2 Can You Keep a Secret

CHAPTER 2 Can You Keep a Secret? "Stella, you can't do that to me," Dad said. "I thought something awful had happened to Penny." "Something awful did happen to Penny," I told him. "It was only Penny the fish," he said. "Of course it was Penny the fish," I said. "Penny the person isn't home. But I don't think Penny the person would think it was "only" a fish. She loved her!"

第二章 你能保守秘密吗？ “斯特拉，你可不能这么吓我，”爸爸说。 “我还以为佩妮出了什么可怕的事呢。” “佩妮确实出事了呀，”我告诉他。 “只是那条叫佩妮的鱼而已，”他说。 “当然是那条叫佩妮的鱼啊，”我说。 “叫佩妮的人现在又不在家。 但我觉得叫佩妮的人肯定不会觉得这‘只是’一条鱼。 她可喜欢她了！”

Dad took a deep breath to calm down. He stepped toward the bowl and peered closer. "She's dead, right?" Lucy asked. Dad nodded. "I'm afraid that happens sometimes with these little fish," he said. Marco was wailing from the other room. "Let me get the baby, and then I'll deal with it." Lucy and I followed Dad into the living room, because suddenly we didn't want to be alone in the kitchen with Penny Jr. I wasn't sure why. The fish never scared me when it was alive. But there's something scary about dead things. Like, what if there's such a thing as a fish ghost, and now the ghost of Penny Jr. was watching us with its ghosty fish eyes. I felt shaky just thinking about it! Dad got Marco out of his swing, and then the four of us headed back into the kitchen. Lucy wanted to hold Marco. Dad told her to

爸爸深吸了一口气，让自己冷静下来。 他走到鱼缸跟前，凑过去仔细看。 “它死了，对吗？” 露西问。 爸爸点了点头。 “唉，这种小鱼有时候就是会这样，”他说。 马可在另一个房间哇哇大哭起来。 “我先去抱小宝宝，然后再来处理这件事。” 我和露西跟着爸爸走进客厅，因为我们突然不想单独和小佩妮一起待在厨房。 我也说不清楚为什么。 这条鱼活着的时候我可从来没怕过它。 但死了的东西总是有点吓人。 比如说，万一真的有鱼幽灵呢？现在小佩妮的幽灵正用它幽灵鱼的眼睛盯着我们呢。 我光是想想都浑身发抖！ 爸爸把马可从婴儿摇椅里抱出来，然后我们四个人一起走回厨房。 露西想抱马可。 爸爸告诉她要

sit down and use two hands, and showed her how to support his head. Then he picked up Penny Jr.'s bowl and said he'd be right back. "Where are you going?" I asked. "To the bathroom," Dad said. "I'll flush the fish down the toilet."

坐下来，用两只手抱，还示范给她看怎么托住他的头。 然后他拿起小佩妮的鱼缸，说他马上就回来。 “你要去哪儿呀？” 我问。 “去卫生间，”爸爸说。 “我把这条鱼冲去马桶里。”

"What?!" "It's all right, darling," Dad said. "That's what happens when a fish dies." "But you flush the toilet when you go to the bathroom! Penny wouldn't want us to treat Penny Jr. that way!" The phone rang just then. Dad reached over and grabbed the receiver with the hand that wasn't holding the fish bowl. "Hello?" he said. Then he paused. "Oh hi, Elaine." Elaine is my mom's name. "We're all fine, but it seems Penny's fish has moved on to a better place." "Penny the first is going to be so sad!" I yelled toward the phone. "And Dad wants to flush Penny Jr. down the toilet!" "Excuse me," Dad said. "I'm just going to talk to Mom privately for a sec." I sat down across from Lucy and Marco and stuck my tongue out. Then I had to

“什么？！” “没事的，宝贝，”爸爸说。 “鱼死了都是这么处理的呀。” “可你上厕所的时候才冲马桶啊！ 佩妮肯定不想我们这么对待小佩妮的！” 就在这时电话响了。 爸爸伸出没拿鱼缸的那只手，抓起了听筒。 “喂？”他说。 然后他顿了顿。 “哦嗨，伊莱恩。” 伊莱恩是我妈妈的名字。 “我们都好，就是佩妮的鱼好像去了更美好的地方了。” “大佩妮肯定会特别难过的！” 我朝着电话大喊。 “而且爸爸要把小佩妮冲去马桶里！” “不好意思，”爸爸说。 我要和妈妈私下说会儿话。” 我坐到露西和马可对面，吐了吐舌头。 然后我不得不

explain to Lucy I wasn't being mean, it was just Marco's new game. Soon we were all sticking our tongues out. Marco didn't know any better. He didn't know what had just happened to Penny Jr. "We should have a funeral where we bury Penny Jr.," Lucy told me, her tongue back in her mouth. "We could do it in your backyard. That way she'll have a grave and you can always visit her." Dad came back in and put the phone back on the cradle. "You girls okay?" he asked. "Yup," I said. "I've been watching Marco very carefully, Mr. Batts," Lucy added. "Thatta girl," he said. "Just give me one more minute to take care of the fish, and then there's something I need to talk to you about." "Wait," I said. "We need to have a funeral

跟露西解释我不是故意没礼貌，这是马可想出来的新游戏。 没一会儿我们都开始吐舌头了。 马可什么都不懂。 他不知道小佩妮刚才出了什么事。 “我们应该给小佩妮办个葬礼，把它埋了，”露西跟我说，她已经把舌头收回去了。 “我们可以在你家后院办。 这样她就有个坟墓，你随时都能来看她啦。” 爸爸走了进来，把电话放回了机座上。 “你们两个小姑娘没事吧？”他问。 “没事呀，”我说。 “我一直在很认真地看着马可哦，巴茨先生，”露西补充道。 “真乖，”他说。 “再给我一分钟把鱼处理好，然后我有件事要跟你们说。” “等一下，”我说。 “我们得办个葬礼