YOU say that father writes a lot of books, but what he writes I don't understand.

你说爸爸写了许多书，但我却不懂得他所写的东西。

He was reading to you all the evening, but could you really make out what he meant?

他整个黄昏读书给你听，但是你真懂得他的意思么？

What nice stories, mother, you can tell us! Why can't father write like that, I wonder?

妈妈，你给我们讲的故事，真是好听呀！我很奇怪，爸爸为什么不能写那样的书呢？

Did he never hear from his own mother stories of giants and fairies and princesses?

难道他从来没有从他自己的妈妈那里听见过巨人和神仙和公主的故事么？

Has he forgotten them all?

还是已经完全忘记了？

Often when he gets late for his bath you have to go and call him an hundred times.

他常常耽误了沐浴，你不得不走去叫他一百多次。

You wait and keep his dishes warm for him, but he goes on writing and forgets.

你总要等候着，把他的菜温着等他，但他忘了，还尽管写下去。

Father always plays at making books.

爸爸老是以著书为游戏。

If ever I go to play in father's room, you come and call me, "what a naughty child!"

如果我一走进爸爸房里去游戏，你就要走来叫道：“真是一个顽皮的孩子！”

If I make the slightest noise, you say, "Don't you see that father's at his work?"

如果我稍为出一点声音，你就要说：“你没有看见你爸爸正在工作么？”

What's the fun of always writing and writing?

老是写了又写，有什么趣味呢？

When I take up father's pen or pencil and write upon his book just as he does,--a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i,--why do you get cross with me, then, mother?

当我拿起爸爸的钢笔或铅笔，像他一模一样地在他的书上写着，a，b，c，d，e，f，g，h，i，——那时，你为什么跟我生气呢，妈妈？

You never say a word when father writes.

爸爸写时，你却从来不说一句话。

When my father wastes such heaps¹ of paper, mother, you don't seem to mind at all.

当我爸爸耗费了那末一大堆纸时，妈妈，你似乎全不在乎。

But if I take only one sheet to make a boat with, you say, "Child, how troublesome you are!"

但是，如果我只取了一张纸去做一只船，你却要说：“孩子，你真讨厌！”

What do you think of father's spoiling² sheets and sheets of paper with black marks all over on both sides?

你对于爸爸拿黑点子涂满了纸的两面，污损了许多许多张纸，你心里以为怎样呢？