Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Peter Parker stared at his front door. In one hand he held his house keys. In the other, he held a carton of milk. He took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and went inside. "Aunt May," he called. "I'm back." There was no response. All the lights in the house were out except for those in the kitchen. He could hear water running. He followed the sound. Aunt May was cleaning the last of the teacups in the sink. She set it to dry alongside the others. She turned off the water.

彼得·帕克盯着他的前门。 他一手拿着房子的钥匙。 另一只手拿着一盒牛奶。 他深吸了一口气，打开门，走了进去。 “梅姨妈，”他叫道。“我回来了。” 没有回应。除了厨房的灯外，房子里所有的灯都灭了。 他能听到流水声。 他跟着声音走。梅阿姨正在清洗水槽里最后的茶杯。 她把它和其他的放在一起晾干。 她关掉了水龙头。

"I brought the milk," Peter said. He did not look at Aunt May. Instead, he looked at his feet. "Thank you, Peter," Aunt May said. "We can use it for breakfast tomorrow." Peter looked up. "Tomorrow?" he asked. "But the tea party-?" "Is over," she said. "Anna and her niece left early." Peter's face flushed red. If only he could tell Aunt May he was Spider-Man. She would understand why he was late

“我把牛奶带来了。”彼得说。 他没有看梅姨妈。 相反，他看着自己的脚。 “谢谢你，彼得。”梅姨妈说。 “我们明天可以用它做早餐。” 彼得抬起头来。“明天？”他问。 “但是茶话会——？”“结束了，”她说。 “安娜和她的侄女很早就走了。” 彼得的脸涨得通红。要是他能告诉梅阿姨他是蜘蛛侠就好了。 她会理解他为什么迟到

with the milk and he wouldn't have to feel so guilty. Then Peter had an idea. While he couldn't tell Aunt May that he was a Super Hero, he could tell her that being late wasn't his fault! "You know," Peter said, "I would have been back with the milk right away but I ran into a friend who needed my help. I couldn't say no because she was really in a sandy— I mean, sticky situation. And just when I thought the problem was solved, it got even bigger! How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?" Peter stopped talking. His words reminded him of ones he had heard earlier. They sounded like the words the Sandman had used to excuse his bad behavior. Peter went to Aunt May and took her hands.

有了牛奶，他就不用那么内疚了。 这时彼得有了一个主意。虽然他不能告诉梅阿姨他是超级英雄，但他可以告诉她迟到不是他的错！“你知道，”彼得说，“我本来可以马上拿着牛奶回来的，但是我遇到了一个需要我帮助的朋友。 我不能拒绝她，因为她真的陷入了困境。 就在我以为问题解决了的时候，它变得更大了！我怎么知道会发生这种事呢？”彼得停止了说话。 他的话使他想起了以前听过的话。 这些话听起来像是睡魔用来为自己的恶劣行为辩解的话。 彼得走到梅姨妈跟前，握住她的手。

"But none of that matters, Aunt May," he said. "There's no excuse for missing the tea party. And there's no excuse for not bringing you the milk when I said I would. I'm sorry I ruined your day. I hope you can forgive me." Aunt May hugged her nephew. "Thank you, Peter," she said. "I accept your apology. I am proud of you for taking responsibility."

“但这些都不重要，梅姨妈，”他说。 “没有理由错过茶话会。 我说了会给你送牛奶，你也没理由不送。 对不起，我毁了你的一天。 我希望你能原谅我。” 梅阿姨拥抱了她的侄子。 “谢谢你，彼得。”她说。 “我接受你的道歉。我为你承担责任感到骄傲。”

She walked to the dish-drying rack and pulled out two teacups. "But nothing is ruined. Early evening is a perfect time for tea." Peter smiled. "I'll turn on the kettle," he said. He grabbed the teapot on the stove and filled it with water from the sink. "Would you please get two saucers for the cups, as well?" Aunt May asked. She pulled out a box of tea. "You betcha," Peter replied. Together, they set the kitchen table for a tea party for two. Peter Parker and his aunt enjoyed a nice cup of Earl Grey tea with milk. She told him about Spider-Man's exciting adventure that she had watched on the news. He made sure her cup was never empty.

她走到晾碗架前，拿出两个茶杯。 “但什么也没毁。傍晚时分是喝茶的最佳时间。” 彼得笑了。“我要把水壶打开，”他说。 他抓起炉子上的茶壶，从水槽里倒满了水。 “请你再拿两个茶托来放杯子好吗？”梅姨妈问。 她拿出一盒茶。 彼得回答说：“当然。” 他们一起在厨房摆好桌子，准备举行两人的茶话会。 彼得·帕克和他的姨妈享用了一杯加牛奶的伯爵茶。 她告诉他她在新闻上看到的蜘蛛侠的激动人心的冒险。 他确保她的杯子永远不会空。

As Peter and Aunt May drank their tea, two squirrels perched on a branch just outside the Parkers' kitchen window. They watched the tea party in the evening light. They chittered away and enjoyed an acorn feast of their own.

彼得和梅阿姨喝茶的时候，两只松鼠栖息在帕克家厨房窗外的树枝上。 他们在夜色中观看茶话会。 他们叽叽喳喳地聊着，享受着自己的橡子大餐。