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'I can't take that,'she said. ' It's not modern English money. '
“我不要那个。”她说，“这不是现行的英国货币。”
They went from shop to shop, but no one wanted to take their gold. ' It's because our hands are dirty and we look untidy. People think we've stolen the gold,'Anthea said.
他们去了一个又一个商店，可是没有人要他们的金子。“这是因为我们的手脏，我们自己看起来也不整洁。人们认为这金子是我们偷的。”安西娅说。
And it was worse when they tried to buy a horse and car-riage. Cyril showed the man his gold, and the man called to his son, 'Send for the police!'
当他们试图买一辆马套四轮马车时，事情就更糟了。西里尔把他的金币给那人看，那人朝他的儿子喊：“叫警察来！”
' It's our money,' said Cyril angrily. 'We're not thieves. '
“这是我们的钱，”西里尔气愤地说，“我们不是贼。”
' Where did you get it from then?' said the man.
“那你从什么地方搞到它的？”那人说。
' A sand-fairy gave it to us,'said Jane. ' He gives us a wish a day and they all come true. '
“一个沙精给我们的。”简说，“他每天为我们实现一个愿望，而且都实现了。”
The man shook his head slowly. ' Oh dear, oh dear,'he said. 'Stealing, and then telling stories about it. '
那人慢慢地摇摇头。“天啊，天啊，”他说，“偷东西，然后又编故事。”
Just then a policeman arrived and when he heard about the gold, he said to the four children, 'Come with me. I'm taking you to the police station!'
这时警察来了，听了金币的事他对这四个孩子说：“跟我走。我带你们去警察局！”
The children were angry and unhappy, but the policeman walked along the road behind them and they couldn't escape. They held their heads down because they did not want anyone to see them, and suddenly Robert ran into someone. ' Robert,what have you done now?' a voice cried . It was Martha and Baby!
孩子们很生气，很不快。可是警察沿路跟在他们后边，他们逃跑不了。他们低着头，因为不愿让别人看到。突然罗伯特撞到了人身上。“罗伯特，你们干什么去了？”一个声音喊道。原来是马莎和小弟弟！
The policeman explained everything to Martha, and Cyril had to take the gold out of his pocket and show it to her.
警察对马莎解释了这一切。西里尔只得从兜里拿出金子给她看。
' I can't see anything—just two very dirty hands,' she said. ' There's no gold there. What are you talking about?'
“我什么也没看见——只是两只脏手。”她说，“没有金子。你在说些什么呀？”
And then the children remembered that Martha couldn't see the wishes.
于是孩子们记起马莎是看不出这些许愿的事的。
It was getting dark when they arrived at the police station. The policeman explained about the gold and the Inspector said, ' Well, let's see it. '
到警察局时，天快黑了。警察解释了金子的事，巡长说：“好吧，让我们看看。”
Cyril put his hands into his pockets--but they were empty! The others put their hands into their pockets. They were empty, too! Of course, all the fairy gold went when the sun went down!
西里尔把手伸进兜里——可兜里是空的！其他孩子把手伸进兜里，也都是空的！当然了，太阳一落下山去所有这些变出来的金币就没有了！
' How did they do that?' cried the policeman.
“他们是怎么搞的？”那警察叫起来。
Martha was very angry with him. ' I told you that there wasn't any gold,'she shouted. ' You'll be in trouble for this. Saying that these poor little children are thieves!'
马莎很生他的气。“我告诉过你没有什么金子。”她喊道，“你会为此触霉头的。竟然说这些可怜的小孩子是小偷！”
But she was very angry with the children too. ' What were you doing in town alone?'she said to them outside the police station.
可她也很生孩子们的气。“你们自己在城里干什么呢？”在警察局外她对他们说。
And she took them home and sent them to bed early.
她把孩子们带回家，早早地就叫他们睡觉了。
