（第三篇）My Pets之HOW BABY BUN CAUGHT A BIRD

HOW BABY BUN CAUGHT A BIRD
“See here,” said cook to Baby Bun one day, “would you like to catch one of the little birds ye see hoppin’ and singin’ out on the lawn there?”
“They always fly away from me,” said Baby Bun.
“It must be because ye never tried the salt,” said cook. “Look here now!” She showed Baby Bun a small paper bag full of salt. “You just put a pinch of salt on the bird’s tail, and then see if he flies away.”
一天，库克对小本恩说：“看，这些鸟在草坪上又蹦又唱的，你想抓一只吗？
“可他们总是飞走了。”小本恩说。
“那肯定是因为你没有试试盐，”库克说，“看这个。”她给小本恩看一个纸袋子，里面装满了盐。“你只要放一点点盐在鸟的尾巴上，然后你再看它还能飞走不。”
Baby Bun went out on the lawn. He looked about as he walked. Suddenly he stopped.He heard a little noise close to his feet. He looked down and there was a wee brown bird fluttering in the grass.
Baby Bun took a pinch of salt out of the bag with his fat, fumbling little fingers. The little bird had not yet flown away. “Hold still, birdie,” said Baby Bun. “Hold still while I put the salt on your tail!”
小本恩走到草地上，一边走一边环顾四周，忽然他停了下来。他听见脚边有声音，低头一看，原来是一只棕色的小鸟在草丛里扑腾。
于是小本恩用他那胖乎乎的、笨拙的小手从袋子里抓了一点盐，那只小鸟还没有飞走。“不要动，小鸟儿”小本恩说，“不要动，让我把盐放到你尾巴上吧！”
Then a shout of delight was heard. “I’ve caught him! I’ve caught him! I put the salt on his tail!”
Every one rushed to see what Baby Bun had caught. It really was a little bird--- a baby sparrow. There it lay in Baby Bun’s hands, a throbbing little bunch of feathers with a pitiful “peep-peep.”
The big brothers brought a cage from the attic, and the frightened birdie was put into it. As he hopped about one brown wing trailed along the bottom of the cage.
“Why, his wing is broken,” said Auntie. “Poor birdie! No wonder he couldn’t fly away!”
“O, no, Auntie,” said Baby Bun, “that is not the reason! I put salt on his tail!”
Auntie smiled.
然后大家就听见一阵高兴的喊叫声，“我抓到它了！我抓到它了！我把盐放到他尾巴上啦！”
每个人都跑出来看小本恩抓到了什么。真的是一只小鸟——一只小麻雀儿。它躺在小本恩的手心里，可怜的小翅膀还在不停的颤抖，微弱的叫着。
大哥哥从阁楼上拿来一个笼子，把这只受了惊吓的小鸟放进去。它在笼子里跳来跳去，褐色的小翅膀耷拉着，拖在笼子的底部。
“哎呀，它的翅膀坏啦”，阿姨说道，“可怜的小鸟儿，难怪它飞不走了。”
“啊，不是这样的，阿姨”，小本恩说，“不是因为这个，是因为我把盐撒到它尾巴上了！”
阿姨笑了。