The Hair Thief偷发贼

Valerie was very worried about her daddy. For some time now she hadnoticed he was going bald1. It seemed like every time she looked at him hehad less hair than before. One day she rather boldly2 asked her daddy，Daddy， every day you have less hair. Why is that？

冶瓦莱丽很担心她的爸爸。有一段时间，她注意到他的头顶正在变秃。似乎每次看他的时候，他的头发都比以前少了。一天，她鼓起勇气问她爸爸：“爸爸，你的头发一天比一天少了。这是为什么呢？”

Her daddy smiled and said， It's the hair thief. Round here there's alittle pilferer3， and he visits my head during the night when I'm asleep. Oneby one he pulls out my hairs， as many as he likes. And there's no way tocatch him！

她的爸爸笑着说：“是因为偷发贼呀。这附近有个小偷，他会趁我晚上睡觉的时候造访我的头顶。他把我的头发一根一根地拔掉，想拔多少就拔多少。并且我们没有办法抓住他！”

This worried Valerie， but she decided to help her daddy. That very nightshe stayed awake as long as she could. As soon as she heard the first snuffles4of her father's snoring5， she grabbed6 a toy hammer7 and went straight to herparents'bedroom. She slowly tiptoed8 in， being careful not to make a sound.She didn't want the hair thief to hear her. When she arrived at her father'sside she began watchfully checking his head， determined to catch the hair thiefas soon as he appeared. Before long， she saw a shadow9 on her daddy's headand， with all her strength， she knocked the toy hammer down.

这让瓦莱丽很担心，但她决心帮助她爸爸。就在那天晚上，她尽可能长时间地保持清醒。她一听到爸爸的鼾声，就拿起玩具锤子直奔父母的卧室。她蹑手蹑脚地走了进去，小心翼翼地不发出一点声音。她不想让偷发贼听到。当她来到爸爸身边时，她开始警惕地检查他的头，决心等偷发贼一露面就抓住他。不一会儿，她看到爸爸头上有个阴影，她用尽全身力气，把玩具锤子敲了下去。

Thwack！ Her father let out a loud scream and jumped right out of bed.The lump10 on his head was already big， and growing. Shaking with fear， heturned on the light and saw Valerie waving11 her toy hammer in the air.

砰地一声，她的爸爸发出一声刺耳的尖叫，直接从床上跳了起来。他头上已经起了一个很大的包，而且还在变大。他吓得浑身发抖，打开灯，看见瓦莱丽在空中挥舞着她的玩具锤子。

“I nearly got him， Daddy！ I thought I hit him， but it looks like he ranaway！ ”

“我差点就打中他了，爸爸！我以为我打到他了，但看起来他逃走了！”

Meanwhile， all the noise had woken Valerie爷s mother up. Seeing the lumpon her husband's head， she burst out laughing.

与此同时，所有的骚动吵醒了瓦莱丽的妈妈。看到丈夫头上的肿块，她突然大笑起来。

“Well， that爷s what happens when you tell silly stories，”she said. Shecouldn爷t help laughing.

“哼，这就是你讲愚蠢故事的下场。”她说。她忍不住哈哈大笑。

So Valerie's father had to explain to his daughter that the hair thief didn爷texist， and that going bald is something that just happens naturally to mostdaddies. There he sat， with a huge lump on his head， realizing just howimportant it is not to tell children tall tales. And Valerie still worried about herdaddy， but she no longer lay in wait for the hair thief. Instead， she bought herdaddy a very nice sleeping bonnet.

瓦莱丽的爸爸不得不向女儿解释偷发贼根本不存在，秃顶是发生在大多数爸爸身上的自然现象。他坐在那里，头顶着大包，意识到不要给孩子讲夸张的故事是多么重要。瓦莱丽仍然担心她的爸爸，但她不再埋伏着等那个偷发贼出现了，而是给她爸爸买了一顶非常漂亮的睡帽。

（英语原文选自：kidsworldfun.com）

▏Notes

1. bald. 秃顶的；秃头的

2. boldly. 大胆地

3. pilferer. 小偷

4. snuffle. 抽鼻子；哧哧地嗅

5. snore. 打鼾；打呼噜

6. grab. 抓住

7. hammer. 锤子；榔头

8. tiptoe. 踮着脚走；蹑手蹑脚地走

9. shadow."阴影；影子

10. lump. 块；肿块；隆起

11. wave. 挥舞，挥动（手中之物）