Let us go to a seed-shop and buy a few garden peas.

　　咱们去种子商店买点儿豌豆吧！

　　Here they are, looking like a handful of little grey balls.

　　瞧, 放在手里像一把灰色的小球。

　　We will soak a few of them in water,

　　把几粒豌豆浸在水里,

　　and place them in a saucer on a piece of wet flannel, with another piece over them.

　　放在碟子里。碟子底下垫一块湿绒布, 碟子上面再盖一块湿绒布。

　　The peas will soon begin to grow.

　　豌豆很快就会生长起来,

　　They will swell, and split their skins;

　　先是膨胀, 然后表皮裂开,

　　and then we shall see their two seed-leaves.

　　然后就能看见两片子叶。

　　Besides these leaves, each young pea has a little stem and a tiny root.

　　每颗豌豆除了子叶之外, 还有一个细小的茎、一个细小的根。

　　But after the baby peas have put forth one or two green leaves, they will wither and die.

　　不过, 在小豌豆长出一两片绿叶之后, 很快就会枯萎死亡。

　　It is different with the peas we sow in the garden or in a flower-pot.

　　我们在花园里, 或者在花盆里种下的豌豆就不一样了。

　　In about two weeks their green leaves will come peeping up through the soil,

　　大概在两个星期之内, 豌豆的绿叶就会从土里钻出来,

　　and they will grow up into tall plants.

　　会长成高高的植物。

　　We must then push long sticks into the ground for them to climb up.

　　然后我们就得在土里插上长长的杆子, 让豌豆往上爬。

　　Do you know how it is that the pea-plant can climb?

　　小朋友, 你知道豌豆是怎么往上爬的么?

　　At the ends of its branches it has a great many green threads,

　　豌豆的枝条尽头, 有很多绿色的细丝,

　　which twist round the sticks, and help the plant to hold on to them.

　　它就用这些细丝缠住杆子, 把身体固定在上面。

　　By the time summer has come, the pea-plants will be as high as the sticks you set up,

　　入夏的时候, 豌豆就会长到跟杆子一样高了,

　　and they will be covered with pretty white blossoms.

　　开满了漂亮的小白花。

　　The blossoms soon drop off, and we see long green pods in their place.

　　豌豆花很快就会落下来, 在花的地方能看见绿色的小豌豆荚。