Chapter 12

Jason had a small face and a big mouth. He had the second biggest mouth in Mrs. Jewls's class. And there were an awful lot of big mouths in that class.

"Mrs. Jewls," Jason called without raising his hand. "Joy is chewing gum in class!"

Joy had the biggest mouth in Mrs. Jewls's class. And it was filled with gum. There was hardly even room for her tongue.

"Joy, I'm ashamed of you," said Mrs. Jewls. "I'm afraid I'll have to put your name up on the board."

"That's okay, Mrs. Jewls," Jason called. "I'll do it."
48Jason hopped¹ out of his seat and wrote Joy's name on the blackboard under the word DISCIPLINE.
While he was up, Joy took the glob of gum out of her mouth and placed it on Jason's chair.

Rondi and Allison giggled².

Jason walked back from the blackboard to his desk and sat down. "Mrs. Jewls," he called, "I'm STUCK!"

Rondi and Allison giggled again.

Mrs. Jewls got angry. "Joy, you're going home on the kindergarten bus today."

"Oh, good," said Todd. "I'll have some company." Todd went home on the kindergarten bus every day. He could never seem to make it to twelve o'clock without getting into trouble three times. His name wasn't even up on the blackboard yet. But he knew that by twelve o'clock it would be up, checked, and circled.

"Mrs. Jewls, what am I going to do? I'm stuck! I'm going to have to stay here the rest of my life!" said Jason.

"Joy, tell Jason you're sorry," said Mrs. Jewls.

"I'm sorry, Jason," said Joy.

"Oh, that's okay, Joy," said Jason. "I don't mind."

"Try to get up, Jason," said Mrs. Jewls.

Jason tried. "I can't, Mrs. Jewls. I'm stuck."

Mrs. Jewls asked the three Erics to help. Eric Fry and Eric Ovens pulled Jason. Eric Bacon held the chair.

"Stop," cried Jason. "You'll rip³ my pants."

Rondi and Allison giggled.

"All right," said Mrs. Jewls. "Let's try ice water. That should freeze the gum and make it less sticky. I'll go get some from Miss Mush."

Miss Mush was the lunch teacher at Wayside School. She had the remarkable⁴ ability to undercook a dish andovercook it at the same time.
49Her specialty⁵ was a nice, hot bowl of mud. She called it porridge.
Jason looked at Rondi and Allison. "No, Mrs. Jewls," he said. "Don't leave me. Besides, Miss Mush's ice water is probably warm."

"Don't be silly, Jason," said Mrs. Jewls. "I'm sure it will be at least as cold as her soups."

Rondi and Allison leered at Jason.

"No, Mrs. Jewls, don't go!" begged Jason.

"I'll be right back, Jason," said Mrs. Jewls. She went to Miss Mush for some ice water.

As soon as Mrs. Jewls stepped out the door, Rondi and Allison jumped up from their seats and started to tickle⁶ Jason. He laughed until his hair turned purple. The girls got back to their seats just as Mrs. Jewls returned.

Mrs. Jewls carried a big bucket of ice cold water.

"Oh, no, please don't, no!" Jason pleaded⁷.

"We have no choice," said Mrs. Jewls. She threw the water all over him.

"Well," said Mrs. Jewls, "try to get up."

Jason was drenched⁸. "I'm wet and I'm cold and I'm still stuck!"

"Oh, well, it didn't work," said Mrs. Jewls. "At least we tried. Now I guess we'll have to cut your pants off."

Rondi and Allison giggled.

"No, Mrs. Jewls, no!" Jason screamed. "I don't mind being stuck here. I'm really very comfortable."

"Don't be silly, Jason," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Don't cut off my pants," said Jason.

"The three Erics can carry you to the bathroom,"said Mrs. Jewls.
50"I'll ask Louis to call your mother. She can bring you a new pair of pants."
The three Erics took hold of Jason's chair and turned him upside down.

"No, Mrs. Jewls," said Jason. "Now I'll always have a place to sit down. I won't have to worry about finding a seat on the bus."

The three Erics began to take him away.

"Wait," said Joy. "Mrs. Jewls, if I can get Jason unstuck, do I still have to go home on the kindergarten bus?"

"All right," said Mrs. Jewls. "If you can somehow get Jason free, you don't have to go home early."

"Don't trust her, Mrs. Jewls," said Jason. He was still hanging upside down.

"I'll just kiss him," said Joy.

"No!" Jason screamed. "Don't let her kiss me, Mrs. Jewls. Throw water on me. Tickle me. Cut off my pants. Hang me upside down from the ceiling. But don't let her kiss me!"

"I'll just kiss him on the nose," said Joy.

"We've got nothing to lose, Jason," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Oooooh, who would want to kiss Jason!" said Allison.

Jason hung helplessly upside down.

Joy stepped up and kissed him on the nose.

Jason fell out of the chair and hit his head on the floor.

Rondi and Allison giggled.

"Darn," said Todd. "Now I'll have to go home alone again."

Joy erased⁹ her name from the blackboard.

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rip   

n.拉裂，破绽，激流，浪荡子；vt.撕裂，激昂地说，贬损；vi.裂开，仓促地冲过...

参考例句：

• He had seen the rip in the book.他看到了书里的裂缝。
• I tried not to rip the paper as I unwrapped it.我把纸打开的时候，尽量不把它撕破。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

6 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

7 pleaded   

恳求，请求( plead的过去式和过去分词 )； 提出…为借口[理由]； （向法庭）陈述案情； （在法庭）申辩，认罪，辩护

参考例句：

• She pleaded with him not to go. 她恳求他不要离开。
• She wept and pleaded until he agreed to do as she wished. 她哭着恳求他，一直到他答应按她的愿望去做。

8 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》