In some parts of Holland the land lies so low, that the people have to build great walls of sand and earth, to keep out the sea.  荷兰的某些地区海拔很低，所以当地居民必须筑高大的沙土墙来抵挡海浪。

　　These walls are called dykes. 这些墙就叫做水利堤防。

　　Sometimes the waves break down these walls, and then the sea rushes in through the breach, and spreads over the land. 有时候海浪会把墙催倒，然后海水肆虐，淹没土地。

　　Houses and trees, cattle and sheep, have thus been washed away, and many people drowned. 房屋树木，牛群羊群都被冲走，很多居民溺亡。

　　Once, when a little boy was going home in the evening, he saw a hole in one of the dykes, through which the water was trickling. 有一次，一个小男孩在晚上回家时看见了防浪堤上的一个洞，海水正顺着洞流入。

　　His father had often told him that when this happened, unless the water was stopped it would soon make the hole so big that the sea would flow over the land. 他的父亲曾告诉他，如果遇到这种情况，除非水不再流入，否则这个小洞会越来越大，直到海水淹没土地。

　　At first, he thought he would run home and tell his father. But then he said to himself,  他的第一反应就是想跑回家告诉父亲。但是他随后自言自语道：

　　"It may be dark before father can come, and we shall not be able to find the hole again.  “等把爸爸找来天已经黑了，到时候就找不到洞口了。

　　Or it may get so large that it will be too late to stop it. I must stay now, and do the best I can alone." 又或者到时候这个洞已经来不及堵上了。我要留下来，尽力堵住这个洞。”

　　The brave little boy sat down, and put his hand in the hole, to keep back the water.  这个勇敢的小男孩坐下来，用手堵住洞口，不让水流入。

　　There he stayed, hour after hour, in the cold and the dark, all through the night! 一个又一个小时过去了，他在那度过了一整个寒冷的黑夜。

　　In the morning, a man came past and saw him. He could not think what the boy was doing there. So he called out to him,— 早晨有个人经过，发现了他。这个人不明白小男孩在干嘛。所以他向小男孩喊道，——

　　"What are you doing there, my boy?" “孩子，你在那里做什么？”

　　"There is a hole in the dyke," said the boy, "and I am keeping back the water." “堤上有个洞，”小男孩答道，“我正用手堵住呢。”

　　Poor little boy! he was so cold and tired that he could scarcely speak. 可怜的小男孩！又冷又累的他几乎说不出话来了。

　　The man came quickly and set him free.  很快，这个人走了过来，让小男孩离开。

　　He got the hole closed up, and thus the land was saved,—thanks to the brave little Hollander! 他堵上了洞口，挽救了这片土地——多亏了这个勇敢的小男孩！