Extrait du livre Doctor Gudule
Doctor Gudule by Fanny Joly and Roser Capdevila French to English translation: Natalie Worden Fanny Joly Numérik
Doctor Gudule
My name is Gudule. I’ve got two teeth that are loose and a new blue dress. I’ve also got a toy monster from outer space, a pony whose mane you can brush, and some pretty cool parents. Overall, they listen to me without too much fuss.
You know what wiggles around even more than my teeth? My brother! And a lot! His name is Gaston. He’s cute sometimes. But not always. It depends on the day. In any case, one thing is for sure: Gaston listens to me a lot less than my parents do!
Like the other night. I wanted to have a pillow fight with him. With him as the pillow, I mean. Well, he didn’t want that. Not at all. He screamed until Daddy got involved. Which means, obviously, that I got punished. Daddy gave me a talking-to for I don’t even know how long. He looked at me all serious and went into great length about how I’m Gaston’s big sister (like I didn’t know that), and how I need to be nice, and show him great things, and care for him, and all that… (like I don’t do that already!) Gaston sat on Daddy’s lap and as he wiggled all over, he kept on repeating, “Yubby nice! Yubby nice!” When Daddy finished his speech, I was about ready to pummel my little brother!
I didn’t speak to Gaston for a whole week. The first day, he was real proud of himself. I did nothing. The second day, he was a little bit of a rascal. I did nothing. The third day, he started to waver. I did nothing. The fourth day, he insisted I play with his bunny mobile. I did nothing. The fifth day, he kept coming up to me and kissing my hands. I did nothing.
The sixth day, he gave me a piece of chocolate and then started begging, “Pway, Oodool, pway!” I was a little bored, so I decided to take pity on him. “Why would I play with you?” I asked. “All you know how to do is cry like a baby…” “Nassa baby! No baby cry!” he insisted. “Are you sure? If we play together, you’re not going to cry on me! Promise?” “Gasston promiss!” I decided to trust him. “Okay! Then, we’re going to play doctor!”
Seriously, for ten minutes straight, he jumped around, yelling, “Dock-teh! Dock-teh!” Then he stopped all of a sudden, turned to me, and said, “Wassa dock-teh?” I explained to him that doctors are wonderful human beings who take care of sick people, like Dr. Dreamy on TV… Gaston didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about. (I guess he’ll understand when he’s older. He’s too young now).
