9.“亲爱的，我聪明、可爱的小家伙们，我现在要走了！维多利亚女王对我说：‘我亲爱的圣诞老人，你可以不可以在午夜12点之前把孩子们的口袋装满礼物，然后就回来，好吗？’
10.”晚安，亲爱的孩子们！祝你们所有的人圣诞快乐！新年快乐！“11.话音刚落，圣诞老人丢下他的大口袋，消失在大厅门口。口袋里的礼物洒了满满一地板，而且都是一些让孩子们兴奋、喜欢的礼物，普鲁迪嘴里说着：“掉了，掉了，坏了，坏了！”
12.一分钟之后，活泼可爱的圣诞老人出现在前门门口，脸上没有戴面具。当然，他就是“没化妆的”亚瑟表哥。
13.于是他们所有人都开始整理那些礼物，不需找礼物上的名字，那要浪费太长的时间了。
14.普鲁迪一把抓住她的裘皮披肩，立刻穿上。“哦，真是太漂亮了！”她喊着，“就像一只小猫咪！太可爱了！”
15.然后她又拿了一个蜡质的娃娃，娃娃栩栩如生，仿佛在说她没有高筒靴，还没有围巾。
16.苏珊也有了许许多多的礼物，尽管她没像普鲁迪那样说什么，她也一样非常高兴。她现在拥有了做梦都想要的礼物--一瓶萨马俱乐部香水--仿佛她已经长成了年轻优雅的女士一般！
17.这对苏珊来说真是个大惊喜。但是普鲁迪一边用鼻子闻着香水瓶，一边冷言冷语地说：“哦！这味道好像连一分钱都不值！还不如胡椒薄荷香呢！”
18.我真想好好说说那天晚上大家有多快乐，想好好说说他们都说了什么、做了什么，想好好说说他们是怎么吃的那些坚果、糖果和无花果，想好好说说他们是怎么不用顾虑需要被命令上床睡觉而尽情玩耍的“瞎眼水牛”的游戏。--但是现在我不能讲了。
PUTTING A COAL ON HIS HEAD
把煤放在头上
1.Joe‘s small feet clattered vigorously down to the little cave where his boat was hidden.But as he neared the place，an exclamation of surprise escaped him，for there were signs of some intruder，and the big stone before the cave had been rolled away.
2.Hastily drawing forth his treasure，he burst into loud cries of dismay，for there was the beautiful little boat，which cousin Herbert had given him，with its gay sails split in a hundred shreds，and a large hole bored in the bottom.
3.Joe stood for a moment motionless with grief and surprise；then，with a face as red as a peony，he burst forth，“I know who did it-the mean scamp！It was Fritz Brown；and he was mad because I didn’t ask him to come to the launch.
4.“But I‘ll pay him for this caper，”said little Joe，through his set teeth；and，hastily pushing back the ruined boat，he hurried a little farther down the road，and fastening a piece of string across the footpath，a few inches from the ground，he carefully hid himself in the bushes.
5.Presently a step was heard，and Joe eagerly peeped out.
How provoking！instead of Fritz it was cousin Herbert，thevery last person he cared to see；and hastily unfastening the string，Joe tried to lie very quiet，but it was all in vain，for cousin Herbert’s sharp eyes caught a curious moving in the bushes，and，brushing them right and left，he soon came upon little Joe.
6.“How is this？”cried he，looking straight into the boy‘s blazing face；but Joe answered not a word.“You are not ashamed to tell me what you were doing？”
7.“No，I am not，”said little Joe，sturdily，after a short pause；“I’ll just tell you the whole story；”and out it came，down to the closing threat，“and I mean to make Fritz smart for it！”
8.“What do you mean to do？”
9.“Why，you see Fritz carries a basket of eggs to market every morning，and I mean to trip him over this string and smash them all.”
10.Now Joe knew well enough that he was not showing the right spirit，and muttered to himself，“Now for a good scolding；”but to his great surprise，cousin Herbert said，quietly，“Well，I think Fritz does need some punishment；but this string is an old trick.I can tell you something better than that.”
11.“What？”cried Joe，eagerly.
12.“How would you like to put a few coals of fire on his head？”
13.“What！and burn him？”said Joe，doubtingly.Cousin Herbert nodded，with aqueer smile.Joe clapped his hands.“Now，that‘s just the thing，cousin Herbert.
14.”You see，his hair is so thick he wouldn’t get burned muchbefore he‘d have time to shake them off；but I’d just like to see him jump once.Now tell me how to do it-quick！“【中文阅读】
1.乔的小脚丫正快速地往他藏船的山洞里走，但是当他快走到地方时，突然发出了一声惊叹，因为他看到有人来过的痕迹，山洞前的大石头被挪开了。
2.他赶快跑到他放宝贝的地方，惊慌得放声大哭，原来，那艘赫伯特送给他的漂亮小船，船帆被撕成了一条一条的布条，船底还有一个大洞。
3.乔一动不动地站在原地又恨又急，脸气得通红。好一会儿，他的嘴里蹦出了几句话：“我知道是谁干的，这个小气鬼，就是弗雷兹o 布朗！他疯了，因为我没让他来和我一起给船下水。”
4.“我要让他为这个恶作剧付出代价。”这几句话从乔的牙缝里蹦了出来。很快，他推开了被毁掉的船，又迅速回到来时的路上，在离山洞稍微远一点的地方，距离地面几英寸的高度上系了一根绳子，把小路拦住，然后小心地躲在了灌木丛中。
5.一会儿，一阵脚步声传来。乔慢慢探出头来一看，可惜，来人不是弗里兹，而是表哥赫伯特，他现在最不想见到的人。他立刻把绳子解开，然后试图悄声趴下，但是没有用，因为赫伯特那双锐利的眼睛已经看到灌木丛中的动静了，于是他迅速走到乔的面前。
6.“这是怎么了？”看到乔冒火的眼睛，他大声问了一句，但是乔没有回答。“你是不是羞于告诉我你在做什么？”
7.“不是，”乔稍微停顿了一下，果断地说道，“我把一切都告诉你。”接着他说出了一切，最后说：“我就是想让弗里兹变聪明些。”
8.“你要干什么？”
9.“你知道弗里兹每天早晨都要提一篮子鸡蛋去市场，我想用这根绳子绊倒他，那篮子鸡蛋就都完蛋了。”
10.乔很明白自己目前心态不正，所以自言自语了一句：“他要狠狠骂我一顿了。”但是令他吃惊的是，表哥赫伯特平静地说：“我也认为弗里兹确实应该受到惩罚。不过用绳子太老套了，我告诉你一招更好的。”
11.“是什么？”乔急切地问。
12.“你认为把一些烧着的煤放到他头上如何？”
13.“什么？去烧他？”乔喊了起来。赫伯特点点头，狡黠地笑了一下。乔双手一拍：“只不过为了这件小事？赫伯特表哥！
14.”你看，他头发很厚，所以在他把那些煤抖落前不会烧到太多，我只不过是想看他又蹦又跳的样子，那好吧，告诉我该怎么做吧--快！“87PUTTING A COAL ON HIS HEAD（CONTINUED）
把煤放在头上（续）
1.”If thine enemy be hungry，give him bread to eat；and if he be thirsty，give him water to drink；for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head，and the Lord shall reward thee，“said cousin Herbert，gravely；“and I think that is the best kind of punishment little Fritz could have.”
2.Joe‘s face lengthened terribly.“Now I do say，cousin Herbert，that is a real take-in.It is just no punishment at all.”
