An Eggshell Slides on Wet Straw by the Basket - 適合中級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Clucks thudded under the low roof. Dry grain rattled in Hedy's tin scoop. Juno held the basket by its leather handle and stepped onto the straw. Feathers brushed his sleeve as the hens shifted on the perch. The wire-mesh fence raised a neat shadow across the floor. Ripples moved over the water trough when beaks touched the surface. Warm dust lifted when their boots pressed the straw.

Juno set the basket near a nesting box. “I can hold the basket,” Hedy said. She took it by the rim. He rolled a pale half eggshell along a smooth board lip, and it ticked in little hops. A small gray beetle did creep across the perch bar, steady as a clock hand. He nudged a dry kernel next, and the straw caught it, then let it slide sideways. A thin briny smell drifted from an open glass jar on the shelf. The cool rim touched his wrist. He turned a warm egg in the nest. It rocked once, then settled into its ring of straw. A dark bead of water did seep from the trough and made a damp stripe under the box. When he sent the shell again, it sped on the wet patch and curved toward the basket leg. He tapped it free with one finger, and it spun, then tipped against his shoe. The half shell stayed by the basket leg, and a faint arc showed in the straw. Juno hooked his fingers under the leather handle.

低矮屋頂下傳來一陣陣咯咯聲。Hedy 的錫製勺子裡，乾飼料嗒嗒作響。Juno 握著皮革把手提著籃子，踩上稻草地。母雞在棲木上挪動，羽毛掠過他的袖子。鐵絲網圍欄在地面投下整齊的影子。喙尖碰到水面時，水槽上泛起一圈圈漣漪。靴子壓過稻草時，溫熱的塵屑輕輕揚起。

Juno 把籃子放在一個巢箱旁邊。『我來提籃子。』Hedy 說。她抓住邊緣提起來。他讓一片淡色的半個蛋殼沿著光滑的木邊滾動，它一跳一跳地發出喀嗒聲。一隻灰色小甲蟲的慢慢爬行穿過棲木，像時針那樣穩定。接著他輕推一粒乾玉米，稻草先卡住它，又放開它，讓它斜著滑過去。架上打開的玻璃罐飄出薄薄的鹹味。冰涼的瓶口碰到他的手腕。他在巢裡轉動一顆溫熱的蛋。它晃了一下，接著回到稻草圍成的凹圈裡。水槽滲出一顆深色水珠，在巢箱下方畫出一道潮濕的細痕。他又送出那片殼，它在濕斑上加速，彎向籃腳。他用一根手指把它敲開，蛋殼旋轉起來，最後斜靠在他的鞋上。半片蛋殼停在籃腳旁，稻草上留著一條淡淡的弧線。Juno 把手指勾進皮革把手底下。