One fine morning in the month of May Stuart was three years old, he arose early as was his custom, washed and dressed himself, took his hat and cane, and went downstairs into the living room to see what was doing. Nobody was around but Snowbell, the white cat belonging to Mrs. Little. Snowbell was another early riser, and this morning he was lying on the rug in the middle of the room, thinking about the days when he was just a kitten.
五月的一个晴好的早晨，已经三岁大的斯图亚特又像往常一样早早的起来，为自己洗了衣服，又戴上帽子，拿起他的手杖，跑到楼下的起居室去看别人在干什么。当时除了雪球没人在场——他是利特尔太太养的一只白猫。雪球也喜欢早起，那天早上他正躺在房间中央的地毯上，回想着自己小时候的那些日子。
"Hello," replied Snowbell, sharply. "You're up early, aren't you?"
“你好，”雪球尖声回答。“你起得很早呀，不是吗？”
"Good morning," said Stuart.
“早上好，”斯图亚特说。
Stuart looked at his watch. "Yes," he said, "it's only five minutes past six, but I felt good and I thought I'd come down and get a little exercise."
斯图亚特看看他的手表。“是的，”他说，“现在刚刚六点过五分，可是我感觉睡够了，就想下来做一个小小的锻炼了。”
"I should think you'd get all the exercise you want up there in the bathroom, banging around, waking all the rest of us up trying to get that water started so you can brush your teeth. Your teeth aren't really big enough to brush anyway. Want to see a good set? Look at mine!" Snowbell opened his mouth and showed two rows of gleaming white teeth, sharp as needles.
“我想你喜欢在浴室里做你的那些锻炼，还喜欢到处敲来敲去的，把我们其他人都吵醒，只为打开水龙头刷你的牙。你的牙那么小，根本不值得去刷。想看一口真正的好牙吗？看我！”雪球张开他的嘴，露出两排闪着亮光的，像针一样尖的白牙。
"I bet they're not," said the cat.
“我敢打赌，不是这样，”那只猫说。
"I bet they are," said Stuart. "They're like iron bands."
“我敢打赌，就是这样，”斯图亚特说。“它们就像铁一样结实。”
"Very nice," said Stuart. "But mine are all right, too, even though they're small. As for exercise, I take all I can get. I bet my stomach muscles are firmer than yours."
“很不错，”斯图亚特说。“但是我的牙也很好，尽管它们很小。至于锻炼嘛，我倒是一直在坚持做我能做的所有锻炼。所以我敢打赌，我的腹肌一定比你的更结实。”
Stuart glanced around the room to see what he could do to prove to Snowbell what good stomach muscles he had. He spied the drawn window shade on the east window, with its shade cord and ring, like a trapeze, and it gave him an idea. Climbing to the window sill he took off his hat and laid down his cane.
斯图亚特在房间里搜寻了一下，想找个能向雪球证明他有更结实的腹肌的方法。他瞥见了东边的窗帘，发现那系着圆环的窗帘绳就像一种秋千一样，便有了一个主意。于是他爬上窗台，脱下他的帽子，放下他的手杖。
"I bet they're not," said the cat.
“我敢打赌，不是这样，”那只猫说。
"Holy mackerel!" said Snowbell, who was almost as surprised as Stuart Little. "I guess that will teach him to show off his muscles."
“多么可怕的龙卷风！”雪球说着，吃惊地看着斯图亚特·利特尔。“我想那会让他明白，炫耀他的肌肉的后果是什么。”
A surprising thing happened. Stuart had taken such a hard jump that it started the shade: with a loud snap the shade flew up clear to the top of the window, dragging Stuart along with it and rolling him up inside, so that he couldn't budge.
一件令人吃惊的事情发生了。由于斯图亚特跳得过猛，所以随着一声炸响，窗帘摆到了窗子的最上面，把斯图亚特也卷了进去，裹在里面动也不能动了。
"You can't do this," he said to the cat. And he ran and jumped onto the ring, the way acrobats do in a circus, meaning to pull himself up.
“你做不了这个，”他对那只猫说着，跑过去跳上那圆环，就像在杂技场里的艺人一样，抓着圆环往前荡。
"What has?" asked her husband.
“发生什么事了？”她的丈夫问。
When Mrs. Little came down later and found them there, she gave a shrill scream which brought everybody on the run.
当利特尔太太后来走过来发现了它们的时候，她发出了一声尖叫，把每个人都吓得跑过来看。
"It's happened," she cried.
“这事儿发生了，”她叫。
"Help! Let me out!" cried Stuart, who was frightened and bruised inside the rolled-up shade, and who could hardly breathe. But his voice was so weak that nobody heard. Snowbell just chuckled. He was not fond of Stuart and it didn't bother him at all that Stuart was all wrapped up in a window shade, crying and hurt and unable to get out. Instead of running upstairs and telling Mr. and Mrs. Little about the accident, Snowbell did a very curious thing. He glanced around to see if anybody was looking, then he leapt softly to the window sill, picked up Stuart's hat and cane in his mouth, carried them to the pantry and laid them down at the entrance to the mousehole.
“救我！让我出去！”被窗帘打青的，几乎不能呼吸的斯图亚特害怕地叫起来。可是他的声音太小了，没有人能听到。雪球只是在喵喵地笑。他不喜欢斯图亚特，所以当看到被卷到窗帘里出不去的受伤的斯图亚特哭叫着的样子，他一点儿也不着急。雪球并没有跑上楼去把这个事故告诉利特尔先生和太太，而是做了一件很奇怪的事。他先往左右瞅瞅是否有人在看，然后便无声地跳上了窗台，咬起斯图亚特的帽子和手杖，把它们衔到食品贮藏室里的老鼠洞入口。
"Stuart's down the mousehole."
“斯图亚特进了这个老鼠洞。”