THE BARGE

 Bram’s father has a barge¹. Do you know what a barge is?

It is a big flat boat. The barge of Bram’s father is red and yellow.

It has big blue sails. It looks very pretty as it sails down the canals. Bram’s father often takes him out in the barge.

Sometimes Bram asks Jan and Katrina, Hilda, Kassie, and Karl to go with him.

When the flowers of the tulips and hyacinths have faded, the Dutch people dig up the bulbs from which grow the stems of the plants.

The Dutch people are very proud of their fine tulips.

 

They pack the bulbs carefully. They sell them and make a great deal of money.

Bram’s father sails his barge on the canals to the tulip fields. Then Bram and Jan and Katrina and Kassie and Hilda and Karl help dig up the tulip bulbs. They put them in boxes on the barge.

They work busily all the long day.

“I wonder who will plant these bulbs?” asked Bram.

“Perhaps some boy in America,” answered Karl;[66] “every year we send thousands of bulbs to America. The Americans love our Dutch tulips.”

When the sun is setting, they sail back in the big barge. Past the green meadows they sail, past the yellow and blue farmhouses² with red tiled roofs.

They glide³ slowly along. The big barge makes pretty ripples⁴ in the smooth water.

 

They see the black and white cows waiting to be milked. They hear the cowbells tinkle⁵. They see the Dutch boys and girls carrying water in big pails.

They sail past the big, brown windmill. They see its arms go slowly round. It makes pretty shadows on the water in the canal.

They see the willow⁶ trees bending down to look in the water. And they hear the little birds singing their goodnight songs.

The sun sinks down, down. The sky is all red and yellow and orange. The purple shadows begin to fall. Night is coming—and here they are at home again!

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 farmhouses   

n.农舍，农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Then perhaps she is staying at one of cottages or farmhouses? 那么也许她现在住在某个农舍或哪个农场的房子里吧？ 来自辞典例句
• The countryside was sprinkled with farmhouses. 乡间到处可见农家的房舍。 来自辞典例句

3 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

4 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

5 tinkle   

vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声

参考例句：

• The wine glass dropped to the floor with a tinkle.酒杯丁零一声掉在地上。
• Give me a tinkle and let me know what time the show starts.给我打个电话，告诉我演出什么时候开始。

6 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。