A schoolteacher used to take a short nap every afternoon.
有一位老师每个下午都要打一下盹儿。
When his pupils asked him why he did so, he said that he went to dreamland to meet ancient sages.
当他的学生问他是怎么回事时，他回答说他到梦境中去见古代的圣人了。
One extremely hot day some of his pupils fell asleep in the classroom. When the school-teacher chided them, they said, "We went to meet the sages in dreamland."
有一天，天气很热，有几个学生在教室里睡着了。当这位老师斥责他们的时候，他们说：“我们去梦里见圣人了。”
"What did they say?" demanded the teacher.
“他们说什么了？”老师问到。
"We asked them if a school- teacher came there every afternoon, but they said they had seen no such person."
“我们问他们是不是每天下午都有一个老师去他们那儿，但是他们说没见过这个人。”

---

　　good boy

little robert asked his mother for two cents. "what did you do with the money i gave you yesterday?"
"i gave it to a poor old woman," he answered.
"you're a good boy," said the mother proudly. "here are two cents more. but why are you so interested in the old woman?"
"she is the one who sells the candy."

好孩子

小罗伯特向妈妈要两分钱。
“昨天给你的钱干什么了？”
“我给了一个可怜的老太婆，”他回答说。 “你真是个好孩子，”妈妈骄傲地说。“再给你两分钱。可你为什么对那位老太太那么感兴趣呢？”
“她是个卖糖果的。”

nest and hair
my sister, a primary school teacher, was informed by one of her pupils that a bird had built its nest in the tree outside the classroom.
"what kind of bird?" my sister asked.
"i didn't see the bird, ma' am, only the nest," replied the child.
"then, can you give us a description of the nest?" my sister encouraged her .
"well, ma'am, it just resembles your hair. "

notes:
(1) inform v.告诉
(2) nest n.窝；巢
(3) description n.描述
(4) encourage v.鼓励
(5) resemble v. 相似；类似

18.鸟窝与头发
我姐姐是一位小学老师。一次一个学生告诉她说一只鸟儿在教室外 的树上垒了个窝。
“是什么鸟呢？”我姐姐问她。
“我没看到鸟儿，老师，只看到鸟窝。”那孩子回答说。
“那么，你能给我们描述一下这个鸟巢吗？”我姐姐鼓励她道。
“哦，老师，就像你的头发一样。”

i've just bitten my tongue
"are we poisonous?" the young snake asked his mother.
"yes, dear," she replied - "why do you ask?"
"cause i've just bitten my tongue! "

notes:
(1) poisonous adj.有毒的
(2) cause i've just bitten my tongue 因为我刚咬了自己的舌头。 句中 cause 是 because 的缩略形式。

我刚咬破自己的舌头
“我们有毒吗？”一个年幼的蛇问它的母亲。
“是的，亲爱的，”她回答说，“你问这个干什么？”
“因为我刚刚咬破自己的舌头。”

a woman who fell
it was rush hour and i was dashing to a train in new york city's grand central terminal - as i neared the gate, a plump, middle-aged woman sprinted up from behind, lost her footing on the smooth marble floor and slid onto her back. her momentum carried her close to my shoes. before i could help her, however, she had scrambled up. gaining her composure, she winked at me and said, "do you always have beautiful women failing at your feet?"

摔倒的女人
上下班高峰期，我匆匆奔向纽约豪华中心站去赶一趟火车。接近门口，一位肥胖的中年妇女从后面冲过来，没想到在平滑的大理石地面上失了脚，仰面滑倒了。她的惯性使她接近了我的脚。我正准备扶她，她却自己爬了起来。她镇定了一下，对我挤了一下眉，说道：“总是有漂亮女人拜倒在你脚下吗？”