Would you shake your finger at me and say, “What an ungrateful wretch of a bird! It is gnawing at its chain day and night”?
Then, go, mother, go! I will run away into the woods, I will never let you take me in your arms again.
同 情
假如我只是一只小狗，而不是您的小孩，亲爱的妈妈，当我想吃您盘里的东西时，您会对我说“不”吗？
您是不是会把我赶走，对我说“滚开，你这不听话的小狗”？
那么走吧，妈妈，走吧！当您呼唤我时，我再也不到您那里去了，也永远不再要您喂我东西吃了。
如果我只是一只绿色的小鹦鹉，而不是您的小孩，亲爱的妈妈，您会把我紧紧地锁住，怕我飞走吗？
您是不是会对我指指点点地说“真是一个不领情的贱鸟呀！只知道整日整夜地啄它的链子”？
那么走吧，妈妈，走吧！我要到树林里去,我决不再让您抱我入怀了。
Vocation
When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane.
Every day I meet the hawker crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!”
There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take, no place he must go to, no time when he must come home.
I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!”
When at four in the afternoon I come back from the school.
I can see through the gate of that house the gardener digging the ground.
He does what he likes with his spade, he soils his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to task if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet.
职 业
清晨的钟敲了十下，我沿着我们的小巷走到了学校。
我每天都会遇见那个小贩，他叫着:“手镯，亮晶晶的手镯！”
他没有什么急事要做，没有哪条街道非去不可，也没有什么时间非要回家。
我希望我是一个小贩，整日在街上混日子，叫着：“手镯，亮晶晶的手镯！”
下午四点，我放学回家。
我从一家门口看见一个园丁在那里掘土。
他用他的锄头，想怎么挖，便怎么挖，他的衣服落上了尘土，如果他被太阳晒黑了或是被雨淋湿了，没有人会骂他。
The Watchman
Walking Up And Down
I wish I were a gardener digging away at the garden with nobody to stop me from digging.
Just as it gets dark in the evening and my mother sends me to bed.
I can see through my open window the watchman walking up and down.
The lane is dark and lonely, and the street-lamp stands like a giant with one red eye in its head.
The watchman swings his lantern and walks with his shadow at his side, and never once goes to bed in his life.
I wish I were a watchman walking the streets all night, chasing the shadows with my lantern.
更夫走来走去
我希望我是一个园丁，在花园里掘土，没有人来阻止我。
天一黑，妈妈就送我上床睡觉。
我从敞开的窗口看见更夫走来走去。
小巷漆黑冷清，路灯就像一个脸上长着一只红眼睛的巨人立在那里。
更夫摇着他的灯笼，他的影子随之移动，他一生从没有上床歇息过。
我希望我是一个更夫，整晚在街上行走，提了灯笼去追逐影子。
Superior
Mother, your baby is silly! She is so absurdly childish!
She does not know the difference between the lights in the streets and the stars.
When we play at eating with pebbles, she thinks they are real food, and tries to put them into her mouth.
When I open a book before her and ask her to learn her a, b, c, she tears the leaves with her hands and roars for joy at nothing; this is your baby’s way of doing her lesson.
When I shake my head at her in anger and scold her and call her naughty, she laughs and thinks it great fun.
长 者
母亲，您的孩子真傻！她是如此孩子气！
她不知道路灯和星星的区别。
当我们玩着把石子当成食物的游戏时，她竟以为它们是可以吃的食物，想放到嘴里去。
当我在她面前翻开一本书，让她学a、b、c时，她却用手把书页撕破，莫名其妙地高兴地叫起来；您的孩子就是这样做功课的。
当我生气地对她摇摇头，责骂她，说她调皮时，她却哈哈大笑，觉得很有趣。
Everybody knows that father is away, but if in play I call aloud“Father,” she looks about her in excitement and thinks that father is near.
When I hold my class with the donkeys that our washerman brings to carry away the clothes and I warn her that I am the schoolmaster, she will scream for no reason and call me dada. (elder brother)
Your baby wants to catch the moon.
She is so funny，she calls Ganesh Ganush.
Mother, your baby is silly, She is so absurdly childish!
所有人都知道父亲不在家，然而，假如我在游戏时大叫一声“爸爸”，她会兴奋地四处张望，以为父亲果真就在旁边。
当我把洗衣工用来载衣服的驴子当做学生，并且警告她说，我是校长，她会无端地尖叫，叫我哥哥。
您的孩子想要捉住月亮。
她是如此有趣，她把格尼许称为琪奴许。
母亲，您的孩子真傻，她是如此孩子气！
The Little Big Man
I am small because I am a little child. I shall be big when I am as old as my father is.
My teacher will come and say, “It is late, bring your slate and your books.”
I shall tell him, “Do you not know I am as big as father? And I must not have lessons any more.”
My master will wonder and say, “He can leave his books if he likes, for he is grown up.”
I shall dress myself and walk to the fair where the crowd is thick.
My uncle will come rushing up to me and say, “You will get lost, my boy; let me carry you.”
小大人
我人很小，因为我是一个小孩，到了像我父亲一样的年龄时，我就会变大了。
我的老师会走过来说：“时候晚了，去把你的石板和书拿来。”
我将告诉他：“您难道不知道我已经和爸爸一样大了吗？我再也不做什么功课了。”
我的老师将惊讶地说：“他喜欢不读书就不读书，因为他是大人了。”
我给自己穿好衣裳，走到人群拥挤的集市里去。
我的叔叔会跑来说：“你会迷路的，我的孩子；让我牵着你。”
I shall answer, “Can’t you see, uncle, I am as big as father I must go to the fair lone.”
Uncle will say, “Yes, he can go wherever he likes, for he is grown up.”
Mother will come from her bath when I am giving money to my nurse, for I shall know how to open the box with my key.
Mother will say, “What are you about, naughty child?”
I shall tell her, “Mother, don’t you know, I am as big as father, and I must give silver to my nurse.”
Mother will say to herself, “He can give money to whom he likes, for he is grown up.”
In the holiday time in October father will come home and, thinking that I am still a baby, will bring for me from the town little shoes and small silken frocks.
I shall say, “Father, give them to my dada, for I am as big as you are.”
Father will think and say, “He can buy his own clothes if he likes, for he is grown up.”
我会回答:“你看不见吗，叔叔，我已经和爸爸一样大了，我得一个人去集市。”
叔叔将会说:“是的，他喜欢去哪儿就去哪儿，因为他是大人了。”
当我正拿钱给我的保姆时，妈妈会从沐浴处归来，因为我知道如何用我的钥匙去开钱箱。
妈妈会问:“你在做什么，淘气的孩子？”
我会告诉她：“妈妈，你难道不知道我已经和爸爸一样大了吗？我得拿钱给保姆。”
妈妈将自言自语地说:“他喜欢把钱给谁就给谁，因为他是大人了。”
在十月的假期里，爸爸要回家了，他以为我还是个小孩子，从城里给我带了小鞋子和小绸衫。
我会说：“爸爸，把这些东西给哥哥吧，因为我已经和你一样大了。”
爸爸会想一下，然后说：“他喜欢给自己买衣服就去买，因为他是大人了。”
The Twelve O’clock
Mother, I do want to leave off my lessons now. I have been at my book all the morning.
You say it is only twelve o’clock. Suppose it isn’t any later; can’t you ever think it is afternoon when it is only twelve o’clock?
I can easily imagine now that the sun has reached the edge of that rice field, and the old fisher-woman is gathering herbs for her supper by the side of the pond.