1 It’s Not Fair

CHAPTER 1 It's Not Fair My sister Penny came into my room without knocking, even though there's a sign on the door that says: This is Stella's Room. If You Are Not Stella Then Please Knock. I made the sign myself. It's on yellow construction paper. We have a package of construction paper in all different colors. I always pick yellow until those sheets run out. Penny isn't a good reader yet because she's only five, but she knows what my sign

第一章 这不公平 我妹妹潘妮不敲门就闯进我房间，哪怕我门上贴着牌子写着：这是斯特拉的房间。 如果你不是斯特拉，请你先敲门。 这个牌子是我自己做的。 它贴在黄色的手工纸上。 我们有一包各种颜色的手工纸。 我总挑黄色用，直到黄纸都用完。 潘妮还认不好字，因为她才五岁，但她知道我牌子

says because I've told her. "Guess what! My tongue is purple!" Penny announced. "You have to knock first," I reminded her. "I forgot," Penny said. She turned around and walked back out. Then she knocked on the door. "Who is it?" I asked. "It's me, Penny," Penny said. "Thank you for knocking," I said. My parents get mad if Penny and I don't say please and thank you. "You can come in." So Penny came back in. She was carrying Belinda. Belinda's not a person, she's a stuffed animal. A duck-billed platypus stuffed animal, if you want to know. It's Penny's favorite toy because the boy named Maverick who lives next door gave it to her, and Penny always calls Maverick her boyfriend.

写了什么，因为我告诉过她了。 "你猜怎么着！ 我的舌头变紫啦！" 潘妮大声宣布。 "你得先敲门，"我提醒她。 "我忘了，"潘妮说。 她转过身走了出去。 然后她敲了房门。 "是谁呀？" 我问道。 "是我，潘妮，"潘妮说。 "谢谢你敲门，"我说。 要是我和潘妮不说请和谢谢，爸爸妈妈会生气。 "你进来吧。" 于是潘妮走了进来。 她抱着贝琳达。 贝琳达不是人，她是个毛绒玩具。 那是一只鸭嘴兽毛绒玩具，说清楚就是这样。 这是潘妮最爱的玩具，因为住在隔壁的男孩马弗里克送给了她，潘妮总说马弗里克是她男朋友。

Right then Penny was in her pajamas. She gets ready for bed before I do because her bedtime is a half hour before mine. "My tongue is still purple from the Candy Marker," Penny said. Candy Markers are a new kind of treat from Batts Confections. Dad brought them home so Penny and I could test them out at dessert. They come in all different flavors— each flavor is a different color. Purple is grape. You can paint your tongue with them, and then your tongue tastes really yummy. I had a cherry one, which made my tongue red— super red, not just regular red like tongues usually are. "What are you doing?" Penny asked. "I'm writing a book," I said. "Neat-o," Penny said. "Let me see." "No," I said.

那时候潘妮已经换上睡衣了。 她比我早准备睡觉，因为她的就寝时间比我早半个小时。 "我的舌头还是紫色的，都是吃了糖画笔弄的，"潘妮说。 糖画笔是巴茨糖果厂出的新款零食。 爸爸带回家给我和潘妮当甜点试吃。 它们有好多不同口味——每种口味对应一种不同的颜色。 紫色是葡萄味。 你可以用它给舌头染色，染完后舌头吃起来超香甜。 我吃了樱桃味的，把舌头染成红色——特别红，不是舌头本来那种普通的红。 "你在做什么呀？" 潘妮问道。 "我在写一本书，"我说。 "好酷呀，"潘妮说。 "给我看看嘛。" "不行，"我说。

"Why?" she asked. "Because it's my book, I told her. "I don't want to show it to anyone until I'm finished. Like when you go into a bookstore, you don't get to see the books until they're already written." "It's not fair," Penny said. That's what she says whenever I don't include her in stuff." Penny stomped out of my room. I knew she was going to tell on me. That's what fiveyear- old sisters do. And I was right, because she came back in with Mom. "I didn't do anything wrong," I told Mom

"为什么不行呀？"她问。 "因为这是我的书，"我告诉她。 "没写完之前，我不想给任何人看。 就像你去书店，书没写完你根本看不到对不对。" "这不公平，"潘妮说。 只要我不带上她玩，她就会说这句话。" 潘妮跺着脚走出我的房间。 我就知道她要去打小报告。 五岁的妹妹都会做这种事。 我猜得没错，她领着妈妈回来了。 "我没做错任何事，"我对妈妈说

right away. Mom sat down on my bed. Penny stuck her purple tongue out at me, but Mom didn't see. "Mom!" I said. "Penny stuck out her tongue! That's not allowed." "I was just showing you it was still purple," Penny said. So then I stuck my tongue out at Penny. "Oh, Stel," Mom said. "I was just showing her mine was still really red," I explained. "All right, enough of that," Mom said. "Penny says you're writing a book." "That's right, I am," I told her. "I want to be a writer."

马上说道。 妈妈坐在我的床上。 潘妮对着我伸紫色舌头，可妈妈没看见。 "妈妈！" 我说。 "潘妮对我吐舌头！ 这是不允许的。" "我只是给你看它还是紫色的呀，"潘妮说。 于是我也对着潘妮吐了舌头。 "哦，斯特拉，"妈妈说。 "我只是给她看我的舌头还是特别红呀，"我解释道。 "好了好了，别闹了，"妈妈说。 "潘妮说你在写一本书对不对。" "没错，我确实在写，"我告诉她。 "我想当作家。"