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阅读难度：★☆☆☆☆ 好忘事儿的小红帽 By Rosalie Maggio Illustrated by Wayne Alfano Narrated by Lilly Yu 本文刊载于《英语沙龙》（原版阅读）2017年11期 就在前不久，我们一家人搬到了这个小镇。在这里，我谁也不认识，偏偏赶上学校组织万圣夜晚会。我真不想去，一没伙伴，二没服装——我们的衣服还没全部拆完箱。可是，妈妈催着我，硬把我推上车。我穿着我哥哥的大灰狼外套，又热又难看，就这样进了学校万圣夜现场。体育馆里挤满了小丑、机器人、海盗、幽灵、牛仔还有公主。我正琢磨着怎么逃离，一个挎着提篮的小红帽揪住了我的胳膊，我们这一组合说不定能得个最佳服装配对奖呢！她去拿果汁前，叮嘱我，如果我们分开了，晚会结束时就在边门那碰头。不过，小红帽似乎有点健忘，每次她离去回来时好像都不记得之前我们的约定。嗨，反正我也没有朋友，不能太挑剔别人的缺点，毕竟人无完人嘛！不过等晚会结束后，我走到约定的边门，却着实大吃一惊…… “No! No! I won’t go! I don’t want to go! I’m not going!” I was still arguing when Mom hustled me out the door and into the car. I think I left skid marks on the kitchen floor. We had moved to town a few days before, and I didn’t know anyone, not one person, at my new school. So why would I want to go to the all-school Halloween party that afternoon? I wouldn’t. Also, we couldn’t find my costume in the boxes that we were still unpacking, so I had to wear my brother’s Big Bad Wolf costume, which is hot, scratchy, and really ugly. So there I was, riding along in a miserable old wolf costume. We arrived at the school, and the gym was jam-packed with clowns and robots and pirates and ghosts and cow¬boys and princesses. As I was standing there thinking about how I could escape, a Little Red Riding Hood with a basket of goodies for Grandma came running up to me and grabbed my hand. “Come on!” she said. “They’re giving a prize for the best costume pair. You and I are perfect!” She was right. Little Red Riding Hood and I, the Big Bad Wolf, won first prize. Afterward, we drank orange juice while we talked about all the other kids’ costumes. “If we get separated,” she said, “let’s meet by the side door after this is over. Maybe you can come to my house.” “OK,” I said. I wished I could see behind her mask, but she seemed really nice. And hey, I had no friends. I wasn’t going to be choosy. She ran off to get more juice. A few seconds later, I saw her again, but she was coming from the other end of the gym. I wondered how she got over there so fast. “Come here!” she said. “I need a partner for the fishing pond.” She pulled my arm. “What did you do with your basket?” I asked. “Basket?” she said. “What basket?” Hmmm. My new friend didn’t have a very good memory. But, as I said, I wasn’t about to be choosy. At the fishing pond, we were such good partners that they finally sent us away before we won all their prizes. Red and I didn’t argue about which prizes we each wanted. I considered that a good sign for our friendship. She had to go find her sister, so I said, “Don’t forget! Meet me at the side door after this is over!” “Huh?” she replied. After a pause, she said, “Side door? OK. I’ll be there.” I shook my head. Red sure was forgetful. But hey, no friend is perfect, right? A few minutes later, she found me again. “They’re having the Pets on Parade contest, and you can be my pet, OK? I’ll be the only one there with a wolf.” As she dragged me across the floor, Red looked at my armful of prizes and said, “Wow! Where did you get all that stuff?” But she was my friend now, so I just overlooked her bad memory. And she was right about the Pets on Parade contest. We won. I was the only wolf, and I put on a good show, growling and snarling at people. Red ran off to show her bookstore gift certificate to her teacher. I knew what a bad memory she had, so I yelled after her, “Don’t forget! Meet me at the side door afterward.” She looked puzzled, but she called back, “OK! See you!” When the school bell rang to signal the end of the Halloween party, I headed for the side door. I crossed my fingers, hoping that my new friend, Little Red Riding Hood, would be there. She was there. She was there. She was there. By that, I mean that there were three of them! Three Little Red Riding Hoods. If I hadn’t been wearing my wolf mask, I would have looked pretty silly, with my eyes bug¬ging out and my jaw dropping open. Three of them? I pulled off my mask, and they pulled off theirs. We all studied one another, then started laughing. And that’s the story of how I met my three best friends. hustle ['hʌsl] vt. 催促 skid [skɪd] n. 打滑；[车辆] 刹车；滑轨 Halloween [ˌhæləʊ'iːn] n. 万圣夜，（英语Halloween，为“All Hallows’ Eve”的缩写，意为“万圣节的前夜”），在每年的10月31日。西方传统文化上认为万圣夜是鬼怪世界最接近人间的时间。万圣节又叫诸圣节（All Saints’ Day），是西方的传统节日，在每年的11月1日 scratchy ['skrætʃɪ] a. 刺痒的 jam-packed [dʒæm 'pækt] a. 塞紧的；拥挤不堪的 goody ['gʊdɪ] n.〈口〉好吃的东西，糖果 choosy ['tʃuːzɪ] a. 好挑剔的，挑三捡四的 snarl [snɑːl] vt.&vi. 咆哮着（说），厉声地说（~ at） certificate [səˈtɪfɪkɪt] n. 证书 bug out（眼球）暴突 （图文授权 Highlights） 《英语沙龙》（原版阅读） 半年合订本定价：65.00元/本； 全年合订本定价：135.00元/本 《英语沙龙》（少儿） 半年合订本定价：65.00元/本； 全年合订本定价：135.00元/本 |
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