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CHAPTER V SWEETS AND FAIRIES
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 “And if you don’t get muddy, but pick your way nicely, we’ll go to the village shop and buy a pennyworth of sweets,” said Nurse the next day, when they started out for their walk.
[23]“May I pick some primroses2 if I see them?” asked Peggy, dancing along.
There never were any on the high road, where Nurse generally chose to walk, but still there was always the chance there might be one day, and it was well to get permission beforehand.
“Yes, if you like,” said Nurse absentmindedly. She was very busy trying to see into a cab that had just passed, and didn’t really hear. Not that it mattered. There never were any primroses.
“There’s one—at least I fink there is!” said Peggy suddenly, when they had nearly reached the village. She stood on the edge of the ditch and peered up into the hedge. “Or is it a Fairy, perhaps? Do look, Nannie, it’s all white and shiny!”
“A Fairy indeed!” said Nurse, looking up too. “It’s an old bit of paper blown up there. Be careful, or you’ll be in the ditch!”
But she was too late, for Peggy lost her balance—or the side of the ditch gave way—and the next moment the two little gaitered legs were half hidden in dark brown muddy water!
“Very good!” said Nurse in a terrible voice. Then she dragged Peggy out, and walked her back along the road towards home, saying nothing in her most alarming manner.
Peggy really felt quite frightened.
“Nannie, you’re hurting my arm!” she said at last, trying to drag her hand away. She hated the dry feel of Nurse’s black cotton gloves pinched around her cold fingers. “Aren’t we going to buy any sweets after all?” she went on.
There was no answer.
[24]“Do you hear?” shouted Peggy desperately3, and pulling harder.
“You should learn to do as you’re told,” said Nurse, taking a firmer grip, and walking faster still.
Peggy pulled harder still. She was beginning to feel really naughty. Besides, she knew it had been a Fairy, and who could think of stupid old ditches then? Nurse never understood.
“What have you got on your thumb?” asked Nurse, suddenly stopping, and dropping Peggy’s hand very quickly.
Peggy looked down, and there was the Fairy Ring sending out great sparkles of green light all over the muddy road! She could scarcely believe her eyes, and Nurse looked rather frightened.
Peggy felt there was not a second to lose.
“O Giant, I wish you’d take me away somewhere—and make Nurse nicer!” she whispered in a great hurry.
“You are a oner, you are!” said the Giant admiringly. “You nearly always ask for two things in one wish—but it never seems to matter—you get ’em! Now come along, we’ve got to hurry.”
Peggy and the Giant were walking along a wide silver road. The hedges, the gates, the trees, the flowers, even the birds that flew over their heads, were silver, all sparkling and gleaming in the light of a big silver moon in a blue sky. Peggy had never seen anything so beautiful, and she looked up at the Giant with very happy eyes as she danced along the road by his side.
“I shall always leave you to think of lovely places,” she said. “I should never have thought of coming here!”
“It’s the Ring as well,” said the Giant modestly. “But[25] we aren’t there yet. Sit on my hand; we shall get there quicker that way.”
“Why, where are we going?” asked Peggy, jumping up and holding on to his thumb.
“To Fairy-land,” said the Giant, stepping out briskly, “or at least to one little bit of it. It’s only as a great treat, because you couldn’t find a primrose1, and never got your sweets. By the way, that was a Fairy in the hedge,” he added.
“I knew it was,” said Peggy. “But Nannie won’t see things sometimes. Oh, look! what is this coming?”
They had turned a corner, and saw far away above the hills something that appeared to be a great blue cloud edged with gold, advancing with a humming sound. As it came nearer Peggy discovered to her great excitement that it was really a multitude of Fairies all dressed in the palest blue dresses, their golden hair flowing out around them, and on their heads silver crowns studded with bright blue stones; and the humming sound was the rustle4 of their great blue wings which were bearing them along at a tremendous rate.
They made straight for Peggy, led by a tall, beautiful Fairy, whose blue dress was simply covered with sparkling stones. And there was something in her pretty smiling face which reminded Peggy of someone, but she couldn’t remember who. The next moment the Fairy was just above the Giant’s head; then she dropped suddenly, and catching5 Peggy up by the hand she and all the rest of the Fairies rose high in the air again and flew off by the way they had come.
Peggy clutched the Fairy’s hand very tightly for some time, for they were all going so fast that the rush of air made her feel quite breathless. But when she was rather more used to it, she turned her head to look at the[26] Fairies following, and suddenly saw that she had grown a magnificent pair of blue wings too!
She at once tried to flap them, and found she could do so quite well, though rather jerkily at first, and the Giant—who was striding along in the air just below her—looked up with a wide grin on his round face.
“Capital, capital!” he called out. “Well, how do you like flying?”
“It’s lovely!” shouted back Peggy. “You do think of splendid things! And so do you!” she added, looking up gratefully into the Fairy’s face.
And then she gave a great start, for, of course, she saw now who the Fairy was. She was Nurse!
Peggy gasped6, and very nearly dropped right down. It was certainly Nurse, but Nurse looking happy, Nurse looking pleased with Peggy, Nurse seeming as though for once she was actually enjoying herself! It really seemed too good to be true, and Peggy darted7 another glance of great thankfulness down at the Giant.
“I’m glad you think it fun,” said Nurse, in a sweet, clear voice. “But you needn’t flap quite so hard. Look, give long, steady sweeps like this,” and she sprang forward even quicker into the air, and then showed Peggy exactly how it was done, till she had learnt perfectly8.
The land was changing below them, or they were much higher up. It was sometimes bright and coloured like a rainbow, sometimes as red as fire, and sometimes so dark that they could see nothing below them. Once a terrible smell of smoke rose up, and Nurse called to everyone to mount higher.
“What a dreadful place that was,” said Peggy, when they once more saw the pretty rainbow land below them again. “Who lives there?”
[27]“Ogres,” said Nurse, “heaps of them. I hate passing their way, but it’s a short cut. That red country we passed just now was where the Dragons live. They’re even worse, nasty ill-bred creatures! However, we’ve passed them all now, and here we come down.”
They were right above a cleared space in a big black wood, and at a signal from Nurse, all the Fairies paused, and, half folding their wings, floated down amongst the trees. Peggy did so too, and balanced on a large branch, closing her wings up neatly9 as she saw the others doing.
“Now, each take a tree and begin,” called Nurse, who was flying about looking happier than ever, “and after that we’ll have some games!”
Then Peggy noticed what extraordinary trees they were all perched upon. For from every twig10 were hanging by silver strings11 the most fascinating little tiny sugar animals and birds of every colour and kind—blue elephants, mauve dogs, scarlet12 mice, yellow nightingales, and everything else you can think of. And all through the wood she could hear the Fairies calling and laughing to each other as they fluttered up and down the trees and ate the pretty things.
“May I?” asked Peggy, her fingers closing round a purple sparrow, and looking at Nurse who she hardly dared believe would be so changed as to allow her to eat as many sweets as she liked!
“Of course,” said Nurse smiling—and Peggy had never realised before how very nicely Nurse could smile. She also longed to tell her how pretty she looked with her golden hair all flying loose in the air. But she didn’t dare. “I advise you to try that pink cow just behind you,” went on Nurse. “No, not that one, the very big one by the trunk. That’s it. Now, isn’t that good?”
It was certainly too lovely for words. It had the[28] delicious taste that a strawberry ice has before you’ve eaten too many at a party, and it was also rather like pineapples and pear-drops and Tangerine13 oranges, and yet it was far better than any of them.
Peggy soon got quite good at half fluttering, half balancing along the branches like the others were doing, and trying each different sweet by turn.
(I’m afraid this sounds rather a greedy adventure of Peggy’s, but it wasn’t really, as it happened in Fairy-land, and there were enough sweets for everyone, and no one felt sick when they’d eaten too many.)
She had just bitten a pink sugar rabbit in half, and found it tasted just like meringues, when she remembered the Giant.
“Oh dear,” she cried, “where is the Giant? I’d quite forgotten him!”

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1 primrose ctxyr     
n.樱草,最佳部分,
参考例句:
  • She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
  • The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。
2 primroses a7da9b79dd9b14ec42ee0bf83bfe8982     
n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 );淡黄色;追求享乐(招至恶果)
参考例句:
  • Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The primroses were bollming; spring was in evidence. 迎春花开了,春天显然已经到了。 来自互联网
3 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
参考例句:
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
4 rustle thPyl     
v.沙沙作响;偷盗(牛、马等);n.沙沙声声
参考例句:
  • She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
  • He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。
5 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
6 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 darted d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248     
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
9 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
10 twig VK1zg     
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
参考例句:
  • He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
11 strings nh0zBe     
n.弦
参考例句:
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
12 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
13 tangerine UI5zp     
n.橘子,橘子树
参考例句:
  • Hand me of a the ripest tangerine please.请递给我一个最熟的橘子。
  • These tangerine are transported here by air from Fuzhou.这些福橘是刚刚从福州空运过来的。


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