做，”杰西说。 她不会说闲话