Chapter 1

Arthur was paining a picture at the kitchen table, when his sister D.W. sneaked up behind him.
"I know you're here, D.W.," he said.
"I know I'm here, too," she answered.
Rrriinnng!
"Will you get the phone, D.W.?" asked Arthur.
"I can't." D.W. was frowning. "I'm too busy trying to figure out what you're painting."
"Will you just ANSWER THE PHONE!?"
D.W. squinted at the paper. "Is that a horse or a pig?"
"This isn't twenty questions, D.W. Go away."
“You shouldn't talk to me like that,” said D.W. "I'm your sister."
"Don't remind me."

哥哥Arthur正在画画，妹妹D.W.蹑手蹑脚地走过来，想看看他画的到底是个啥东西。哥哥对妹妹很不耐烦，让她走开。妹妹觉得哥哥对自己态度不好，没有哥哥样儿。
twenty questions 刨根问底，一个英文小游戏。

玩法：
准备纸、笔
心里想好一个东西，记下来（防止临时改答案）。让对方猜。
对方可以提出20个问题，我只回答yes或no。
20个问题问完以后，对方给出一个答案，看看和记下来那个东西是不是一致。
在这里妹妹问哥哥画的是什么，哥哥嫌烦，不想回答，用“这不是刨根问底游戏”来拒绝她。

Mrs. Read entered from the living room. "Arthur, that was Alan's mother on the phone. She was just confirming his plans to stay with us this weekend."

Arthur brightend. The Brain was coming over because his parents were going on some kind of business trip. But Arthur didn't care about their trip. What he cared about was having a friend over for two whole days.

"This is going to be great!" said Arthur. "For once there'll be somebody who'll do all the things I like. It'll be like having a brother for the weekend."

最后还是妈妈接了电话。原来Arthur 的好朋友、同学 the Brain 要来Arthur家住两天。Arthur特别高兴，多个兄弟一起玩儿。

Arthur imagined all the fun stuff they could do....

“Are you sure this will work?” asked Arthur, hammering the last nail into a wooden box with a glass bubble on top.
The Brain approached him wearing protective goggles and big rubber gloves. He was carrying a large glowing ball.
"Just wait until I insert the nuclear core. Will you open the door?"
Arthur swung open a small door in the side of the box and The Brain tossed the core inside it. Immediately the glass bubble began to glow.
"Okay," said the Brain, "we have ignition. Let's go."
He and Arthur stepped inside. The Brain pulled a lever and the box began to shake. Outside the bubble, houses and streets disappeared and the neighborhood became a forest.

protective goggles:护目镜
nuclear core：（反应堆的）堆芯
we have ignition：点火
lever：操纵杆

Arthur开始脑补，和the Brain玩耍的情景。俩人造了个穿越神器，一下子穿到了史前，房子和街道都消失了，周围景物变成了原始森林。

Arthur looked at his watch. Its hands were turning backward.
"What time do you want to go home?" he asked.
"Home?" said the Brain. "That could be a problem. I don't know how to go forward in time. Just back."
"You mean we're stuck here!?"
Outside, a crater closed up and a comet returned to space. A tyrannosaurus appeare beside them and was opening its mouth to take a big bite.

crater：火山口
comet：彗星
tyrannosaurus [tɪˌrænə'sɔːrəs]：暴龙
糟糕的是，the Brain并不知道怎么穿回现代。而这时，一只霸王龙正张开血盆大口。

“Whoa!” said Arthur, looking around the kitchen. Maybe it would be better to do something else, he thought.
Inside his room, Arthur and the Brain put on suction boots. Then they walked up the walls and onto the ceiling.
D.W. entered the room. "Arthur?"
Suddenly a hairy spider dropped down in front of her face. She screamed and ran out.
Up on the ceiling, Arthur and the Brain reeled in the spider, laughing hysterically.
"Yes," said Arthur, smiling sweetly at his sister, "this will definitely be one weekend I'll never forget."

suction boots：suction 吸。这是Arthur想像出来的能够吸在天花板上的鞋子。
reeled in：收线
hysterically：歇斯底里地

穿越回古代太危险了，还是想点别的吧。Arthur想象和the Brain穿上吸气靴，上墙，上天花板。用蜘蛛吓唬妹妹取乐。
Arthur越想越美，断定这将是一个令他难忘的周末。