Little Alice was heartbroken when her pet canary (1) died, and to soften the blow, her father gave her a cigar box for a coffin and assisted in burying the canary in the back yard.

“Daddy.” Whispered Little Alice after the funeral, “Will my dear little birdie (2) go to Heaven?”

“I expect so,” replied her father.”Why?”
“I was only thinking,” murmured (3) Little Alice,”how cross (4) St. Peter will be when he opens the box and discovers there are no cigars in it.”

小艾麗絲養寵物金絲雀死了，她感到非常傷心。為了緩解這個突然的打擊，她的父親給了她一個雪茄盒給小鳥做棺材，并幫忙把金絲雀埋在后院。
葬禮后小艾麗絲小聲問：“爸爸，我親愛的小鳥會上天堂嗎？”
“我想回的，”父親回答，“怎么啦”
“我只是在想，”小艾麗絲低聲說，“要是圣彼得打開盒子的時候發現里面沒有雪茄，他該多生氣啊。”

注釋：
1： canary 金絲雀
2： birdie 小鳥
3： murmur 嘀咕，小聲話語
4： cross 生氣的：憤怒的