10 Chocolate Twenty-Dollar Bills

CHAPTER 10 Chocolate Twenty- Dollar Bills Stuart had a great idea to bring the ingredients home. We both decided to make fudge sculptures for the baby. Penny used milk- chocolate and white-chocolate swirled fudge, and I used cookies-and-cream fudge. "Mmmm," Penny said, licking her fingers. "Can you believe Bruce doesn't like chocolate? I mean, it's crazy not to like chocolate. EVERYONE likes chocolate." "Not everyone," Stuart said. "Unless

第十章 巧克力二十美元钞票 斯图亚特想到一个好办法把原料带回家。 我们俩都决定给小宝宝做软糖雕塑。 佩妮用了牛奶巧克力和白巧克力混合的软糖，我用了曲奇奶油味软糖。 “嗯——”佩妮舔着手指说。 “你能相信布鲁斯居然不喜欢巧克力吗？ 我是说，不爱巧克力简直太离谱了。 所有人都喜欢巧克力呀。” “不是所有人哦，”斯图亚特说。 “除非

you're a twenty-dollar bill, not everyone is going to like you." "But a person can't be a twenty-dollar bill," Penny said. "That's exactly what I mean," Stuart said. "Most people in the world are going to love you, the same as most people in the world love chocolate. But you'll encounter a few people along the way who have different tastes. It may not make sense to you and me, but there isn't really anything you can do to change it." "Like Joshua," I said. "He doesn't like me." "And Bruce," Penny said. "He doesn't like me. Except now I think he sort of does, because he knows I have a candy store." "Joshua knew that all along and it didn't make him like me," I said. "I tried to be extra nice but it didn't change his mind. He's still a meanie to me."

你就像一张二十美元钞票，不是所有人都会喜欢你。” “可是人怎么会是二十美元钞票呀，”佩妮说。 “我要说的就是这个意思，”斯图亚特说。 “世界上大多数人都会喜欢你，就像大多数人都爱巧克力一样。 但你一路上总会遇到几个口味不一样的人。 这事你我可能都想不通，但你也真的没法改变什么。” “比如约书亚，”我说。 “他不喜欢我。” “还有布鲁斯，”佩妮说。 “他本来不喜欢我。 不过现在我觉得他有点喜欢我啦，因为他知道我开了糖果店。” “约书亚一直都知道，可他还是不喜欢我，”我说。 “我试着对他特别好，可还是没法改变他的想法。 他对我还是很凶。”

"Let me ask you something, Stella," Stuart said. "Do you think you're a likeable person?" "Yeah," I said. "I like you," Penny piped up. "I love you. You're the most favorite big sister I ever had." "I'm the only big sister you've ever had." "I know!" Penny said. "So that makes you my least favorite, too." She giggled to herself, enjoying her joke. "Do you like you?" Stuart asked me. His voice was pretty serious. I nodded. "Why?" he asked. "I think I'm a nice girl. I think I'm fun and smart." "All right," he said. "That's the most

“斯特拉，我问你个问题，”斯图亚特说。 “你觉得你是个讨人喜欢的孩子吗？” “当然啦，”我说。 “我喜欢你呀，”佩妮大声插嘴说。 “我超爱你。 你是我见过最喜欢的姐姐。” “我可是你唯一的姐姐呀。” “我知道！” 佩妮说。 “所以你也是我最不喜欢的姐姐呀。” 她自己咯咯笑起来，觉得这个玩笑特别好玩。 “你喜欢你自己吗？” 斯图亚特问我。 他的语气特别认真。 我点了点头。 “为什么呀？”他问。 “我觉得我是个好女孩。 我觉得我又有趣又聪明。” “没错，”他说。 “这才是最重要

important thing. Be the kind of person that YOU think is a good, likeable person." "Stories are like that, too," I said. "Not everyone is going to like the same stories." "Exactly," Stuart said. "So you just do your best, and don't worry about everyone else. You should still be kind to Joshua, because that will make you feel good about yourself. What he thinks in return doesn't matter so much." "That's why I was nice to him at the party," I said. "I wanted to make it up to him after I... after I lost the order form. I put it on the desk instead of the file cabinet with the others. The whole thing was my fault, you know." "Ah, but it wasn't," Stuart said. "Your dad put it with the other forms. But then when your mom called and said it was time to go the hospital, he was in such a rush packing up things he needed from the store,

的事。 做你自己眼里那个优秀、讨人喜欢的人就够了。” “故事也是这样的呀，”我说。 “不是所有人都会喜欢同样的故事。” “没错，”斯图亚特说。 “所以你只要尽力做好自己，不用在意所有人的想法。 你还是要对约书亚友善，因为这样你自己会心里舒坦。 他怎么看你，其实没那么重要。” “所以我派对上才对他那么友善，”我说。 我弄丢了订单表之后，我想……我想弥补他。 我没把它和其他表一起放进文件柜，而是放在了桌子上。 整件事都是我的错，你知道的。” “啊，其实不是哦，”斯图亚特说。 “你爸爸把它和其他表格放在一起了。 后来你妈妈打电话说该去医院了，他急着收拾店里要带的东西，

he accidentally brought a few order forms with him. Joshua's just happened to be one of them." "Really?" I asked. "Really," Stuart said. "I just thought of something!" Penny said. "What about a chocolate twenty-dollar bill? Would everyone like that?" "Maybe so," Stuart said. She held up her fudge sculpture. "I'm done!" she announced. "What do you think?" I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I couldn't tell what she'd made. "It looks like a J," I said. "It is a J!" she said. "For baby Jack! He should be born by now, don't you think?" "Mom and Dad would've called," I said. "Maybe they'll call right now," Penny said. She turned toward the phone on the counter.

不小心把几张订单表也带走了。 约书亚的那张刚好就在里面。” “真的吗？” 我问。 “是真的，”斯图亚特说。 “我刚想到一个好点子！” 佩妮说。 “做一个巧克力二十美元钞票怎么样？ 会不会所有人都喜欢这个呀？” “有可能哦，”斯图亚特说。 她举起自己做的软糖雕塑。 “我做好啦！” 她大声宣布。 “你们觉得怎么样？” 我不想伤她的心，可我真看不出她做的是什么。 “看起来像字母J，”我说。 “就是字母J呀！” 她说。 “给宝宝杰克的！ 他应该已经出生了，你说对不对？” “要是出生了爸爸妈妈会打电话来的，”我说。 “说不定他们现在就要打来了，”佩妮说。 她转过身看向台面上的电话。