STORY XVIII MAMMA STUBTAIL’S HONEY CAKES

 “Oh, mamma!” cried little Neddie Stubtail, the bear cub¹, as he got ready to go to school one morning. “What is it that smells so good in your kitchen?”

“What smells so good?” spoke² Mrs. Stubtail, the mamma bear. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the tea kettle boiling.”

“Oh, mamma, you’re joking just as Uncle Wigwag often does,” said Beckie, the little bear girl. “I, too, smell something good. Are you making candy?”

“Now, you children just run along to school and say your lessons,” said Mrs. Stubtail, as she looked to see if there was any stove blacking on her apron³. But there was none, I’m glad to say.

“Little bears should be seen and not heard,” said Aunt Piffy, the fat old lady bear, as she came up from down cellar, where she had been looking to see if any dust had gotten in the eyes of the potatoes.

144“Oh, but we smell something good!” cried Neddie. “Do tell us what it is, mamma.”

Then he and his sister Beckie sniffed⁴ and snuffed real hard, to try and find out what it was that smelled so good. It was like molasses candy and popcorn⁵ and lollypops and ice cream cones⁶, all rolled into one. But Neddie and Beckie could not tell exactly what it was.

Anyhow, the school bell rang just then, and they had to run on to their lessons, so they didn’t have time to find out what it was their mamma was cooking in the kitchen that smelled so nice.

But at noontime, when they came home for dinner, they discovered the secret. Neddie ate up his dessert and then he blinked both his eyes at his sister Beckie. That meant, in bear language:

“Come on outside. I want to talk to you.”

Then Beckie wiggled both her ears and this meant: “All right. I’ll be out in a minute.”

And when Beckie met Neddie outside the house and they were on their way to school, Beckie asked:

“What is it, Neddie? What smelled so good?”

“It’s honey cakes,” said he.

“Honey cakes?” exclaimed Beckie. “Why, we don’t have them until Christmas.”

145“I know,” said Neddie, “but it’s almost Christmas now. Mamma is making a lot of honey cakes. That’s what smelled so good this morning. They’ll be done this afternoon and she’ll put them out on the back steps to cool, as she always does.”

“Well, is that all?” asked Beckie, anxious-like.

“No, not quite,” said Neddie. “When we come home from school you and I will go softly up on the back stoop and we’ll get some of the honey cakes. They’ll be cool by then.”

“Oh, but that’s not right!” cried Beckie, “We can’t eat mamma’s honey cakes without asking her.”

“I didn’t say anything about eating them,” spoke Neddie. “I just said we’d take a few cakes in our paws. Then we’ll go to mamma and say we saw the cakes out on the back stoop, and we’ll ask her if we can eat them. Mind you, we won’t take so much as a smitch of one before we ask her!

“But when she sees we have the cakes of course she’ll let us take a nibble⁷. Even Aunt Piffy would do that. Otherwise we’d never get a honey cake until Christmas. Will you do it?” asked Neddie.

146“Oh, well; yes, I guess so,” said Beckie. “But I’m afraid it isn’t exactly right.”

“Oh, yes, it is,” said Neddie. “Now, come on to school, and when we come home this afternoon we’ll get some honey cakes.”

But I’m afraid, after all, that what Neddie was going to do was not exactly right. However, let us see what happens, as the telephone girl says.

Neddie and Beckie went on to school, but they did not do very well in their lessons, for they were thinking so much about honey cakes. And if they had known that Uncle Wigwag, the old bear gentleman, who was always playing tricks, had heard them talking about what they were going to do, maybe they would not have felt so happy.

For Uncle Wigwag, hiding behind a stump⁸, had heard just what Neddie and Beckie had planned to do to get some honey cakes. And the old joking gentleman bear said to himself:

“Now, I’ll play a joke on those children. It isn’t right for them to do that, and I’ll teach them a lesson.”

So he went out on the back steps, where the pans of honey cakes were cooling. Honey cakes, you know, are made from honey and sugar and other sweet things, and are very good. 147Little bear children love them more than anything else.

“Let me see now. What trick shall I play?” said Uncle Wigwag to himself. “Oh, I know. I’ll put a lot of glue on the back steps, and make them all sticky like fly paper. Then, when Neddie and Beckie come up to get the honey cakes they’ll step in the glue, and they’ll be held fast, and they’ll make such a fuss that their mamma and Aunt Piffy will hear them. They’ll come out, and I guess those bear cubs⁹ will never take any more honey cakes without asking.”

So Uncle Wigwag got a lot of sticky glue from the doll factory where they glue dolls’ wigs¹⁰ on, and he spread the sticky stuff all over the back steps, where, on the top rail, Mrs. Stubtail had set the honey cakes to cool.

Oh, how delicious they smelled! Uncle Wigwag could not help taking one, but of course that was all right, as he paid his board to Mrs. Stubtail.

Then Uncle Wigwag spread out the sticky glue, taking care not to step in it himself, and then he went and hid behind a stump to see what would happen when Neddie and Beckie came softly along to get the honey cakes.

But something else happened. I’ll tell you all about it if you’ll listen.

148Neddie and Beckie hurried out of school that afternoon. They had managed to get through their lessons, and were very anxious to eat some of the honey cakes—that is, if their mamma would let them.

“I hope they’re out on the stoop when we get there,” said Beckie.

“Oh, you honey cakes!” exclaimed Neddie, jolly-like. “Of course they’ll be there.”

And just then, as it happened, there was a bad old wolf behind the fence. And he heard what the bear cub children were saying.

“Honey cakes, eh?” exclaimed the wolf. “I guess I’ll go get some for myself.”

So he ran through the woods, a shorter way than Neddie and Beckie went, and the old wolf got there first, just as the one did in the Little Red Riding Hood¹¹ story.

“Ah! ha!” exclaimed the wolf, as he smelled the honey cakes. “Now for a good meal! I’m glad I heard Neddie and Beckie talking about this. Oh, you honey cakes!”

The old wolf went softly to the stoop. He looked all around, but he saw no one. Mrs. Stubtail was washing the dishes and Aunt Piffy had gone to lie down and take a nap. Mr. Whitewash¹², the polar bear, was over visiting Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, and 149Uncle Wigwag, as we know, was hiding behind the stump.

The wolf saw no one, and up the back steps he went to get the honey cakes that were set out there to cool. But something happened.

All of a sudden the wolf stepped in the glue and stuck fast. All four feet were caught in the sticky stuff and when the wolf tried to get loose he only stuck the faster.

“Oh, wow!” howled the wolf. “Oh, dear, I’m caught!”

Uncle Wigwag, hiding behind the stump, heard the noisy noise and, not yet having seen the wolf, he cried:

“Ah, ha! Now I have caught Neddie and Beckie. I guess this will be a lesson to them not to take honey cakes again!”

Out rushed the old gentleman bear, and when he saw the wolf caught in the glue, instead of the little bear cub children, Uncle Wigwag did not know what to say, he was so surprised.

And when the wolf saw the bear gentleman he cried:

“Oh, dear! Don’t bite me! I’ll be good! I’ll not take any of your honey cakes!”

“You’d better not,” spoke Uncle Wigwag. And then the wolf was so frightened that he managed to pull his feet loose from the sticky 150glue, and away he ran without a single honey cake.

And when Neddie and Beckie came along later to take some cakes, intending to ask if they could eat them, they found every one so excited at the bear cave that they didn’t take any cakes at all. Besides, Mamma Stubtail had lifted the honey cakes inside after the wolf made such a racket.

“But you were almost caught!” said Uncle Wigwag to Neddie and Beckie, as he told them what he had heard them say. Then they promised never to think of such a thing again, and their mamma gave them each some nice honey cakes for supper. But the wolf had none, and it served him right.

So Uncle Wigwag played his trick just the same, though, on a wolf instead of the bear children. Then Aunt Piffy scrubbed all the glue off the back steps and everybody was happy.

And in the next story, if the molasses jug¹³ doesn’t go down cellar and cry in the coal-bin so the coal is all stuck up, I’ll tell you about Neddie and the kindling¹⁴ wood. 

1 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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。

4 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

6 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

7 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

8 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

9 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

11 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

12 whitewash   

v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰

参考例句：

• They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
• What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。

13 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

14 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子