Leap Year Birthday

Leap Year Birthday Written by Brad Bolchunas Illustrated by Danny Jones Focus Question What makes Leroy's birthday different from most people's birthdays?

《闰年生日》 作者：布拉德·博尔丘纳斯 绘者：丹尼·琼斯 核心问题 勒罗伊的生日和大多数人的生日有什么不一样呢？

I'm a time traveler, Leroy told his friends. He waved his hands, widened his eyes and said, whoosh. His friends looked less than impressed. Seriously, Alan said.

“我是个时间旅行者哦。”勒罗伊对朋友们说。 他挥挥小手，睁大眼睛，嘴里说着：“嗖——” 朋友们看起来一点都不觉得厉害。 “说真的。”艾伦开口道。

Time works differently for me, Leroy said. Today is my birthday and I'm in second grade, but I'm only two years old. The others stared at him, then burst into laughter. You're eight, Lucy said, not two.

“时间对我来说和大家不一样。”勒罗伊说。 “今天是我的生日，我都上二年级了，可我才两岁哦。” 其他人都盯着他看，接着突然大笑起来。 “你都八岁了，”露西说，“才不是两岁。”

Leroy tried to explain. Most of the other years don't count. They're sort of pretend years. My birthday is on February 29th. It's called a leap year birthday, which only happens every four years. For time travelers like me, four of your years is like one of mine. That's crazy, said Philip. If you're only two, maybe you should be wearing diapers. Leroy just looked at him. I don't need diapers, he said. I need to understand why I'm birthday deprived. The others walked away down the street together, shaking their heads in disbelief.

勒罗伊试着解释。 其他年份大多不算数啦。 差不多都是假的年份。 我的生日是2月29日。 叫做闰日生日，这种生日每四年才会有一次。 对我这样的时间旅行者来说，你们的四年就等于我的一年哦。 “太荒唐了，”菲利普说。 你要是才两岁，说不定还得穿尿不湿呢。 勒罗伊只是看着他。 我才不用尿不湿，他说。 我只想搞懂为什么我连生日都没得过。 其他人一起沿着街道走了，还不敢相信地摇着头。

Leroy frowned. No one had remembered his birthday this morning. Not even his mother. He didn't complain because he knew it was hard to remember something only once every four years. Leroy wondered, what about those other people with leap year birthdays? There had to be a few out there. Were they confounded by this whole situation too?

勒罗伊皱起了眉头 今天早上没人记得他的生日 连妈妈都不记得 他没有抱怨，因为他知道，要记住每四年才来一次的事确实很难 勒罗伊忍不住想，其他过闰日生日的人呢？ 肯定也有不少这样的人呀 他们会不会也被这事儿搞得一头雾水呀？

Why did February 29th have to be different anyway? Why couldn't it behave like all those other days of the year? If it stopped being different, Leroy could stop being different, too. Leroy shrugged and shuffled into the kitchen. Mom, do we have a book about time travel? Leroy asked. Sorry, Leroy, Mom said. But the library might. Let's go see.

凭什么2月29日就非得这么特别呀？ 它就不能和一年里其他的日子一样吗？ 要是它不再特殊了，勒罗伊也就不用再这么特殊了呀。 勒罗伊耸了耸肩，拖着步子走进了厨房。 “妈妈，我们家有没有讲时间旅行的书呀？” 勒罗伊问道。 “不好意思哦，勒罗伊。”妈妈说。 “不过图书馆说不定有。” “我们去看看吧。”