It was Mary’s birthday. She received a letter from her uncle
who was a farmer.
  “Dear Mary,” the letter said. “Happy Birthday. I am sending
you some chickens. They will arrive tomorrow. I hope you like
them. Best wishes, Uncle Toby.”
  Mary was very pleased. She liked eating eggs and she
liked eating chicken. “I can keep the chickens for their eggs or
eat them,” she thought.
  When the chickens arrived the next day, they were in a box.
  Mary was very excited. She took the box off the back of thetruck and began to

carry it back to her house.
  However, the box of chickens was heavy and she dropped
it. The box fell to the ground and broke. The chickens all ran out.
  They ran everywhere—into neighbors’ gardens, into the
road, into shops, even into the next street. Mary spent hours
trying to find them and take them back to her garden.
  A few days later her uncle came to visit her.
  “Did the chickens arrive safely?” he asked Mary.
  “Yes, Uncle Toby,” Mary said. “But I had a lot of trouble with
them. I dropped the box. It broke open and the chickens ran
everywhere. I spent the whole morning looking for them.”
  “Did you find them all?” her uncle asked.
  “I hope so,” Mary replied. “I caught eleven of them.”
  “That’s very interesting,” her uncle said with a smile,
  “because I only sent you six.”

               数　小　鸡
  今天是玛丽的生日。她收到了来自农场叔叔的一封信。
  “亲爱的玛丽，”叔叔在信中写道，“生日快乐！我送你一些小鸡作为
礼物。明天就会送到你手里，希望你喜欢。美好的祝愿！叔叔托比。”
  玛丽非常高兴，因为她很喜欢吃鸡蛋和鸡肉。她想：“我可以养着这些
小鸡，让它们下蛋，然后吃肉。”
  第二天，小鸡被送到玛丽手里，它们都被装在盒子里。
  玛丽非常激动，她从卡车上取下盒子，向屋里走去。
  但盒子太重了，一不小心就从玛丽的手里掉了下去。盒子掉在地上摔破
了，小鸡一下子跑开了。
  小鸡跑得到处都是，有的跑进了邻居的花园，有的跑上了马路，跑进了
商店，有的甚至跑向了邻街。玛丽花了好几个小时才把这些小鸡找回来，把
它们带回了花园。
  几天后，叔叔来看她。
  “小鸡都安全到达了吧？”叔叔问玛丽。
  “是的，托比叔叔。”玛丽说，“可这些小鸡给我带来了不少麻烦。我
不小心把盒子摔破了，小鸡跑得到处都是。我花了整个早晨才把它们找回
来。”
  “都找到了吗？”叔叔问道。
  “希望如此。”玛丽回答道，“我一共找回11只。”
  “那可真有趣！”叔叔笑着说，“我只送给你6只啊。”