Chapter 8

Outside the window

Snowflakes were falling. Inside the window

Mrs. Jewls was stalling¹.

"Are our parents all liars²?"

"Is it all just a trick

To make us be good For fear of St. Nick?"

"Tell us the truth;

Don't try to fake³ it. Is there a Santa?

Let us know; we can take it."

Mrs. Jewls cleared her throat, Then she cleared it again.

She put down her pencil. She picked up her pen.

"Hey, look!" shouted Leslie. "Look there! Who's that? Someone is coming in Through the goozack!"

Sure enough, the door opened.

It had to open quite wide! As a strange-looking stranger

Stepped sideways inside.

He wore a red suit

And had a white, fluffy⁴ beard. And even for Wayside

He looked pretty weird⁵!

His fat belly⁶ shook Like a bowl full of Jell-O.

There was no doubt about it. They knew that fellow!

It was Louis, the yard teacher.

"What are you doing in that stupid suit Louis?" asked Sharie. "Aren't you hot?"

"Why are you wearing a fake beard?" asked Todd.
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"Is that a pillow under your jacket?" asked Jason.

Kathy was delighted. "See!" she said. "That proves there's no Santa Claus! If there was, Louis wouldn't have to dress up like a fool and pretend to be him."

"I'm not Louis," said Louis. "I'm Santa Claus. Ho! Ho-"

"You're lying to us, Louis," said John. "Everyone is always lying to us. Kathy's right. Christmas is nothing but a dirty, stinking⁷ lie!"

"I was just trying to bring a little holiday cheer," said Louis.

"Go home, Jerome," said Terrence.

"Now, that's no way to talk to Louis," said Mrs. Jewls. "Louis is one of Santa's special helpers."

"Really, Louis?" asked Deedee.

Louis looked at Mrs. Jewls. "That's right," he said.

The children were all very impressed.

"Have you ever met him?" demanded Kathy.

"Well, no, not exactly," Louis admitted.

"See!" said Kathy. "It's just another lie."

"You don't have to meet Santa to be one of his special helpers," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Then how do you know what he wants you to do?" asked John.

"That's easy," said Mrs. Jewls. "You just have to be nice to other people. Whenever you give someone a present or sing a holiday song, you're helping⁸ Santa Claus. To me, that's what Christmas is all about. Helping Santa Claus!"

"Can I be one of his helpers?" asked Dameon.

"You bet," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Hey, everybody," shouted Dameon. "I'm one of Santa's helpers!"

"Me too," said Allison.

"There must be a Santa Claus!" cheered Stephen. "Because it feels so good to help him."

So the children all helped Santa,

In every way they could, By singing songs and giving gifts

And just by being good.

"But there is no Santa Claus!"

Kathy continued to yelp⁹.

"Well, if that's the case," said Mrs. Jewls.

"He must really need our help."

1 stalling   

失速，停转

参考例句：

• He asked them all kinds of pointless questions, stalling for time. 他向他们提了各种毫无意义的问题来拖延时间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thomas had spent all week stalling over his decision. 托马斯磨了整个星期，迟迟不想作出决定。 来自辞典例句

2 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

3 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

4 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

5 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

6 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

7 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 yelp   

vi.狗吠

参考例句：

• The dog gave a yelp of pain.狗疼得叫了一声。
• The puppy a yelp when John stepped on her tail.当约翰踩到小狗的尾巴，小狗发出尖叫。