Joe and the children sat around the table to look at the books.
乔和孩子们围坐在桌旁看书。
Henry took off the paper and found twelve interesting-looking books.
亨利解开包装纸，发现了十二本看起来很有趣的书。
“The Butterfly Book,” said Jessie.
“《蝴蝶书》。”杰西说。
“The Shell Book,” said Violet.
“《贝壳书》。”维奥莱特说。
“The Flower Book,” said Henry.
“《花卉书》。”亨利说。
“Oh, these three books must belong to a set. Just look at the beautiful pictures.”
“哦，这三本书肯定是一套的。快看这些美丽的图画。”
The handy man seemed to be just as interested as the children.
那位勤杂工似乎也和孩子们一样感兴趣。
He soon found a picture of the purple flower on the table.
他很快在桌上找到了一张紫色花朵的图片。
It was the Beach Pea.
那是海滨豌豆花。
Then Joe showed the children the names of the shells they had found.
接着，乔给孩子们看他们找到的贝壳的名称。
He saw that Henry was staring at him.
他注意到亨利正盯着他看。
“How did you ever learn all this?” asked Henry.
“你怎么会懂这么多？”亨利问道。
“Oh, I just picked it up,” said Joe.
“哦，我只是随便学学的。”乔说。
“I used to live near the beach.”
“我以前住在海边附近。”
Joe saw that he would have to be more careful, because it appeared that he knew too much for a handy man.
乔意识到自己得小心点，因为作为一个勤杂工，他显得懂得太多了。
And so he said he would have to get back to his work.
于是他说他得回去干活了。
After Joe had gone, Henry said, “Let’s look upstairs.”
乔走后，亨利说：“我们上楼看看吧。”
He ran up the stairs and the others followed with the dog.
他跑上楼梯，其他人带着狗跟在后面。
First Henry opened the big windows.
亨利先打开了大窗户。
Then he looked around the room.
然后他环顾了一下房间。
The pile of straw was at one end.
一堆稻草堆在一头。
In the corner stood an old straight-backed chair.
角落里放着一把老式的直背椅。
Jessie went over and shook it.
杰西走过去摇了摇它。
“Wonderful!” said Jessie.
“太好了！”杰西说。
“We’ll use that when Grandfather comes to call. To think of having a real guest chair!”
“等爷爷来访时我们可以用它。想想看，我们竟然有一把真正的待客椅！”
“I wish we had some boards,” said Henry.
“要是有些木板就好了。”亨利说。
“I thought we might find some up here.”
“我以为能在楼上找到一些。”
“What is this?” asked Benny.
“这是什么？”本尼问。
“Boards!” shouted Henry.
“木板！”亨利喊道。
Some eight-foot boards were piled on the floor under the straw.
稻草下面的地板上堆着一些八英尺长的木板。
“Well, now,” cried Henry, “how lucky we are! I’ll get right to work. I can carry the boards down under the trees, and saw them to make tables.”
“哎呀，”亨利叫道，“我们真幸运！我这就开始干活。我可以把木板搬到树下，锯开做成桌子。”
“I ought to dry the flowers,” said Jessie.
“我得把花弄干。”杰西说。
“Violet can look up their names and Benny can help carry down the boards.”
“维奥莱特可以查它们的名字，本尼可以帮忙搬木板下楼。”
“We ought to have lots of newspapers for drying the flowers,” said Violet, going downstairs.
“我们需要很多报纸来压花。”维奥莱特说着走下楼去。
“And we haven’t a single newspaper.”
“可我们连一张报纸都没有。”
“Joe has,” said Benny to everyone’s surprise.
“乔有。”本尼的话让大家吃了一惊。
“He gets two every day, so he must have a lot.”
“他每天拿两份，所以肯定有很多旧报纸。”
“You go ask him, Benny, will you?” said Violet.
“你去问问他好吗，本尼？”维奥莱特说。
“Just ask him for old ones, and be sure to thank Joe.”
“只要跟他要旧的就行，记得一定要谢谢乔。”
When Benny arrived at Captain Daniel’s hut, he knocked at the door.
本尼来到丹尼尔船长的小屋前，敲了敲门。
“Hello!” called a voice.
“你好！”一个声音回应道。
Benny walked around to the other side of the hut.
本尼绕到小屋的另一侧。
Joe and the captain sat there cleaning fish.
乔和船长正坐在那里清理鱼。
“Have you any old newspapers?” asked Benny.
“你们有旧报纸吗？”本尼问。
“Not to read, but to dry flowers between.”
“不是用来读的，是用来夹花弄干的。”
“We certainly have,” said Joe, smiling.
“当然有。”乔笑着说。
He pointed to some piles of old newspapers.
他指了指几摞旧报纸。
“Oh, one pile will be enough,” cried Benny, delighted.
“哦，一摞就够了。”本尼高兴地说。
“Jessie only wanted a dozen. Thank you, Joe. She will be surprised.”
“杰西只需要十几张。谢谢你，乔。她一定会很惊喜的。”
Jessie was surprised and pleased.
杰西既惊讶又高兴。
“Have you a thin board about a foot long?” she called to Henry.
“你有一块大约一英尺长的薄木板吗？”她朝亨利喊道。
“How’s this?” asked Henry.
“这块怎么样？”亨利问。
“Perfect. Go get it, Benny,” said Jessie.
“完美。去把它拿来，本尼。”杰西说。
But she had used the wrong words for Benny and the right words for Watch.
但她这话对本尼来说是错的，对小狗沃奇来说却是对的。
When the dog heard “Go get it,” he ran out of the barn to Henry who put the board carefully in the dog’s mouth.
听到“去把它拿来”，小狗从谷仓跑向亨利，亨利小心翼翼地把木板放进狗嘴里。
Then Watch ran back and laid the board at Jessie’s feet.
然后沃奇跑回来，把木板放在杰西脚边。
Jessie was so pleased that she stopped her work and gave him a piece of bread.
杰西高兴极了，停下手中的活，给了它一块面包。
The girls smoothed the flowers out on the newspapers, just as they had done in school.
女孩们把花平铺在报纸上，就像在学校里做的那样。
Then they covered the flowers with more papers and a board and put a large stone on top.
然后她们在花上盖上更多的报纸和一块木板，并在上面压了一块大石头。
“I hear a motorboat,” said Henry.
“我听到摩托艇的声音了。”亨利说。
“I’m going down to see,” said Benny.
“我去看看。”本尼说。
“There might be something for us.”
“说不定有我们的东西。”
Jessie said, “Don’t be too sure.”
杰西说：“别太确定。”
To her surprise he came back in a few minutes with a big box.
令她惊讶的是，几分钟后他抱着一个大箱子回来了。
“We did get something!” he cried.
“我们真的有东西！”他叫道。
“It’s from Grandfather! Captain Daniel said so.”
“是爷爷寄来的！丹尼尔船长说的。”
Henry opened the big box.
亨利打开大箱子。
“Sweaters!” he said.
“毛衣！”他说。
Benny took his at once.
本尼立刻拿起了自己的那件。
“I know mine is that red one,” he said.
“我知道我那件是红色的。”他说。
“And I guess that purple one is Violet’s.”
“我想那件紫色的是维奥莱特的。”
There was a beautiful blue one for Jessie, and a brown one for Henry.
有一件漂亮的蓝色毛衣是给杰西的，还有一件棕色的给亨利。
They all put them on to see how they looked.
他们都穿上试试效果。
“Grandfather thinks it’s going to get cold,” said Jessie.
“爷爷觉得天气要变冷了。”杰西说。
“So do I,” answered Henry.
“我也这么觉得。”亨利回答。
“I think we shall be glad of these presents very soon.”
“我想我们很快就会庆幸收到这些礼物。”
When Jessie woke up late that night she heard rain falling on the roof of the barn.
那天深夜杰西醒来时，听到雨点打在谷仓屋顶上的声音。
She put on her shoes and shut all the windows.
她穿上鞋，关上了所有的窗户。
Henry got up to help shut the barn door.
亨利起床帮忙关上谷仓的门。
“Now I guess we’ll keep dry,” he whispered.
“现在我想我们能保持干燥了。”他低声说。
“The rain is coming in somewhere,” said Jessie softly.
“雨水从什么地方漏进来了。”杰西轻声说。
They listened, and they could hear the sound of water dropping near the stove.
他们仔细听，能听到炉子附近有滴水的声音。
“We mustn’t let the stove get wet,” cried Henry, speaking out loud.
“不能让炉子淋湿。”亨利大声说道。
“Get the big kettle!”
“拿大水壶来！”
Henry put it under the stream of water.
亨利把水壶放在水流下面接水。
The water seemed to come faster and faster into the kettle.
水流进壶里的速度似乎越来越快。
“We can’t go to sleep because the kettle might run over,” said Henry after a minute.
“我们不能睡觉，因为水壶可能会溢出来。”过了一会儿亨利说。
“What’s the matter, Jessie?” called Benny in a sleepy voice.
“怎么了，杰西？”本尼睡眼惺忪地问。
“Rain is coming through the roof,” said Henry.
“屋顶漏雨了。”亨利说。
“You go back to sleep.”
“你继续睡吧。”
“I can’t,” cried Benny.
“我睡不着。”本尼叫道。
“Rain is coming in my window, too, and all over me.”
“雨水也从我的窗户漏进来，弄得我浑身都是。”
“Oh, dear!” cried Jessie.
“天哪！”杰西叫道。
“Where is the flashlight?”
“手电筒在哪？”
With the flashlight, the two older children soon saw that the wall near Benny’s bed was very wet.
借着手电筒的光，两个大孩子很快发现本尼床边的墙湿透了。
A stream of water was running in under his window.
一股水流正从他的窗户下流进来。
“Get up, Benny!” cried Henry.
“起来，本尼！”亨利喊道。
Benny came out slowly.
本尼慢慢爬了出来。
“I don’t like this bed,” he said.
“我不喜欢这张床。”他说。
He began to cry.
他哭了起来。
“I like my bed at Grandfather’s house, and I want to go home! It’s nice and dry there.”
“我喜欢爷爷家里的床，我想回家！那里又好又干燥。”
“Now, Benny, don’t be like that!” cried Jessie.
“好了，本尼，别这样！”杰西叫道。
“You’re a big boy, and you ought to be up helping us. You wouldn’t like it if we left you at home, would you?”
“你是个大男孩了，应该起来帮我们。如果我们把你留在家里，你也不会喜欢的，对吧？”
“No,” said Benny.
“不会。”本尼说。
This idea woke him up, and he started to help move his bed out.
这个想法让他清醒过来，他开始帮忙搬动自己的床。
“What’s the matter?” called Violet.
“出什么事了？”维奥莱特问。
“It’s raining in this barn!” said Benny.
“谷仓里漏雨了！”本尼说。
“Maybe on you, too.”
“说不定你也淋到了。”
“No, it’s not,” said Violet.
“没有。”维奥莱特说。
“But I can hear it coming in somewhere.”
“但我能听到哪里在漏水。”
“It’s coming in all over the place,” cried Henry.
“到处都在漏雨。”亨利叫道。
“I wish we had more kettles,” said Jessie.
“要是我们有更多水壶就好了。”杰西说。
“I’ll put one pail under this window and the other pail in the corner.”
“我在窗下放一个桶，角落里再放一个。”
“We can’t go to sleep,” said Violet.
“我们没法睡了。”维奥莱特说。
“The pails and kettle will run over.”
“桶和水壶都会满出来的。”
“The rest of you can go to sleep,” said Henry.
“你们其他人去睡吧。”亨利说。
“I will stay up and empty the pails. Benny, you get into my bed. I think we have found all the places where the rain is coming in.”
“我来熬夜倒水。本尼，你到我床上去。我想我们已经找到了所有漏雨的地方。”
Benny was glad to get into bed and he was soon asleep again.
本尼很高兴能回到床上，很快就又睡着了。
Henry sat up for an hour.
亨利坐了一个小时。
He emptied the pails once more, and then crawled in beside Benny.
他又倒了一次桶里的水，然后爬到本尼身边躺下。
The rain had almost stopped.
雨几乎停了。
“I’ll fix the roof tomorrow,” he thought.
“明天我要修屋顶。”他想。
“And maybe Joe will help me. He’s a very handy man.”
“也许乔会帮我。他是个很能干的人。”
The next morning it was still raining.
第二天早上还在下雨。
The children dressed and ate breakfast and then watched the rain.
孩子们穿好衣服，吃完早饭，然后看着外面的雨。
“One of us must go outside for the groceries,” said Henry, “and I think I’m the one. My clothes are going to get awfully wet, so what shall I do while they dry?”
“我们得有个人出去买日用品。”亨利说，“我觉得该我去。我的衣服肯定会湿透，晾干的时候我穿什么呢？”
“Where are all your other clothes?” asked Benny.
“你其他的衣服呢？”本尼问。
Henry pointed to the clothesline over the stove.
亨利指了指炉子上方的晾衣绳。
“They aren’t dry yet,” said Jessie.
“还没干呢。”杰西说。
“I’m sorry now that I washed them.”
“我现在真后悔把它们洗了。”
“Henry can go to bed while his clothes dry,” said Benny.
“亨利可以在衣服晾干的时候去床上躺着。”本尼说。
“Say, listen, Benny!” cried Henry.
“喂，听着，本尼！”亨利叫道。
“How would you like to go to bed? You get busy and think of something I could put on.”
“你想让我去躺着？你赶紧动动脑筋，想个我能穿的东西。”
“Jessie could make you a suit out of a blanket,” said Benny suddenly.
“杰西可以用毯子给你做一套衣服。”本尼突然说。
“I really could!” cried Jessie.
“我真的可以！”杰西叫道。
“It’s lucky we brought along Violet’s workbag. I’ll make you a pair of pants out of a blanket. And you can put on your new sweater while your things dry.”
“幸好我们带了维奥莱特的针线包。我用毯子给你做条裤子。你的衣服晾干时，可以先穿上新毛衣。”
“Good for you, Jessie,” said Henry.
“真有你的，杰西。”亨利说。
“Now let’s be sure we have thought of everything we want, so I won’t have to go out again.”
“现在让我们确认一下需要买的所有东西，免得我再跑一趟。”
“I have an idea,” said Benny.
“我有个主意。”本尼说。
“Why don’t you put on your swimming suit to go outside and then your clothes won’t get wet?”
“你为什么不穿上泳衣出去呢？这样你的衣服就不会湿了。”
“That is a good idea, Benny. What would we do without you?” said Henry.
“这是个好主意，本尼。没有你我们该怎么办？”亨利说。
“Benny, you are wonderful,” agreed Jessie.
“本尼，你真棒。”杰西也表示赞同。
Benny laughed and said, “I know you could make pants out of a blanket if you had to.”
本尼笑着说：“我知道如果非要做的话，你真的能用毯子做裤子。”
“I’ll put on my swimming suit,” said Henry.
“我去穿泳衣。”亨利说。
“You be thinking of what you want.”
“你们想想需要什么。”
Jessie said, “There will be some potatoes in the box because I ordered them. And all that bread and milk. Do you think you can carry it all? I am going to make some clam chowder, and I’ll need onions from the garden. The onions aren’t very big, but big enough.”
杰西说：“箱子里会有土豆，因为我订了。还有那些面包和牛奶。你觉得你能都拿回来吗？我打算做些蛤蜊浓汤，需要从菜园里摘些洋葱。洋葱虽然不大，但也够用了。”
“I’ll get the onions first,” said Henry, appearing in his swimming suit, “and give them to you through the door. I think I can carry everything else.”
“我先去摘洋葱。”亨利穿着泳衣出现了，“从门缝递给你。我想其他东西我都能拿得动。”
Henry handed the little onions to Jessie through the partly open door.
亨利通过半开的门把小洋葱递给杰西。
When he came in with the basket of groceries, he looked as if he had been swimming.
当他提着篮子装着的日用品进来时，看起来就像刚游完泳一样。
After a rub down with a towel, Henry put on his dry clothes and was ready for work.
用毛巾擦干身体后，亨利换上干衣服，准备开始工作。
“This is a perfect day to work on our museum things,” he said.
“今天是整理博物馆展品的好日子。”他说。
“I can make some boxes for the shells and butterflies.”
“我可以给贝壳和蝴蝶做些盒子。”
Soon the table was covered with wood, paper, paints, and tools.
很快桌子上就摆满了木头、纸张、颜料和工具。
At half-past eleven, Jessie stopped her work to make the chowder.
十一点半，杰西停下手中的活去做浓汤。
“I’m going to use these little onions for the chowder,” she said.
“我要用这些小洋葱做浓汤。”她说。
Jessie melted some butter and put the onions in it.
杰西融化了一些黄油，把洋葱放进去炒。
Then she added water and salt and the sliced potatoes.
然后她加了水、盐和切好的土豆片。
When the potatoes were done, she added the cut-up clams and at the very last minute, the milk.
土豆煮熟后，她加入了切碎的蛤蜊，最后在出锅前一刻倒入牛奶。
Soon, when dinner was ready, the four children took their bowls of chowder and sat down, not minding the rain at all.
很快，午饭做好了，四个孩子端着各自的浓汤坐下来，完全不在意窗外的雨。
“Jessie, you can make anything!” cried Henry.
“杰西，你什么都会做！”亨利赞叹道。
“Yum, yum! Jessie can make good chowder!” said Benny.
“好吃，好吃！杰西做的浓汤真好喝！”本尼说。
After dinner, the children painted birds and fixed the feathery seaweed for their museum.
午饭后，孩子们给鸟上色，并整理了羽状海藻，为他们的博物馆做准备。
Henry went upstairs to put up the tables.
亨利上楼去组装桌子。
By the time it was dark, the Alden Museum was very well started.
到天黑时，奥尔登博物馆已经初具规模了。
“I think the birds are the best thing in the museum,” said Benny.
“我觉得鸟是博物馆里最棒的展品。”本尼说。
But Benny did not know what they were to find the next day.
但本尼不知道他们第二天会发现什么。
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