Dear Arizona,
亲爱的亚利桑那：

My brother is so lucky. Good stuff is always happening to him. Do you believe in luck? And if so, how can I get more of it?
我的兄弟运气特别好，常有好事发生在他身上。你相信运气吗？如果真有运气，我怎样才能得到更多一些呢？

—Looking for Luck in Louisiana
——身在路易斯安那寻找好运的人

Dear Looking,
亲爱的运气寻觅者：

I was eating breakfast with one hand, petting my cat, Cow, with the other, and reading the back of the cereal box, when—“YOUCH!” I screamed. “Why’d you pinch me?”
我当时正一手吃早餐，一手爱抚着我的猫“牛牛”，同时在看燕麦片盒子背面的信息。就在这时——“哎呦”，我尖叫起来，“你干嘛捏我？”

“You’re not wearing green,” said my little brother, Tex. “Everyone knows you get pinched if you don’t wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day!”
“因为你没穿绿色衣服，”我的小弟弟特克斯说，“人人都知道如果在圣帕特里克节里不穿绿色衣服就会被捏！”

“It’s true,” said my little sister, Indi.
“这是真的！”我的小妹妹英蒂说。

I was mostly mad about getting pinched, but also a tiny bit glad about being reminded that it was Saint Patrick’s Day.
我对自己被掐感到非常生气，但有一点儿值得高兴的是，这提醒了我今天是圣帕特里克节。

I panicked. “What am I going to do? I don’t have time to change. I’ll get pinched all day long!”
我惊慌失措：“我该怎么办？我没时间换衣服了。一整天我都会被人捏的！”

“Well,” Tex said, taking the old green baseball cap off his head, “you could borrow my lucky hat.”
“好吧，”特克斯从他头上摘下那顶绿色的旧棒球帽，说，“你可以借我的幸运帽。”

“But it’s your favorite!” I said.
“但它可是你的最爱。”我说。

“I know,” said Tex. “Just promise to give it back after school.”
我知道，”特克斯说，“只要你答应放学后还给我就行了。”

“No problem,” I said, glancing in the mirror on my way out the door. “I look like a goofball in this thing!”
“没问题，”我说。出门前，我照了照镜子。“戴上这个东西，我看上去就像个傻瓜！”

“A lucky goofball!” said Tex.
“一个幸运的傻瓜！”特克斯说。

“Hum.” I grabbed my backpack. “Thanks, I think.”
“嗯，”我抓起书包说道，“好吧，谢谢。”

Now, before I go on, you should know that I’m not an overly superstitious person. I don’t believe that thirteen is an unlucky number or that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. I definitely don’t freak out if a black cat crosses my path. And when it comes to things like lucky four-leaf clovers and lucky pennies, I just never believed in them.
说到这里，你要知道我不是个极其迷信的人。我不认为13是个倒霉的数字，或者打碎镜子会带来7年的厄运。我决不会因为一只黑猫在我面前走过而被吓坏，也决不会相信诸如幸运四叶草、幸运便士这类东西。

Anyway, I was racing to catch the school bus, and I saw a dollar on the sidewalk! I looked around to see if anyone was looking for it, but people just kept stepping on the poor thing, so I decided to rescue it. I’d found pennies and nickels before, but never a dollar! Then, I didn’t miss the bus, because the bus was even later than me—which never happens!
不管怎样，当我正拼命追赶校车 时，我看到人行道上有张一美元的钞票！我环顾四周，看看有没人在找它，可人们都相继踩过这个可怜的家伙，所以我决定营救它。以前我捡过便士和镍币，可从没 发现过一美元的钞票。随后，我没有错过校车，因为校车甚至比我还晚到——这是从未发生过的！

My luck didn’t stop there. Carlos and Jackson were sitting behind me, quizzing each other on spelling words. I turned around and said, “You guys know that test isn’t till tomorrow, right?”