内容概要

       塔玛拉有一个甩不掉的口头禅叫“明天吧”，因为无论该做什么事儿，她都会想着“ 明天”再做，而这“明天”又不知拖到了猴年马月。这天，她翻开日历，发现明天是哥哥乔西的生日，便决定准备一份生日礼物。尽管塔玛拉想用自己的黄袜子给哥哥做个小丑木偶，可是在自己这东西堆积如山的房间里，要找只袜子谈何容易？果不其然，为了找那只黄袜子，塔玛拉遇到了一个又一个麻烦，她终于明白，先打理房间才是当务之急。于是，塔玛拉用最快的速度整理出一个大大的空间，并赶在上钢琴课前把给乔西的生日礼物制作完成。当然了，礼物制作完毕之后的房间肯定又是乱作一团。而这一次，当妈妈无奈地问塔玛拉什么时候能收拾房间时，塔玛拉口中的“明天”却有了新的含义。

原文阅读

By Susan Bickel • Illustrated by Amy Wummer • Narrated by Lilly Yu

图文授权：Highlights

本文刊载于《英语沙龙》（原版阅读）2018上半年合订本

Tamara always said, “Tomorrow.” When it was time to clean her mouse’s cage or water her plants, Tamara would say, “Tomorrow.” When her mother said, “Clean your room,” “Comb your hair,” or “Eat your kidney beans,” Tamara said, “Tomorrow.”

Then one day, Tamara consulted her calendar and saw that her brother’s birthday was tomorrow. She dashed to her room and picked up her mouse, Whiskers.

“What can I make for Josh’s birthday?” she asked him.

Whiskers squeaked.

“He does like funny things,” Tamara agreed. “I’ll make a clown puppet. Then Josh can put on funny shows.”

Tamara put Whiskers in his cage. She looked around the room for her large yellow sock. It would be perfect, if only she could find it.

A mountain of laundry teetered on a chair. A hint of yellow peeked from the pile. Tamara yanked it. The mountain swayed and trembled, then tumbled to the floor, burying two puzzles and three shoes. Tamara was left holding a yellow T-shirt. “This won’t do, Whiskers. Whiskers?”

The cage was empty.

“Oh no! I’m in double trouble.”

Tamara searched the room for Whiskers. She moved books and toys and projects and games. “I have to clean this room,” Tamara said, “first thing tomorrow.”

She heard Whiskers squeak in agreement. The sound came from under the bed.

Tamara lay flat on her stomach. She pulled out seventeen books, eight puzzles, ninety-nine marbles, her rock collection, three paper butterflies, an assortment of craft sticks and pompoms, and a toy fox. Then she saw Whiskers. He was wearing the yellow sock.

“You found it. Oh, thank you.” Tamara reached under the bed. “Now, out you come.”

The mouse hopped into her palm. Tamara stroked his velvety head and returned him to his cage, making sure to lock it this time.

“Now, puppet-making supplies.” Tamara found her green marker under a chair, but she couldn’t find her red one. She searched everywhere for her orange yarn. What she did see was her African violet, all shriveled and dry on the windowsill.

“I’ll just water you really fast.” Tamara dashed to the bathroom and returned with a cup of water. She skidded on a paper-towel tube, caught herself, then tripped on a roller skate and fell, splashing water all over the yellow sock.

Tamara held the sock high.

A fat drop of water dripped from the toe. “Whiskers, what’ll I do?”

Whiskers wiggled his nose.

Tamara looked around. “I’d better clean today, before anything else goes wrong. I’ll clean while the sock dries, then I’ll make the puppet.”

She glanced at the clock. “And I’d better hurry. My piano lesson is at four.”

Tamara raced to the basement, put her sock in the dryer, and returned to her room with four big boxes. She set them in the corners of her room—one for art supplies, one for toys, one for papers and projects, and one for books. She opened her hamper for dirty laundry and put a shoebox on her bed for small game pieces.

“OK, Whiskers. I’m ready.”

Whiskers squeaked a starting signal, and Tamara tossed things into boxes as fast as she could. Whiskers watched her like a sports fan. To entertain him, Tamara tossed a marker under her leg and a yoyo behind her back. Before you could say “tomorrow” ten times, she had cleared a big space in her room.

“Wow, Whiskers! Won’t Mom be surprised when she sees this?”

Then Tamara raced to the clothes dryer, grabbed the yellow sock, and ran back. She fished through her art-supplies box, but that took too long. So she dumped everything on the floor and gathered what she needed.

First, she drew diamond-shaped eyes and glued a blue pompom on each one. She used a red button for the nose and orange yarn for hair. She made a funny hat from construction paper.

“Great,” said Tamara. She slid her hand into the puppet and set the hat loosely on the clown’s head.

The clown bowed to Whiskers. His hat fell off. “How do you know when a mouse needs oil?” asked the clown.

Whiskers squeaked.

“You’re right!” said the clown. “When he squeaks.”

Tamara laughed, and the clown bowed again. Whiskers wiggled his whiskers.

Tamara wrapped the clown in tissue paper. She made a birthday card, snipping shapes from colored paper and gluing them into a birthday scene. She added glitter for the final touch.

Tamara was taping the card to the present when her mother called, “Tamara! Time you’re your piano lesson.”

Her mother peeked into the room. Markers, yarn, pompoms, buttons, scissors, tape, glue, glitter, and scraps of colored paper covered the floor. Tamara’s mother shook her head. “Tamara, when are you going to clean this room?”

And Tamara said, “Tomorrow.” But this time, she meant it.

注释：

kidney bean 菜豆；四季豆

consult [kən'sʌlt] vt . 翻阅

teeter ['tiːtə] vi . 摇摇欲坠

assortment [əˈsɔːtmə nt] n . 各种各样的人（或物）

pompom ['pɒmpɒm] n . 大型机关炮，高射机关炮

stroke [strəʊk] vt . 轻抚

velvety ['velvɪtɪ] a . 天鹅绒般柔软的

African violet 非洲堇

shrivel [ʃrɪvə l] vi . 枯萎，干枯

skid [skɪd] vi .（汽车等）侧滑, 打滑

trip [trɪp] vi . 绊；绊倒（与on，over 连用）

roller skate 双排四轮旱冰鞋

hamper ['hæmpə] n . 洗衣篮

tape [teɪp] vt . 用胶布把···粘牢