18 THE SQUIRRELS THAT LIVE IN A HOUSE （CONTINUED）住在房子里的松鼠们（续篇）
1.Now this good fairy that the squirrels discoursed about was a nice little old lady that the children used to call Aunt Esther,and she was a dear lover of birds and squirrels,and all sorts of animals,and had studied their little ways till she knew just what would please them;and so she would every day throw out crumbs for the sparrows,and little bits of thread and wool and cotton to help the birds that were building their nests,and would scatter corn and nuts for the squirrels;and while she sat at her work in the bow-window she would smile to see the birds flying away with the wool,and the squirrels nibbling their nuts.After a while the birds grew so tame that they would hop into the bow-window,and eat their crumbs off the carpet.
2."There,mamma,"said Tit-bit and Frisky,"only see!Jenny Wren and Cock Robin have been in at the bow-window,and it didn't hurt them,and why can't we go?"
"Well,my dears," said the old Mother Squirrel,"you must do it very carefully:never forget that you haven't wings like Jenny Wren and Cock Robin."
3.So the next day Aunt Esther laid a train of corn from the roots of the trees to the bow-window,and then from the bow-window to her work-basket,which stood on the floor beside her;and then she put quite a handful of corn in the work-basket,and sat down by it,and seemed intent on her sewing.Very soon,creep,creep,creep,came Tit-bit and Frisky to the window,and then into the room,just as sly and as still as could be,and Aunt Esther sat just like a statue for fear of disturbing them.They looked all around in high glee,and when they came to the basket it seeme...
4.At last Aunt Esther put out her hand to touch them,when,whisk-frisk,out they went,and up the trees,chattering and laughing,before she had time even to wink.
But after this they used to come in every day,and when she put corn in her hand and held it very still,they would eat out of it;and,finally,they would get into her hand,until one day she gently closed it over them,and Frisky and Tit-bit were fairly caught.
5.O how their hearts beat I but the good fairy only spoke gently to them,and soon unclosed her hand and let them go again.So,day after day,they grew to have more and more faith in her,till they would climb into her work-basket,sit on her shoulder,or nestle away in her lap as she sat sewing.They made also long exploring voyages all over the house,up and through all the chambers,till finally,I grieve to say,poor Frisky came to an untimely end by being drowned in the water-tank at the top of the house.
6.The dear good fairy passed away from the house in time,and went to a land where the flowers never fade,and the birds never die;but the squirrels still continued to make the place a favorite resort.
7."In fact,my dear,"said old Mother Red,one winter,to her mate,"what is the use of one's living in this cold,hollow tree,when these amiable people have erected this pretty cottage where there is plenty of room for us and them too?Now I have examined between the eaves,and there is a charming place where we can store our nuts,and where we can whip in and out of the garret,and have the free range of the house;and,say what you will,these humans have delightful ways of being warm and comfortable in winter."
8.So Mr.and Mrs.Red set up housekeeping in the cottage,and had no end of nuts and other good things stored up there.The trouble of all this was,that,as Mrs.Red was a notable body,and got up to begin her housekeeping operations,and woke up all her children,at four o'clock in the morning,the good people often were disturbed by a great rattling and fuss in the walls,while yet it seemed dark night.Then sometimes,too,I grieve to say,Mrs.Squirrel would give her husband vigorous curtain lectures in the night,which made him so indignant that he would rattle off to another quarter of the garret to sleep by himself;and all this broke the rest of the worthy people who built the house.
9.What is to be done about this we don't know.What would you do about it?Would you let the squirrels live in your house or not?When our good people come down of a cold winter morning,and see the squirrels dancing and frisking down the trees,and chasing each other so merrily over the garden-chair,or sitting with their tails saucily over their backs,they look so jolly and jaunty and pretty,that the said good people almost forgive them for disturbing their night's rest,and think that nothing shall be done to drive them out of the garret to-day.And so it goes on;but how long the squirrels will rent the cottage in this fashion,I'm sure I dare not undertake to say.
【中文阅读】
1.松鼠们所说的仙女是个和蔼的老太太，她身材矮小，孩子们曾叫她“埃斯特阿姨”。她是个动物迷，喜欢所有的飞禽、走兽和小松鼠们。她认真研究它们的习性，学习怎么讨好它们。她每天给麻雀丢面包屑，给正在筑巢的鸟儿丢线头、毛线和布条，给松鼠们丢玉米和坚果，然后坐在凸肚窗前，微笑着看鸟儿衔着毛线飞走，松鼠们捡起坚果啃咬。过了些日子，鸟儿越来越温顺，它们会落在凸肚窗上，吃掉地毯上的面包屑。
2.小不点儿和小淘气说：“妈妈，你都瞧见了，鹪鹩詹妮和知更鸟库克刚才就落在那个凸肚窗上，他们没受到任何伤害，我们为什么就不能去？”
“唔，亲爱的孩子们，”松鼠妈妈说，“你们必须万分小心：永远都别忘了，你们不像鹪鹩詹妮和知更鸟库克那样有翅膀。”
3.第二天，埃斯特阿姨一路撒玉米，一直从树底下撒到窗台上，再从凸肚窗撒到她的针线篮跟前，又往针线篮里丢了一大把玉米。然后她就坐在针线篮旁边，似乎专心致志地做着针线活儿。不一会儿，小不点儿和小淘气偷偷地爬呀爬，爬呀爬，爬到了窗台下，爬进了房间里。它们狡黠淘气，还极力保持安静。埃斯特阿姨像座雕像一样坐在那里一动不动，唯恐吓跑了它们。它们快乐地打量了一下四周，终于爬到篮子跟前。在它们眼里，这个小篮子像个奇妙的避暑小屋，就是造来给它们玩的。它们在里面嗅来嗅去，把剪刀、插针板翻来翻去，还在她的白蜡上啃了一口，把几根线管抢来夺去，同时用小爪子你争我抢地翻找身边每个角落里的玉米，闹得兄弟俩都有点儿恼了。
4.最后，埃斯特阿姨伸出手去抚摸它们，它们迅速飞奔而去，窜上大树，唧唧吱吱地叫着、大笑着，而埃斯特阿姨连眼睛都还没来得及眨一下。
从此以后，它们每天都来，她把玉米放在手中，静静地举起手给它们吃。它们会把玉米吃个一干二净，后来干脆跳到她手掌上。有一天，她突然轻轻地合上手掌，小不点儿和小淘气被抓个正着。
5.噢，它们的心脏跳得多快啊！然而，善良的仙女只是温柔地对它们说说话，很快就张开手，放它们走了。就这样，它们对她的信任与日俱增。到后来，它们会爬进她的针线篮；坐在她肩头上；她坐着做针线活儿的时候，它们还会卧在她的膝头上。它们把整栋房子都探了个究竟，包括里面所有的房间。我非常难过地告诉你们，最后，可怜的小淘气死于非命——它跳到房顶上的水缸里淹死了。
6.最后，亲爱的仙女走了，她去了一个鲜花永远盛开、鸟儿永远翱翔的地方，但是，小松鼠们仍然把这个地方当做最喜欢的观光胜地。
7.一年冬天，老瑞德妈妈对她的丈夫说：“我说，亲爱的，既然这些和蔼可亲的人们建起了这栋漂亮的小屋，里面又有足够的地方够咱们跟他们一起住，咱们还住在冷冰冰的树洞里干什么？我已经透过树叶看仔细了，里面有个非常棒的地方可以供我们存放坚果，我们还可以在阁楼上很方便地进进出出，免费享受这栋房子。这些人类可真是有办法，他们在冬天也可以过得温暖而舒适，你说是不是？”
8.于是，瑞德夫妇就搬进了小屋，把大堆的坚果和好东西都搬了进去。问题是，瑞德夫人是个很勤快的人，总是在凌晨四点起来就做家务，还把孩子们都叫醒。天还没亮，窸窸窣窣的声音就把那些善良的人们吵醒了。我要很痛心地告诉你们，有时候，精力充沛的松鼠太太还会在夜里对丈夫大声训话。丈夫一气之下，就会一边唠叨，一边跑到阁楼的另一个角落自己睡觉。它们的吵闹打扰了修建这栋房子的人休息，而他们都是非常可敬的人。
9.至于他们会怎么做，我们就不得而知了。如果是你，你会怎么做？你还会不会让松鼠们继续住在你的房子里？一日冬晨，我们这些善良的人走出家门，看到松鼠们欢快地在树上跳跃玩耍，看到它们快乐地在花园座椅上追逐，看到它们调皮地把尾巴翘在肩头，它们如此快乐、活泼、可爱，这些善良的人们几乎原谅了它们打扰自己睡眠的行为，觉得今天不能把它们赶出阁楼。就这样，松鼠还住在里面。但是，它们还会这样在里面住多久，我也不敢保证。
