John, Tom, and Sally were visiting Grandmother and Grandfather at the farm. 约翰、汤姆和莎莉正在农场看望外婆和外公。

　　One day when the postman came down the road, he brought the children a letter from their mother. 有一天，邮递员来了，他给孩子们带来了一封母亲的信。

　　Sally read the letter. "Oh, listen," she cried. "Mother is coming! She will be here Saturday afternoon." 莎莉读信。“噢，听着，”她叫道，“妈妈要来了！她星期六下午到。”

　　"Let's do something to surprise her," said Grandmother. "Can you think of something she would like?" “我们给她准备些惊喜，”外婆说，“你们想想她喜欢什么？”

　　"I know something mother likes," said Tom. "She likes gingerbread with good, fresh butter on it. We all like it, too." “我知道妈妈喜欢的东西，”汤姆说，“她喜欢上面有新鲜黄油的姜饼，我们也都喜欢吃。”

　　"Yes!" cried Sally. "Let's make some gingerbread when mother comes." “太好了！我们在妈妈来时给她制作姜饼吧。”莎莉说道。

　　Grandmother said, "I'll show you how to make gingerbread, and Grandfather will get the butter in town Friday." 外婆说：“我来告诉你们怎么做姜饼，让外公星期五在城里买黄油。”

　　"Oh, Grandmother," said Tom, "Let us children make the butter in your old churn that is down in the cellar." 汤姆说：“不，外婆，让我们用你地窖里的旧搅拌器制作黄油吧。”

　　Grandmother thought for a minute. 外婆想了一会儿。

　　"You can try," she said. "We must have sour cream to make butter. 她说：“你们可以试试。我们必须有做黄油的酸奶。

　　We will save the cream from the milk that the cows give tonight. 我们在今晚挤奶时从牛奶里留一些奶油，

　　It will be sour enough to churn by Saturday morning." 它在星期六早上搅拌时应该够酸了。”

　　"Won't that be fun!" cried Sally. “太有趣了！”莎莉喊道。

　　"It will be hard work," said Tom, "but each of us can do part of it." “这将是一份艰巨的工作，”汤姆说，“但我们可以每人做一部分。”

　　When Grandfather milked the cows that evening, the children helped him carry the milk from the barn to the house. 当天晚上，外公挤牛奶时，孩子们帮他把牛奶从畜棚拿到了房子里。

　　Then Grandmother put the milk into big pans. 然后外婆把牛奶放进大锅里。

　　Saturday morning every pan had thick, sour cream on top. The children took off the cream and put it into the churn. 星期六早上，每个大锅上都有厚厚的酸奶。孩子们把它们拿出来放到搅拌器里。

　　"Now who will churn first?" asked Grandmother. “现在谁第一个搅拌？”外婆问。

　　"Let Sally try it," said Tom. So Sally began to churn. “让莎莉试试吧，”汤姆说。于是莎莉开始搅拌。

　　At first it was easy. Up and down went her arms. 起先，工作很容易。她的手臂上下挥动着。

　　In a short time Sally became tired, but she kept on working. 很快她就累了，但她继续坚持。

　　She made up this little song "Oh, the cream to butter turns. As it churns, churns, churns." 她编了一首小曲“噢，它转啊转啊转，奶油变黄油。”

　　"Let me churn now." said John. “现在让我搅拌吧。”约翰说。

　　John was too short to reach the churn. So Tom got a box for him to stand on. 约翰太矮了，够不到搅拌器。于是汤姆给他拿了个箱子，让他站在上面。

　　When John began to churn, he made up a song, too. 约翰开始搅拌，他也编了一首歌。

　　He sang, "It will turn, turn, turn. As I churn, churn, churn." 他唱到：“我转啊转，它变呀变。”

　　Soon Grandmother said, "John, your arms must be tired. Who is next?" 不久，外婆说：“约翰，你的胳膊一定累了。谁下一个试试？”

　　Tom took his place at the churn and worked with all his might. 汤姆代替他站到搅拌器旁，用他所有的力气工作。

　　He made up a song like this, "Hurry, hurry, little churn. And the cream to butter turn.' 他编了这样一首曲子：“快点，快点，小搅拌器。快把奶油变成黄油吧。”

　　By and by Grandmother opened the churn and showed the children little pieces of butter. 不久以后，外婆打开搅拌器，给孩子们看小块黄油。

　　"The butter is coming," she said. "Now churn very slowly." “黄油正在形成，”她说，“现在慢慢地搅。”

　　Soon all the butter was in a few big pieces. 不久所有黄油都成了几个大块儿。

　　Grandmother took it out of the churn and put it into a big bowl. 外婆把它们拿出来放到大碗里。

　　Then she poured cold water over the butter and showed the children how to wash the buttermilk out of it. 随后她在黄油上浇冷水，给孩子们看如何洗掉酪乳。

　　"When mother comes," said Tom, "we will ask her to guess what we made for her supper." “当妈妈到时，”汤姆说，“我们让她猜猜给她制作了什么晚餐！”

　　Next, the children helped Grandmother make the gingerbread. 随后，孩子们帮外婆制作姜饼。

　　They had just taken it from the oven when Grandfather called, "It's time to meet mother." 他们刚把它从烤箱中拿出来，外公就说“妈妈到了。”

　　At supper time Sally brought in the gingerbread. 晚饭时，莎莉把姜饼拿进来。

　　Then John carried in a dish with a cover on it. 约翰拿了一个有盖的盘子。

　　"Now, mother," he said, "you must guess what else we made to surprise you. It is in this dish." 他说：“现在，妈妈，你必须猜猜我们还为你准备了什么惊喜。它就在盘子里。”

　　"It is yellow as gold," said Sally. 莎莉说：“它黄如金子。”

　　"It is good on gingerbread." said Tom. 汤姆说：“它放在姜饼上很好吃。”

　　"The cows helped make it." said John. 约翰说：“奶牛能帮忙做它。”

　　Mother laughed. "That's easy enough," she said. "It's butter. But how did you children make butter?" 妈妈笑了。她说：“这很简单，是黄油。但你们怎么做的？”

　　Then they told her how they had made the butter in Grandmother's old churn. 于是他们告诉她自己是如何在外婆的旧搅拌器里制作黄油的。

　　Mother said with a smile, "I learned to make butter in that old churn when I was a little girl." 妈妈笑着说：“我在小的时候，就是用那个旧搅拌器学会制作黄油的。”