1 Come Quick!

CHAPTER 1 Come Quick! Mom and Penny were sitting at the kitchen table, even though it wasn't time for any meal. It was an hour past breakfast, but still way before lunch. They were bent over a piece of paper, and Mom was pointing to something it said. I came up behind them. "Strawberries, string cheese, orange juice," I read out loud. "Stella-uh-uh!" Penny cried. My name is supposed to be two syllables, but Penny had

第一章 快来呀！ 妈妈和佩妮正坐在厨房的餐桌旁，可现在还没到吃饭的时间呢。 早饭已经过去一个小时了，可离午饭还早得很。 她们俩凑在一张纸前，妈妈正指着纸上写的什么东西。 我走到了她们身后。 “草莓、芝士条、橙汁，”我大声念了出来。 “斯——黛——拉！” 佩妮叫了起来。 我的名字本来只有两个音节，可佩妮硬把

turned it into four. "You were supposed to let me read!" "But you don't know how to read," I said. "I do, too," she said. "I know a lot of reading for someone who's only five. Tell her, Mom!" "She's working on it," Mom said. "If you keep practicing, you'll be a great reader!" "See," Penny said. "Try the next word on our grocery list," Mom told her. She tapped the paper with her finger, and then raised it to her mouth to give me the Shhh sign. "K ka... kal," Penny said. "I don't know. That one's too hard." "Kale," I read out loud. "Hmm, I think maybe Mom wrote that one down wrong. I've never heard of that food before in my whole entire life."

它拆成了四个。 “你本来该让我念的！” “可你还不认识字呀。”我说。 “我当然认识。”她说道。 “对一个才五岁的小朋友来说，我认识的字可多啦。 妈妈你快告诉她呀！” “她正在慢慢学呢。”妈妈说。 “只要你一直练习，以后肯定会是个超棒的小读者！” “你看嘛。”佩妮说。 “试试咱们购物清单上的下一个词呀。”妈妈跟她说。 她用手指点了点纸，然后抬手放到嘴边，给我比了个“嘘”的手势。 “K……卡……卡儿，”佩妮念道。 “我不知道啦。 这个词太难了。” “是羽衣甘蓝。”我大声念了出来。 “嗯，我觉得可能是妈妈写错啦。 我长这么大，从来都没听过这种吃的东西。”

"Kale is a green veggie," Mom said. "A green veggie?" I asked. "Like asparagus and broccoli?" "Oh, yum!" Penny exclaimed, at the same time that I said, "Oh, yuck!" "Come on, Pen," Mom said. "Let's get going." Penny grabbed her favorite stuffed animal, a duck-billed platypus named Belinda. "Belinda wants to see what kale looks like," she explained. She and Mom—and Belinda—left. I didn't have to go with them because Lucy was coming over. But she wasn't there yet, so it was just Dad and me and Baby Marco at home. Dad was sitting on the couch in the living room, reading the California Gazette. Marco was in his little baby swing, which is right next to the couch. You wind it up, and it swings back and forth, back and forth.

“羽衣甘蓝是一种绿色蔬菜哦。”妈妈说。 “绿色蔬菜？” 我问道。 “就像芦笋和西蓝花那样的？” “哇，太好吃啦！” 佩妮大声叫着，而我同时说道：“哦，好难吃！” “走吧，小佩。”妈妈说。 “咱们该出门啦。” 佩妮抓起她最爱的毛绒玩具，一只叫贝琳达的鸭嘴兽。 “贝琳达也想看看羽衣甘蓝长什么样。”她解释道。 她和妈妈——还有贝琳达——出门了。 我不用跟着一起去，因为露西要来找我玩。 不过她还没到，所以家里只有我、爸爸还有小婴儿马可。 爸爸坐在客厅的沙发上，正看着《加州公报》。 马可待在他的婴儿小摇椅里，摇椅就放在沙发旁边。 你上好发条，它就会晃来晃去，晃来晃去的。

Usually when Marco's in his swing, he doesn't cry at all. Unless he gets hungry, or if he needs a diaper change. So Dad could do things like read the newspaper, and I could do things like well, right then I was a little bit bored, just waiting for Lucy to show up. "Dad, I'm bored," I said.

通常马可待在摇椅里的时候，根本不会哭。 除非他饿了，或者需要换尿不湿。 所以爸爸可以安心看报纸，我呢也可以做自己的事——哎，那时候我有点无聊，就等着露西过来。 “爸爸，我好无聊呀。”我说。

Dad lowered the paper and looked over at me. "Why don't you write in your book?" "I finished my book," I told him. "And nothing new has happened so far for me to write about in my next one. Can we play a game?" "Such as?" "Such as " I paused to think. "Ooh! I've got it! You can tell me that Batts Confections secret!" The top floor of our candy store is under construction, but Dad won't tell Penny or me what he's building. "That's not really a game, is it?" Dad said. "And it would ruin the surprise." "I don't really like surprises," I reminded him. "I like to know what's going on—then I can know whether or not it's good." "You've got to trust me on this," Dad said.

爸爸放下报纸，转过头来看我。 “你怎么不写写你的小本子呀？” “我的小本子已经写完啦。”我告诉他。 “而且到现在也没发生什么新鲜事，能让我写到下一本里的。 我们能玩个游戏吗？” “比如什么？”“比如……”我停下来想了想。 “哦！ 我想到了！ 你可以告诉我巴茨糖果店的秘密呀！ 我们家糖果店的顶楼正在装修，可爸爸就是不肯告诉我和佩妮他在那建什么。 “这不算个游戏吧？” 爸爸说。 “而且说了的话，惊喜就没啦。” “我其实不怎么喜欢惊喜。”我提醒他。 “我就想知道要发生什么——这样我就能知道这事好不好玩了。” “这事你得相信我。”爸爸说。