路易斯用他的嘴叼起一枝新粉笔。他有些胆怯了。他使劲地盯着这个单词。

　　He took a good look at the word. "A long word," he thought, "is really no harder than a short one.

　　“一个很长的单词，”他想，“可它真的不比一个短的难多少。

　　I'll just copy one letter at a time, and pretty soon it will be finished.

　　我只要一次照着写一个字母，一会儿就能写完的。

　　Besides, my life is a catastrophe. It's a catastrophe to be without a voice."

　　此外，我的生活不就是场大灾难嘛。没有嗓子就是一场大灾难。”

　　Then he began writing. CATASTROPHE, he wrote, making each letter very neatly.

　　然后他开始写了。“CATASTROPHE”，他写着，每个字母都写得格外端正。

　　吹小号的天鹅

　　When he got to the last letter, the pupils clapped and stamped their feet and banged on their desks,

　　当他写到最后一个字母时，全体学生都鼓起掌来，还边跺着脚边拼命地拍桌子，

　　and one boy quickly made a paper airplane and zoomed it into the air. Mrs. Hammerbotham rapped for order.

　　一个男孩趁乱飞速地折了一只纸飞机，把它扔上了天。哈默博瑟姆太太大声叫大家安静

　　"Very good, Louis," she said.

　　“很好，路易斯，”她说，

　　"Sam, it's time you went to your own classroom--you shouldn't be in my room.

　　“萨姆，你该回到你自己的教室去了——你不该在我的教室里的。

　　Go and join the fifth grade. I'll take care of your friend the swan."

　　回五年级去吧。我会照顾好你的天鹅朋友的。”

　　Back in his own room, Sam sat down at his desk, feeling very happy about the way things had turned out.

　　回到自己的教室后，萨姆在他的课桌旁坐下，心里为这事能如此解决而高兴。

　　The fifth-graders were having a lesson in arithmetic,

　　五年级正在上数学课，

　　and their teacher, Miss Annie Snug, greeted Sam with a question. Miss Snug was young and pretty.

　　他们的老师安妮·斯格纳小姐用一道题来欢迎萨姆的到来。斯格纳小姐年轻而又漂亮。