我的橡皮會說話

Paula+Matzek

千萬不要覺得有些事聽起來像是天方夜譚就想都不想去否定，因為誰也不能保證這世上不會發生一些不可思議的事情。

"Today is going to be a great day，" Ashley wrote in her journal at school Thursday morning. "We go to the library at 9：15. We&apos；re having cheese pizza for lunch today. I like it. This afternoon I hope we paint."

Ashley was fifth in line to go to the library. She would have been first， but she forgot her new penguin eraser. She had to go back to her desk for it.

Halfway to the library， Ashley found out that her new eraser could talk. The penguin had slipped out of Ashley&apos；s hand and fallen to the floor. Ashley&apos；s best friend， Louise， who was sixth in line， stepped on the penguin. Suddenly， Ashley and Louise heard a voice saying "Hey， clumsy， why don&apos；t you look where you&apos；re stepping？"

"Don&apos；t call me clumsy， Ashley！" said Louise. "You&apos；re the one who dropped your eraser！"

"Ladies， no talking in line！" said the teacher.

Ashley quickly checked out two library books. Then she hid behind the fiction shelf and stared at the eraser in the palm of her hand. "Can you talk？" she whispered.

"Of course！" replied the penguin in a voice a little too loud for the library.

"Sh-h-h，" whispered Ashley. "We&apos；re in the library."

"The WHAT？" shouted the penguin.

"The library. People are trying to read，" said Ashley in a stern voice.

"Ashley， is that you back there？" said the teacher. "Come out here and sit down at the table." Ashley hid the penguin in her pocket.

When it was time to line up1）， Ashley held her books in one hand and kept her other hand tightly wrapped around the penguin in her pocket. The whole class was silent. Suddenly， a loud muffled2） voice was heard， "HEY！ How long do I have to be a prisoner in this stupid place？"

"Ashley， was that you？" asked the teacher in a shocked voice. But before Ashley could reply， the teacher was saying， "Perhaps you&apos；d like to go to the principal&apos；s office and discuss your behavior with her."

When Ashley arrived at the principal&apos；s office， the principal was out. The secretary told Ashley to sit at a table in the inner office and wait. While Ashley waited， she carefully pulled the penguin from her pocket and spoke softly， with tears in her eyes， "Please don&apos；t talk any more. You&apos；re getting me in trouble. I don&apos；t like getting in trouble."

Before the penguin could reply， the principal appeared in the office. Ashley quickly pushed the penguin under her library books.

"Ashley，" said the principal in a puzzled voice， "what is the problem？ Are you in some kind of trouble？"

"Well，" said Ashley， fighting back the tears， "I got in trouble in the library， but it&apos；s really not my fault."

"Explain， please，" said the principal.

But before Ashley could continue， an angry voice was heard. "How long do I have to stay in this stuffy3）， smelly place listening to all of this chatter4）？"

"Ashley， what did you say？" gasped the astonished principal.

"It wasn&apos；t me，" protested Ashley， but the principal had already gone to the phone to call Ashley&apos；s father.

When Ashley&apos；s father arrived， he looked worried. Ashley had never been in trouble at school before.

"Thank you for coming，" said the principal. "Perhaps Ashley can explain the problem she is having with her self-control today."

"Please do，" said Ashley&apos；s father， looking sternly at his daughter.

"Dad， it&apos；s really hard to explain ..."

"Please get on with it5）. I have to get back to work，" said Ashley&apos；s father.

"Well， it started with my eraser，" said Ashley.

"Your eraser？ Please， Ashley， get to the point."

"Well， we were on our way to the library. I was in line. Louise was behind me. I dropped my eraser ..."

"Ashley， I really must get back to work. Please try to behave yourself for the rest of the day. We will talk about this after school，" said Ashley&apos；s father in an annoyed voice.

"OK." Ashley sighed.

The principal asked Ashley&apos；s father to sign a piece of paper. "Ashley， you may go back to class，" said the principal. "Please try to control yourself for the rest of the day， and I will see you and your father in my office at 4：30."

Ashley picked up her books and eraser and walked toward the door. Suddenly， she heard her father say， "Oops6）. Do you have an eraser？"

"No， sorry，" said the principal.

"Here， Dad，" said Ashley， "you can borrow mine. You can keep it and take it to work with you."

"Thank you，" said Ashley&apos；s father， taking the penguin. As he began to erase with it， suddenly a strange voice screamed， "OUCH7）！" Ashley&apos；s father and the principal looked at each other with wide eyes.

With a tiny smile on her face， she walked back to her classroom.

“今天會是個美好的日子，”星期四早晨阿什莉到學校后在她的日記中這樣寫道，“早上9：15我們要去圖書館。今天午餐我們會吃芝士比薩，我喜歡芝士比薩。下午我希望我們能畫畫。”

在去圖書館的隊列里，阿什莉排在第五個。她本來可以排在頭一個的，但她忘了拿新買的企鵝樣子的橡皮，所以不得不回課桌那兒去取。

在去圖書館的半路上，阿什莉發現了她的新橡皮會說話。企鵝橡皮從阿什莉的手中滑落，掉到了地上。而阿什莉最好的朋友、排在隊列里第六位的路易絲一腳踩到了橡皮上。突然，阿什莉和路易絲聽到一個聲音說：“喂，你這個笨手笨腳的家伙，怎么都不看看你往哪兒踩？”

“別說我笨，阿什莉！”路易絲說，“是你把橡皮弄掉的！”

“小姐們，不要在隊列中說話！”老師說。

阿什莉快速地在圖書館里借了兩本書，然后躲到了小說書架后面。她盯著手掌上的橡皮，輕聲問道：“你會說話嗎？”。

“當然啦！”企鵝橡皮回答道，它的聲音在圖書館里聽起來有點太大了。

“噓—，”阿什莉低聲說，“我們在圖書館里呢。”

“在哪兒？”企鵝橡皮喊道。

“圖書館。大家都想要看書呢。”阿什莉嚴厲地說。

“阿什莉，是你在書架后面嗎？”老師說。 “到這兒來，坐在桌子旁邊。”阿什莉把企鵝橡皮藏進了兜里。

在整隊的時候，阿什莉一只手拿著書，另一只手則緊緊地握著她兜里的那塊企鵝橡皮。全班同學都很安靜。突然，只聽見一個很大的聲音甕聲甕氣地說：“喂！我得在這個無聊的地方被囚禁多久啊？”

“阿什莉，是你在說話嗎？”老師吃驚地問道。但阿什莉還沒來得及回答，老師就說：“也許你想去校長辦公室和她聊聊你的行為。”

阿什莉來到校長辦公室時，校長出去了。秘書就讓阿什莉坐在里面辦公室的一張桌子旁等一等。阿什莉在等候校長的時候，小心翼翼地從兜里拿出企鵝橡皮，含著淚水輕聲說：“求求你，不要再說話了，你給我惹麻煩了。我可不想惹麻煩。”

企鵝橡皮還沒來得及回應，校長就出現在辦公室里。阿什莉一把把企鵝橡皮塞到了她從圖書館借來的書下面。

“阿什莉，”校長困惑地說，“出什么事了？你遇到什么麻煩了嗎？”

“嗯，”阿什莉強忍著淚水說，“我在圖書館里遇到了麻煩，但那真的不怪我。”

“請你解釋一下。”校長說。

但還沒等阿什莉來得及繼續往下說，他們就聽到一個憤怒的聲音。“我要在這個悶熱難聞的地方聽多長時間這樣的嘮叨啊？”

“阿什莉，你剛剛說什么？”校長驚得倒吸了一口氣說。

“不是我說的。”阿什莉叫屈道，但校長已經走到電話機那里去給阿什莉的父親打電話了。

當阿什莉的父親趕到時，他看起來很擔心，因為阿什莉以前從未在學校里闖過禍。

“謝謝您能過來，”校長說，“也許阿什莉可以解釋一下她今天在自我控制方面存在的問題。”

“請解釋一下。”阿什莉的父親嚴厲地看著自己的女兒說。

“爸爸，這真的很難解釋……”

“快說吧，我還得回去工作。”阿什莉的父親說。

“好吧，這要從我的橡皮說起。”阿什莉說。

“你的橡皮？阿什莉，請說重點。”

“嗯，那是在去圖書館的路上。我排著隊，路易絲在我后面，我把橡皮弄掉了……”

“阿什莉，我真的得回去工作了。今天剩下的時間里你要學著規矩點兒。我們放學后再談這件事。”阿什莉的父親用一種惱怒的聲音說。

“好吧。”阿什莉嘆了口氣。

校長請阿什莉的父親在一張紙上簽了字。“阿什莉，你可以回教室了，”校長說，“今天剩下的時間里請盡量控制自己，下午4：30我會在我的辦公室里見你和你的父親。”

阿什莉拿起她的書和橡皮向門口走去。突然，她聽到她父親說：“哎呀，您有橡皮嗎？”

“沒有，很抱歉。”校長說。

“給您，爸爸，”阿什莉說，“您可以借我的。您可以留著它，帶它去上班。”

“謝謝你。”阿什莉的父親接過企鵝橡皮說。當他開始用橡皮擦除字跡時，突然一個奇怪的聲音尖叫道：“哎喲！”阿什莉的父親和校長都睜大了眼睛，看著彼此。

阿什莉帶著一絲不易察覺的微笑，向自己的教室走去。

1. line up： 排成行，整隊；排隊

2. muffled [?m?fld] adj. （聲音）變輕微（或低沉）的

3. stuffy [?st?fi] adj. （房間或建筑物）悶的，通風不暢的

4. chatter [?t??t?（r）] n. 喋喋不休的談話；嘮叨

5. get on with sth.： 繼續做某事，開始做某事

6. oops [?ps] int. （表示驚訝或后悔）哎喲

7. ouch [a?t?] int. （表示身體上突然的疼痛）哎喲

（題圖·插圖 / 張晗）