Q

Why were the little drops of ink crying？
为什么这些小滴墨水会哭？

A

Because their mother was in the pen and they did not know how long her sentence would be.
因为它们的妈妈被关在围栏（监狱）里，也不知道她的刑期是多长时间。点睛一笔

pen作为名词有“钢笔”的意思，也有“围栏”的意思。“Their mother was in the pen”可以理解为“它们的妈妈被关在钢笔里”，也可理解为“它们的妈妈被关在围栏（监狱）里”。sentence作为名词的意思有“句子”和“判决”，“how long her sentence would be”的两种理解是“不知道这个句子有多长”和“不知道什么她的刑期是多长”。如果按后一种解释来理解，那么就是一个悲情故事了。