After dinner Mother walked down the beach to hunt for shells. Sally and Nan stayed by the fire, looking at the smoke and flames.
晚饭后，妈妈沿着沙滩寻找贝壳。莎莉和南留在火边，看着烟和火焰。
Sally went near the fire to throw on more wood. Suddenly her dress caught fire. She began to scream.
莎莉走到火边，想再添些木柴。突然，她的衣服着火了，她开始尖叫
Nan was frightened, too, but she did not scream. She remembered that sand would put out fire.
南也吓坏了，但她没有尖叫。她记得沙子会熄灭火。
Nan pushed Sally down on the beach and piled sand on her burning dress. Sally wanted to run to Mother, but Nan said, "No, no, Sally! If you run, the fire will burn faster."
南把莎莉推倒在沙滩上，把沙子堆在她燃烧的衣服上。莎莉想跑向妈妈，但南说：“别跑，莎莉，别跑！你一跑，火就烧得更快了。”
She piled on more and more sand until her sister was almost covered.
她堆得沙子越来越多，快把她妹妹盖住了。
Mother heard Sally scream and came running back. When she got there, Nan had put out the fire in Sally's dress.
母亲听到莎莉的尖叫声跑了回来。她回到那儿时，南已经把莎莉衣服上的火扑灭了。
Though Sally was not hurt at all, she cried because the fire had burned a big hole in her new dress.
虽然莎莉一点儿也没受伤，但她哭了，因为火把她的新衣服烧了一个大洞。
Mother kissed her and said, "Don't cry about the dress, dear, I'll make you a new one. I'm glad my girls are safe."
妈妈吻了吻她，说道：“亲爱的，别为衣服哭泣，我会给你做新的。我很高兴我的女儿们平安无事。”
"Now put on your shoes and stockings, and we will cover the fire with sand. But be careful to keep your dresses away from the flames."
“现在穿上你的鞋子和袜子，我们用沙子盖上火。但要小心，别让衣服挨着火焰。”
They put out the fire with sand and left the beach.
她们用沙子把火扑灭，然后离开了沙滩。
When Father came home that evening, they told him what had happened.
当天晚上爸爸回家时，他们把这件事告诉了他。
"I was far down the beach, hunting for shells," said Mother. "I couldn't get there in time, but brave little Nan saved Sally. She poured sand on Sally's dress and put out the fire."
“我在沙滩上走了很远去找贝壳。”妈妈说，“我没能及时回来，但是勇敢的小南救了莎莉。她把沙子倒在萨莉的衣服上，把火扑灭了。”
Father asked, "Nan, how did you know that sand would put out fire?"
爸爸问：“南，你怎么知道沙子能灭火？”
"Mother told us it would," said Nan."She said that a fire would not burn without air. She put a glass jar over a lighted candle, and the flame went out."
“妈妈告诉我们的，”南说，“她说没有空气火就不能燃烧。她把一个玻璃罐放在点燃的蜡烛上，火就熄灭了。”
"But Nan couldn't put the jar over me," said Sally. "I was too big."
“但南没在我身上放罐子，”莎莉说，“我太大了。”
They all laughed happily. Father kissed both girls and said that he was very glad he had a brave girl like Nan.
他们都开心地笑了。爸爸吻了两个女孩，说他很高兴有一个像南这样勇敢的女孩.
