Valerie noticed that her daddy was going bald day by day. This worried her.
"Daddy, every day you have less hair. Why is that?"
Her father smiled, "Round here there's a little hair thief, and he visits my head during the night. He pulls out my hairs as many as he likes. And nobody can catch him!"
That night, Valerie stayed awake. As soon as she heard her father's first snoring (打鼾), she took a hammer (锤子)and went into her parents' bedroom. Being afraid of the thief running away, she slowly tiptoed in. When she arrived, she began to watch her father's head carefully, hoping to catch the hair thief as soon as he appeared. Before long, she saw a shadow on her daddy's head. With all her strength, she swung the hammer down.
Thwack! Her father yelped and jumped out of his bed. The lump (肿块) on his head was already big, and growing. He turned the light on, and saw Valerie holding her hammer in the air.
"I nearly got him, Daddy! I thought I hit him, but it looks like he escaped!"
Meanwhile, they woke Valerie's mother up. Seeing the lump on her husband's head, she laughed out loud. "Well, that's what happens when you tell silly stories, "she said.
So Valerie's father had to explain to her that the hair thief didn't exist, and that going bald is something that just happens naturally to most daddies. There he sat, realizing how important it was not to tell children tall tales. And Valerie still worried about her daddy, but she did something else. She bought her daddy a very nice sleeping hat.
