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"So the pot continued its story, and the end was as good as the beginning. "The plates rattled for joy, and the hearth-brush took some green parsley and crowned the pot, for it knew that that would vex the others. 'And if I crown her today,' it thought, 'She will crown me tomorrow.' "'Now I will dance,' said the fire-tongs, and dance it did. How it flung its legs into the air! The old chair-cover in the corner split its sides at the sight. "'Let me be crowned too!' said the fire-tongs, and crowned she was. "'A low lot, a low lot after all!' thought the matches. "And now the teapot was asked to sing , but she protested that she had a cold and could only sing when she was boiling over, but this was pure pretense; she would not sing unless she was on the table with the family. "Right in the window-sill stood an o ld quill pen which the maid-servant used to write with; there was nothing remarkable about it except that it had been dipped a little too deeply into the inkpot, but of that it was proud. 'If the teapot won't sing,' it said, 'she may l eave it alone. Outside there is a nightingalehanging in a cage; it can sing if you like. It is true it hasn't learned anything, but we won't speak ill of it this evening.' "'I consider it very unbecoming that such a foreign bird should be listened to at all,' said the tea-kettle, who was the kitchen songstress and half-sister of the teapot. 'Is it patriotic? That's what I want to know! Let the market-basket decide.' | 「罐子继续说着故事。故事的结尾跟开头一样的好。 「所有的盘子都快乐得喧闹起来。鸡毛撢子从一个陶壶带来一根绿芹菜，把它当成花冠戴在罐子头上。他知道这会使别人讨厌。 『我今天为她戴上花冠，』他想：『她明天也就会为我戴上花冠的。』 「『现在我要跳舞了，』火钳说着，就跳了起来。 天啦！她居然也能翘起一只腿来！ 墙角里的旧椅套也裂开来看她跳舞。 「『也让我戴上花冠吧！』火钳说。果然她得到了一个花冠。 「『一群乌合之众！真是一群乌合之众！』柴火想。 「现在茶壶开始唱起歌来，但是她宣称她感冒了，除非她很激动，否则就不能唱歌了。但这不过是装模作样罢了！除非在主人面前或站在桌子上，她是不愿意唱歌的。 「老鹅毛笔立在窗台上，女佣人常常用他来写字；这支笔并没有什么了不起的地方，他只是经常被深浸在墨水瓶中，但他对于这点却感到非常骄傲。 『如果茶壶不愿意唱，』他说：『那么就随便她。 外边悬挂的笼子里有一只夜莺，她的歌唱得很好听。 她没有受过任何教育，不过我们今晚可以不提这件事情。』 「『我认为，』茶壶说：『她是厨房里的歌手，同时也是茶壶的异母姊妹，我们要听这样一只外国鸟唱歌是非常不对的。 这算是爱国吗？ 这是我想知道的。 让菜篮来评理一下吧！』 |
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