rom the house down to the water side grew great burdock leaves, so high, that under the tallest of them a little child could stand upright.

這個地方像茂密樹林的中心一樣荒涼。

the spot was as wild as the centre of a thick wood.

在這個舒適的隱蔽處，一隻母鴨坐在它的窩裡，等待著它的幼雛孵出；

In this snug retreat sat a duck on her nest, watching for her young brood to hatch;

她開始對自己的任務感到厭煩了，因為小鴨子們從蛋殼裡出來花費的時間太長了，而且她很少有訪客。

she was beginning to get tired of her task, for the little ones were a long time ing out of their shells, and she seldom had any visitors.

其他鴨子更喜歡在河裡游來游去，而不是爬上滑溜溜的河岸，坐在牛蒡葉下和她閒聊。

the other ducks liked much better to swim about in the river than to climb the slippery banks, and sit under a burdock leaf, to have a gossip with her.

最後，一個蛋殼裂開了，接著又一個，從每個蛋裡都鑽出一個小生命，它抬起頭叫道：“嘰嘰，嘰嘰。”

At length one shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature that lifted its head and cried, “peep, peep.”

“嘎嘎，嘎嘎。” 母鴨說道，然後它們都儘可能地嘎嘎叫著，並且四處張望著那些大綠葉。

“quack, quack,” said the mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could, and looked about them on every side at the large green leaves.

它們的媽媽讓它們盡情地看，因為綠色對眼睛有好處。

their mother allowed them to look as much as they liked, because green is good for the eyes.

“世界多大呀，” 小鴨子們說道，當它們發現現在擁有的空間比在蛋殼裡的時候大多了的時候。

“how large the world is,” said the young ducks, when they found how much more room they now had than while they were inside the egg - shell.

“你們以為這就是