Paula Moore

Once upon a time， there was a forest fire in a big forest. All the littleanimals that lived there ran as fast as they could to get away from the hotflames1. Many animals had to find new homes. Some of them went to otherforests， some of them went to parks， and some of them had to make their littlehomes in the yards of people.

從前，一个大森林里发生了一场森林火灾。所有生活在那里的小动物都以最快的速度逃走了，以躲避炽热的火焰。许多动物不得不寻找新的家园。它们中有一些去了其他森林，有些去了公园，还有一些不得不在人类的院子里安家。

Far， far away from the fire was a house where three little children lived. Theirnames were Thomas， Kathy， and Carrie. They all went to school. But on a Saturdayin September， and they had been playing all morning. Now it was lunchtime. Theywere hungry. They asked their mom if they could have lunch， and she said，“Whydont you have a picnic in the yard？”

离大火很远的地方有一所房子，里面住着三个小孩。他们的名字是托马斯、凯西和卡丽。他们都要上学，但在九月的一个星期六，他们玩了一上午。现在是午饭时间，他们饿了。他们问妈妈可不可以吃午饭，她说：“你们为什么不在院子里野餐呢？”

Mom told them to put a picnic cloth on the green grass near the bushes. Whilethey were doing that， she would make some celery sticks2， carrot sticks， peanutbutter and jelly3 sandwiches.

妈妈叫他们在灌木丛附近的绿草地上铺一块野餐布。当他们铺布的时候，她会做一些芹菜条、胡萝卜条、花生酱和果酱三明治。

When the kids had spread4 out the picnic cloth， they ran into the kitchen andasked if lunch was ready. Mom told them to take the carrot sticks and plates out tothe cloth， and to take their drinks， too. So Thomas， Kathy and Carrie took thesethings out to the cloth and arranged5 them carefully. Then they ran as fast as theycould back to the kitchen and said to Mom，“What else have you made so far？”Shesaid， “Ive got your celery sticks cut up now—run these out to your picnic cloth.”

So the three kids ran out fast to add these to the carrots on their plates.

孩子们铺好野餐布后跑进厨房，问午餐准备好了没。妈妈让他们把胡萝卜条和盘子拿出去放在布上，还有他们的饮料。于是，托马斯、凯西和卡丽把这些东西拿出去放在野餐布上，仔细摆放好。然后他们以最快速度跑回厨房，对妈妈说：“到目前为止，你还做了什么？”她说：“我已经把芹菜条给你们切好了，现在把这些拿去放到野餐布上去。”于是三个孩子飞快地跑了出去，把它们和盘子里的胡萝卜放到一起。

But when they got to the cloth， something was wrong. Where were the carrotsticks？ They were all gone！ Kathy said， “Well， lets leave the celery sticks here andsee what happens！ ”

但当他们走到野餐布那里时，觉得有点不对劲。胡萝卜条哪里去了？它们都不见了！凯西说：“嗯，我们把芹菜条放在这里，看看会发生什么！”

Then they ran as fast as they could back to Mom. They told her that someone hadstolen6 the carrot sticks. She said， “Youre kidding！ ”And they said， “Come on！ Wellshow you！ ”Mom hurried out with them to the picnic cloth. But now， not only were thecarrot sticks missing， but the celery sticks were gone， too！

然后他们尽可能快地跑回妈妈身边。他们告诉她有人偷了胡萝卜条。她说：“你们在开玩笑吧！”他们说：“来吧，我们证明给你看！”妈妈赶紧和他们出去来到野餐布那里。但现在，不仅胡萝卜条不见了，芹菜条也不见了！

Mom said， “Well， your drinks are still out here. Lets get your sandwiches. Goand eat them out here and maybe something will turn up.”So Thomas， Kathy andCarrie sat down to their picnic and they ate their sandwiches. Of course， while theysat there， they couldnt help but look around for the celery and carrot thief7.

妈妈说：“好吧，你们的饮料还在外面。拿上你们的三明治，去外面吃吧，也许会有什么转机。”于是，托马斯、凯西和卡丽坐下来野餐，吃起了三明治。当然，坐在那里时，他们还是忍不住四下寻找那个偷芹菜和胡萝卜的小偷。

They were just about to finish eating when Carrie looked over at the bushes andsaw something moving. She softly said， “Shshsh！ ”to Thomas and Kathy.“Theressomething wiggling8 over there！ See the bushes moving？”So everyone sat very still，and a little brown animal came to edge9 of the bushes and looked at them. It was arabbit. Quietly it went back into the bushes.

他們快吃完的时候，卡丽看向灌木丛，看到有什么动静。她悄悄地对托马斯和凯西说：“嘘！那边有东西在晃动！看到灌木丛在动了吗？”于是大家都坐在那里一动不动，一只棕色的小动物来到灌木丛边，看着他们。那是一只兔子，它悄悄地回到灌木丛里去了。

“I have an idea，”said Thomas. “Lets get more celery and carrots， and see ifthat rabbit is the thief. Well put them at the edge of the bushes， and watch from thewindow.”

“我有个主意。”托马斯说，“我们再去弄些芹菜和胡萝卜，看看那只兔子是不是那个小偷。我们把它们放在灌木丛边，然后从窗户那里观察。”

They quietly went back into the house and took more celery and carrots. Theycarefully put them down near the bushes and walked back to the house. As theywatched， the little rabbit came out and put some vegetables in his mouth and carriedthe rest of them back into the bushes. Mom had watched， too， and she said that shehad never seen a rabbit in the yard before. She thought that maybe because of theforest fire， he needed to look for a new home.

他们悄悄地回到房子里，又拿了一些芹菜和胡萝卜。他们小心翼翼地把它们放在灌木丛附近，然后走回了房子。在他们的注视下，那只小兔子出现了，它往嘴里塞了一些蔬菜，然后把剩下的带回了灌木丛中。妈妈也看到了，她说以前从来没有在院子里见过兔子。她想，也许是因为那场森林大火，它需要寻找一个新家。

“Maybe we can keep feeding this rabbit， and he will stay here for a long time，”

said Mom. That is just what they did in the following days. It turned cooler and whenwinter came， they didnt see the rabbit. Sometimes they would take food out to theedge of the bushes， and sometimes the food would disappear10， and other times itjust stayed there. All winter they worried about the rabbit.

“也许我们可以继续喂这只兔子，它就会在这里待很长时间。”妈妈说。这正是他们在接下来的日子里所做的。天气转凉了，当冬天来临时，他们没有看到那只兔子。有时他们会把食物放到灌木丛的边缘，有时食物会消失，而其他时候食物没有被动过。整个冬天他们都在担心那只兔子。

They waited for the rabbit day after day and spring came. In early April， whenthe trees had just a few leaves， Thomas， Kathy， and Carrie took the food out to thebushes as usual. After a while， the little rabbit came out and took it. Whatever hehad done during the winter， he was OK now！

他们日复一日地等候那只兔子，直到春天到来。四月初，当树上刚长出几片叶子时，托马斯、凯西和卡丽像往常一样把食物带到灌木丛那儿。过了一会儿，那只小兔子跳出来拿走了食物。不管它在冬天做了什么，现在它平安无事！

The kids went on feeding him. One day， the little rabbit came out to get hisfood， and he had four little rabbits with him！ Their rabbit was a mommy rabbit！ Sofrom that time on， year after year， there was always a little rabbit family that lived inthe bushes.

孩子们继续喂养它。一天，小兔子出来拿它的食物，还带着四只小兔子！他们的兔子居然是一只兔妈妈！于是从那时起，年复一年，灌木丛里一直住着一个兔子小家庭。

Notes

1. flame 火焰；火舌

2. celery stick 芹菜梗

3. jelly  常涂于面包上的果酱

4. spread  展开；打开；铺开

5. arrange 整理；布置

6. steal  偷窃；盗窃

7. thief  贼；小偷；偷窃犯

8. wiggle 使……扭动；摆动

9. edge 边；边缘

10. disappear 消失；不见