He was getting out of the vehicle when the sharp wire around a broken rod caught in the back of his trousers and tore a great hole. He felt a tingling1 pain and looked over his shoulder to investigate. Not being satisfied with the result, he turned his back to the negro and anxiously enquired2, “Is my breeches tore, Sam?”
“Dey am dat,” was the reply, “dey am busted3 Fm Dan ter Beersheba.”
“What I goin' to do 'bout4 it?” asked the little boy, “Aunt Minerva sho' will be mad. These here's branspankin' new trousers what I ain't never wore tell today. Ain't you got a needle an' thread so's you can fix 'em. Sam?”
“Nary er needle,” said Sam Lamb.
“Is my union suit tore, too?” and Billy again turned his back for inspection5.
His friend made a close examination.
“Yo' unions is injured plum scanerous,” was his discouraging decision, “and hit 'pears ter me dat yo' hide done suffer too; you's got er turrible scratch.”
The child sighed. The injury to the flesh was of small importance,—he could hide that from his aunt—but the rent in his trousers was a serious matter.
“I wish I could git 'em mended 'fore6 I goes home,” he said wistfully.
“I tell you what do,” suggested Sam, “I 'low Miss Cecilia'll holp yeh; jest go by her house an' she'll darn 'em up fer yuh.”
Billy hesitated.
“Well, you see, Sam, me an' Miss Cecilia's engaged an' we's fixin' to marry jes' 's soon's I puts on long pants, an' I 'shame' to ask her. An' I don't berlieve young 'omans patches the breeches of young mans what they's goin' to marry nohow. Do you? Aunt Minerva ain' never patched no breeches for the Major. And then,” with a modest blush, “my unions is tore too, an' I ain't got on nothin' else to hide my skin.”
Again he turned his back to his friend and, his clouded little face looking over his shoulder, he asked, “Do my meat show, Sam?”
“She am visible ter the naked eye,” and Sam Lamb laughed loudly at his own wit.
“I don't believe God pays me much attention nohow,” said the little boy dolefully; “ev'y day I gets put to bed 'cause sumpin's all time a-happenin'. If He'd had a eye on me like He oughter they wouldn't a been no snaggin'. Aunt Minerva's goin' to be mad th'oo an' th'oo.”
“May be my of 'oman can fix 'em, so's dey won't be so turrible bad,” suggested the negro, “'taint fer, so you jes' run down ter my cabin an' tell Sukey I say fix dem breeches.”
The child needed no second bidding,—he fairly flew. Sam's wife was cooking, but she cheerfully stopped her work to help the little boy. She sewed up his union suit and put a bright blue patch on his brown linen7 breeches.
Billy felt a little more cheerful, though he still dreaded8 confessing to his aunt and he loitered along the way till it was nearly dark. Supper was ready when he got home and he walked into the diningroom with his customary ease and grace. But he took his seat uneasily, and he was so quiet during the meal and ate so little that his aunt asked him if he were sick. He was planning in his mind how to break the news of the day's disaster to her.
“You are improving, William,” she remarked presently, “you haven't got into any mischief9 to-day. You have been a mighty10 good little boy now for two days.”
Billy flushed at the compliment and shifted uneasily in his seat. That patch seemed to burn him.
“If God'd jest do His part,” he said darkly, “I wouldn't never git in no meanness.”
After supper Miss Minerva washed the dishes in the kitchen sink and Billy carried them back to the dining-room. His aunt caught him several times prancing11 sideways in the most idiotic12 manner. He was making a valiant13 effort to keep from exposing his rear elevation14 to her; once he had to walk backward.
“William,” she said sharply, “you will break my plates. What is the matter with you to-night?”
A little later they were sitting quietly in Miss Minerva's room. She was reading “The Christian15 at Home,” and he was absently looking at a picture book.
“Sam Lamb's wife Sukey sho' is a beautiful patcher,” he remarked, feeling his way.
She made no answering comment, and the discouraged little boy was silent for a few minutes. He had worn Aunt Cindy's many-colored patches too often to be ashamed of this one for himself, but he felt that he would like to draw his aunt out and find how she stood on the subject of patches.
“Aunt Minerva,” he presently asked, “what sorter patches 'd you ruther wear on yo' pants, blue patches or brown?”
“On my what?” she asked, looking at him severely16 over her paper.
“I mean if you's me,” he hastily explained. “Don't you think blue patches is the mos' nat'ral lookin'?”
“What are you driving at, William?” she asked; but without waiting for his answer she went on with her reading.
The child was silent for a long time, his little mind busy, then he began, “Aunt Minerva?”
She peered at him over her glasses a second, then dropped her eyes to the paper where an interesting article on Foreign Missions held her attention.
“Aunt Minerva, I snagged—Aunt Minerva, I snagged my—my skin, to-day.”
“Let me see the place,” she said absently, her eyes glued to a paragraph describing a cannibal feast.
“I's a-settin' on it right now,” he replied.
Another long silence ensued. Billy resolved to settle the matter.
“I's gettin' sleepy,” he yawned. “Aunt Minerva, I wants to say my prayers and go to bed.”
She laid her paper down and he dropped to his knees by her side. He usually sprawled17 all over her lap during his lengthy18 devotions, but to-night he clasped his little hands and reared back like a rabbit on its haunches.
After he had rapidly repeated the Lord's prayer, which he had recently learned, and had invoked19 blessings20 on all his new friends and never-to-be-forgotten old ones, he concluded with:
“An', O Lord, You done kep' me f'om meddlin' with Aunt Minerva's hose any mo', an' you done kep' me f'om gittin' any mo' Easter eggs, an' playin' any mo' Injun, an' You done kep' me f'om lettin' Mr. Algernon Jones come ag'in, an' now, O Lord, please don't lemme worry the very 'zistence outer Aunt Minerva any mo' 'n You can help, like she said I done this mornin,' an' please, if Thy will be done, don't lemme tear the next new breeches what she'll gimme like I done ruint thesehere what I got on.”
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收听单词发音 |
1
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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2
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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3
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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5
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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6
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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7
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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8
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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9
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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10
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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11
prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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12
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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13
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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14
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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15
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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16
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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17
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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18
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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19
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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20
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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