TWO LITTLE SWITZERS.

 THIS boy and girl live in the mountains of Switzerland. The language which they use is a very strange one, called Schweizer-Deutsch (Swiss-German).

 

These children in the picture are dressed up in their Sunday clothes to have their photographs taken. When they go home to the little village way up on the mountain side they will take off these garments and put on their everyday things. Hans will draw a long-sleeved black apron¹ over his school suit, and then, fastening on his back the wooden pail which you see in the picture, will run down the steep cobble-stoned street, with his shoes clattering² at every step, to the big stone fountain to draw water for his mother. It takes a long time to draw that pail of water, for all the boys run out to hear about what he saw in Berne that day when he had his photograph taken. So Hans tells them about the two big bears in the bear pit, to whom he and Gretchen threw some bits of bread and an apple; about the tall clock tower built three or four hundred years ago, where carved bears march around and strike a big gong every hour. You know that Berne is full of bears. The coat of arms of the city is a bear with a banner, and not only have live bears been maintained at public expense for many, many years, but bears of all kinds, carved in wood and stone, painted, or wrought³ in plaster, are seen everywhere.

Two Little Switzers.

 

 

Hans has at last filled his pail and hurries back to the house, whose thatched roof is so low that it almost touches the ground. Gretchen has taken off her grandmother’s clothes and is busy helping⁴ the mother prepare supper. She is very proud of the fact that her pretty filagree chains and pins, together with her velvet⁵ bodice and delicate muslin waist, were worn by the dear old grandmother, on whose grave she lays fresh flowers every Sunday. By and by they all draw the straight wooden chairs to the table and the father says a simple prayer. Hans and Gretchen eat thankfully the black bread and creamy cheese which was made last summer up on the Alps high above them, where the snow flowers bloom and the winds blow cold from the glaciers⁶.

 

When the curfew bell in the church tower rings out at sundown Hans and Gretchen tumble into their bed on the top of the stove. Yes, really, on the top of the big, square white porcelain⁷ stove! It is a good, warm place, although it never gets hot, and even on bitter January nights, covered with a big red feather bed, the children are only comfortably warm. They cannot fall off because the father has placed high boards on each side of the bed.

 

Early in the morning, by the light of a candle, they drink coffee, with plenty of milk, but no sugar. It is only on great festivals, like birthdays and Christmas, that they taste sugar or cake. By seven o’clock Hans buckles⁸ on his knapsack, in which he carries his books, and after helping Gretchen to adjust hers they both run gayly off to school, each one carrying in a roomy basket a huge chunk⁹ of black bread to eat at ten o’clock.

1 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

2 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

3 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

6 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

7 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

8 buckles   

搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She gazed proudly at the shiny buckles on her shoes. 她骄傲地注视着鞋上闪亮的扣环。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

9 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。