The Orange Kitten橘色小猫

游余

Rachel was feeling sad.She had just moved from Arizona to a new house in California， far away from her friends， neighbors and teachers that she had known for most of her life. Her mother and dad had explainedl to her that moving to this new school was actually a good thing， as it would give her a better life. Still， Rachel did not care about such things. She just wanted another friend to play with when she was sad.

瑞秋很伤心。她刚从亚利桑那州搬到加利福尼亚州的一所新房子，远离了她人生中大部分时间里所认识的朋友、邻居和老师。她的父母向她解释说，搬到这所新学校实际上是件好事，因为这会给她一个更好的生活。尽管如此，瑞秋并不在乎这些，她只是想在难过的时候有一个朋友陪她一起玩。

Her first day at her new school only made her feel worse. The school was harder than her other school， and the other students did not talk to her at all. She also did not like the new house that her family had moved into. Rachel wished that she had someone she could talk to about her problems.

她在新学校的第一天只让她感觉更糟。这所学校比她待过的其他学校更难待，其他学生根本不和她说话。她也不喜欢全家刚搬进来的新房子。瑞秋希望能有个人来讨论自己的问题。

Rachels parents noticed that she had not seemed happy ever smce their move away from Arizona， but they were too busy with their new jobs to give her their full care. Every morning， Rachel would wake up and eat her breakfast quietly， nervous2 about the school day. After she was done eating， her mother would walk her to the bus station and tell her to have a good day.“That is easier said than done，”thought Rachel as she sat in the back of the bus. She looked out the window at the blue skies and green trees.

瑞秋的父母注意到自从他们搬离亚利桑那州后，她似乎一直闷闷不乐，但他们忙于新工作，无暇全心全意照顾她。每天早上，瑞秋醒来后会静静地吃早餐，对上学的日子感到紧张。她吃完饭后，妈妈会步行送她去公共汽车站，祝她这一天过得愉快。“说起来容易做起来难。”瑞秋坐在校车后座时想。她望向了窗外的蓝天和绿树。

Suddenly3， Rachel noticed something orange next to some trees. Even though she only saw the orange color for a few seconds， it made her sit up. After all， there were not that many orange things that could be found out on the ground. She thought about it all on the way to school. Could it be a group of flowers？ No， because the orange thing had seemed to be moving when she had seen it.It was a mystery4， she thought. She kept thinking about the orange thing as she went to her classes and had her lunch alone.

突然，瑞秋注意到幾棵树旁边有一个橙色的东西。尽管她只看到那个橙色几秒钟，但这还是让她坐直了身体。毕竟，在地面上找不到那么多橙色的东西。上学的路上她一直在想这件事。会是一束花吗？不是，因为当她看到那个橙色的东西时，它似乎在移动。这是一个谜，她觉得。无论是上课还是独自吃午饭的时候，她都一直在想那个橙色的东西。

On the way back from school，Rachel sat in the same seat as she had before in the hopes of seeing the orange thing again. As she passed by the trees， she felt happy because she thought she would see it. But she was sad to not see anything that was orange.

在放学回家的路上，瑞秋坐在她以前坐的那个座位上，希望能再次看到那个橙色的东西。当她经过那些树时，她感到很高兴，因为她以为自己会看到它，但她很难过，因为她没有看到任何橙色的东西。

The next morning， Rachel set out a plan to find out about the mystery. She decided to pretend to be sick so that her father would come and get her from the office at school.Letting people think that she was sick was easy. All she had to do was saying that her stomach hurt and she was about to throw up. Her plan worked， and her dad quickly came to the school to take her home for rest.

第二天早上，瑞秋制定了一个计划来解开这个谜。她决定假装生病，这样她爸爸就可以来把她从学校的办公室接走。让人们认为她生病了很容易，她所要做的就是说她肚子疼，她想吐。她的计划奏效了，她爸爸很快就来到学校带她回家休息。

Rachel felt bad for lying to her dad， but as she passed the trees in her car， she told him to pull the car over because she was going to throw up. He let her out of the car， and she ran as fast as she could to the orange thing that she had seen across the field5. She had to know what it was. At last， she saw lt：a pretty， small kitten. As she picked it up， her dad appeared6 besides her. When he saw the kitten， he understood what she had done and why she had done it.He let her take the kitten home. He even bought a box and cat food for her new friend， who she named Whiskers.

瑞秋对爸爸撒谎后感到很难过，但当她坐车经过那些树时，她叫爸爸把车停下来，因为她要呕吐了。他让她下车，她尽可能快地朝她在田野这头看到的那个橙色东西跑过去。她必须知道那是什么东西。终于，她看到它了：一只漂亮的小猫咪。当她抱起它时，爸爸出现在她身边。看到小猫时，他就明白了她做了什么以及为什么要这么做。他让她把小猫带回家，甚至为她的新朋友买了一个猫砂盆和猫食，她给小猫取名叫“络腮胡”。

Rachel knew that all her problems were not over. Her school was still hard， and she still missed her old friends. But with her small kitten at her side， Rachel felt much happier. When she came to school the next day， she told her class about her new friend. Later， some of her classmates asked her if they could meet Whiskers. Rachel smiled， and knew that her life in California would be easier with Whiskers by her side.

瑞秋知道她的所有問题都还没有结束。她在学校仍然过得艰难，她仍然想念她的老朋友。但有了小猫咪在身边，瑞秋感到快乐多了。第二天当她来到学校时，她向全班同学讲述了她这位新朋友的事。后来，她的一些同学问她可不可以认识“络腮胡”。瑞秋笑了，她知道有了“络腮胡”在身边，她在加州的生活会更轻松。

（英语原文选自：er-central.com）