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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.
弗兰克跑下楼梯。当他和妹妹一起走向后门时，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!"
伊莉斯说：“看，我们后院没有树，但我们有——”突然，她收了声，“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."
弗兰克和她一样惊讶。他们两人都站在那里看着旗杆，它和上次见有了很大变化。旗杆的上面有个整洁的小鸟屋，上面的标志写着“出租鸟屋。”
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.
它下面一点儿是另一个标志，写着“浴室在楼下”，还有个手指向旗杆底部。那里的小洼地里满是清澈粼粼的水。
"Why, Frank," cried Elise, "I didn't dream it was a bird house that you were building!"
“哎呀，弗兰克，”伊莉斯叫道：“我没想到你建得是鸟屋！”
"And I never thought of a bird bath," laughed Frank," even if you did borrow my pencil to make the sign!"
弗兰克笑着说：“我也没想到是鸟池，即使你借了我的铅笔做标志！”
Just then two little wrens flew to the fence and fluttered down for a splash in the pool.
就在这时，两只小鹪鹩飞到围栏上，落在鸟池里扑腾着。
While the children were watching the strange sight, their mother and father came out.
当孩子们看那奇怪的景象时，他们的爸爸妈妈走了出来。
"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.
爸爸说：“我想你们两个已经为这些鸟建了一个很好的家。等一下——”他走进屋子，很快就带着一个装满旱金莲和三色堇的大盒子回来了。
"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.
“你妈妈和我也想分享这个惊喜。”在把那盒漂亮的花放到小鸟池边上时，他这样说。
"Oh, thank you, father and mother!" said Elise, "you have all given me a happy birthday."
“噢，爸爸妈妈，谢谢你们！”伊莉斯说，“你们都给了我一个快乐的生日。”
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.
随后，他们离开旗杆去看接下来发生的事。这两只鹪鹩很快就飞到小鸟屋里去了。很容易看出它们想租这个新家。
"Who says we can't have birds, even if we haven't any grass or green trees!" cried Elise.
“谁说我们不能养鸟，即使我们没有草或绿树！”伊莉斯说道。
"Now our yard has a bird bath and flowers and everything!" cried Frank.
弗兰克说：“现在，我们的院子里有鸟池、鲜花和一切！”
"And all on a concrete lawn, too." laughed Mrs. Gilbert.
吉尔伯特太太笑着说：“而且它们都在混凝土上。”
"Since our bird house is rented, we may as well take the sign down," said father. "Houses don't stay empty long these days."
爸爸说：“既然我们的鸟屋租完了，就把标志拿下来吧。这些日子房子不会一直空着了。”
