我的橡皮会说话

Paula+Matzek

千萬不要觉得有些事听起来像是天方夜谭就想都不想去否定，因为谁也不能保证这世上不会发生一些不可思议的事情。

"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.

“今天會是个美好的日子，”星期四早晨阿什莉到学校后在她的日记中这样写道，“早上9：15我们要去图书馆。今天午餐我们会吃芝士比萨，我喜欢芝士比萨。下午我希望我们能画画。”

在去图书馆的队列里，阿什莉排在第五个。她本来可以排在头一个的，但她忘了拿新买的企鹅样子的橡皮，所以不得不回课桌那儿去取。

在去图书馆的半路上，阿什莉发现了她的新橡皮会说话。企鹅橡皮从阿什莉的手中滑落，掉到了地上。而阿什莉最好的朋友、排在队列里第六位的路易丝一脚踩到了橡皮上。突然，阿什莉和路易丝听到一个声音说：“喂，你这个笨手笨脚的家伙，怎么都不看看你往哪儿踩？”

“别说我笨，阿什莉！”路易丝说，“是你把橡皮弄掉的！”

“小姐们，不要在队列中说话！”老师说。

阿什莉快速地在图书馆里借了两本书，然后躲到了小说书架后面。她盯着手掌上的橡皮，轻声问道：“你会说话吗？”。

“当然啦！”企鹅橡皮回答道，它的声音在图书馆里听起来有点太大了。

“嘘—，”阿什莉低声说，“我们在图书馆里呢。”

“在哪儿？”企鹅橡皮喊道。

“图书馆。大家都想要看书呢。”阿什莉严厉地说。

“阿什莉，是你在书架后面吗？”老师说。 “到这儿来，坐在桌子旁边。”阿什莉把企鹅橡皮藏进了兜里。

在整队的时候，阿什莉一只手拿着书，另一只手则紧紧地握着她兜里的那块企鹅橡皮。全班同学都很安静。突然，只听见一个很大的声音瓮声瓮气地说：“喂！我得在这个无聊的地方被囚禁多久啊？”

“阿什莉，是你在说话吗？”老师吃惊地问道。但阿什莉还没来得及回答，老师就说：“也许你想去校长办公室和她聊聊你的行为。”

阿什莉来到校长办公室时，校长出去了。秘书就让阿什莉坐在里面办公室的一张桌子旁等一等。阿什莉在等候校长的时候，小心翼翼地从兜里拿出企鹅橡皮，含着泪水轻声说：“求求你，不要再说话了，你给我惹麻烦了。我可不想惹麻烦。”

企鵝橡皮还没来得及回应，校长就出现在办公室里。阿什莉一把把企鹅橡皮塞到了她从图书馆借来的书下面。

“阿什莉，”校长困惑地说，“出什么事了？你遇到什么麻烦了吗？”

“嗯，”阿什莉强忍着泪水说，“我在图书馆里遇到了麻烦，但那真的不怪我。”

“请你解释一下。”校长说。

但还没等阿什莉来得及继续往下说，他们就听到一个愤怒的声音。“我要在这个闷热难闻的地方听多长时间这样的唠叨啊？”

“阿什莉，你刚刚说什么？”校长惊得倒吸了一口气说。

“不是我说的。”阿什莉叫屈道，但校长已经走到电话机那里去给阿什莉的父亲打电话了。

当阿什莉的父亲赶到时，他看起来很担心，因为阿什莉以前从未在学校里闯过祸。

“谢谢您能过来，”校长说，“也许阿什莉可以解释一下她今天在自我控制方面存在的问题。”

“请解释一下。”阿什莉的父亲严厉地看着自己的女儿说。

“爸爸，这真的很难解释……”

“快说吧，我还得回去工作。”阿什莉的父亲说。

“好吧，这要从我的橡皮说起。”阿什莉说。

“你的橡皮？阿什莉，请说重点。”

“嗯，那是在去图书馆的路上。我排着队，路易丝在我后面，我把橡皮弄掉了……”

“阿什莉，我真的得回去工作了。今天剩下的时间里你要学着规矩点儿。我们放学后再谈这件事。”阿什莉的父亲用一种恼怒的声音说。

“好吧。”阿什莉叹了口气。

校长请阿什莉的父亲在一张纸上签了字。“阿什莉，你可以回教室了，”校长说，“今天剩下的时间里请尽量控制自己，下午4：30我会在我的办公室里见你和你的父亲。”

阿什莉拿起她的书和橡皮向门口走去。突然，她听到她父亲说：“哎呀，您有橡皮吗？”

“没有，很抱歉。”校长说。

“给您，爸爸，”阿什莉说，“您可以借我的。您可以留着它，带它去上班。”

“谢谢你。”阿什莉的父亲接过企鹅橡皮说。当他开始用橡皮擦除字迹时，突然一个奇怪的声音尖叫道：“哎哟！”阿什莉的父亲和校长都睁大了眼睛，看着彼此。

阿什莉带着一丝不易察觉的微笑，向自己的教室走去。

1. line up： 排成行，整队；排队

2. muffled [?m?fld] adj. （声音）变轻微（或低沉）的

3. stuffy [?st?fi] adj. （房间或建筑物）闷的，通风不畅的

4. chatter [?t??t?（r）] n. 喋喋不休的谈话；唠叨

5. get on with sth.： 继续做某事，开始做某事

6. oops [?ps] int. （表示惊讶或后悔）哎哟

7. ouch [a?t?] int. （表示身体上突然的疼痛）哎哟

（题图·插图 / 张晗）