The Creature Constitution

The Creature Constitution. Written by Torin Anderson. Illustrated by Chris Baldwin.

《小动物宪法》。作者：托林·安德森。绘者：克里斯·鲍德温。

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1786. None of the creatures in Independence Hall were able to sleep. Every night the mice in the basement ran through the spiders' webs. Then the spiders chased the mice. The crickets in the closets chirped all night. In the morning, the pigeons in the clock tower started singing. All the animals that lived in the building were tired and miserable.

1786年，费城独立厅。 独立厅里的所有小动物都睡不着觉。 每天晚上，地下室的老鼠都会撞破蜘蛛的网。 然后蜘蛛就会追着老鼠跑。 壁橱里的蟋蟀整夜叽叽喳喳叫。 到了早上，钟楼里的鸽子就开始咕咕唱歌。 住在这栋楼里的所有动物都又累又不开心。

Maddie had the largest ears of any mouse in Independence Hall, and she heard everything. She worried that no one would ever have a good night's sleep.

麦迪是独立厅里耳朵最大的老鼠，什么声音都逃不过她的耳朵。 她很担心，大家永远都没法睡个安稳觉了。

One morning she heard humans discussing something that sounded important. Maddie sneaked into the room and listened as they argued about needing a constitution. They needed some rules that everyone in the country would follow. The rules would bring the separate parts of the country together.

一天早上，她听见人类在讨论什么很重要的事。 麦迪偷偷溜进房间里，听见他们在争论说需要一部宪法。 他们需要一套所有人都要遵守的规则。 这些规则能把国家里各个分散的部分团结起来。

Maddie thought a constitution was an excellent idea. She organized a meeting of all the creatures, and every creature came. There were so many animals in the room that they could barely move.

麦迪觉得宪法这个主意太棒了。 她组织了一场所有小动物都参加的会议，大家都来了。 房间里的动物多得大家都快动不了了。

Thank you for coming, everybody," Maddie said. The humans have a great idea. They are writing a constitution. We should have our own constitution. What's a constitution? asked a pigeon. It's a document that explains rules that we all live by, Maddie said. We don't need any rules, said a spider. When was the last time any of you slept all night, Maddie replied.

“谢谢大家来参加会议。”麦迪说。 人类想到了一个超棒的主意，他们正在写一部宪法。 我们也该有我们自己的宪法。 “宪法是什么呀？”一只鸽子问道。 “宪法就是一份写了我们所有人都要遵守的规则的文件呀。”麦迪说。 “我们才不需要什么规则呢。”一只蜘蛛说道。 “那你们上次睡一整夜安稳觉是什么时候呀？”麦迪反问道。