For this work he used smooth pieces of wood, on which he carved little pictures of animals and flowers. 这份工作需要使用光滑的木材，并在上面刻上动物和花朵的图案。

Franz was not old enough to carve the pictures, but he could make the pieces of wood smooth by rubbing them with sand. 弗朗茨还有点小，没法进行雕刻工作，但他能用沙子将木块打磨光滑。

Very happily the boy worked, for he was thinking all the time about the present his mother was going to send him from the city. 他做得很开心，因为他一直在想妈妈要从城市里给他寄来的礼物。

"I wonder what the gift will be," he said over and over again to his grandfather. 我好想知道会是什么礼物，他一遍又一遍的跟祖父说。

All day they took turns guessing, until it was time to feed the chickens for the night. 每天他俩轮流猜，一直猜到晚上喂小鸡的时候。

A week later, the man who had driven John and his mother to the city stopped at their door. 一周后送约翰和他妈妈去城市的人又把车停在了他们家门前。

Franz ran out to get his gift. 弗朗茨跑了出来，拿到了给他的礼物。

"Oh, it must be something wonderful," he said to his grandfather. "See, it is a very large package." 哦，这一定是很好的东西，看看多大的一个包裹啊！他对祖父说道。

But when he opened the package, he did not think the present wonderful at all. 但当他打开包裹的时候，根本不觉得这件礼物有多神奇。

It was a blue velvet coat, trimmed with shining buttons. 它是一件蓝色的天鹅绒外套，镶着闪闪发光的纽扣。

All the other mountain boys had coats just like it. 山里其他的男孩也都有这样的一件外套。

When Franz put the coat on, he found in one of the pockets a beautiful new knife. 但当弗朗茨穿上外套的时候，他发现一个口袋里有一把漂亮的小刀。