Chapter I
THE STRANGE BABY

Mr. Little 1 and his family lived
in New York City. 2 Mr. Little worked in an office. His wife,
Mrs. 3 Little, took care of the house. 4 She
was a kind woman and liked animals. She kept a white cat called Snowball.
5 She also liked to play the piano. Mr. and Mrs. Little had a
son called George, 6 who went to school and liked to play
ping-pong. In every way 7 it was quite a usual family. But
one day something very unusual happened to them, and that was when Mrs.
Little's second son was born.
When he was born, everybody saw that he was no
bigger than a mouse. The baby looked very much like 8 a mouse
in every way. He was only two inches high, 9 he had a sharp
nose, a long tail and whiskers. Before he was many days old 10
he began to walk, just like a mouse. Mr. and Mrs. Little called him Stuart,
and made him a bed out of a cigarette box.
Mrs.
Little saw at once that baby clothes were not good for Stuart. So she made him
a fine blue suit with a pocket in which he could keep his handkerchief. She
also gave him a grey hat and a small stick.
Very soon Stuart could not only walk, but also run,
jump and climb lamps by the cord. 11 And that even before he
was a month old!
When Stuart was a month old he was still so small
and light that his mother sent for the doctor. The doctor liked Stuart very
much and said that it was very unusual for an American family to have a mouse.
He took 12 Stuart's temperature and found that it was normal
for a mouse. He listened to his heart and looked into his ears. Everything was
all right, and Mrs. Little was very glad to hear it.
"Feed him up!" 13 said the doctor
and went away.
1 Mr. Little —мистер Литл (Mr. —
сокр. от mister)
2 New York City - город Нью-Йорк (американцы
обычно добавляют слово City, чтобы отличить город Нью-Йорк от штата Нью-Йорк)
3 Mrs. (сокр. от mistress) — миссис
4 took care of the house — вела
хозяйство
5 called Snowball — по кличке
Снежок
6 George — Джордж
7 In every way - Во всех отношениях
8 looked very much like — был очень
похож
9 two inches high - ростом в два
дюйма (около 5 см)
10 Before he was many days old —
He успело ему исполниться несколько дней
11 by the cord — по шнуру
12 took — зд. измерил
13 Feed him up! — Подкормите его!