LESSON 104

“O Hattie! I just saw a large rat in the shed; and old Nero tried to catch it.”

“Did he catch it, Frank?”

“No; Nero did not; but the old cat did.”

“My cat?”

“No, it was the other one.”

“Do tell me how she got it, Frank. Did she run after it?”

“No, that was not the way. Puss was hid on a big box. The rat stole out, and she jumped at it and caught it.”

“Poor rat! It must have been very hungry; it came out to get something to eat.”

“Why, Hattie, you are not sorry puss got the rat, are you?”

“No, I can not say I am sorry she got it; but I do not like to see even a rat suffer pain.”

【中文阅读】

“噢，海蒂！我刚刚在车库里看见了一只大老鼠，老尼禄正试图抓到它。”

“弗兰克，尼禄抓到它了吗？ ”

“没有，尼禄没抓到，但那只老猫抓到了。”

“我的猫？ ”

“不，是另一只。”

“弗兰克，你一定得告诉我它是怎么抓到老鼠的。是跟在老鼠后面跑吗？”

“不是，不是这种方法。猫躲在一个大盒子上面。老鼠偷偷跑出来，猫一下子跳过去，然后抓到了它。”

“可怜的老鼠！它一定很饿了，所以出来找些东西吃。”

“为什么？海蒂，猫抓住了那只老鼠，你感到很难过，是吗？ ”

“不，我不能说猫抓到了它我就很难过。但哪怕是一只老鼠遭受不幸，我也不愿意看到。”