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EIGHT The Moon
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 THE moon, of course, is a big golden penny hung up in the sky. Every month when it is at the full the fairies stand in the fields and gaze at it and feel in their empty pockets. There are so many things they want to buy. Rainbow ribbon from the weather clerk for sashes, silken thread from the spider for weaving into shawls, pearl varnish1 from the snail2 for doing up their wings, and little red feathers from the robin3 for wearing in their Sunday bonnets4.
At last they can bear it no longer. They all go flying into the sky and unhook the moon and carry it off to go marketing5 with. And when they’re tired of spending they hang what is left of it up again in the sky and go home to bed. But the next night they fetch it again and spend a little more.
They go on doing this night after night for nearly a fortnight, and the moon gets smaller and smaller, till at last there’s nothing left of it at all. And when the fairies realise what they have done, they get frightened.
[61]“We’ve spent all the moon,” they say. “Suppose it never grew again! Wouldn’t it be dreadful?” And they all hide away in the forest and don’t come out for several nights.
But at last one of them takes courage and puts his head out, and he sees a little tiny bit of moon shining in the sky. Whereupon he gives a shout and claps his hands and goes running round to the houses of all the other fairies to tell them the good news.
 
“The moon’s growing again,” he says. “Come quick and look.” And they all come out to look at it, and caper6 about and are as pleased as pleased can be.
“We’ll never take it again,” they say. “It might not grow next time.” But at the end of a fortnight they have worn all their pretties a little shabby, and they want some more. And by that[62] time the moon has grown so big that they feel that they must spend a little of it. And—would you believe it?—they end up by doing all over again just exactly what they did before.
They’ve been going on like this for ages, and what’s more, they’re beginning to take it for granted that the moon will grow again, and so I don’t suppose they’ll ever get cured. But it’s very tiresome7 of them.
We could quite well do with all the moon always. Besides, some day it really might not grow again. And what then...?

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1 varnish ni3w7     
n.清漆;v.上清漆;粉饰
参考例句:
  • He tried to varnish over the facts,but it was useless.他想粉饰事实,但那是徒劳的。
  • He applied varnish to the table.他给那张桌子涂上清漆。
2 snail 8xcwS     
n.蜗牛
参考例句:
  • Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
  • Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。
3 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
4 bonnets 8e4529b6df6e389494d272b2f3ae0ead     
n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 );(烟囱等的)覆盖物;(苏格兰男子的)无边呢帽;(女子戴的)任何一种帽子
参考例句:
  • All the best bonnets of the city were there. 城里戴最漂亮的无边女帽的妇女全都到场了。 来自辞典例句
  • I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. 我是在用帽子和镯子引诱你,引你上钩。 来自飘(部分)
5 marketing Boez7e     
n.行销,在市场的买卖,买东西
参考例句:
  • They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
  • He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
6 caper frTzz     
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。
7 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。


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