13. A Giggle Box, a Leaky Faucet, and a Foghorn 咯咯机、漏水龙头以及大喇叭

Every day after lunch Mrs. Jewls read a story to the class.

Dana hated stories.

The last book Mrs. Jewls had read was a story about a pig and spider. The pig was real cute and the spider was very wise.

Dana thought it was a horrible book. It made her laugh too much. Everyone else laughed too, but the problem was that Dana always kept laughing long after everyone else in the class had stopped. It was very embarrassing. And sometimes she broke out laughing at a part that wasn't even funny because she remembered something funny that had happened earlier.

John called her a giggle¹ box.

That only made her laugh harder.

Once she broke up laughing in the middle of an arithmetic test because she remembered something funny the pig had said.

"There goes the giggle box," said John.

She hated John.

But that wasn't the worst part of the book. In the end, the spider died.

Dana couldn't stop crying. And she thought it was so silly, too, because in real life she didn't even like spiders! She squashed them all the time.

John called her a leaky faucet². "Somebody better call a plumber³ to fix the leaky faucet," he said.

She laughed through her tears. She hated John.

Once in music, they had learned a song about a dragon. When the song begins the dragon is very brave, but then he loses his only friend, so he isn't brave anymore. He just goes back to his cave, where he is sad and lonely for the rest of his life.

The song always made Dana cry. Every recess⁴ John

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and Joe would chase after her, singing it. She'd run across the playground with her hands over her ears and tears streaming down her face.

The bell rang. Lunch was over. Dana nervously⁵ walked up the stairs to Mrs. Jewls's room. Mrs. Jewls would start a new book today. She hoped it wouldn't be funny or sad. She hoped Mrs. Jewls would read a boring story with no jokes.

When she got to class, John and Joe were standing⁶ by her desk waiting for her.

"Happy birthday, Dana," said John. He was holding a present. It was wrapped in green paper and had a pink bow.

"But it's not my birthday," said Dana.

"Well, that's okay," said John. "You can have it anyway. Since I'm always teasing you." He and Joe snickered.

Dana eagerly tore off the wrapping paper. Maybe John wasn't so bad after all, she thought.

It was a box of tissues.

John and Joe laughed hysterically⁷.

"That's not funny!" said Dana. She raised her fist and started to chase after them.

Mrs. Jewls rang her cowbell, and all the children settled quietly in their seats.

"We are ready to begin a new story," said Mrs. Jewls. She held up the book. "It's called 'Stinky.' "

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Dana laughed at the title, then quickly covered her mouth.

"It's about a cute and playful skunk," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Oh, no!" gasped⁸ Dana. She knew animal stories always made her cry. The animal's mother would get shot by human hunters. Or else humans would build a shopping center and destroy the animal's home.

She hated humans. But she knew that was silly, because she was a human, and so were all her friends. The only human she really hated was John, and she didn't think he was even human!

Mrs. Jewls read:

"It was such a beautiful day, Stinky and his mother went for a walk across the forest. 'Hi, Stinky,' said Charlie the chipmunk⁹. 'Hi, Charlie,' said Stinky. 'Come along, Stinky,' called his mother. Stinky hurried after her. They came to a road. Suddenly Stinky heard a noise he had never heard before. It was very loud, like thunder. A car, driven by humans, was speeding toward him! 'Look out!' shouted his mother. Stinky stopped in the middle of the road and stared at the onrushing car. He had never seen a car before. His mother pushed him out of the way just in time. He was safe, but unfortunately, the car ran over his mother. 'Mama, Mama,' he sobbed¹⁰ over and

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over again, but his mother didn't answer. She was dead."

Dana cried.

"Uh-oh, there goes the leaky faucet," said John. He and Joe laughed.

Dana sniffled and wiped her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop. She just kept thinking about poor Stinky. What would he do without his mother? she wondered. Maybe he could go live with Charlie the chipmunk, she hoped.

She pulled a tissue out of the box John had given her and loudly blew her nose.

"There goes the foghorn," said John.

Dana laughed into her tissue. She blew her nose again, even louder.

"It must be a very foggy day," said John.

The next day after lunch Dana hurried up the thirty flights of stairs before the bell rang, so she could talk to Mrs. Jewls before class started.

"Yes, Dana?" said Mrs. Jewls.

"Can I leave the room when you read today?" asked Dana.

"Why?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

"Because I hate stories," said Dana. "They make me laugh and cry too much."

"You don't hate stories, Dana," Mrs. Jewls told her. "You love stories. I wish everybody laughed and cried as much as you."

"Really?" asked Dana. She couldn't believe it. All

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this time she thought she hated stories when really she loved them. She was glad she really loved stories.

Suddenly she made a face. "Oh, yuck!" she said.

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

"What if I really love John, too?"

1 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

2 faucet   

n.水龙头

参考例句：

• The faucet has developed a drip.那个水龙头已经开始滴水了。
• She turned off the faucet and dried her hands.她关掉水龙头，把手擦干。

3 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

4 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

5 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 hysterically   

ad. 歇斯底里地

参考例句：

• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
• She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着，她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。

8 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

10 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。