THE LITTLE GOATHERDS

Louis and Marie live among the mountains in Switzerland. These mountains are very high and are called the Swiss Alps.

The cold winds sweep down the mountain-side and rush through the valleys. Sometimes it blows so hard that it almost blows the thatched roofs off the houses.

But the mountain people know all about these strong winds. What do you suppose they do to keep the roof from blowing away? They lay heavy stones on the roof to keep it in place.

The winters are long and cold; and it snows and snows! You never saw such deep drifts nor such big fields of ice.

But the summer is beautiful,—the sky is blue and the sun is bright; and far away the mountain peaks are capped with glistening¹ snow.

Then the grass is green and the flowers blossom² everywhere. These are happy days for the children.

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In summer Louis and Marie go out every morning with the goats. Marie is just a tiny bit of a girl only four years old, but Louis is a big boy. He is almost nine, and that is very old when one has such a little sister.

Louis lets the goats out of their yard. They jump and run and caper³ about, and Marie hides behind her mother’s dress. She is afraid of the goats at first.

One of the big goats always runs to the vineyard, he is so fond of grapes. Louis drives him out with a long stick.

Then the whole herd⁴ runs to the wheat field, and Louis runs after them, shouting at them and driving them away toward the mountain pasture⁵.

Marie runs along with him and Patte Blanche goes, too. Patte Blanche is their dog, and his name means White Foot.

When the goats reach the pasture land they clamber over the rocks and eat the moss⁶ and the bushes and the sweet, green grass.

Louis and Marie pick the flowers that grow on thedecoration54decoration mountain-side, and play little games with the stones. They watch the goats, too, and talk about them. Sometimes a goat wanders too far away and then Louis sends White Foot to drive her back to the others.
woman and girl watching goats run past

At noon the children eat their lunch of barley-bread and cheese, and White Foot sits beside them and eats the bits they give him.

There is always so much to do and so much to see that the days seem very short. Soon it is time fordecoration55decoration White Foot to drive the goats down from the rocks and the little company starts for home.

One night a very funny thing happened when they were on their way home.

The goats were wandering along, nibbling⁷ at the green grass, and the children were following them down the path, when they saw a strange man sitting on a log. The man was fast asleep and his head nodded and bobbed up and down.

Just as Louis saw him, one of the goats spied him, too, and what do you think she did? She trotted⁸ along, ran up behind him and butted⁹ him right off the log. Of course the man waked up and I think he was going to be very angry, but the goat put her fore¹⁰ feet up on the log and looked as if she wanted to laugh.

The children laughed, and so the man laughed, too. Then he walked home with them and helped them drive the goats into their yard.

Louis and Marie will never forget how funny the goat looked trying to laugh at the man, and they like to tell the story over and over again.

1 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

2 blossom   

n.花，开花；vi.开花，发展

参考例句：

• The blossom on the trees looks lovely in springtime.春天树上的花很漂亮。
• Let a hundred flowers blossom,let a hundred schools of thought contend.百花齐放，百家争鸣。

3 caper   

v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏

参考例句：

• The children cut a caper in the yard.孩子们在院子里兴高采烈地乱蹦乱跳。
• The girl's caper cost her a twisted ankle.小姑娘又蹦又跳，结果扭伤了脚踝。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

6 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

7 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

9 butted   

对接的

参考例句：

• Two goats butted each other. 两只山羊用角顶架。
• He butted against a tree in the dark. 他黑暗中撞上了一棵树。

10 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。