1. Many years ago, there lived in Holland a boy named Peter. Peter's father was one of the men who watched the gates in the dikes, called sluices. He opened and closed the sluices so that ships could pass out of Holland's canals into the great sea.
许多年前，荷兰有一个名叫彼得的男孩。彼得的父亲是一名堤坝水闸的看闸人。他的主要工作是打开和关闭水闸，以便让船只从荷兰境内的运河进入大海。
2. One afternoon in the early fall, when Peter was eight years old, his mother called him. "Come, Peter," she said. "I want you to go across the dike and take these cakes to your friend, the blind man. If you go quickly, and do not stop to play, you will be home again before dark."
彼得八岁那年一个初秋的下午，母亲喊彼得：“过来，彼得。我要你过到堤坝那边，把这些蛋糕拿给你的那位盲人朋友。如果你走得比较快，不停下来玩的话，你就可以在天黑前回到家。”
3. The little boy was glad to go and off he went with a light heart. He stayed with the poor blind man a little while, to tell him about his walk along the dike; about the sun and the flowers and the ships far out at sea. Then he remembered his mother's wish that he should return before dark and, bidding his friend goodbye, he set out for home.
小男轻松愉快地出发了。到了目的地之后，他和他那位可怜的盲人朋友呆了一会儿，向他的盲人朋友讲述了他沿堤坝来的路上见到的事物——太阳和鲜花以及远在海上的船只。然后，他想起了母亲希望他在天黑之前回家的事情，于是与朋友告别后，便出发回家。
4. As he walked beside the canal, he noticed how the rains had heightened the waters, and how they beat against the side of the dike, and he thought of his father's gates. "I am glad they are so strong," he said to himself. "If they gave way what would happen? These pretty fields would be covered with water. Father always calls them the 'angry waters.' I suppose he thinks they are angry at him for keeping them out so long."
沿着运河边走时，他注意到雨水是如何让水位涨高，以及海水是如何拍打在堤坝上，同时他还想到了父亲看守的水闸。“堤坝这么牢固，这真令我高兴，” 他自言自语地说，“如果这堤坝塌了，将会发生什么？这些美丽的田野将会被水淹没。父亲总是把这样的海水称为“愤怒的海水”。我猜他是认为这海水是因为被他阻挡在堤坝那边那么久才对他发怒的。

5. As he walked along, he sometimes stopped to pick the pretty blue flowers that grew beside the road, or to listen to the rabbits´ soft tread as they rustled through the grass. Suddenly he noticed that the sun was setting, and that it was growing dark. "Mother will be watching for me," he thought, and he began to run toward home. Just then he heard a noise. It was the sound of trickling water! He stopped and looked down. There was a small hole in the dike, through which a tiny stream was flowing. Any child in Holland is frightened at the thought of a leak in the dike.
他沿着堤坝走时，有时会停下脚步，摘几朵长在路边的漂亮的蓝色花朵，或是听一听兔子在穿过草丛时发出的沙沙作响声以及柔软的踩踏声。突然，他注意到太阳正在落山，天就要黑了。他心想：“妈妈正等着我呢，”。于是，他开始朝家的方向奔去。就在这时，他听到了一个声音，是小股水流淌的声音！他停下来，低头看去。堤坝上有一个小孔，小股水流正从孔中涌出。一想到堤坝泄漏，任何一个荷兰孩子都会感到害怕。
6. Peter understood the danger at once. If the water ran through a little hole it would soon make a larger one, and the whole country would be flooded. In a moment he saw what he must do. Throwing away his flowers, he climbed down the side of the dike and thrust his finger into the tiny hole. The flowing of the water was stopped!
彼得立刻意识到了危险。如果水流过一个小孔，这个小孔很快就会变大，然后整个国家都会被洪水淹没。他很快就知道自己该怎么做了——他扔掉了手中花，从堤坝的侧面爬了下去，将自己的一根手指戳进了那个小孔。水流停止了！
9. Peter tried to whistle, but his teeth chattered with the cold. He thought of his brother and sister in their warm beds, and of his dear father and mother. "I must not let them be drowned," he thought. "I must stay here until someone comes, if I have to stay all night."
彼得试图吹出口哨声，但是他的牙齿正因寒冷而颤抖。他想到了正在温暖的床上躺着的弟弟和妹妹，以及他亲爱的父母。“我决不能让水淹到他们，”他想，“如果我不得不整夜呆在这里，我就必须待在这里直到有人来。”
10. The moon and stars looked down on the child crouching on a stone on the side of the dike. His head was bent, and his eyes were closed, but he was not asleep, for every now and then he rubbed the hand that was holding back the angry sea. "I'll stand it somehow," he thought. So he stayed there all night keeping the sea out. Early the next morning a man going to work thought he heard a groan as he walked along the top of the dike. Looking over the edge, he saw a child clinging to the side of the great wall.
月亮和满天的星斗低头看着这个正俯身蹲在堤坝侧面一块石头上的孩子。他的头垂了下去，眼睛闭上了，但他并没有睡着，因为他还会时不时地搓一搓正挡着愤怒的海水的那只手。“不管怎样，我都会坚持下去的，”他想。于是，他真的在那里坚持了一整夜，成功地把海水挡在了堤坝以外。第二天一早，一个男子正沿着堤坝顶部走在上班路上时，觉得自己听到了一个呻吟声。他仔细地向堤坝边缘看去，看到了一个孩子正紧贴着大坝的侧面。
11. “What's the matter?" he called. "Are you hurt?" "I'm keeping the water back!" Peter yelled. "Tell them to come quickly!" The alarm was spread. People came running with shovels and the hole was soon mended. They carried Peter home to his parents, and not long after the whole town knew that he had saved their lives that night. To this day, they have never forgotten the brave little hero of Holland.
“怎么了？”他呼喊道，“你受伤了吗？”“我正在把水挡回去！”彼得喊道，“快叫人来帮忙！”告警声扩散开来。人们纷纷手持铁锹跑了过来，很快那个孔就被修补上了。然后，他们把彼得带回了家，见到了他的父母。不久后，整个镇子的人都知道了那天晚上是彼得救了他们。直到今天，那里的人们仍铭记着这位勇敢的荷兰小英雄。