Cups Tip and a Bottle Cap Falls - 適合初級的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

Two chalk lines ran three steps apart across the playground. Four paper cups stood between them in a row. Ruby set a small bowl at one end. Ives held a bottle and a peach for their experiment.

Ives poured, and the first cup wobbled and spilled. The spill spread over chalk and darkened the dust. The cup slid, tipped, and nudged the peach. The peach rolled and tapped the bowl. A swing chain gave one short creak nearby.

Then the bottle cap dropped into the last cup. Ruby stopped and looked at the line of cups. "This side is lower," she said. "I will pour from that end," she added. They moved the bowl to the low end. They placed the last cup first, near the bowl. Then they set the other cups back toward the start. Ives filled the last cup a little. Ruby poured from the far cup next.

Beyond the fence, the vastness of the field lay open. Water moved cup to cup in a thin line. Drops joined, and a steady stream reached the bowl. Ruby set the peach on a dry napkin. The bowl quietly caught the trickle.

操場上有兩條粉筆線，相距三步。四個紙杯排成一列站在中間。露比在一端放了一個小碗。艾夫斯拿著一個水瓶和一顆桃子，準備做小實驗。

艾夫斯倒水，第一個紙杯晃了一下，水就灑出來。灑出的水擴開，弄黑了粉筆灰。紙杯滑動、傾倒，碰到了桃子。桃子滾過去，輕輕敲到碗邊。旁邊的盪鞦韆鐵鍊發出一聲短促的嘎吱聲。

接著，水瓶的瓶蓋掉進最後一個紙杯。露比停下來，看著這一排紙杯。她說：「這一邊比較低。」她又說：「我從那一端倒。」他們把碗移到低的一端。他們先把最後一個紙杯放在碗旁邊。然後把其他紙杯往回依序擺好。艾夫斯先在最後一個紙杯倒一點水。露比接著從最遠的紙杯倒起。

柵欄外，寬闊的草地一望無際。水沿著紙杯一個一個移動，細細流過。水滴接在一起，一股穩定的小水流進了碗。露比把桃子放在乾的紙巾上。碗安靜地接住那道細流。