Mr Smith had no money to buy any presents for his children .His wife was ill and he spent a lot of money on her medicine .And the harvest was bad and all his family were going go be hungry the next spring .He was quite worried about it .

　　“We had only a cock ,”said Mrs Smith one day .“You’d better take it to the town .Sell it there and buy some cakes and sweets for our children .”

　　“It’s a good idea !”the man said and caught the cock the next morning and put it into a box .It was difficult to walk on the road covered with thick snow .

　　Two hours later he was very tied and wanted to have a rest .He put the box to the ground and sat down .

　　“The air in the box must be close ,”the man said to himself .“I’d better let the cock walk outside for a while ,or it’ll die .”

　　So he put the cock to the ground .When he started again ,he couldn’t catch it any longer .

　　“How foolish you are !”Mr Smith called out angrily .“You can herald the break of day at night but you cann’t find the way to the town in the daytime !”

　　圣诞节马上来了。

　　史密斯先生却没有钱为他的孩子买礼物。他的妻子病了为了给他的妻子卖药史密斯先生花了很多钱。而他的收入却少得可怜，他们一大家子人下个春季都要挨饿。他为此非常着急。

　　有一天史密斯夫人说到：“我们只有一只小鸡。你最好带着他去镇上，卖了它然后为我们的孩子买一些蛋糕和糖果。”

　　“这是个好主意。”男人说道，然后第二天早晨他抓了那只小鸡把它丢尽一个箱子。路上覆盖着厚厚的积雪很难行走。

　　两个小时以后，他感觉非常的泪想休息一下。他把箱子放到地上坐下来。

　　“箱子里空气肯定很封闭”这个男人自言自语。“我最好让小鸡出来溜达一会儿，否则它会死掉的。”

　　因此他把小鸡放到地上。当他准备要走的时候，这个男人却再也没办法抓住这只小鸡。

　　史密斯先生大声生气的说：“你真是太愚蠢了!你能在夜晚预知黎明什么时候到来，大白天的却找不到去镇上的路!”