15. She's Back! 格芙老师回来了！

Deedee ran across the playground screaming.

At first Louis thought she was just having fun, but then he realized something was wrong. He hurried after her and grabbed her arm.

"Deedee, are you all right?" he asked.

She stared at him wide-eyed as she continued to scream.

Several other kids gathered around. "What's wrong with Deedee?" asked Myron.

"I don't know," said Louis.

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Deedee hiccupped three times, then gasped¹, "I saw her!"

"Who?" asked Louis.

Deedee didn't answer-she just stared right through him.

But everyone else knew whom Deedee had seen. Most of them had seen her too, during the last two weeks.

"Where was she?" asked Todd.

"On the monkey bars," said Deedee, still trembling and breathing hard. "I was hanging upside down, and suddenly she was hanging upside down right next to me!"

"Did she wiggle her ears?" asked Jenny.

"Only one," said Deedee. "I jumped off and ran away before she could wiggle the other one."

"That's good," said Rondi.

"Who is she?" asked Louis. "A hippopotamus²?"

"No!" said Myron with a laugh. "Why do you say that?"

"Because when a hippopotamus gets mad, it wiggles its ears."

"She's worse than a hippopotamus," said Allison.

"I saw her last week, at the water fountain," said Todd. "I bent³ down to get a drink, and then there she was, drinking at the faucet⁴ next to me."

"I saw her on the stairs," said Rondi. "I was going up the stairs, and she went right past me, sliding down on the banister."

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"Who?" asked Louis.

"Mrs. Gorf!" said Deedee. Just saying the name sent a shiver of fear through her body.

"Oh, your old teacher," said Louis with a shrug⁵. "Is she back? I always wondered what happened to her."

The children looked at each other. Mrs. Gorf was the teacher they had had before Mrs. Jewls took over. They had never told anyone how they had gotten rid of her. They especially couldn't tell Louis.

She was the meanest teacher in the history of Wayside School. Of course there are other teachers at other schools who are meaner.

Louis looked toward the monkey bars. "I don't see her," he said.

"Well, she was there," Deedee insisted. "I saw her!"

"You just imagined you saw her, Deedee," said Louis. "If you hate somebody, or if you love somebody, you often think you see that person when she isn't there. It's very common. It's just like Mrs. Drazil."

"Who's Mrs. Drazil?" asked Todd.

"She was the worst teacher I ever had," said Louis. He shivered just thinking about her. "She was my teacher when I was your age. I sometimes think I see her, too. And I still have nightmares about her."

"Was she mean?" asked Rondi.

"She was horribler said Louis. "Every morning she used to check our fingernails. If they were dirty, she'd

tell the whole class. 'Louis has dirty fingernails this morning,' she'd say in a really nasty voice. And if you talked in class, she would pick up the wastepaper basket and put it over your head. You had to leave it on your head until the bell rang."

"Did she ever put it over your head?" asked Todd.

"Lots of times," said Louis.

Everybody laughed.

"It wasn't funny," said Louis. "My mother always knew when I got in trouble, because I'd have bits of trash stuck in my hair."

"Did it get stuck in your mustache, too?" asked Rondi.

"Louis didn't have a mustache when he was our age!" said Allison. "Did you, Louis?" she asked.

Suddenly, Louis screamed.

Everyone stared at him.

"She's back!" he shouted, as he shook with fear. Then he slapped himself in the face. "Excuse me," he said. "Sorry. For a second I thought I saw Mrs. Drazil."

He turned to Deedee. "C'mon, let's go to the monkey bars."

"No!" declared Deedee. "I'm not going back. I'm never getting on the monkey bars again!"

Louis took hold of her hand. "Mrs. Gorf isn't there," he said. "You just imagined her."

They headed to the monkey bars. No one else dared to follow.

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"If she starts to wiggle her ears, run away as fast as you can," warned Deedee. She held tightly on to Louis's hand.

When they reached the monkey bars, no one was there. "Where were you when you saw her?" Louis asked.

"I was hanging upside down over there," said Deedee, pointing.

"Okay, go hang upside down," said Louis.

"No!" exclaimed Deedee.

"Don't worry, I'll be right here in case anything happens."

It had rained during the night, so the sand under the monkey bars was wet and somewhat hard.

Deedee walked across the sand and pulled herself up on the bar. She hooked her legs over, then hung from her knees.

"Well, do you see her?" Louis asked.

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Deedee pulled herself right side up, then hopped⁶ down from the monkey bars. She and Louis walked away hand in hand. She held Louis's hand not because she was scared, but because she liked him.

"Mrs. Drazil sounds almost as bad as Mrs. Gorf," said Deedee.

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"She was," said Louis. "She once made me put gum on my nose, because I was chewing it in class."

"How can you chew your nose?" asked Deedee.

Behind them, Deedee's footprints could be seen in the wet sand under the monkey bars. There was also another set of footprints, made by a person who had much bigger feet.

1 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》

2 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 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。

5 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

6 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。