CHAPTER XVI HOME

 As Snythergen’s friends passed from view a new happiness came into his heart, overcoming the sorrows of parting—for at last he was going home. All day he had been soaring above the clouds, and now he was speeding through the air in the swift descent. It was night and the Wreath was but a star. Soon he was sailing above the forest, over the tops of his old comrades the trees. “They would never recognize me now,” he thought; then suddenly he wondered: “Will they recognize me!”

[156]

He was almost home. Choosing a clear space in a pasture, he made a landing, and hurried towards the house. It was a warm, still night in mid-summer. Through the open door he saw his mother and father sitting by the lamp.

“I wonder where our dear boy is to-night?” Snythergen heard his mother ask.

“Mother! Mother!” he cried.

“It’s his voice!” cried his mother, jumping up and running to the door. “Snythergen! Snythergen! Where are you?” Both parents were looking up among the tree-tops. “Where are you,” they cried.

“Here I am,” answered Snythergen, now but a few feet away. “Don’t you see me,” he said, almost under their noses.

“No,” said they, looking toward the top of the house.

“Is it only his voice that has come back,” faltered¹ his mother, her eyes filling with tears.

“No,” cried Snythergen, throwing his arms about her waist.

“What’s that!” she screamed in fright. “Snythergen!” she whispered, recognizing her boy. “How you have changed!” The mother took her boy in her arms and kissed him again and again.

[157]

The father could hardly believe it was Snythergen, but there was no mistaking the voice.

“He has come back a regular boy!” cried he, waiting for a chance to hug his son. “How did you make yourself small?” he asked, too impatient to wait any longer.

“Toy foods!” shouted Snythergen, half smothered² in his mother’s embrace.

“I knew it! I knew it!” cried the father. “Just after you left I thought of toy foods—but then it was too late.”

They entered the house and Snythergen began telling his adventures. It was a happy night—the first of countless³ others that were to come. For a happier boy than Snythergen simply did not exist.

The End

1 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

2 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

3 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。