He also followed father to work in the fields. Plumjuice seemed to like people more than he liked chickens.
“I never saw such a bird.” father said.“Sometimes I think he‘s a person.”
But one day father had nothing good to say about Plumjuice.
Plumjuice wanted the cat’s milk.He and the cat had a fight over it. Plumjuice tried to land on the cat‘s back.But he landed in a big can of cream.Father had to give the cream to the pigs.
In another fight with the cat， Plumjuice flew through a glass window.Father had to buy new glass for the window.
Then Plumjuice ran under a moving car.His leg was broken.Father had to pay to have the leg set.
“I really don’t know why we keep that rooster！”said father.“Plumjuice is costing us money and he has never made a cent！”
Plumjuice Makes Good
After that， Plumjuice lived in a pen with the ducks.One night we heard him squawking loudly.
Father went out just in time to see what was the matter.Two boys were running from the duck pen.Each had a duck.
Father stopped the boys and talked to them.He sent them home crying.
Next morning，Father said，“At last that rooster is making a little money.He saved two ducks for us.And those two boys are going to cut wood for me.That will save me time and money.”
A few days later a man stopped his car at our farm.
“Is this Mr.Green‘s farm？” he asked.
“Yes.”Father said.
“I hear you raise dark brown leghouns.” the man said “I’d like to buy some.”
“We had bad luck.” answered father.“ We raised only one chick， a rooster.”
“I‘ll be glad to have a rooster.” said the man.“Let’s see him.”
Father sent me to catch Plumjuice and bring him to the car The man looked him over carefully.
“Will you take ＄ 15 for him？” he asked.
“Will，yes，I think I will.”said father.
Father ran his hand over the rooster‘s beautiful dark feathers.“ Good-bye， Plumjuice.” he said a little sadly.
The man gave father the ＄15. Then he put Plumjuice into a bag and drove away.
Bills for the Basket
“Now let’s see how much money Plumjuice made altogether，” said father.
He wrote down everything that Plumjuice had cost him. Then he wrote down what the rooster had brought in.
At last father said，“I can put in ＄13 when they pass the basket again Plumjuice made eight dollars more than the five I took. I think he did very well！”
We all thought so，too.But we were going to miss Plumjuice. As Father said，he was almost a person！
赚钱的公鸡
我还是个孩子时，家里很穷。左邻右舍的农家也都这样。我们很难搞到足够买种子的钱。甚至更为困难的便是搞到帮助教堂维持开放的钱。
有一天，大人们在议论如何才能为教堂募集到钱。
“要赚钱，就得先有本钱。”农民史密斯说。“我们教堂现在有大约700美元。何不让每家从这钱里拿点，用它去赚更多的钱呢？明年，我们会把教堂给的钱还回去，还能把赚到的钱给教堂。”
“这计划不错，”别人都说，“我们试试吧！”
下一次做礼拜后，教堂里传捐款篮子时，它里面装满新的一元纸币，每人都拿了几张。父亲拿了五张一元的纸币。
在回家的路上，他和母亲商量。怎么用这些钱赚更多的钱呢？
“今年种什么都太晚了。”父亲说。
15个蛋只孵出一只小鸡
“我们可以养一些小鸡。”母亲说。“我们已有白来亨鸡了，所以，我们一定要挑选一个别的品种。我们赚的钱要全部给教堂。”
“好的。”父亲说。“我们养一些深褐色的来亨鸡。我一直想在农场里养一些。”
深褐色来亨鸡比白来亨鸡贵。父亲不得不花五美元买一窝15个蛋。
我们最好的母鸡日复一日地卧在蛋上，但是，只有一个蛋孵出了小鸡。
父亲把小鸡从母鸡那里拿开，把它放进盒子，搁在暖和的厨房里。
“它真漂亮！”我的小妹妹叫道。“它跟梅子汁的颜色一样！”
“就把小鸡叫这个名字吧。”父亲说。“梅子汁，你必须下很多蛋。你必须赚出比五美元还多的钱。”
爱物还是害物？
不久，那个毛茸茸的小鸡长出羽毛来了。接着，一个小小的红鸡冠开始在它的头上长出来。梅子汁永远不会下蛋了，他是一只公鸡！
我们想，五美元算是白扔了。不过，我们都爱梅子汁，这小公鸡是我们全家的爱物。
不久，他就长大到可在院子里待着了。但他不想这样做！每次打开后门，他就进屋里来了。
他还跟着父亲到地里干活。他好像喜欢人超过喜欢鸡！
“我从未见过这样的鸡。”父亲说。“有时，我真以为他是一个人呢。”
不过，有一天，父亲对梅子汁却没有好话可说。
梅子汁想喝猫喝的牛奶。他和猫为此进行了一场战斗。梅子汁试图踩到猫背上，却掉进了一罐奶油里。父亲只得把奶油喂了猪。
在同猫进行的又一次战斗中，梅子汁从一扇玻璃窗中飞过去。父亲只得为窗户买新玻璃。
后来，梅子汁跑到一辆正在行驶的汽车下面，腿被压断了。父亲只好花钱接好他的腿。
“我真不明白，我们为什么要养那只公鸡！”父亲说。“梅子汁正在耗费我们的钱，可他从未赚过一分一厘！”
梅子汁补偿了我们
此后，梅子汁住在鸭舍，同鸭子在一起。一天晚上，我们听到他粗里粗气的高叫声。
父亲走出去，正好看到了什么事情。两个男孩正从鸭舍跑走，每人拿着一只鸭子。
父亲拦住那两个男孩，并说了他们几句。他叫两个孩子回家时，他们都在哭。
第二天早晨，父亲说，“那公鸡终于赚了一点钱了。他为我们救回两只鸭子。而且，那两个男孩要替我砍树。那可给我省下时间和钱了。”
几天之后，一个人开车来，把汽车停在我们的农场。
“这里是格林先生的农场吗？”他问。
“是的。”父亲说。
“我听说你养深褐色来亨鸡。”那人说。“我想买几只。”
“我们运气不佳，”父亲回答。“我们只养着一只，是一只公鸡。”
“我很愿意要一只公鸡。”那人说。“让我看看他吧。”
父亲让我去逮梅子汁，把他带到汽车那儿。那人仔细地浑身上下端详他。
他问：“你愿意把他卖15美元吗？”
父亲说，“嗯，好吧。我想我愿意卖。”
父亲用手抚摩着公鸡那美丽的黑色的羽毛。他略带悲伤地说。“再见了，梅子汁。”
那人给了父亲15美元，把梅子汁放进一只袋子里，开车走了。
放进篮子里的纸币
父亲说，“现在，让我们算一下梅子汁总共赚了多少钱吧。”
他写下了梅子汁使他花费的每一笔钱。接着。又写下卖那公鸡得到的钱。
最后，父亲说，“当他们再传捐款篮子时，我能放进13元。梅子汁赚的比我拿的五元多八元。我认为他干得很好。”
我们也都这么想。不过，我们会想念梅子汁的。正如父亲所说的，他简直快成了一个人了！
Sly Boy，the Fox
Meet Sly Boy，one of the smartest animals in the world！He is an American red fox，with a thick coat of light brown fur.
For years，Sly Boy has been stealing chickens and ducks from farms in VirginiaHe kills many wild animals，tooRabbits are one of his favorite foodsHunters keep trying to catch Sly BoyFarmers would like to get rid of himBut Sly Boy is too smart to be caught.
Why has Sly Boy lived so long？One reason is that he is a fast runner.He can run faster than most dogs.His legs，like those of a race horse，are long for his bodyOnce，when Sly Boy was being hunted，dogs chased him for four days.The dogs were worn outThey became so thin that they looked like skin and bonesBut not Sly Boy！He ran far ahead of the dogsThen he stopped to eat berries or a mouseHe even took short napsAs soon as the dogs came close，he ran ahead againBut sometimes Sly Boy can‘t run away from the dogsThen he tricks themThe dogs know many of his tricksBut Sly Boy can always think up a new one！
One day when Sly Boy was being chased，he jumped up onto a fenceHe ran along the top of itThen he jumped off and raced into the woodsThe dogs were fooled for a whileThey couldn’t find Sly Boy‘s scent on the groundBut at last they found it on the fenceSly Boy ran on and onThe dogs followed him to a creekThey crossed the creek and sniffedNo，Sly Boy had not come acrossWhere had he gone？
MrCook，the hunter，knew that Sly Boy might run in water along the creekIn that way he would fool the dogsThey couldn’t smell his scent in the waterBut Sly Boy had to come out some whereThen the dogs could pick up his trail on the sandMrCook sent half the dogs upstream and half downstreamThe dogs sniffed and sniffed along the creek banksBut they couldn‘t find Sly Boy’s scentAt last the evening cameWhen it grew dark，MrCook gave up the hunt and took his dogs homeWhere was Sly Boy all this time？He had gone back to MrCook‘s farm and eaten a chicken dinnerHe was fast asleep in the chicken house when the hunter got home！
