The Merry Little Breezes Try To Comfort Grandfather Frog

 When the Merry Little Breezes¹ of Old Mother West Wind had left Grandfather Frog in the Long Lane² where Farmer Brown's boy had dropped him, and had hurried as fast as ever they could to try to find some of his friends to help him, not one of them had been successful. No one was at home, and no one was in any of the places where they usually were to be found. The Merry Little Breezes looked and looked. Then, one by one, they sadly turned back to the Long Lane. They felt so badly that they just hated to go back where they had left Grandfather Frog.

 

When they got there, they found Striped³ Chipmunk⁴, who now was scolding Farmer Brown's boy as fast as his tongue could go.

 

"Where is he?" cried the Merry Little Breezes excitedly.

 

Striped Chipmunk stopped scolding long enough to point to Farmer Brown's boy, who was hunting in the grass for some trace⁵ of Grandfather Frog.

 

"We don't mean him, you stupid! We can see him for ourselves. Where's Grandfather Frog?" cried the Merry Little Breezes, all speaking at once.

 

"I don't know," replied Striped Chipmunk, "and what's more, I don't care!"

 

Now this wasn't true, for Striped Chipmunk isn't that kind. It was mostly talk, and the Merry Little Breezes knew it. They knew that Striped Chipmunk really thinks a great deal of Grandfather Frog, just as they do. So they pretended not to notice what he said or how put out he seemed. After a while, he told them that he had set Grandfather Frog free and that then he had started for the spring on the other side of the Long Lane. The Merry Little Breezes were delighted to hear the good news, and they said such a lot of nice things to Striped Chipmunk that he quite forgot to scold Farmer Brown's boy. Then they started for the spring, dancing merrily, for they felt sure that there Grandfather Frog was all right, and they expected to find him quite at home.

 

"Hello, Grandfather Frog!" they shouted, as they peeped⁶ into the spring. "How do you like your new home?"

 

Grandfather Frog made no reply. He just rolled his great goggly eyes up at them, and they were full of tears.

 

"Why—why—why, Grandfather Frog, what is the matter now?" they cried.

 

"Chugarum," said Grandfather Frog, and his voice sounded all choky, "I can't get out."

 

Then they noticed for the first time how straight and smooth the walls of the spring were and how far down Grandfather Frog was, and they knew that he spoke⁷ the truth. They tried bending down the grasses that grew around the edge of the spring, but none were long enough to reach the water. If they had stopped to think, they would have known that Grandfather Frog couldn't have climbed up by them, anyway. Then they tried to lift a big stick into the spring, but it was too heavy for them, and they couldn't move it. However, they did manage to blow an old shingle⁸ in, and this gave Grandfather Frog something to sit on, so that he began to feel a little better. Then they said all the comforting things they could think of. They told him that no harm could come to him there, unless Farmer Brown's boy should happen to see him.

 

"That's just what I'm afraid of!" croaked⁹ Grandfather Frog. Page 109.

 

"That's just what I'm afraid of!" croaked Grandfather Frog. Page 109.

 

"That's just what I am afraid of!" croaked Grandfather Frog. "He is sure to see me if he comes for a drink, for there is no place for me to hide."

 

"Perhaps he won't come," said one of the Little Breezes hopefully.

 

"If he does come, you can hide under the piece of shingle, and then he won't know you are here at all," said another.

 

Grandfather Frog brightened¹⁰ up. "That's so!" said he. "That's a good idea, and I'll try it."

 

Then one of the Merry Little Breezes promised to keep watch for Farmer Brown's boy, and all the others started off on another hunt for some one to help Grandfather Frog out of this new trouble.

1 breezes   

n.微风，轻风( breeze的名词复数 )；轻而易举的事

参考例句：

• The feather fan was only powerful against the summer breezes. 羽毛扇只是在夏日的微风中才有所作为。 来自辞典例句
• When these breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper. 微风吹到平台时，棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟。 来自辞典例句

2 lane   

n.(乡间)小路(巷)；车(跑，泳)道；航道

参考例句：

• There is a shop at the end of this lane.这条胡同的顶头有一家商店。
• The champion is running in lane five.冠军跑在第五跑道上。

3 striped   

adj.有斑纹的

参考例句：

• Jack's plaid shirt didn't mix well with his striped trousers.杰克的方格衬衫与条纹长裤不相配。
• His striped tie showed up well against his dark red shirt.他那条纹领带在深红色的衬衫下十分醒目。

4 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

5 trace   

n.痕迹，踪迹，微量；vt.追踪，找出根源，描绘；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• There isn't a trace of a smile on her face.她脸上没有一丝笑容。
• We have lost all trace of him.我们找不到他的踪迹。

6 peeped   

窥视( peep的过去式和过去分词 )； 偷看； 隐现； 慢慢露出

参考例句：

• The moon finally peeped out from behind the clouds. 月亮终于从云层后面露了出来。
• At the examination he peeped at his neighbour's paper. 他考试时偷看了他邻座的卷子。

7 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。

8 shingle   

n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短

参考例句：

• He scraped away the dirt,and exposed a pine shingle.他刨去泥土，下面露出一块松木瓦块。
• He hung out his grandfather's shingle.他挂出了祖父的行医招牌。

9 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

10 brightened   

（使）发亮( brighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）生色； （使）生辉； （使）快乐

参考例句：

• He brightened up when they said he could go with them. 他们说他可以一起去，他就高兴起来。
• The new teacher brightened the life of all his pupils. 新来的老师使全体学生的生活变得活跃起来了。