XVII. “KEEN-POINT,” “COB-HANDLE,” AND “BUTCH.”

 “The three bobbins,” said Mrs. Meadows, “remind me of a circumstance—”

 

“Is a circumstance a story?” interrupted Sweetest Susan.

 

“Oh, you mustn’t mind my country talk,” replied Mrs. Meadows, laughing. “It was a trick of my tongue. I didn’t want to say ‘story’ because you might be disappointed. But I reckon I may as well call it a story. Well, as I was saying, the three bobbins remind me of a story that was partly about a little girl.”

 

“I know it must be a nice story,” cried Sweetest Susan enthusiastically.

 

But Mrs. Meadows shook her head. “From all I can hear,” she said, “matters and things in general are a great deal nicer in books than they are outside of books. Folks are folks, anyway you can fix them, I don’t care what the books say. But I’ll not deny that in my day and time [Pg 186] I have seen folks mighty¹ near as nice and as pretty as those you read about in the books, and one of these was the little girl I am going to tell you about.

 

“Once upon a time, in the country where I then lived,—and I’ve lived in a good many countries, for wherever you find mountains, hills, and rivers, there you’ll find the Meadows family,—there was a little girl who was both beautiful and good. She was not as good nor as beautiful as those you read about in the books, but she was good enough for the people who knew her. For a wonder she didn’t have long golden hair. Her hair was black, and curled about her head in the loveliest way; and her eyes were large and brown, and her skin creamy white, with just the shadow of rose color in her face. Her parents were rich and proud, but they were prouder of their little girl than they were of their money, as well they might be, seeing that she was the smartest and most beautiful child to be found in all the country round.”

 

“Were there no princes and castles in that country?” inquired Sweetest Susan.

 

“Oh, dear, no!” replied Mrs. Meadows. [Pg 187] “The folks were just plain, common, every-day people. Those that were fortunate enough to be honest and contented² were much better off than any princes you ever heard of; and a hut where happiness lives is a much finer place than the finest castle.

 

“Well, as I was telling you, the parents of this little girl with black curly hair were very proud of her. They watched over her very carefully, and neglected nothing that would make her happy and contented. Some little girls that I have known would have been spoiled by so much kindness and attention, but this little girl with the black curly hair wasn’t spoiled at all. She was as good as she was beautiful.

 

“One day, when this little girl was walking in the flower garden, she heard the gardener talking to his wife through the iron fence. The woman’s voice was so pleasant and her laugh so cheerful that the little girl ran to the fence and peeped through to see who it was. The gardener’s wife saw her, and at once began to pet her and make much of her. The little girl wanted the woman to come into the garden, and seemed to be so much in earnest about it that the woman [Pg 188] promised she would come and be the child’s nurse some day.

 

“No sooner had the gardener’s wife gone about her business than the little girl ran and told her mother that she must have a nurse. At first her mother paid little attention to her, thinking that it was the passing whim³ of a child, but the little girl insisted, until finally her mother said:—

 

“‘Who shall be your nurse? You know, my dear, that you can’t have everybody and anybody?’

 

“‘Ask the gardener,’ the little girl replied. ‘He knows.’

 

“‘And how does he know?’ the mother asked.

 

“‘I saw him talking with her,’ the little girl replied.

 

“So, after a time, the gardener was called, and then it was found that his wife was the person the little girl had selected to be her nurse. The father and mother hesitated for some time before they would consent to send for the woman, but finally she came, and they were so much struck by her pleasant manners and cheerful disposition⁴ that they were quite willing to employ her.

 

“For a long time after that the little girl and her nurse were never separated except when the nurse [Pg 189] would go home to see her husband and her son, who was a handsome boy about fourteen years old. The little girl used to grieve so when her nurse left her that on one occasion, when the woman was going home for only an hour or so, she carried the child with her. There the little girl saw the handsome son of her nurse, and they were both very much pleased with each other. In the little time she stayed, the boy showed her a hundred new games, and told her a great many stories she had never heard before.”

 

“How old was the little girl?” Mr. Thimblefinger inquired.

 

“Between seven and eight,” replied Mrs. Meadows “Just old enough to be cute. Well, in the little time they were together the boy and girl grew to be very fond of each other. The boy thought she was the daintiest and prettiest creature he had ever seen, and the little girl thought the boy was all that a boy should be.

 

“Of course, when the little girl went back home again she talked of nothing else but the boy who had proved to be such a wonderful playmate. This set the child’s mother to thinking, and she made up her mind that it wouldn’t do [Pg 190] for these children to see so much of each other. So she sent for the nurse and told her very kindly⁵ that she didn’t think it would be prudent⁶ to carry the little girl to her house any more.

 

“The nurse agreed with the little girl’s mother, but somehow she didn’t relish⁷ the idea that her brave and handsome son wasn’t good enough to play with anybody’s daughter. She thought the matter over for several days, and finally decided⁸ that it would be better to give up her place as nurse. She was very fond of the little girl, but she was still fonder of her boy. So she ceased to be the child’s nurse, and went to her own home.

 

“The little girl grieved day and night for her kind nurse. Nothing would console her. Her mother bought her a little pony⁹, but she wouldn’t ride it; wonderful dolls, but she wouldn’t look at them; the finest cakes and candies, but she wouldn’t eat them; the most beautiful dresses, but she wouldn’t wear them. Matters went on in this way for I don’t know how long, until, finally, one day the little girl’s mother concluded to send for the nurse.

 

“Now it happened that on that particular day the little girl had made up her mind to go after [Pg 191] her nurse. One day in each week, the gardener would open the big gates of the park in order to trundle away the trash and weeds that he had raked up. The little girl watched him open the gate, and then, when the gardener went for his wheelbarrow, she slipped out at the gate and went running across the fields.

 

“For a time the little girl was perfectly¹⁰ happy. She gave herself up to the pleasure of being alone, of being able to do as she chose, with no one to tell her not to do this or do that, or to say ‘come here,’ or ‘go yonder.’ So she went running across the fields, looking at the birds, and trying to catch butterflies, and singing to herself some of the beautiful songs that her nurse’s son had taught her.

 

“Now it happened that when she ran out of the garden gate, in her haste to keep out of sight of the gardener, she went away from her nurse’s house instead of going towards it. She had been kept so closely at home that she had no idea of the great world beyond the garden gate. She thought that all she had to do to get to her dear nurse’s house was to go out at the gate and keep on going until she came to the place where there [Pg 192] were two big trees, with a swing between them, and a little white house on the other side.

 

“So she went on her way, singing and skipping. When she grew tired she sat down to rest. When she grew thirsty she drank of the clear, cold water that ran through the fields. When she became hungry, she ate the berries that grew along the way. She was perfectly satisfied that she would soon come to her nurse’s house. But the sun doesn’t stop for grown people, much less for children, and the little girl soon found that night was coming on. The only thought she had was that her nurse’s house had been moved farther away, and that by going straight ahead she would find it after a while.

 

“So she trudged¹¹ along. When the sun was nearly down she saw an old man sitting in the shade of a tree. The little girl went straight towards him, made him a curtsey, as she had been taught to do, and said:—

 

“‘Please, sir, where is my nurse’s house?’

 

“The old man raised his head and glanced all around. ‘I see no nurse’s house,’ he replied.

 

“Then, after a little while the old man said: ‘My dear, give me a drink of water.’

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE OLD MAN

 

[Pg 193] “The little girl looked all around. ‘I see no water,’ she replied.

 

“‘Well said, well said!’ exclaimed the old man. ‘You are very bright and very beautiful, therefore I’ll give you some advice. There is a spring by yonder tree, but you must not drink the water. There is a pomegranate-tree growing by the spring, but you must eat none of the fruit.’

 

“Having said this, the old man slung¹² his wallet over his back and went on his way. The little girl went to the spring and looked at the water. Then she looked at the beautiful red fruit growing on the pomegranate-tree. She was very thirsty, very hungry, and very tired. She thought to herself that the old man was very mean and stingy. ‘He’s afraid I’ll muddy the water,’ she said, ‘and he wants all the pomegranates for himself.’

 

“Then she drank from the spring, and the water was very sweet and cool. She ate the fruit of the pomegranate-tree, and it was delicious. Then being tired, she stretched herself out on the grass and was soon sound asleep.

 

“Now it so happened,” continued Mrs. Meadows, pretending to examine the stitches in [Pg 194] Sweetest Susan’s frock “that the spring and the pomegranate-tree were under a spell. They belonged to an old Conjurer who lived in a cave close by. In this cave he had a large bowl of water on a shelf, and near it, growing in a box, was a little pomegranate-bush. Whenever anybody drank from the spring, the water in the bowl would shake and tremble and become muddy; and whenever a pomegranate was pulled from the big bush by the spring, the little bush in the Conjurer’s cave would bend and wave its limbs as if a gale¹³ were blowing.

 

“All this occurred when the little girl drank from the spring and pulled and ate one of the pomegranates; and by the time she was sound asleep, the Conjurer had come out of his cave and discovered her. He waited a little while, and then took the child and carried her to his cave, and it was many a long day before anybody, except the Conjurer himself, saw her again.”

 

At this point Mrs. Meadows paused.

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

3 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

4 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

7 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

10 perfectly   

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。

11 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

13 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。