前言，共110個(gè)單詞，閱讀需要花費(fèi)？分鐘。
I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children-- although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication:
To Leon Werth??? when he was a little boy
本頁(yè)生詞僅有 indulgence （遷就、寬容、放縱），但是也有看著很熟但卻不會(huì)用的單詞，即被動(dòng)詞匯，grown-up：成年人。
我個(gè)人就經(jīng)常在口頭表達(dá)中想不到這個(gè)詞，“大家都是成年人了”會(huì)想成 We are all adults。但是你會(huì)隨后發(fā)現(xiàn)，本書中到處都是grown-up，而不用adult，這是為什么呢？
原來(lái)，grown-up雖然與adult同義，但是它專用于對(duì)孩子說(shuō)話，或孩子自己稱呼大人的場(chǎng)景:
Tom was almost a grown-up...
湯姆幾乎已經(jīng)是個(gè)大人了...
Don't cry, let's ask a grown-up to help us.
別哭了，讓我們?nèi)フ覀€(gè)大人來(lái)幫忙。
這篇童話的主人公是個(gè)孩子，在他的自述里，稱呼大人自然會(huì)叫 grown-up了。
另外“I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew.”這句比較繞，你在不借助翻譯的情況下看懂了嗎？
最后，今天這篇你最喜歡哪一句呢？我最喜歡這一句：
All grown-ups were once children-- although few of them remember it.
