火和热水

　　Mr. Brown was busy writing letters in his room when his servant, a very stupid boy, rushed into his master's room and shouted. “Fire! Fire! The kitchen is on fire!”

　　布朗先生正在房间里忙着写信，这时，他的仆人——一个笨小子，冲进主人房间，喊道：“失火了！失火了！厨房失火了！”

　　Mr. Brown got up quickly, and he and the boy ran as fast as they could to the kitchen.

　　布朗先生立刻站起来，和仆人飞快地跑到厨房那儿。

　　“Look there,” shouted the boy, pointing to the leaping flames. He had carelessly left some dry wood near the fire and this was a light and blazing hard. Mr. Brown saw a big pot of boiling water on the top of the stove. “You silly fellow,” he said, “Why didn't you throw that on the burning wood? That would have put it out quickly.”

　　“看那里。”男孩指着跳动的火焰喊道。由于他粗心大意，把一些干柴放在火边。干柴很容易着火，越烧越旺。布朗先生看到炉子上放着一大锅开水，就说道：“你个笨蛋！你怎么不往着火的木柴上浇水呢？那样子火很快就灭了！”

　　“Oh, no,” said the boy slowly. “That water would be useless. It is hot water!”

　　“哦，不，”男孩慢吞吞地说，“那水没用。那是热水！”