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？

冶瓦萊麗很擔(dān)心她的爸爸。有一段時(shí)間，她注意到他的頭頂正在變禿。似乎每次看他的時(shí)候，他的頭發(fā)都比以前少了。一天，她鼓起勇氣問她爸爸：“爸爸，你的頭發(fā)一天比一天少了。這是為什么呢？”

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！

她的爸爸笑著說：“是因?yàn)橥蛋l(fā)賊呀。這附近有個(gè)小偷，他會(huì)趁我晚上睡覺的時(shí)候造訪我的頭頂。他把我的頭發(fā)一根一根地拔掉，想拔多少就拔多少。并且我們沒有辦法抓住他！”

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.

這讓瓦萊麗很擔(dān)心，但她決心幫助她爸爸。就在那天晚上，她盡可能長(zhǎng)時(shí)間地保持清醒。她一聽到爸爸的鼾聲，就拿起玩具錘子直奔父母的臥室。她躡手躡腳地走了進(jìn)去，小心翼翼地不發(fā)出一點(diǎn)聲音。她不想讓偷發(fā)賊聽到。當(dāng)她來到爸爸身邊時(shí)，她開始警惕地檢查他的頭，決心等偷發(fā)賊一露面就抓住他。不一會(huì)兒，她看到爸爸頭上有個(gè)陰影，她用盡全身力氣，把玩具錘子敲了下去。

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.

砰地一聲，她的爸爸發(fā)出一聲刺耳的尖叫，直接從床上跳了起來。他頭上已經(jīng)起了一個(gè)很大的包，而且還在變大。他嚇得渾身發(fā)抖，打開燈，看見瓦萊麗在空中揮舞著她的玩具錘子。

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

“我差點(diǎn)就打中他了，爸爸！我以為我打到他了，但看起來他逃走了！”

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

與此同時(shí)，所有的騷動(dòng)吵醒了瓦萊麗的媽媽。看到丈夫頭上的腫塊，她突然大笑起來。

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

“哼，這就是你講愚蠢故事的下場(chǎng)?！彼f。她忍不住哈哈大笑。

So Valerie's father had to explain to his daughter that the hair thief didn爺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.

瓦萊麗的爸爸不得不向女兒解釋偷發(fā)賊根本不存在，禿頂是發(fā)生在大多數(shù)爸爸身上的自然現(xiàn)象。他坐在那里，頭頂著大包，意識(shí)到不要給孩子講夸張的故事是多么重要。瓦萊麗仍然擔(dān)心她的爸爸，但她不再埋伏著等那個(gè)偷發(fā)賊出現(xiàn)了，而是給她爸爸買了一頂非常漂亮的睡帽。

（英語原文選自：kidsworldfun.com）

▏Notes

1. bald. 禿頂?shù)模欢d頭的

2. boldly. 大膽地

3. pilferer. 小偷

4. snuffle. 抽鼻子；哧哧地嗅

5. snore. 打鼾；打呼嚕

6. grab. 抓住

7. hammer. 錘子；榔頭

8. tiptoe. 踮著腳走；躡手躡腳地走

9. shadow."陰影；影子

10. lump. 塊；腫塊；隆起

11. wave. 揮舞，揮動(dòng)（手中之物）