ARTHUR'S HICCUPS

“Don’t eat your cake so fast,” said Arthur’s mother. “You’ll get the—”“Hic,” said Arthur. “Hic, hic.”

D.W. giggled.

“Arthur’s got the hic!cups! Arthur’s got the hiccups!” she laughed.

“It’s not—hic—funny,” said Arthur.

“別吃這么快！”媽媽對亞瑟說，“當心—”“嗝兒，”亞瑟打起嗝兒來，“嗝兒，嗝兒。”朵拉咯咯地笑出聲來。

“哥哥打嗝兒啦！哥哥打嗝兒啦！”朵拉大聲笑著說。

“有什么—嗝兒—好笑的？”亞瑟嘟囔。

“Drink a glass of water,” said his mother.So he did. But still he had the hiccups.

“喝杯水吧。”媽媽說。

亞瑟喝了一點水，可他還是打嗝兒。

“Hold your breath and count to twenty,”said his father.

So he did. But still he had the hiccups.

“憋住氣，數二十下。”爸爸說。

亞瑟試了一下，可他還是打嗝兒。

“I know how to get rid of your hiccups,”said D.W.

“I don’t—hic—need your help,”said Arthur.“My friend the Brain will—hic—know.”

Arthur ran to the telephone and called the Brain.

“我知道怎么樣能讓你不再打嗝兒。”朵拉說。

“我不需要—嗝兒—你幫忙，”亞瑟回應，

“小靈通一定—嗝兒—知道該怎么辦。”亞瑟跑到電話機旁撥通了小靈通的電話。

“Hiccups can be serious,” the Brain told Arthur.

“I read in my Book of Records about an old man who had hiccups for three years.”

“打嗝兒可能會持續很長時間，”小靈通對亞瑟說，“我在《世界紀錄大全》那本書里看到一個老爺爺，他整整打了三年嗝兒。”

“Three years!” said Arthur. “Wow, what happened to him?”

“He died,” said the Brain.

“三年！”亞瑟驚訝地說，“那他后來怎么樣了？”“他死啦。”小靈通回答。

Key points: giggle 咯咯笑 hiccup打嗝

breath氣息 count 數 get rid of 除掉；擺脫serious 嚴重的 die 死亡

“But don’t worry,” said the Brain.

“You can get rid of them by standing on your head for fi ve minutes.”

“不過你不要擔心，”小靈通又說，

“只要你能頭朝下倒立五分鐘，就可以不

再打嗝兒了。”

So Arthur stood on his head. But every time

he hiccuped, he fell over.

“This is more fun than television!” laughed D.W.“Maybe Buster can help,” said Arthur.

亞瑟馬上開始倒立，可是他每次一打嗝兒，就會不小心摔下來。

“這比看電視好玩兒多了！”朵拉捧腹大笑。“說不定巴斯特能幫我。”亞瑟說。

Buster came right away to Arthur’s house.He brought his Big Joke Book. “A good laugh can cure anything, ” said Buster.

“Here’s a funny one: ‘What’s smaller

than an elephant, more annoying than a

mosquito, and never goes away? ’ ”

“I—hic—don’t know,” said Arthur.

“'Your sister!'” said Buster.

這時候巴斯特正好來找亞瑟。

他帶來一本《笑話大全》，邊翻邊說：“笑一笑，百病消。嗯，這兒正好有個好笑的：‘什么比大象小，比蚊子煩人，總是甩不開？’”

“我—嗝兒—不知道。”亞瑟回答。

“你妹妹！”巴斯特說。

Key points: minute分鐘 television電視joke笑話 cure 治愈 annoying惱人的mosquito 蚊子