For a long time while they were walking home through the rain, the boy was thinking. Then at last he turned to his father and said to him,“Why does it rain, father? It isn’t very nice, is it?”
“No, it isn’t very nice, but it’s very useful, Tom,”answered his father,“It rains to make the fruit and the vegetables grow for us, and to make the grass grow for the cows and sheep. ”
Tom thought about this for a few seconds, and then he said,“Then, why does it rain on the road too, father?”
雨為什麼也要下在路上呢
一個小男孩和他的爸爸正在鄉間散步，這時天突然下起傾盆大雨。他們沒有帶傘，也沒有地方躲雨，他們因此很快就被淋成了落湯雞。於是，小男孩不大高興了。
他們冒雨回家時，小男孩沉思了好一會兒。最後，他轉身對他爸爸說：“為什麼要下雨呢，爸爸？這太掃興了，對吧？”
“是的，是很掃興，但是湯姆，下雨很有用啊。”他父親回答，“下雨利於水果蔬菜的生長，能為我們提供食物；下雨也利於牧草的生長，能為牛羊提供飼料啊。”
湯姆想了幾秒鍾，然後他說道：“那麼爸爸，雨為什麼也要下在路上呢？”
23 She Wants to Keep Them
A busy mother asked her young son to take his baby sister out into the garden and look after her for half an hour while she was doing some work in the house.
The boy took the baby out, and they seemed to be playing quite happily when suddenly the mother heard the baby begin to cry, so she shouted to her son,“Bert, what’s he matter with Iris? Why’s she crying?”
“Because she wants my marbles. ”answered Bert.
“Well, let her play with a few of them if it will stop her crying,”said the mother patiently,“I must finish this work, and she’d be in my way in here. ”
“But she wants to keep them!”answered Bert.
“No, she doesn’t!”the mother said,“She’s only a baby. She’s too young to understand anything like that. ”
“But I know that she wants to keep them.”answered Bert, “She’s already swallowed two of them!”
她想占有它們
一個忙碌的母親讓年幼的兒子帶著他的小妹妹去花園裏玩半個小時，好讓她在家裏做些事情。
男孩帶著小妹妹出去了，他們似乎玩得十分高興，這時，母親突然聽到嬰兒的哭聲，於是她大聲向兒子問道：“伯特，艾麗絲怎麼了？她為什麼哭啊？”
“因為她想要我的彈珠。”伯特回答道。
“哦，隻要能讓她不哭，就給她幾顆玩吧。”母親耐心地說道，“我得把事情幹完，如果她在這裏的話會妨礙我的。”
“但她想占有它們！”伯特回答。
“不，她不會的！”母親說，“她太小了還不懂那種事情。”
“可我知道她想占有它們。”伯特回答，“她都已經把兩顆給吞下去了！”
24 Whose Baby Is It
Carol and Susan were great friends. They were in the same class at school, and they often visited each other’s homes at weekends.
When they were both eight years old, Carol’s mother had a baby. Carol was overjoyed to have a little sister and was always talking about her to Susan, who had no brothers or sisters.
At first Susan was interested in the new baby, but after some time she began to get rather discontented with Carol’s continual talking about it. She felt a little jealous.
One morning when the two girls were in the school playground, Carol said to Susan cheerfully,“Do you know, Sue, my baby sister gained nearly two hundred grams in weight this week. ”
“That’s not very nuch.”answered Susan,“I know a baby that gains five kilograms a day.”
“Oh, that can’t be true！”answered Carol scornfully. “Whose baby is it?”
“An elephant’s. ”said Susan.
誰的寶寶
卡羅爾和蘇珊是非常要好的朋友，她們在同一個班，周末她們經常去對方家裏玩。
當她們倆都八歲的時候，卡羅爾的媽媽生了一個小孩。卡羅爾對於有了個小妹妹這件事高興異常，並且總是和沒有弟弟妹妹的蘇珊講起她。
剛開始蘇珊對這個小寶寶還很感興趣，但是，過了一段時間後，她開始對卡羅爾沒完沒了地談論不滿意了，她甚至有點嫉妒。
一天早上，兩個女孩在操場上的時候，卡羅爾高興地對蘇珊說，“你知道麼，蘇，我的小妹妹這一周體重長了將近兩百克。”
“這不是很了不起嘛。”蘇珊回答，“我知道一個小寶寶一天長了五千克。”
“噢，這不可能！”卡羅爾輕蔑地說，“那是誰的孩子？”
“大象的。”蘇珊回答。
25 Jesus Is in the Bathroom
A Sunday school teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that he grew up, etc. So he asked his class,“Where is Jesus today?”
Steven raised his hand and said,“He’s in Heaven. ”
Mary was called on and answered,“He’s in my heart. ”
little Bill, waving his hand furiously, blurted out,“I know! I know! He is in our bathroom.”
The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a very long second. He finally gathered his wits and asked little Bill how he knew this.
And little Bill said,“Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells,‘Jesus Christ! Are you still in there?’”
耶穌在衛生間裏
由於多次強調聖誕節是上帝的生日，一所主日學校的老師擔心孩子們會弄不清楚上帝是誰。為了證實孩子們明白上帝出生在很久以前，他問孩子們：“上帝今天在哪裏？”
史蒂文舉手回答道：“他在天堂裏。”
老師叫到瑪麗，瑪麗回答道：“他在我的心裏。”
小比爾拚命地揮手，迫不及待地回答老師提出的問題：“我知道，我知道，他在我們家的衛生間裏。”
全班的學生都安靜下來，望著老師，期待著他的回答。老師很長時間都沒回過神來，最後才定了定神，問小比爾是怎麼知道的。
小比爾說：“哦，每天早晨，爸爸起床都一邊敲衛生間的門，一邊喊道：‘上帝啊！你還在裏麵嗎？’”
26 Big TroubIe
A couple had two little boys aged seven and nine, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that if any mischief occurred in their town, their sons would get the blame.
The boys’mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, and asked to see them individually. So, the mother sent her seven‐year‐old boy first in the morning, with the older one to see the clergyman in the afternoon.
The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly,“Where is God?”
Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice some more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed,“Where is God?”
The boy screamed and bolted from the room. He ran directly home and dove into his closet. slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked,“What happened?”
The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied,“We are in big trouble this time! God is missing and they think we did it!”
麻煩大了
一對夫婦有兩個小男孩，一個七歲一個九歲，都很調皮，總是惹事生非。如果鎮上發生了什麼惡作劇，這對夫婦就知道多半是他們的孩子幹的。
孩子的母親聽說鎮上有一個牧師在教育孩子方麵很有一套，於是她便問他是否願意和她的孩子談談。牧師同意了，並要求單獨見每一個孩子。於是，這位母親上午先送她七歲的孩子去，下午再送年長的那個去。
高大的牧師坐在年幼的孩子麵前，用低沉有力的聲音嚴肅地問道：“上帝在哪兒？”
男孩並沒有要回答的跡象。於是牧師提高了他的嗓門，伸出手指在男孩麵前晃動，吼道：“上帝在哪兒？”
小男孩尖叫起來逃出房間。他直接衝回家，鑽進衣櫥裏，“砰”地一聲把門關上。他的哥哥在衣櫥找到他問道：“發生什麼事了？”
弟弟上氣不接下氣地回答道：“這次我們遇到大麻煩了！上帝不見了，他們認為是我們幹的！”