Story text / 故事文字
Grandma's Lullaby
Every night, Grandma sang Pip the same lullaby. "Sleep, my little one, the moon is on the hill, the night is soft and still." "What comes next, Grandma?" Pip always asked, with a big yawn. But every night, she was fast asleep before the end.
But tonight, frost crept over the window, and Grandma had a cold. She opened her mouth to sing. Out came one tiny squeak, like a mouse. Her voice was gone! "But I can't sleep without your song," said Pip. "I want it back, tonight!"
"Tock heard your song every single night!" said Pip. "I'm the boss of Tock. Tock, SING IT!" Tock's lamp went on. "Sleep, my little sock," sang Tock. "SOCK?" cried Pip. Grandma shook with laughing, without a sound.
Tap, tap! Chatter was on the windowsill outside. "That's MY song!" she cackled. "I've sung it to your tin pot all week. Soon it will sing all my songs, and the whole valley will hear. I'm the cleverest bird in the valley!"
"Please stop singing, Chatter," said Pip. "Grandma is poorly." Chatter sang LOUDER. "Tra-la, my little SOCK!" Dumpling howled along. "The moon is on the cleverest bird," sang Tock. Grandma sipped her hot honey drink. It always made her sleepy.
Pip sat down and tried, very slowly. "Sleep, my. What comes next, Tock?" "Little," sang Tock. "Sleep, my little. What comes next, Tock?" "Sock." Pip thought hard. Grandma sang "little one" once a night. Chatter sang "little sock" all day long!
"Tock doesn't know songs," said Pip. "It guesses the next word, from every word it heard!" And it heard Chatter most of all. "So I'll start each line," said Pip. "Tock can guess one word, and Grandma can check it." Grandma nodded.
"Sleep, my little. What comes next, Tock?" "Sock." Grandma shook her head. "ONE," said Pip. Click went a bead. "Sleep, my little one, the moon is on the." "Hill," sang Tock. Grandma nodded. "Yes, Tock!"
At the window, Chatter had stopped singing. She was listening. "The night is soft and." "Still," sang Tock. Grandma nodded, and nodded, and nearly nodded off. "That's the end," yawned Pip. "Isn't it? What comes next, Tock?"
"Goodnight, my little peach," sang Tock. Pip sat right up. She had never heard that line! Grandma's eyes opened, shining. "I sing it every night," she croaked, "after you fall asleep." And every night, Tock had heard it.
"Tock hears everything," said Pip, "even when I'm asleep!" So she told her best secret right into Grandma's ear, very softly. Secrets are for Grandma, not for Tock. Then, out in the frosty pear tree, someone began to hum. It was Chatter, humming Grandma's song.
Tock sang the whole lullaby, every word right. Chatter hummed along softly. Grandma hugged Pip tight. "Goodnight, Tock." "Peach," said Tock. "What comes next, Pip?" croaked Grandma. "Sleep," said Pip, and she did. The first snow began to fall outside.
奶奶的摇篮曲
每天晚上，奶奶都给皮皮唱同一首摇篮曲：“睡吧，睡吧，我的小宝贝，月亮爬上了山，夜里静悄悄。”皮皮总是打着大哈欠问：“后面呢，奶奶？”可是每天晚上，还没唱完，她就睡着了。
可是今天晚上，窗玻璃上结了霜，奶奶感冒了。她张开嘴想唱，只发出吱的一声，像只小老鼠。奶奶的嗓子哑了！皮皮说：“没有你的歌，我睡不着。今天晚上我就要听！”
皮皮说：“嘀嗒每天晚上都听奶奶唱歌！嘀嗒要听我的。嘀嗒，快唱！”嘀嗒的灯亮了。它唱：“睡吧，睡吧，我的小袜子。”“袜子？”皮皮叫起来。奶奶笑得直抖，可是一点声音也没有。
笃笃笃，喳喳站在窗外的窗台上敲玻璃。“那是我的歌！”她嘎嘎地笑，“我对着你的铁皮罐子唱了一个星期。它马上就会唱我所有的歌，整个山谷都会听见。我是山谷里最聪明的鸟！”
皮皮说：“喳喳，请你别唱了，奶奶生病了。”喳喳唱得更响了：“啦啦啦，我的小袜子！”汤圆也跟着嗷呜嗷呜地叫。嘀嗒唱：“月亮爬上了最聪明的鸟。”奶奶喝了一口热蜂蜜水，这水总让她犯困。
皮皮坐下来，慢慢地试：“睡吧，睡吧，我的。嘀嗒，后面呢？”嘀嗒唱：“小。”“我的小。嘀嗒，后面呢？”“袜子。”皮皮想啊想。奶奶一晚上只唱一次“小宝贝”，喳喳却一整天都在唱“小袜子”！
皮皮说：“嘀嗒不会唱歌，它是从听过的所有话里，猜下一个词！”它听得最多的，就是喳喳的歌。“那我来起头，嘀嗒猜一个词，奶奶来检查对不对。”奶奶点了点头。
“我的小。嘀嗒，后面呢？”“袜子。”奶奶摇了摇头。皮皮说：“宝贝！”一颗小珠子咔嗒动了一下。“我的小宝贝，月亮爬上了。”嘀嗒唱：“山。”奶奶点了点头。“对啦，嘀嗒！”
窗外的喳喳不唱了，她在听。“夜里静。”嘀嗒唱：“悄悄。”奶奶点点头，又点点头，头一点一点的，快要睡着了。皮皮打了个哈欠：“唱完了吧？嘀嗒，后面呢？”
嘀嗒唱：“晚安，我的小桃子。”皮皮一下子坐了起来，这一句她从来没听过！奶奶睁开眼睛，眼里亮亮的。她哑着嗓子说：“每天晚上你睡着以后，我都唱这一句。”嘀嗒每天晚上都听见了。
皮皮说：“嘀嗒什么都听得见，我睡着了也听得见！”她凑到奶奶耳边，轻轻地说了最大的秘密。秘密只告诉奶奶，不告诉嘀嗒。窗外的梨树上，有谁轻轻地哼起了歌，是喳喳在哼奶奶的摇篮曲。
嘀嗒唱完了摇篮曲，一个词也没错。喳喳轻轻地跟着哼。奶奶紧紧抱住皮皮。“晚安，嘀嗒。”嘀嗒说：“桃子。”奶奶哑着嗓子问：“后面呢，皮皮？”“睡觉。”皮皮真的睡着了。窗外飘起了第一场雪。