第28章 The New Scales 新天平

"Herbert, will you please peel my orange?" said Lucy. Herbert was reading his new book, but he put it down at once, and took the orange from his little sister.

"Shall I make a pair of scales, Lucy, for you to use when you play store?"

"Oh yes! but how can you do that'!"

"I'll show you. First, we must take the peel off in two little cups, one just as large as the other. While I do this, see if you can find me two nice sticks about ten inches long."

Lucy ran out to the woodhouse to find the sticks.—" Will these do?"

"No, they are too hard. Find some pine sticks if you can."

"Here are some."

"These will do nicely. Now I must make a scale beam and a post. Can you find me a little block for a post, Lucy'!"

"Will a ribbon block do, Herbert?"

"Yes, if it is not too thick."

"Here is one an inch thick."

"That will be just right. Now get the little gimlet."

Herbert worked away until he had made the beam and the post. Then he made a hole in the middle of the block, and put the post in. Next, he put the beam into a little groove at the top of the post, so that it would balance nicely.

"Now, Lucy, we must have a needle and some thread. We must put four threads to each cup; then we will tie the threads to the ends of the beam.

"There, Lucy, what do you think of that?"

"Why, Herbert, that is just as nice as the real scales in father's store; and you may have all my orange for making them."

“赫伯特，请帮我剥一下桔子皮，好吗？”露西说。赫伯特这时正在读一本新书，但他还是立刻放下了手中的书，从妹妹手中接过桔子。

“露西，我给你做一台小天平，在你玩开商店游戏的时候用，怎么样？”

“哦，好的，可你怎么做呢？”

“我会做给你看的。首先，我们得把剥下来的桔子皮做成两个一样大小的小杯。现在我来做，你去看能不能给我找两根大约10英寸长的木棍。”

露西跑到柴房找来了两根木棍，问道：“这些可以吗？”

“不行，它们太硬了。如果可以，最好找一些松树枝来。”

“给你。”

“嗯，很好，现在我要做一个横杆和一个支柱。露西，你能不能给我找一个小木块来做支柱？”

“缠有缎带的木板可以吗，赫伯特？”

“如果不太厚的话当然可以。”

“有一块一英寸厚的木板。”

“刚好，再拿一个螺旋钻给我。”

赫伯特不停地工作着，直到做好了横杆和支柱。然后，他在木板中穿了一个孔，把支柱插了进去。接着，他把横杆插进支柱顶端的一个小沟槽里，这样天平就能很好地保持平衡了。

“露西，现在呢我们需要一根针和一些线。我们必须把每个小杯子用四条线穿起来，在把线系在横杆的末端。”

“完工，露西，你觉得它怎么样？”

“哇哦，天哪，赫伯特，它就跟爸爸商店里的真天平一样。你可以用我所有的桔子皮来做天平了。”