第7章 萌倒童年(3)

For a long time while they were walking home through the rain，the boy was thinking.Then at last he turned to his father and said to him，"Why does it rain，father？It isn't very nice，is it？"

"No，it isn't very nice，but it's very useful，Tom，"answered his father，"It rains to make the fruit and the vegetables grow for us，and to make the grass grow for the cows and sheep."

Tom thought about this for a few seconds，and then he said，"Then，why does it rain on the road too，father？"

雨为什么也要下在路上呢

一个小男孩和他的爸爸正在乡间散步，这时天突然下起倾盆大雨。他们没有带伞，也没有地方躲雨，他们因此很快就被淋成了落汤鸡。于是，小男孩不大高兴了。

他们冒雨回家时，小男孩沉思了好一会儿。最后，他转身对他爸爸说：“为什么要下雨呢，爸爸？这太扫兴了，对吧？”

“是的，是很扫兴，但是汤姆，下雨很有用啊。”他父亲回答，“下雨利于水果蔬菜的生长，能为我们提供食物；下雨也利于牧草的生长，能为牛羊提供饲料啊。”

汤姆想了几秒钟，然后他说道：“那么爸爸，雨为什么也要下在路上呢？”

23 She Wants to Keep Them

A busy mother asked her young son to take his baby sister out into the garden and look after her for half an hour while she was doing some work in the house.

The boy took the baby out，and they seemed to be playing quite happily when suddenly the mother heard the baby begin to cry，so she shouted to her son，"Bert，what's he matter with Iris？Why's she crying？"

"Because she wants my marbles."answered Bert.

"Well，let her play with a few of them if it will stop her crying，"said the mother patiently，"I must finish this work，and she'd be in my way in here."

"But she wants to keep them！"answered Bert.

"No，she doesn't！"the mother said，"She's only a baby.She's too young to understand anything like that."

"But I know that she wants to keep them."answered Bert，"She's already swallowed two of them！"

她想占有它们

一个忙碌的母亲让年幼的儿子带着他的小妹妹去花园里玩半个小时，好让她在家里做些事情。

男孩带着小妹妹出去了，他们似乎玩得十分高兴，这时，母亲突然听到婴儿的哭声，于是她大声向儿子问道：“伯特，艾丽丝怎么了？她为什么哭啊？”

“因为她想要我的弹珠。”伯特回答道。

“哦，只要能让她不哭，就给她几颗玩吧。”母亲耐心地说道，“我得把事情干完，如果她在这里的话会妨碍我的。”

“但她想占有它们！”伯特回答。

“不，她不会的！”母亲说，“她太小了还不懂那种事情。”

“可我知道她想占有它们。”伯特回答，“她都已经把两颗给吞下去了！”

24 Whose Baby Is It

Carol and Susan were great friends.They were in the same class at school，and they often visited each other's homes at weekends.

When they were both eight years old，Carol's mother had a baby.Carol was overjoyed to have a little sister and was always talking about her to Susan，who had no brothers or sisters.

At first Susan was interested in the new baby，but after some time she began to get rather discontented with Carol's continual talking about it.She felt a little jealous.

One morning when the two girls were in the school playground，Carol said to Susan cheerfully，"Do you know，Sue，my baby sister gained nearly two hundred grams in weight this week."

"That's not very nuch."answered Susan，"I know a baby that gains five kilograms a day."

"Oh，that can't be true！"answered Carol scornfully."Whose baby is it？"

"An elephant's."said Susan.

谁的宝宝

卡罗尔和苏珊是非常要好的朋友，她们在同一个班，周末她们经常去对方家里玩。

当她们俩都八岁的时候，卡罗尔的妈妈生了一个小孩。卡罗尔对于有了个小妹妹这件事高兴异常，并且总是和没有弟弟妹妹的苏珊讲起她。

刚开始苏珊对这个小宝宝还很感兴趣，但是，过了一段时间后，她开始对卡罗尔没完没了地谈论不满意了，她甚至有点嫉妒。

一天早上，两个女孩在操场上的时候，卡罗尔高兴地对苏珊说，“你知道么，苏，我的小妹妹这一周体重长了将近两百克。”

“这不是很了不起嘛。”苏珊回答，“我知道一个小宝宝一天长了五千克。”

“噢，这不可能！”卡罗尔轻蔑地说，“那是谁的孩子？”

“大象的。”苏珊回答。

25 Jesus Is in the Bathroom

A Sunday school teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth.He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago，that he grew up，etc.So he asked his class，"Where is Jesus today？"

Steven raised his hand and said，"He's in Heaven."

Mary was called on and answered，"He's in my heart."

little Bill，waving his hand furiously，blurted out，"I know！ I know！ He is in our bathroom."

The whole class got very quiet，looked at the teacher，and waited for a response.The teacher was completely at a loss for a very long second.He finally gathered his wits and asked little Bill how he knew this.

And little Bill said，"Well...every morning，my father gets up，bangs on the bathroom door，and yells，'Jesus Christ！ Are you still in there？'"

耶稣在卫生间里

由于多次强调圣诞节是上帝的生日，一所主日学校的老师担心孩子们会弄不清楚上帝是谁。为了证实孩子们明白上帝出生在很久以前，他问孩子们：“上帝今天在哪里？”

史蒂文举手回答道：“他在天堂里。”

老师叫到玛丽，玛丽回答道：“他在我的心里。”

小比尔拼命地挥手，迫不及待地回答老师提出的问题：“我知道，我知道，他在我们家的卫生间里。”

全班的学生都安静下来，望着老师，期待着他的回答。老师很长时间都没回过神来，最后才定了定神，问小比尔是怎么知道的。

小比尔说：“哦，每天早晨，爸爸起床都一边敲卫生间的门，一边喊道：'上帝啊！你还在里面吗？'"

26 Big Trouble

A couple had two little boys aged seven and nine，who were excessively mischievous.They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that if any mischief occurred in their town，their sons would get the blame.

The boys'mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children，so she asked if he would speak with her boys.The clergyman agreed，and asked to see them individually.So，the mother sent her seven‐year‐old boy first in the morning，with the older one to see the clergyman in the afternoon.

The clergyman，a huge man with a booming voice，sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly，"Where is God？"

Again，the boy made no attempt to answer.So the clergyman raised his voice some more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed，"Where is God？"

The boy screamed and bolted from the room.He ran directly home and dove into his closet.slamming the door behind him.When his older brother found him in the closet，he asked，"What happened？"

The younger brother，gasping for breath，replied，"We are in big trouble this time！ God is missing and they think we did it！"

麻烦大了

一对夫妇有两个小男孩，一个七岁一个九岁，都很调皮，总是惹事生非。如果镇上发生了什么恶作剧，这对夫妇就知道多半是他们的孩子干的。

孩子的母亲听说镇上有一个牧师在教育孩子方面很有一套，于是她便问他是否愿意和她的孩子谈谈。牧师同意了，并要求单独见每一个孩子。于是，这位母亲上午先送她七岁的孩子去，下午再送年长的那个去。

高大的牧师坐在年幼的孩子面前，用低沉有力的声音严肃地问道：“上帝在哪儿？”

男孩并没有要回答的迹象。于是牧师提高了他的嗓门，伸出手指在男孩面前晃动，吼道：“上帝在哪儿？”

小男孩尖叫起来逃出房间。他直接冲回家，钻进衣橱里，“砰”地一声把门关上。他的哥哥在衣橱找到他问道：“发生什么事了？”

弟弟上气不接下气地回答道：“这次我们遇到大麻烦了！上帝不见了，他们认为是我们干的！”