向紅

Philip had trouble2 holding onto things. His parents were always getting angry3 with him for losing his clothes， his toys， or his homework. They didnt realize4 that it really wasnt Philips fault5—his things actually liked to run away from him！

菲利普很難保管好東西。他的父母總是因為他弄丟了衣服、玩具或家庭作業(yè)而生他的氣。他們沒有意識到這不是菲利普的錯——實際上是他的東西喜歡從他身邊逃走！

When Philip was two， his blanket6 grew legs and ran out of the house. His mother and father werent very happy. They thought that it was his fault.

菲利普兩歲時，他的毯子長了腿，跑出了屋子。爸媽很不高興，他們認為是他的錯。

When Philip was three， he loved playing with his toy airplane. One day， it flew off the shelf and out the window， all by itself. Philip got blamed7 again. “You need to learn how to take better care of your toys，” his parents said.

菲利普三歲時，他喜歡玩玩具飛機。有一天，它自己從架子上飛出了窗外，菲利普再次受到指責。父母說：“你需要學會如何更好地保管好你的玩具。”

A year later， Philip had 12 pairs of socks run away from him！They were smart and had planned their escape8 well because Philip never knew how they did it. When his mother went to buy him more socks， she asked what kind he wanted. “The kind of socks that cant climb out of a sock drawer，” he said. She thought he was making fun of her.

一年后，菲利普的12雙襪子不翼而飛！它們很聰明，而且已經做好逃跑計劃，因為菲利普一直沒有弄清楚它們是如何做到的。當媽媽去給他買更多襪子時，問他想要哪種襪子。他說：“那種不能從襪子抽屜里爬出來的襪子?！彼詾樗陂_玩笑。

Whenever Philip did his homework， he had to hold the paper down. If he let it go for one second， it would run off the desk and try to go outside. If you thought Philips parents didnt like his explanations9， you should have seen his teachers reaction10！

菲利普每次做作業(yè)時，都必須把紙壓住。如果他放開一秒鐘，作業(yè)就會從桌子上跑下來，并試圖走到外面去。如果你認為菲利普的父母不喜歡他的解釋，那你應該看看老師的反應！

One day， Philips mom bought him a new ruler for him to bring to school. “Everyone will need a ruler tomorrow，” his teacher had said. His mother was very clear that Philip had better not lose the ruler.

一天，菲利普的媽媽給他買了一把嶄新的尺子，讓他帶去學校?！懊總€人明天都要帶一把尺子。”老師說。媽媽非常清楚，菲利普最好不要弄丟尺子。

Philip worked hard to make sure that the ruler didnt run away. He took a line and tied one end around the ruler and the other end around his dresser. All night， he kept one eye on the ruler， even as he was falling asleep.

菲利普特別注意確保尺子不會逃跑。他拿起一根繩子，將一端綁在直尺上，另一端綁在梳妝臺上。他整夜都在密切注視著尺子，即使是在睡著的時候。

Philip thought he was smarter than the ruler， but he was wrong. It grew arms and legs and ran straight for the door. The line stopped it from getting out， but Philip had fallen asleep and didnt see it. The ruler used its hands to untie11 the line and crept12 out the door， trying not to wake Philip up.

菲利普以為他比尺子聰明，但他錯了。它長出了胳膊和腿，直奔門口而去。繩子阻止了它出去，但是這時候菲利普已經睡著了，沒有看到。尺子用雙手解開繩子，悄悄爬出了門口，盡量不吵醒菲利普。

Because the ruler was so tall and thin， it had trouble keeping its balance13 on the stairs and it fell down. The noise was loud enough to wake Philip up. He chased14 the ruler all through the house.

因為尺子又高又細，很難在樓梯上保持平衡，所以它摔倒了。響聲足夠吵醒菲利普，他在整間房子里追趕尺子。

The ruler ran through the dining room， and Philip followed after. It ran through the kitchen and then went straight out to the front door. Philip caught it right before it got to the sidewalk15.

尺子跑過餐廳，菲利普緊隨其后。它穿過廚房，然后直接跑向前門。菲利普在它到達人行道之前就抓住了它。

“Gotcha！” he said. And just like that， the ruler stopped trying to run away. Philip put it on the ground and it happily walked right back up to his room. He finally understood why the ruler was running way—it was playing a game！It just wanted to have some fun.

“抓住你啦！”他說。就這樣，尺子不再嘗試逃跑。菲利普把它放在地上，高興地回到了自己的房間。他終于明白了尺子為什么要逃跑——因為它在玩游戲！它只是想找點樂子。

After that， Philip found a way to keep his toys fun without having them run away. His parents never shouted at him for losing things anymore.

此后，菲利普找到了一種方法，可以讓他的玩具持續(xù)開心不再逃跑。父母再也沒有因為丟東西而對他大喊大叫。

（英語原文選自：www.gutenberg.org）