南瓜燈籠Jack-O-Lantern

去年的萬聖節， 中中用南瓜做了一個燈籠，Last Halloween, Zhong-Zhong made a lantern out of pumpkins.

鄰居們都說，中中家的南瓜燈籠最好看！The neighbors all said that Zhong-Zhong’s pumpkin lantern was the most beautiful!

過了兩個星期，下了一場大雨，It rained very hard a day after two weeks,

南瓜燈籠有點壞了，The Jack-O-Lantern became a little rotten.

爸爸把它放到後院牆邊的空地上。Dad put it in the back yard in an empty place close to the wall.

又過了幾天，A couple days later, (After a few more days,)

南瓜燈籠的表面長了一層，白白毛毛的東西。The surface of the pumpkin lantern has a layer of white fluffy things appeared.

Something fluffy and white appeared on the surface of the Jack-O-Lantern.

冬天到了，下了幾場大雪，Winter came, and there have been several heavy snowfalls,

厚厚的白雪把南瓜燈籠完全蓋住了。The thick white snow completely covered the Jack-O-Lantern.

一直等到春天來了，雪才融化。The snow didn’t melt until spring came.

中中發現南瓜燈籠不見了，Zhong-Zhong couldn’t find the Jack-O-Lantern anywhere,

地上有三顆南瓜的種子。But he found three pumpkin seeds on the ground.

中中把種子埋在土裡。Zhong-Zhong buried the seeds in the soil. Planted the seeds in the soil.

過了不久，地上長出三顆小芽。After a while, three sprouts appeared on the ground.

中中很高興，他每天都去澆水。Zhong-Zhong was very excited; he went to water them every day.

不久，小芽長出許多葉子，Soon (later on) the sprouts began to grow many leaves,

夏天到了，開了許多黃色的花，When summer came, they started to bloom yellow blossoms,

有公花也有母花。Some were male and some were female.

母花謝了，結了許多小瓜。When the female flowers wilted, little pumpkins were produced.

中中想：奇怪，這些南瓜怎麼是綠色的呢？Zhong-Zhong wondered: How come these pumpkins are green?

秋天到了，晚上很冷，每天早上，Autumn followed, it was cold at night, and every morning,

南瓜的表面都有一層白色的霜。The surface of the pumpkin has a layer of white frost.

有一天，中中發現南瓜全都變成金黃色了！One day, Zhong-Zhong found that all the pumpkins had turned golden yellow!

媽媽說：南瓜成熟了，現在可以收成了。Mom said: “The pumpkins are ripe and can be harvested now.”

今年的萬聖節，this year’s Halloween,

中中用院子的南瓜做了一個燈籠。Zhong-Zhong made another Jack-O-Lantern this year using one of the pumpkins from the yard.

他輕輕地拍著南瓜說：歡迎你回來了！He patted the pumpkin gently and said: Welcome back!