(单词翻译:单击)
I could always tell when we were doing school,
每次要去在学校的时候，我都能感觉到，
because Maya would take extra time getting dressed in the morning.
因为玛雅早上打扮自己回多花点时间。
The days we didn’t do school, she dressed hurriedly and sometimes ran out the door, with Al chuckling.
不是去学校的时候，玛雅都会匆忙地穿上衣服，有时甚至夺门而出，艾尔则会咯咯地笑。
Then Al would leave, too, and I’d be stuck at home with the stupid cats.
然后艾尔也会离开，我就会被迫待在家里，和那些愚蠢的猫在一起。
Though I no longer wore nose cream, Tinkerbell persisted in hanging near me and cuddling up against me when I’d take a nap.
虽然我不用再给鼻子涂膏药了，但小叮当还是会粘着我，在我打盹的时候依偎着我。
I was glad that Al wasn’t there to see it.
我很高兴艾尔没看到。
Al had a lot of affection for me, but for the cats, not so much.
艾尔对我很有感情，但对猫就没那么多感情了。
Tinkerbell hid from Al, while Stella only approached him when Al had food,
小叮当会躲着艾尔，而斯特拉只有在艾尔有吃的时候才会靠近他，
and Emmet would occasionally strut over to Al and loftily rub against him as if putting cat fur on his pants was doing him some kind of favor.
埃米特偶尔会昂首阔步地走到艾尔身边，高傲地在他身上蹭来蹭去，仿佛把猫毛蹭在他的裤子上是嘉奖。
We’d been doing school for several years when Maya broke the pattern.
我们几年的时间里都会去学校，但玛雅突然改变了这个规律。
We were in a place called class, which was smaller than some of the rooms in which I’d been and which was filled with children who all seemed about the same age.
我们在一个叫教室的地方，这个地方比我去过的一些房间要小，里面坐满了年龄相仿的孩子。
These particular children were very little and sat on the floor on blankets.
这些特别的孩子很小，坐在地板上的毯子上。
I was a little envious— most of my time at home was spent napping and I didn’t seem to have the energy that I’d once had,
我有点嫉妒——我在家的大部分时间都在打盹，我似乎没有了以前的精力，
so I decided that if the children wanted me to lie on a blanket with them, I’d be willing to do so.
所以我决定了，如果孩子们想让我和他们一起躺在毯子上，我愿意一起。
Maya called forward one of the children, who approached shyly.
玛雅把一个孩子叫到前面，孩子害羞地走了过来。
Her name was Alyssa, and she gave me a hug.
她的名字叫阿丽莎，她给了我一个拥抱。
When I licked her face, the children laughed—
当我舔她的脸时，孩子们都笑了
but Maya and I had never done this before, had a single child come forward, and I wasn’t sure what it was about.
但玛雅和我从来没有做过这样的事，如果有小孩子站出来的话，我不太确定是要做什么。
The woman who sat at the big desk, the teacher, said, “Alyssa has never actually met Ellie before, but if it weren’t for Ellie, Alyssa would never have been born.”
坐在大桌子前的女老师说:“阿丽莎从来没有见过爱丽，但如果没有爱丽，她就不会出生。”
Soon all the children were touching me, which was much more typical of how school went.
很快，所有的孩子都开始抚摸我，感觉这才是学校里会出现的典型情况。
Sometimes the children were a little rough and at this school a boy pulled sharply on my ears, but I just let him do it.
有时孩子们有点粗野，在这所学校里，一个男孩很用力地拉我的耳朵，但我阻止他。
