The tHlundred Dresscs (II) 百条裙子（二）

Eleanor Estes

旺达。佩特罗斯基有着一个奇怪的名字和一条旧裙子，这些都是同学们捉弄她的原因。有一天，旺达突然声称家里有一百条裙子，这会给旺达带来什么改变吗？

Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room 13 didn't have names like that.  They had names easy to say， like Thomas， Smith， or Alien. There was one boy named Bounce， Willie Bounce， and people thought that was funny but not funny in the same way that Petronski was.

Wanda didn't have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a lfaded blue dress that didn'thang right. It was clean， but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. She didn't have any friends， but a lot of girls talked to her. They waited for her under the maple trees on the corner of Oliver Street. Or they 2）surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching some littlegirls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground.

“Wanda，" Peggy would say in a most 3courteous manner，as though she were talking to Miss Mason or to the 4principal perhaps.“Wanda，" she'd say， giving one of her friends a nudge， "tell us. How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet？"

“A hundred，" said Wanda.

“A hundred！” exclaimed all the girls incredulously， and the little girls would stop playing hopscotch and listen.

“Yeah， a hundred， all lined up，" said Wanda. Then her thin lips drew together in silence.

1） fade 【feld】 v.褪色;衰退

2） surround 【sa'raund】 v.围绕

3） courteous 【k3：ties】 adj.有礼貌的

4） principal 【'prnsep（e）】n.校长

旺达。佩特罗斯基，十三班里的孩子们没人有這么奇怪的名字。他们的名字都朗朗上口，像托马斯、史密斯或是亚伦。有一个男孩叫鲍恩斯一威利。鲍恩斯一大家都觉得这个名字很滑稽，但跟“佩特罗斯基”这个名字的滑稽还不太一样。

旺达没有什么朋友。无论是上学还是回家，她都独来独往。她经常穿一件褪了色、晾得变了形的蓝裙子，尽管很干净，但一看就知道从来没有好好熨烫过。她虽然没有朋友，却有很多女孩跟她说话。她们会站在奥利弗大街拐角处的枫树下等她，或者当她在学校操场上看别的女孩玩“跳房子”时将她团团围住。

佩琪总会用一种特别谦和的语调跟旺达讲话，就好像她是在和梅森老师或是在和校长讲话一样。“旺达，”她会一边说着话一边碰碰她身边的同伴儿，“跟我们说说，你曾经说过你的衣柜里挂着多少条裙子来着？”

“一百条。”旺达回答说。

“一百条！”周围的女孩都尖叫着表示怀疑，就连在一旁玩“跳房子”的女孩们也停下来听她们说话了。

“嗯，一百条，全部都是挂起来的。”旺达说道。 然后她就闭上薄薄的嘴唇陷入了沉默。