29　BESSIE AND THE BIRDS
贝茜和小鸟

I

It was Christmas morning. The ground was white with snow. The poor hungry birds could not get anything to eat.

Bessie looked out of the window and saw them hopping about the street. They were looking for food.

Bessie was a kind little girl. She felt sorry for the poor birds. She wanted to ask them to come into her warm home. But she knew that they were afraid to do this.

What could she do to help them? At last she thought of a plan. What do you suppose it was?

“Mamma,” she said, “may I make a Christmas tree for the birds?”

“How can you do that?” asked her mother.

“Oh, I will take the little Christmas tree I had last night. I will put it outside the window. Then I will hang on it little baskets full of crumbs and seeds for the birds.”

“That will be a very good way,” said her mother.

II

So Bessie put the little tree outside the window. Then she put her presents on it for the birds.

At first the birds did not come to the tree. They did not know it was for them. But by and by two or three came near and looked at it.

They pecked some of the seeds and crumbs. Then they flew off to tell the other birds about their Christmas tree. Soon there were many birds at the tree to get their presents.

They liked the crumbs of bread as much as Bessie had liked her presents the evening before. They chirped their thanks to Bessie as she stood at the window to watch them.

“I am glad we have made the birds so happy, mamma,” she said. “We will let the little tree stay here at the window, will we not?

“Every day I will give some of my bread to the birds. I will put the crumbs in the baskets for them.”

III

Her father and mother were glad to see that she was so kind. But her father said, “After all, Bessie, what good can you do?

“There are many hungry birds in the world. You can feed only a few near your home. Even if you and I gave all our bread, we could not feed all the hungry birds.”

This made little Bessie very sad. After a while she said, “It is true, papa, I cannot feed all the birds. But there are many other little children all over the world who like to feed them.

“I will give crumbs to the birdies here every cold day. Then, if the other children give crumbs in other places, all the dear little birds will be fed. Will they not, papa?”

一

圣诞节的早上，地上铺着厚厚的雪，可怜的小鸟们饿着肚子，找不到吃的东西。

贝茜往窗外望去，看到他们在街上飞来飞去找吃的。

贝茜是个善良的小姑娘，她觉得小鸟们很可怜，就想邀请他们到自己温暖的家里来做客，但又不知道他们会不会害怕。

要怎么帮助他们呢？后来她终于想出一个办法。你知道这个办法是什么吗？

“妈妈，我能为小鸟们做一棵圣诞树吗？”她说。

“你要怎么做？”妈妈问。

“我会把昨天晚上那棵小圣诞树挪到窗户外面，在上头挂一些小篮子，里面装上小鸟们爱吃的面包屑和种子。”

“听起来不错。”妈妈说。

二

于是贝茜把小树移到窗外，给小鸟们准备好了礼物。

开始时小鸟们不敢靠近小树，他们不知道这是什么。但过了一会，两三只小鸟靠过来，谨慎地盯着看了一会。

他们啄了一点种子和面包屑，然后就飞去告诉别的小鸟圣诞树的事情，很快就召来了许多同伴。

他们很喜欢面包屑，就像贝茜喜欢自己的礼物一样。他们叽叽喳喳地对窗前的贝茜说着感谢。

“看到他们这么快乐，我也很高兴，妈妈。”她说，“我们可以一直把小树放在窗前吗？”

“我每天都会放些面包在篮子里，给小鸟吃。”

三

看到贝茜这么善良，爸爸妈妈很高兴。不过爸爸说：“贝茜，这样做真的有用吗？”

“世界上饿着肚子的小鸟很多，你只能喂饱我们家附近的这几只。就算我们把家里所有的面包都拿出来，也不可能喂饱所有的鸟。”

听了他的话小贝茜很伤心。她想了一会说：“确实是这样，我不可能喂饱所有的小鸟。但是世界上有很多小朋友也会帮助他们。”

“天冷的时候我就给小鸟食物，别的小朋友也给他们那里的小鸟面包屑，那样所有的小鸟都能吃饱。是不是这样，爸爸？”