"Saturday is Ground Dog Day， and so we're going to have a contest，" my third grade teacher said. "There'll be a prize on Monday for anyone who can tell me if the ground dog saw his shadow." At least that's what I think she said. I was too busy dreaming of landing a spaceship on some planet to know for sure.

"Yes？" The teacher nodded at Celia， my red-haired， smarty-pants1）， next-door neighbor.

Celia twirled her pigtails between her fingers and said， "What if we bring in a picture of him？"

The teacher smiled. "Then you get the prize and five points extra credit."

Extra credit. I didn't care about that. But， winning a prize？ I wiggled my ears and thought about it. I was certain to win. My dog， Weener， was so close to the ground that grass tickled2） his belly when he walked. He had to be a winning ground dog.

The bell rang and I tore out3） of class. My purple Reeboks flopped4）. Rounding the corner， I planned on all the things I'd do when I won. Like buy an airplane， so I could fly to school in the mornings instead of walking.

Then a terrible thought hit5） me. Our teacher hadn't told us what the prize was. "It better not be something lame6）—like a ribbon，" I said.

Reaching my house， I ran inside. "Mom， where's the camera？" I called， huffing and puffing7）. "And where's ..."

"Bark！ Bark！" Something flew off the couch， slammed into my chest， knocked me to the floor， and licked my neck.

"Umph. Glad to see you， too， Weener." I stroked8） his brown ears， then got up and started searching. I looked in the pantry9）. The camera wasn't there. Next， I checked the closet. There it sat， on the shelf.

"Come on， Weener. Let's go see your shadow and get a picture，" I said to him， grabbing the camera. As we walked outside， his shadow glided along the ground next to him.

"Weener， look at the camera and smile，" I said. He flopped on his back and stuck his paws in the air， looking like he'd been shot. The sun went behind a cloud and his shadow disappeared.

"Come on，" I said. I picked him up and put him back on his feet just as the sun came back out. I pointed the camera at him again. "Smile and say 'Cheese10）'."

Weener spun in a circle， chasing his tail and barking. Then he fell to the ground in a dizzy， yapping heap11）.

He made me so cranky12）. Here I had a ground dog of my own and he wouldn't hold still for one little picture. I lifted him up and set him on the picnic table. "Now， don't move！"endprint

A voice behind me asked， "What are you doing， Kyle？" I turned to see Celia standing there， making weird Celia faces.

"What does it look like？ I'm getting a picture of a ground dog."

Celia flipped13） her pigtails around her fingers for a minute. Then she said， "That's a wiener dog14）."

"No fake. Shortest wiener dog in town. That's why I'll win the prize on Monday."

She scrunched15） up her nose in a know-it-all16） way. I said， "He's a great ground dog. You can't get any closer to the ground than Weener." By now， I was wishing Celia would fall into a volcano.

She started giggling， her red pigtails bobbing17） up and down.

"What's so funny？" I asked.

"It's not ground dog，" she said. "There's no such thing. It's ground hog. Groundhog Day18）."

I blinked twice. "Groundhog？ What's a groundhog？"

Celia rolled her brown eyes. "It's a large， fat rodent with short legs. And reddish fur." She thought for a second. Then she tightened the elastics19） on her pigtails. "It digs a hole to live in. Some people call it a woodchuck20）."

I crossed my eyes， pointed at my head and made circles with my finger. Celia never noticed. She said， "There's a famous groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. If he sees his shadow on February 2， there's supposed to be six more weeks of winter."

"Uh-huh. Right." I lifted Weener off the table. "Celia， don't you have homework to do？"

"No， but I'm going to go watch the Discovery Channel，" she said， walking away and twirling her hair.

I patted Weener on the head as we walked back into the house. "Who cares about that old prize， anyway？ And no such thing as Ground Dog Day？ Don't listen to Celia Smarty-Pants. Ha！ Next thing you know， she'll be telling us there's no such thing as April Fool's Day， either."

“周六是土撥犬日，所以我們將舉行一場(chǎng)比賽，”我三年級(jí)的老師說(shuō)，“誰(shuí)能在周一上課時(shí)告訴我土撥犬是否看到了自己的影子，誰(shuí)就能獲得一份獎(jiǎng)品?！敝辽傥艺J(rèn)為她是這么說(shuō)的。不過(guò)那會(huì)兒我正忙著想象把一艘宇宙飛船降落到某個(gè)星球上，所以也不太確定。

“什么事？”老師沖西莉亞點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。西莉亞是我的鄰居，一頭紅發(fā)，特別自以為是。

西莉亞用手指繞著自己的小辮兒，說(shuō)：“要是我們帶來(lái)它的照片呢？”

老師笑了?！澳悄銈儾粌H能得到獎(jiǎng)品，還能另加五個(gè)學(xué)分?！?/p>

加學(xué)分。我才不在乎這個(gè)。不過(guò)，贏得獎(jiǎng)品？我動(dòng)了動(dòng)耳朵，想了想。我肯定能贏。我的狗狗韋納就與地面貼得特別近，它走路的時(shí)候都會(huì)被小草蹭得肚皮癢癢。它一定會(huì)是只穩(wěn)操勝算的土撥犬。

下課鈴一響，我就沖出了教室。我的紫色銳步運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋“咚咚”作響。經(jīng)過(guò)拐角處時(shí)，我開始計(jì)劃我贏了之后要做的所有事情。比如買一架飛機(jī)啦，這樣我就可以在早上飛去學(xué)校，而不用走路了。

然后，我突然想到一件糟糕的事兒。我們老師還沒(méi)有告訴我們獎(jiǎng)品是什么?！蔼?jiǎng)品最好別太遜——像是絲帶什么的。”我說(shuō)。

到家了，我跑進(jìn)屋里?！皨寢?，相機(jī)在哪里？”我喘著粗氣大喊，“相機(jī)在哪……”

“汪！汪！”有什么東西從沙發(fā)上沖下來(lái)，一下撞進(jìn)我懷里，把我撞倒在地，還舔了舔我的脖子。

“噢，我也很高興見到你，韋納。”我摸摸它棕色的耳朵，然后站起身來(lái)開始找相機(jī)。我看了看食品儲(chǔ)藏室，相機(jī)不在那里。接著，我又檢查了壁櫥，相機(jī)就待在那里的架子上。endprint

“過(guò)來(lái)，韋納，我們出去看看你的影子，然后拍張照片?！蔽乙贿厡?duì)它說(shuō)，一邊抓過(guò)相機(jī)。我們向屋外走時(shí)，韋納的影子就緊挨著它沿著地面移動(dòng)。

“韋納，看鏡頭，笑一笑?！蔽艺f(shuō)。可它卻猛地四腳朝天躺在地上，看上去就像中槍了似的。這時(shí)太陽(yáng)跑到了一朵云后面，韋納的影子不見了。

“拜托?！蔽艺f(shuō)。我把它抱起來(lái)，讓它站好，太陽(yáng)這時(shí)剛好又出來(lái)了。我再一次把鏡頭對(duì)準(zhǔn)它。“笑一笑，說(shuō)‘茄子?！?/p>

韋納開始轉(zhuǎn)圈，追著自己的尾巴汪汪叫。之后，它倒在地上，暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向地嗚嗚亂叫。

它可真令我氣急敗壞。明明我自己就有一只土撥犬，可它就是不愿意乖乖站好讓我拍一張小小的照片。我把它拎起來(lái)放在野餐桌上。“現(xiàn)在別動(dòng)！”

我身后傳來(lái)一個(gè)聲音問(wèn)：“凱爾，你在干嘛？”我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)，看到西莉亞站在那里，做著怪異的西莉亞式鬼臉。

“這個(gè)看起來(lái)怎么樣？我在拍土撥犬的照片呢。”

西莉亞用手指繞了一會(huì)兒自己的小辮兒，然后說(shuō)：“那是一只臘腸犬?！?/p>

“沒(méi)錯(cuò)，是鎮(zhèn)上最矮的臘腸犬，所以周一我一定會(huì)贏得獎(jiǎng)品?！?/p>

她皺了皺鼻子，一副自以為無(wú)所不知的德性。我說(shuō)：“它是一只很棒的土撥犬。你不可能找到比韋納走路更接近地面的狗?！钡竭@會(huì)兒，我都希望西莉亞會(huì)掉進(jìn)火山里。

她咯咯地笑起來(lái)，紅色的小辮兒上上下下地晃來(lái)晃去。

“有什么好笑的？”我問(wèn)。

“不是土撥犬，”她說(shuō)，“這樣的東西不存在。是土撥鼠。土撥鼠日?！?/p>

我眨巴了兩下眼睛?！巴翐苁?？什么是土撥鼠？”

西莉亞翻了翻她那棕色的眼珠。“土撥鼠是一種又大又肥的嚙齒目動(dòng)物，四肢短小，皮毛是淡紅色的。”她想了一會(huì)兒，然后緊了緊辮子上的皮筋兒。“它自己挖洞住。有些人叫它美洲旱獺?！?/p>

我做了一個(gè)對(duì)眼兒，用手指著我的頭畫圈圈。西莉亞一直沒(méi)注意到。她說(shuō)：“有一只著名的土撥鼠，名叫蓬格斯蘇塔維尼·菲爾。如果它在2月2日那天看到自己的影子，就說(shuō)明冬天還會(huì)持續(xù)六個(gè)星期。”

“啊哈，對(duì)?！蔽野秧f納從桌上抱了下來(lái)，“西莉亞，難道你沒(méi)有作業(yè)要做嗎？”

“沒(méi)有，但是我要去看探索頻道了?！彼f(shuō)完，用手指繞著頭發(fā)離開了。

我與韋納回屋時(shí)，我拍了拍它的頭?！罢f(shuō)到底，誰(shuí)在乎那破獎(jiǎng)品??？沒(méi)有土撥犬日這回事？別聽自以為是的西莉亞瞎說(shuō)。哈！你看吧，接下來(lái)她又會(huì)告訴我們根本沒(méi)有愚人節(jié)這回事了?！?/p>

1. smarty-pants： [用作單] <美俚>自作聰明的人，自以為是的人，自以為百事通的人

2. tickle [?t?kl] vt. 輕觸使覺(jué)得癢

3. tear out： 飛跑而出，沖出

4. flop [fl?p] vi. 發(fā)出撲通聲；猛然坐下（或躺下，跪下）

5. hit [h?t] vt. <口>被……想起

6. lame [le?m] adj. 差勁的，蹩腳的

7. huff and puff： （因勞累而）呼吸重濁；顯出吃力的樣子

8. stroke [str??k] vt. （溫柔地）撫摸

9. pantry [?p?ntri] n. 食品（儲(chǔ)藏）室

10. say cheese： 笑一笑，攝影師拍照時(shí)為讓人們擺出笑臉?biāo)f(shuō)的話，此處cheese相當(dāng)于中文中的“茄子”。

11. fall in a heap： 控制不住地哭叫

12. cranky [?kr??ki] adj. <美口>暴躁的，脾氣壞的

13. flip [fl?p] vt. 使急速轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)

14. wiener dog： 臘腸犬，是一種身長(zhǎng)腿短的獵犬，可被馴養(yǎng)來(lái)追蹤、捕殺獾類及其他穴居動(dòng)物。

15. scrunch [skr?nt?] vt. 縮緊；揉皺

16. know-it-all： 自以為無(wú)所不知的

17. bob [b?b] vi. 上下快速擺動(dòng)

18. Groundhog Day： 土撥鼠日，是北美地區(qū)的一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日，其日期為每年2月2日。按照傳統(tǒng)的說(shuō)法，在這一天，冬眠的土撥鼠會(huì)從洞里出來(lái)預(yù)測(cè)春天是否到來(lái)。如果這一天陽(yáng)光燦爛，土撥鼠能看到自己的影子，那么冬天還將延續(xù)六個(gè)星期。如果這一天天氣不好，土撥鼠看不到自己的影子，就說(shuō)明春天快要到了。

19. elastic [??l?st?k] n. 橡皮帶

20. woodchuck [?w?dt??k] n. 【動(dòng)】美洲旱獺endprint