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FRED had got a new spade from his aunt. She had sent it to him one day with a small box of seeds.
As soon as he got it, he went out to dig with it in his own bit of ground at the back of the house.
Jane went with him; and as he dug, she stood near him and talked to him. She held the box of seeds in her hand.
Fred did his work with a will, and he did it well, too.
As Jane stood and talked, she let the box of seeds fall on the ground.The lid of the box came off, and all the seeds fell out
Poor Jane was a good, kind girl. She was much vexed, and said so to Fred. But Fred did not speak to her.
“O Fred,” cried she, “why don't you speak to me?”
“I wished,” said Fred, “to wait till I could count ten.”
“Count ten!” said Jane. “What do you mean? Why do you wish to count ten?”
“Oh,” said Fred, “aunt once told me to count ten before I spoke, if ever I felt angry. I know that I am often hasty to you, Jane, and I want to correct myself.”
“O Fred, how good you are! It was very careless of me to let the box of seeds fall; but see, I have picked them all up again, and here they are, ready to put into the ground.”
The seeds were planted, and day by day Fred and Jane came to watch them grow up. At last a lot of small green blades peeped above the ground, and soon grew up, with pretty flowers, greatly to the delight of the children.
Before you speak a hasty word, —Count ten;
And if still you angry be, —Count again.
一天，弗雷德的姑姑送给他一把新的小铲子，还带着一小盒种子。
弗雷德一拿到铲子，就出去到屋子后头，在他自己的一小块地里挖土。
珍妮也跟他去了。弗雷德挖土的时候，珍妮就站在他身边，跟他说话。珍妮手里捧着那盒种子。
弗雷德挖土是下了决心的，挖得也非常好。
珍妮站着说话的时候，手里那盒种子落到了地上。盒子的盖子掉了，种子都撒了出来。
可怜的珍妮，是个很好很善良的姑娘。她着慌了，告诉弗雷德她很担心。但弗雷德就是不说话。
她喊道：“弗雷德啊，你干嘛不跟我说话？”
弗雷德说：“我想先等一下，等我数到十。”
珍妮说：“数到十？这是什么意思？你干嘛想要数到十？”
弗雷德说：“啊，姑姑以前跟我说过，只要我一觉得生气了，就数到十再说话。珍妮，我知道我总是冲你着急，我想要改过来啊！”
“啊，弗雷德，你真好！我没拿好这盒种子，真是太不小心了。可是你瞧，我把种子都捡起来啦，就在这儿，可以往土里播种了！”
（两人）把种子播了下去，每天都来看种子发芽。最后，好多小小的绿叶从地里冒了出来，没多久，就长出了美丽的小花。两个孩子可高兴了！
说气话之前，先把十数完；
要是气还没消，再数一遍不难。