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The Old Woman and the Cakes
老婆婆和蛋糕
Once a little old woman was baking cakes.
從前，有一位老婆婆在烤蛋糕。
She was wearing a black dress and a small white apron. On her head was a red cap.
她穿著一件黑色連衣裙，圍著白色小圍裙，頭上戴著一頂小紅帽。
A poor old man came to her kitchen door and said, "I am hungry, good woman. Please give me one of your cakes."
一個可憐的老人來到她的廚房門口說：“大善人，我很餓。請給我一塊蛋糕吧。”
The old woman said, "These cakes are too large to give away. I will bake you a little cake. That will be plenty for you."
老婆婆說：“這些蛋糕太大了，不能送給你，我給你烤個小蛋糕。那也夠你吃了。”
So she made a very small cake. She rolled it and rolled it. Then she patted it and patted it and put it into the oven.
于是她做了一個非常小的蛋糕。她把它輾啊輾，然后拍了又拍，隨后放進烤箱里。
But the cake began to grow bigger and bigger.
但蛋糕開始變得越來越大。
"I will keep this cake," said the old woman. "It is too big to give away." So she kept the cake for herself.
“我要留下這塊蛋糕，”老婆婆說，“它太大了，不能給出去。”于是她自己留下了蛋糕。
Then she made a tiny little cake. She rolled it and rolled it and patted it and patted it until it was very thin.
隨后她做了一塊更小的蛋糕。她輾了又輾，拍了又拍，直到它變得非常薄為止。
"This will be large enough for you," she said, as she put it into the oven.
“這對你來說足夠大了。”她在把蛋糕放進烤箱時說。
But it began to grow bigger, too.
但蛋糕又開始變大。
"I will not give you this cake," said the old woman. "I want it myself. It is much too big for a fellow like you."
“我不會給你這塊蛋糕，”老婆婆說，“我想自己留著，把它給你這樣的家伙顯得太多了。”
So she kept that cake for herself.
于是她把那塊蛋糕留給了自己。
She tried again. This time she made a tiny flat cake as small as a bean.
她又開始嘗試，這次她做了一個小得像豆子一樣的扁平蛋糕。
But that cake began to grow, too. It grew bigger and bigger and bigger.
但蛋糕又開始變大。它變得越來越大，越來越大。
"I will not give you a cake at all," said the old woman. "These cakes are too big to give away. I want to eat them myself."
“我根本不會給你蛋糕，”老婆婆說，“這些蛋糕太大了，不能給你。我要自己吃。”
So the poor old man went away hungry.
于是那個可憐的老人餓著離開了。
The old woman swept her kitchen and sat down alone to eat the cakes.
老婆婆打掃了廚房，獨自坐下來吃蛋糕。
Now comes the strangest part of this story.
現在到了故事最離奇的部分。
As the old woman was eating, she began to grow smaller and smaller.
老婆婆在吃蛋糕時，開始變得越來越小。
Her nose became a sharp bill. She looked at her arms and saw that they had been changed to black wings. And her feet were sharp claws.
她的鼻子變成了尖嘴。她看了看手臂，發現它們已經變成了黑色的翅膀。而且她的腳變成了鋒利的爪子。
She was still wearing the black dress and white apron and red cap. But they were all feathers!
她仍穿著那件黑裙子、圍著白圍裙，戴著紅帽子。但它們都變成了羽毛！
She had been changed into a bird.
她變成了一只鳥。
Perhaps you will see this little old woman some day. She hops up and down trees, hunting for bugs and worms.
也許有一天你會看到這個老婆婆。她在樹上跳來跳去，尋找蟲子吃。
You will know her when you see her. You will say, "There is the black dress and the little white apron that she was wearing in her kitchen. On her head is the red cap, too."
你見到她時就會認出她。你會說：“這是她在廚房里穿得黑色連衣裙，圍得白色小圍裙。她的頭上也頂著紅帽子。”
For people say that the old woman who would not give away even one tiny cake was changed into a woodpecker.
人們說，即使是一塊小蛋糕也不給的老婆婆變成了啄木鳥。
