A few minutes later, Peggy returned. Her mother asked what the dictionary had said. "Puberty means," announced Peggy, "the earliest age at which a girl is able to bear children."
"What do you think of that?" my wife asked.
"I‘m not sure," Peggy relied. "I‘ve always been able to bear children. It‘s adults I can‘t bear.".
青春期
壹天晚上，在準備晚飯的時候，我們十歲的女兒問：“媽媽，什麽是青春期？”我的妻子此時正忙得不亦樂乎，所以她建議佩吉到字典上查這個詞，然後她們可以再討論它。
幾分鐘以後，佩吉回來了。她媽媽問字典上怎麽說。
“青春期的意思是，”佩吉宣布：“壹個女孩能忍受孩子的最早年齡。”
“妳怎麽想呢？”我妻子問。
“我不知道，”佩吉回答。“我總能忍受孩子。讓我忍受不了的是大人。
Note: bear children: 生孩子。bear 壹詞也可作“忍受”講。