The School Lunch That Almost Killed Me 豌豆湯的秘密

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I， Katelyn Annabel Brown， love pea soup.

I first tried it by accident. I thought I had gotten in the hamburger line， but when the lunch lady plopped1) a bowl of lumpy， green goo2) on my tray， I knew I'd taken a wrong turn. Franklin Elementary has a strict \"get in the right lunch line or live with the results\" policy， so I panicked.

Ralph was standing behind me. He's the nicest， smartest kid in class. He's also the only kid in the history of our school who openly loves pea soup.

\"What's wrong?\" he asked.

I just stared at my bowl of \"soup\".

Ralph shrugged， smiled at the lunch lady， and headed toward the tables.

In shock， I followed him. What else could I do? Not eat? Ms. Pitts， the lunch monitor， would never have allowed that. She roams the cafeteria like a shark， reminding kids to eat their food—or else. I heard she once made a second grader miss recess3) because he hadn't finished his Brussels sprouts.

My fellow students wagged4) their heads at me as I walked by. One boy even plugged his nose. I plopped down next to my best friend， Liz.

Liz looked at my tray， her eyes twice their usual size. \"Do you know what's on your plate?\" She glanced around nervously. \"Quick—throw it away before Ms. Pitts sees you!\"

But it was too late.

\"Well， look at this!\" Ms. Pitts' voice made my stomach do somersaults5). \"Decided to give the pea soup a try， huh， Kate?\" She leaned in closer. \"Go on， then. Taste it. I want to see how you like it!\"

I swallowed hard and looked at Liz. She was no help， covering her face and turning red.

Ms. Pitts stood still， waiting. \"Come on. It probably won't kill you!\"

I knew there was no getting out of it. I grabbed my spoon and scooped up a mouthful of the slimy， green goo. My hand was shaking as I brought it toward my lips.

Behind Ms. Pitts， Ralph was happily shoveling spoonful after spoonful of the sludge6) into his mouth.

As the spoon crossed under my nose， I was surprised that it didn't smell that bad; in fact， it smelled ... good! I closed my eyes and downed the spoonful in one giant gulp.

Everyone stared at me to see what I would do. I had to remind myself to look disgusted by the mush7) rolling around on my tongue because ... well ... I didn't hate it. I LOVED IT!

Since that day， Ralph has become my lunch buddy on pea soup days. We've even added a couple of other brave souls to our table of \"people who love the green stuff\". Liz is not one of them. She tells anyone who will listen， \"Kate has to eat the pea soup! It's doctor's orders!\" I know better. So does Ralph. I even think Ms. Pitts knows my little secret. But what can I say? Sometimes you like stuff that's good for you. You just can't help it.我要向你透露一個小秘密。我，凱特琳恩·安娜貝爾·布朗，喜歡豌豆湯。

我第一次品嘗豌豆湯是個意外。當時我以為自己排的是領漢堡的隊，但是當盛午飯的阿姨撲通一下把一碗疙里疙瘩、又綠又黏糊的東西盛到我的餐盤里時，我才知道自己之前排隊轉錯方向了。富蘭克林小學一直有一個“排對午餐隊，否則給啥就吃啥”的嚴格規定，所以我感到驚慌失措。

拉爾夫當時站在我后面。他是班上最友好、最聰明的孩子。他也是我們學校歷史上唯一一個公開喜歡豌豆湯的小孩兒。

“怎么了？”他問我。

我就只是盯著我那碗“湯”。

拉爾夫聳聳肩，沖著盛午飯的阿姨微微一笑，便朝餐桌走去。

處于震驚狀態中的我跟著他走開。我還能怎么辦呢？不吃？午餐監督員皮茨小姐是絕對不會允許這種事發生的。她通常就像條鯊魚似的在餐廳里走來走去，提醒孩子們吃掉自己的食物，否則的話……我聽說有一次她不讓一個二年級的學生下課休息，因為他沒把球芽甘藍吃干凈。

我從同學身邊走過時，他們都朝我搖頭。一個男孩兒甚至把鼻子堵上了。我一屁股坐在我最好的朋友莉茲旁邊。

莉茲看了看我的餐盤，她的眼睛瞪得比平時大了一倍。“你知道你盤子里的是什么嗎？”她緊張地環視四周。“快——在皮茨小姐看到你之前趕緊扔了它！”

但是來不及了。

“哦，看看這個！”皮茨小姐說這話的聲音讓我的胃里面如翻江倒海一般。“決定嘗嘗豌豆湯哈，凱特？”她探身湊得更近了。“那就繼續。嘗嘗看。我想看看你有多喜歡它！”

我使勁咽了一口唾沫，看著莉茲。她也幫不上忙，手捂著臉，臉都紅了。

皮茨小姐站著不動，一直在那兒等著。“來吧，它應該要不了你的命！”

我知道自己逃不掉了。我抓起勺子，舀起一口又綠又黏糊的湯。當我把它送向嘴邊的時候，我的手都抖了。

在皮茨小姐身后，拉爾夫正興高采烈地把那爛泥似的東西一勺又一勺地往嘴里送。

當勺子經過我的鼻子時，我驚訝地發現，它并沒有那么難聞；實際上，它聞著……香香的！我閉上眼睛，一口吞下了一大勺。

每個人都盯著我，想要看看我會怎么做。我不得不提醒自己要表現得很討厭這些在舌頭上翻滾的糊狀物，因為……好吧……我不討厭它。我愛上它了！

從那天起，拉夫爾就成了我在豌豆湯日的午餐小伙伴。甚至還有其他幾個勇敢的小孩兒也加入到我們這個“愛吃綠東西之人”的餐桌。莉茲并不在其中。她這樣告訴每一個愿意聽她說的人：“凱特必須得吃豌豆湯！那是醫生的命令！”我心里更清楚是怎么回事，拉爾夫也是。我甚至覺得皮茨小姐也知道我的小秘密。但是我能說什么呢？有時候，你喜歡吃對身體有益的東西。你就是忍不住想吃。1.plop [pl#594;p] vt. 把(液體等)撲通一下扔進；vi. 沉重地(或放松地)坐下或躺下

2.goo [ɡu#720;] n. (泥、糨糊等)黏稠物質

3.recess [r#618;#712;ses] n. 課間休息

4.wag [w#230;ɡ] vt. (常指因不高興而)搖(頭)

5.somersault [#712;s#652;m#601;s#596;#720;lt] n. 筋斗

6.sludge [sl#652;d#658;] n. 爛泥狀物

7.mush [m#652;#643;] n. 糊狀物