Once a little old woman was baking cakes. 从前，有一位老婆婆在烤蛋糕。

　　She was wearing a black dress and a small white apron. On her head was a red cap. 她穿着一件黑色连衣裙，围着白色小围裙，头上戴着一顶小红帽。

　　A poor old man came to her kitchen door and said, 一个可怜的老人来到她的厨房门口说：

　　"I am hungry, good woman. Please give me one of your cakes." “大善人，我很饿。请给我一块蛋糕吧。”

　　The old woman said, "These cakes are too large to give away. 老婆婆说：“这些蛋糕太大了，不能送给你，

　　I will bake you a little cake. That will be plenty for you." 我给你烤个小蛋糕。那也够你吃了。”

　　So she made a very small cake. She rolled it and rolled it. 于是她做了一个非常小的蛋糕。她把它辗啊辗，

　　Then she patted it and patted it and put it into the oven. 然后拍了又拍，随后放进烤箱里。

　　But the cake began to grow bigger and bigger. 但蛋糕开始变得越来越大。

　　"I will keep this cake," said the old woman. “我要留下这块蛋糕，”老婆婆说，

　　"It is too big to give away." So she kept the cake for herself. “它太大了，不能给出去。”于是她自己留下了蛋糕。

　　Then she made a tiny little cake. 随后她做了一块更小的蛋糕。

　　She rolled it and rolled it and patted it and patted it until it was very thin. 她辗了又辗，拍了又拍，直到它变得非常薄为止。

　　"This will be large enough for you," she said, as she put it into the oven. “这对你来说足够大了。”她在把蛋糕放进烤箱时说。

　　But it began to grow bigger, too. 但蛋糕又开始变大。

　　"I will not give you this cake," said the old woman. “我不会给你这块蛋糕，”老婆婆说，

　　"I want it myself. It is much too big for a fellow like you." “我想自己留着，把它给你这样的家伙显得太多了。”

　　So she kept that cake for herself. 于是她把那块蛋糕留给了自己。

　　She tried again. This time she made a tiny flat cake as small as a bean. 她又开始尝试，这次她做了一个小得像豆子一样的扁平蛋糕。

　　But that cake began to grow, too. It grew bigger and bigger and bigger. 但蛋糕又开始变大。它变得越来越大，越来越大。

　　"I will not give you a cake at all," said the old woman. “我根本不会给你蛋糕，”老婆婆说，

　　"These cakes are too big to give away. I want to eat them myself." “这些蛋糕太大了，不能给你。我要自己吃。”

　　So the poor old man went away hungry. 于是那个可怜的老人饿着离开了。

　　The old woman swept her kitchen and sat down alone to eat the cakes. 老婆婆打扫了厨房，独自坐下来吃蛋糕。

　　Now comes the strangest part of this story. 现在到了故事最离奇的部分。

　　As the old woman was eating, she began to grow smaller and smaller. 老婆婆在吃蛋糕时，开始变得越来越小。

　　Her nose became a sharp bill. 她的鼻子变成了尖嘴。

　　She looked at her arms and saw that they had been changed to black wings. 她看了看手臂，发现它们已经变成了黑色的翅膀。

　　And her feet were sharp claws. 而且她的脚变成了锋利的爪子。

　　She was still wearing the black dress and white apron and red cap. But they were all feathers! 她仍穿着那件黑裙子、围着白围裙，戴着红帽子。但它们都变成了羽毛！

　　She had been changed into a bird. 她变成了一只鸟。

　　Perhaps you will see this little old woman some day. 也许有一天你会看到这个老婆婆。

　　She hops up and down trees, hunting for bugs and worms. 她在树上跳来跳去，寻找虫子吃。

　　You will know her when you see her. You will say, 你见到她时就会认出她。你会说：

　　"There is the black dress and the little white apron that she was wearing in her kitchen. On her head is the red cap, too." “这是她在厨房里穿得黑色连衣裙，围得白色小围裙。她的头上也顶着红帽子。”

　　For people say that the old woman who would not give away even one tiny cake was changed into a woodpecker. 人们说，即使是一块小蛋糕也不给的老婆婆变成了啄木鸟。