018 帕克斯的生日

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The children were drinking tea with Mr. Perks in the porter's room at the station

孩子们正在车站搬运工休息室里和珀克斯先生一起喝茶。

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They had brought their own cups and some biscuits

他们自己带了杯子和一些饼干。

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Perks made tea in a beer can as usual, and everyone was happy and talkative

珀克斯像往常一样用啤酒罐泡茶，大家都很开心，话也很多。

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" When is your birthday, Mr. Perks?" Bobbie asked him

“珀克斯先生，您的生日是什么时候？”博比问他。

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" My birthday?" asked Perks

“我的生日？”珀克斯问。

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" I gave up birthdays before you were born!"

“你们还没出生的时候，我就不过生日了！”

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" But you must have been born at some time," said Phyllis thoughtfully

“但你总有个出生的时候吧，”菲利斯若有所思地说。

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" Even if it was twenty years ago — or sixty or seventy!"

“就算是二十年前——或者六七十年前！”

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" Not that long ago, missy!" Perks grinned as he answered

“没那么久远，小姐！”珀克斯咧嘴笑着回答。

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" Actually, I'll be 32 on the fifteenth of this month."

“其实，这个月十五号我就三十二岁了。”

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Later the children talked

后来孩子们聊了起来。

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Perks was the best friend they had made

珀克斯是他们交到的最好的朋友。

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So they decided to do something special for his birthday

所以他们决定为他的生日做点特别的事。

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The next day at breakfast Mother smiled as she gave the children porridge and milk

第二天早餐时，妈妈笑着给孩子们端上粥和牛奶。

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" I've sold another story," she said," so there'll be buns for tea."

“我又卖出了一个故事，”她说，“所以下午茶会有小圆面包。”

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Phyllis, Bobbie, and Peter looked at each other

菲莉丝、博比和彼得互相看了一眼。

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They were thinking the same thing

他们想到一块儿去了。

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" Mother, can we have buns on the fifteenth instead?" Bobbie asked

“妈妈，我们能不能把面包留到十五号吃？”博比问道。

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" It's Perks' birthday, and we thought we'd have a small party."

“那天是珀克斯的生日，我们想办个小派对。”

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" Yes, you can," Mother replied

“可以，”妈妈回答。

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" We'll put his name on the buns with icing!"

“我们要用糖霜在小圆面包上写上他的名字！”

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The children looked excited

孩子们显得很兴奋。

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Later Bobbie said," I think we need flowers as well."

过了一会儿，博比说：“我觉得我们还需要鲜花。”

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" Yes, we need more ideas!

“对，我们还需要更多的主意！

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Let's all be quiet and think," said Phyllis

我们都安静下来好好想想吧，”菲莉丝说。

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" Hooray!" Peter cried suddenly

“有啦！”彼得突然叫了起来。

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" I've got it!" He jumped up

“我想到了！”他跳了起来。

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" What?" said his sisters eagerly

“什么点子？”他的姐妹们急切地问。

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" Well, Perks is so nice to everybody

“嗯，珀克斯对每个人都那么好。

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There must be lots of people in the village who'd like to give presents to Perks

村子里一定有很多人都愿意送珀克斯礼物。

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Let's go round and ask everyone."

“我们到处去问问大家吧。”

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" Mother said we shouldn't ask people for things," said Bobbie doubtfully

“妈妈说我们不该向别人要东西，”博比迟疑地说。

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" For ourselves, silly, not for other people," said Peter

“是为了我们自己才傻呢，不是为了别人，”彼得说。

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So they went. The old lady at the post office didn't want to give Perks a present

于是他们去了。邮局的老妇人不想送给珀克斯礼物。

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" It's my birthday tomorrow and nobody cares about it," she said

“明天是我的生日，可没人在乎，”她说。

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" Why should I care about Perks' birthday?"

“我为什么要关心珀克斯的生日？”

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The children left and went elsewhere

孩子们离开，去了别处。

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Some people were kind and some were not

有人很友善，有人则不然。

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At the end of the day, Peter wrote a list of things they'd received

那天结束时，彼得把他们收到的东西列了个清单。

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He wrote it in the book where he kept the numbers of train engines

他把清单写在了他记录火车头编号的本子里。

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Presents Given:

已收到的礼物：

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a pipe from the sweet shop

糖果店送的一个烟斗

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some tea from the village store

村里商店送的一些茶叶

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Presents Promised:

承诺的礼物：

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some meat from the butcher

肉铺老板答应给些肉

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six eggs from the farmer

农夫答应给六个鸡蛋

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a spade from the blacksmith

铁匠答应给一把铲子

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Early the next morning, Bobbie woke Phyllis

第二天一早，鲍比叫醒了菲利斯。

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They had a plan but had not told Peter

她们有个计划，但没有告诉彼得。

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He would think it was silly

他会觉得这很傻。

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They cut a bunch of roses and wrote a card:

她们剪了一束玫瑰，并写了一张卡片：

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" For Mrs. Ransome, Happy Birthday."

“送给兰塞姆太太，生日快乐。”

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Bobbie and Phyllis took the roses and card to the post office

鲍比和菲利斯带着玫瑰和卡片去了邮局。

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They put them on the counter before the old lady came in

在老太太进来前，她们把东西放在了柜台上。

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When they got home, Peter was telling Mother about their plan to give Perks gifts for his birthday

她们回到家时，彼得正在跟妈妈讲他们要给珀克斯送生日礼物的计划。

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" It depends on how you give him the presents," Mother said

“这取决于你们怎么把礼物给他，”妈妈说。

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" I hope he won't be offended and think it's charity

“我希望他不会觉得被冒犯，认为这是施舍。

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Poor people are very proud, you know."

你知道，穷人自尊心很强的。”

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" It isn't because he's poor," said Phyllis

“这不是因为他穷，”菲利斯说。

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" It's because we like him very much."

“是因为我们非常喜欢他。”

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The morning of the fifteenth, the children watched Mother decorate the buns with pink icing

十五号那天早上，孩子们看着妈妈用粉色糖霜装饰小圆面包。

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Then they went to the village to collect the spade and eggs and other things people had promised

然后他们去村里取铲子、鸡蛋和其他大家承诺给的东西。

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They passed the old lady at the post office

他们路过邮局时看到了那位老太太。

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" Thank you for the roses," she said

“谢谢你们送的玫瑰，”她说。

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" Here, take these for Perks' birthday present."

“来，把这些拿去，当作珀克斯的生日礼物。”

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She brought out a basket full of red gooseberries

她拿出一篮子满满的红醋栗。

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" And wait one more moment

“再等一会儿。

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I have something else for Perks!"

我还有点别的东西给珀克斯！”

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The children smiled

孩子们笑了。

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Perks was going to have the best birthday ever!

珀克斯将会度过有史以来最棒的生日！