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Frank came running down the stairs. As he walked with his sister toward the back door, he could hardly keep from laughing at the thought of his birthday secret.
弗蘭克跑下樓梯。當他和妹妹一起走向后門時，一想到他的生日秘密就要忍不住笑。
"Look," said Elise. "We haven't a tree in our back yard, but we have—" Suddenly she stopped. "Well, I declare!"
伊莉斯說：“看，我們后院沒有樹，但我們有——”突然，她收了聲，“哇，天哪！”
Frank was as much surprised as she. They both stood looking at the flagpole, which had changed a good deal since they last saw it. High upon the pole was a neat little bird house; on it was the sign, "House for rent."
弗蘭克和她一樣驚訝。他們兩人都站在那里看著旗桿，它和上次見有了很大變化。旗桿的上面有個整潔的小鳥屋，上面的標志寫著“出租鳥屋。”
A little below it was another sign, "Bath Downstairs," with a hand pointing to the foot of the pole. The little hollow place there was filled to the edge with clear, sparkling water.
它下面一點兒是另一個標志，寫著“浴室在樓下”，還有個手指向旗桿底部。那里的小洼地里滿是清澈粼粼的水。
"Why, Frank," cried Elise, "I didn't dream it was a bird house that you were building!"
“哎呀，弗蘭克，”伊莉斯叫道：“我沒想到你建得是鳥屋！”
"And I never thought of a bird bath," laughed Frank," even if you did borrow my pencil to make the sign!"
弗蘭克笑著說：“我也沒想到是鳥池，即使你借了我的鉛筆做標志！”
Just then two little wrens flew to the fence and fluttered down for a splash in the pool.
就在這時，兩只小鷦鷯飛到圍欄上，落在鳥池里撲騰著。
While the children were watching the strange sight, their mother and father came out.
當孩子們看那奇怪的景象時，他們的爸爸媽媽走了出來。
"Well!" said father, "I think that between the two of you, you've made a very nice home for the birds. Wait a minute-" He went into the house and soon came back with a large box full of nasturtium and pansy plants.
爸爸說：“我想你們兩個已經為這些鳥建了一個很好的家。等一下——”他走進屋子，很快就帶著一個裝滿旱金蓮和三色堇的大盒子回來了。
"Your mother and I want to share in the surprise, too", he said, as he set the box of beautiful flowers down near the little pool.
“你媽媽和我也想分享這個驚喜。”在把那盒漂亮的花放到小鳥池邊上時，他這樣說。
"Oh, thank you, father and mother!" said Elise, "you have all given me a happy birthday."
“噢，爸爸媽媽，謝謝你們！”伊莉斯說，“你們都給了我一個快樂的生日。”
Then they all went away fom the flagpole to see what would happen. Pretty soon the two wrens fluttered up to the tiny bird house and went inside. It was easy to see that they wanted to rent the new home.
隨后，他們離開旗桿去看接下來發生的事。這兩只鷦鷯很快就飛到小鳥屋里去了。很容易看出它們想租這個新家。
"Who says we can't have birds, even if we haven't any grass or green trees!" cried Elise.
“誰說我們不能養鳥，即使我們沒有草或綠樹！”伊莉斯說道。
"Now our yard has a bird bath and flowers and everything!" cried Frank.
弗蘭克說：“現在，我們的院子里有鳥池、鮮花和一切！”
"And all on a concrete lawn, too." laughed Mrs. Gilbert.
吉爾伯特太太笑著說：“而且它們都在混凝土上。”
"Since our bird house is rented, we may as well take the sign down," said father. "Houses don't stay empty long these days."
爸爸說：“既然我們的鳥屋租完了，就把標志拿下來吧。這些日子房子不會一直空著了。”
