Never put rocks in your mouth （2）

雨轩

（Contnued）“Okay，” I said， thinking， “How could this four-year-old smart aleck possibly know what all of the adults who I had asked hadnt already come up with？”“Tell me the answer，”I said smugly. Andrea cleared her throat and stood up.

“好吧。”我說。我心想：怎么会这样自作聪明，我问过的所有大人都没有什么结果，四岁的小孩怎么可能知道？“告诉我答案。”我沾沾自喜地说。安德利娅清了清嗓子，站了起来。

“Doing the right thing means： being nice to your family and friends； doing what your mommy says； never lie； eat lots of fruits and vegetables； dont eat dog food； take a bath when youre dirty and wash your own private parts； dont watch icky movies with kissing and stuff； dont waste water and electricity； dont scare the cat； dont ever run away； and never， never put rocks in your mouth.”

“做正确的事是指：对家人和朋友要好，听妈妈的话，不撒谎，多吃水果和蔬菜，不吃狗粮，脏了要洗澡，自己擦身子，不看有亲吻或类似镜头的恶心的电影，不浪费水和电，不吓唬小猫，不逃跑。还有，永远，永远都不要把石头放到嘴里。”

I stared with astonishment at my little cousin. Then I jumped up， grabbed Andrea and gave her the biggest hug I could. Not only had Andrea answered a very tough question for me， I could also easily live by all of her rules. All I had to do was be nice， not lie， keep myself clean and healthy， not scare cats， and never， never put rocks in my mouth. Piece of cake. So when I wrote my essay， I included the story about Andrea and how she had answered my question.

我惊愕地盯着我的小表妹，开心地跳了起来，给了她一个大大的拥抱。安德利娅不仅告诉了我答案，还让我能轻松地照着去做。按照她的说法，我要做的就是做个乖孩子，不撒谎，让自己保持干净、健康，不吓唬猫，当然，还有不把石头放到嘴里！小菜一碟！于是我飞快地写完了作文，把安德利娅回答我问题的事情也写了进去。

Two weeks later， my teacher returned everyones essays. I received an “A+”/along with a little note my teacher had written at the top ： “Always do the right thing—and give Andrea an A+， too！”

两个星期后，老师发回了大家的作文，我得了一个大大的A+，作文开头还有老师给的一行批语：“永远做正确的事——也给安德利娅一个A+！”

（Dear， have you guessed the right answer？）