第18章 Patty and the Squirrel 芭迪和松鼠

Little Patty lives in a log house near a great forest. She has no sisters, and her big brothers are away all day helping their father.

But Patty is never lonely; for, though the nearest house is miles away, she has many little friends. Here are two of them that live in the woods.

But how did Patty teach them to be so tame? Patty came to the woods often, and was always so quiet and gentle that the squirrels soon found they need not be afraid of her.

She brought her bread and milk to eat under the trees, and was sure to leave crumbs for the squirrels.

When they came near, she sat very still and watched them. So, little by little, she made them her friends, till, at last, they would sit on her shoulder, and eat from her hand.

Squirrels build for themselves summer houses. Those are made of leaves, and sticks, and moss. They are nice and cool for summer, but would never do for the winter cold and snow.

So these wise little people find a hollow in an old tree. They make it warm and snug with soft moss and leaves; and here the squirrels live all through the long winter.

小芭迪住在靠近一片大森林的一座伐木做的小房子里。她没有姐妹，并且她较大的哥哥们整天在外面帮助父亲干活。

尽管离他们家最近的房子有几英里远，但是芭迪从来没有孤单过，因为她有好多小伙伴。其中有两个小伙伴就住在森林里。

但是芭迪是如何把它们驯服的呢？芭迪经常来到森林里，安静并且有礼貌，这样小松鼠很快发现它们不用害怕她。

她把她的面包和牛奶带来树下吃，并且确定给松鼠们留下面包屑。

当它们靠近的时候，她会安安静静地坐着，并且看着它们。因此慢慢地，她把它们变成了她的朋友，到最后，它们会坐在她的肩膀上，从她手上吃面包。

松鼠为它们自己建造夏天的房子。这些房子是由树叶、砖块和苔藓建成的。他们冬暖夏凉，住着非常舒服。

因此这些聪明的小家伙们在一棵老树上看到一个空洞，它们会用松软的苔藓和树叶让它变得暖和、舒服；这是松鼠一整个冬天居住的地方。