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The Tale of Tom Kitten
从前，有三只可爱的小猫咪，他们是贝贝、汤姆和拉拉。小家伙们有着不同的毛色，他们非常活泼，一会儿在门口的台阶上打滚，一会儿在草地上打打闹闹。
Once upon a time, there were three little kittens and their names were Baby, Tom and Lala. They had different fur coat of their own, and they were very lively. They liked tumbling on the floor and playing on the lawn.
一天，猫妈妈——塔比莎太太想邀请她的朋友来家里做客。塔比莎太太把三只小猫叫到家中，她觉得在客人来之前，应该先把小猫们打扮得漂漂亮亮的。
One day, Mummy Cat—Mrs. Tabitha wanted to invite her friends to come their home. So she called the three kittens back home, and dressed them before the visitors arrived.
首先，塔比莎太太给小猫们洗洗脸。
First, Mrs. Tabitha washed their faces.
接着，她又给小猫们梳理了尾巴和胡须。
Then she brushed their fur and whiskers.
汤姆很不老实，塔比莎太太拿他一点儿办法也没有。
Tom was very naughty; Mrs. Tabitha had no methods about him.
塔比莎太太给贝贝和拉拉穿上干净的白色连衣裙，戴上小围巾，然后又从衣柜里拿出好多漂亮的衣服给汤姆试穿。
Mrs. Tabitha dressed Baby and Lala in clean and white pinafores and tuckers, and then she took many suits of beautiful clothes to dress up Tom.
汤姆是只胖胖的小猫咪，最近他又胖了不少，衣服上的纽扣都被他撑掉了，塔比莎太太只好把这些纽扣再次缝上去。
Tom Kitten was very fat, and he had grown recently, several button burst off, Mrs. Tabitha only can sew them on again.
小猫们终于穿好了衣服，塔比莎太太也要准备晚餐了。为了不被这些调皮的小猫咪打扰，塔比莎太太让他们去花园里玩儿了。
The kittens were ready finally, and Mrs. Tabitha was going to prepare dinner. She asked them playing in the garden to be out of the way when she prepared dinner.
贝贝和拉拉沿着花园的小路慢慢地走着，一不小心，她们踩到了裙摆，摔倒了。等她们站起来后，裙子上染了不少绿色的污渍。
Baby and Lala walked down the garden path slowly;presently they trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.When they stood up there were several green smears on their pinafores.
“我们爬到假山上，到花园的墙上坐着吧。”贝贝提议说。贝贝和拉拉毫不费力就跳了上去。
“Let's climb up the rockery, and sit on the garden wall.”said Baby. Then they went up with a skip and a jump.
小猫汤姆的两条腿裹在裤子里，他用后腿走路，根本不能跳跃。他吃力地爬上了假山，不仅弄断了几棵蕨草，身上的扣子也弄掉了。
Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs in trousers. He came up the rockery by degrees, breaking the ferns, and shedding buttons of his clothes.
等到汤姆爬到墙顶时，真是狼狈极了。
贝贝和拉拉试着帮他把衣服整理好。可是，一不小心，把他的帽子弄掉了，衣服上剩下的纽扣也一起掉落了。
He was all in pieces when he reached the top of the wall.
Baby and Lala tried to put his clothes well. But presently they made his hat falling off, and the rest of his buttons burst together.
正在他们不知道该怎么办的时候，突然传来了“啪嗒、啪嗒”的声音。三只鸭子沿着围墙边的小路走了过来。他们一个接着一个，迈着整齐的步伐。
P-A-D-A! P-A-D-A! While they were in difficulties,three Puddle-ducks came along the path beside the wall,marching one behind the other and doing the goose step.
鸭子们停了下来，瞪着小眼睛，吃惊地望着墙上的小猫咪们。
这时，鸭子贝利卡和杰迈德看见了地上的帽子和纽扣，他们开心地捡了起来，把帽子戴在自己的头上。
They stopped and stared at the kittens with their very small eyes, surprising.
At that moment, the two ducks—Baileycar and Jemadel picked up the hat and buttons, and put the hat on.
小猫们被鸭子滑稽的样子逗得哈哈大笑，一不小心，贝贝从墙上掉了下来，汤姆和拉拉也滑了下来。他们身上的衣服也都掉在了地上。
The kittens laughed at the ducks and Baby fell off the wall.Lala and Tom descended after her, their clothes all came off on the ground.
公鸭先生慢慢地侧过身子，向前挪了挪，捡起了散落在地上的衣服。
Mr. Duck advanced in a slow sideways manner, and picked up the clothes on the ground.
他把衣服都穿在了自己的身上。不过，这些衣服一点儿也不合身，还不如汤姆穿着好看呢。
He put them on himself!But they fitted him even worse than Tom Kitten!
然后，公鸭先生和贝利卡、杰迈德迈着步子，“啪嗒、啪嗒”地走了。
Then Mr. Duck and Baileycar and Jemadel set off up the road, keeping step—pit pat, paddle pat! Pit pat, waddle pat!
塔比莎太太来到花园，找到了小猫们，可是他们的衣服都不见了。
Mrs.Tabitha came down the garden and found the kittens with no clothes on.
塔比莎太太把小猫们拉了过来，打了几下，说：“客人马上就要来了，你们却把自己弄成了这个样子，真是太丢人了。”
Mrs. Tabitha pulled them off the wall, smacked them, and said: “The visitors will arrive in a minute, and you are not fit to be seen, it's so embarrassing.”
塔比莎太太只好让小猫们躲在楼上，不许下来。她告诉客人：小猫们得了麻疹，正卧床养病呢。很遗憾，塔比莎太太说谎了。
Mrs. Tabitha sent the kittens upstairs, and told the visitors that they were in bed with the measles. It was a pity that Mrs.Tabitha told a lie.
可是，小猫们压根儿就没有躺在床上。
But, the kittens were not in bed at all.
他们在楼上蹦蹦跳跳，发出了“砰、砰”的声音。这个美好的下午茶时间，就在楼上的喧闹中度过了。
P-E-N-G! P-E-N-G! The kittens jumped and skipped overhead, which disturbed the beautiful afternoon teatime.
至于那些鸭子呢？他们游过池塘时，身上的衣服因为没有纽扣，都掉到了水里。
And what about those ducks? When they went into a pond, the clothes all came off directly,because there were no buttons.
从那以后，鸭子们就在池塘里寻找丢失的衣服，可是，直到今天，也还没有找到呢。
Since then, the du cks hav e be e n looking for the clothes until now!