X THE LITTLE TOADS START OUT TO SEE THE WORLD

   The world is a wonderful great big place

    And in it the young must roam¹

  To learn what their elders have long since learned—

    There's never a place like home.

 

It had been some time since Peter Rabbit had visited the Smiling Pool to watch the pollywogs. But one cloudy morning he happened to think of them, and decided² that he would run over there and see how they were getting along. So off he started, lipperty-lipperty-lip. He wondered if those pollywog children of Old Mr. Toad³ would be much changed. The last time he saw them some of them had just begun to grow legs, although they still had long tails.

 

He had almost reached the Smiling Pool when great big drops of rain began to splash⁴ down. And with those first raindrops something funny happened. Anyway, it seemed funny to Peter. Right away he was surrounded by tiny little Toads⁵. Everywhere he looked he saw Toads, tiny little Toads just like Old Mr. Toad, only so tiny that one could have sat comfortably on a ten-cent piece and still had plenty of room.

 

Peter's big eyes grew round with surprise as he stared. Where had they all come from so suddenly? A minute before he hadn't seen a single one, and now he could hardly move without stepping on one. It seemed, it really seemed, as if each raindrop turned into a tiny Toad the instant⁶ it struck the ground. Of course Peter knew that that couldn't be, but it was very puzzling. And all those little Toads were bravely hopping⁷ along as if they were bound⁸ for some particular place.

 

Peter watched them for a few minutes, then he once more started for the Smiling Pool. On the very bank whom should he meet but Old Mr. Toad. He looked rather thin, and his back was to the Smiling Pool. Yes, Sir, he was hopping away from the Smiling Pool where he had been all the spring, singing in the great chorus⁹. Peter was almost as surprised to see him as he had been to see the little Toads, but just then he was most interested in those little Toads.

 

"Good morning, Old Mr. Toad," said Peter in his most polite manner. "Can you tell me where all these little Toads came from?"

'Can you tell me where all these little Toads came from?'

 

"Certainly," replied Old Mr. Toad. "They came from the Smiling Pool, of course. Where did you suppose they came from?"

 

"I—I didn't know. There wasn't one to be seen, and then it began to rain, and right away they were everywhere. It—it almost seemed as if they had rained down out of the sky."

 

Old Mr. Toad chuckled¹⁰. "They've got good sense, if I must say it about my own children," said he. "They know that wet weather is the only weather for Toads to travel in. They left the Smiling Pool in the night while it was damp and comfortable, and then, when the sun came up, they hid, like sensible¹¹ children, under anything they could find, sticks, stones, pieces of bark, grass. The minute this shower came up, they knew it was good traveling weather and out they popped."

 

"But what did they leave the Smiling Pool for?" Peter asked.

 

"To see the Great World," replied Old Mr. Toad. "Foolish, very foolish of them, but they would do it. I did the same thing myself when I was their age. Couldn't stop me any more than I could stop them. They don't know when they're well off, but young folks¹² never do. Fine weather, isn't it?"

 

1 roam   

vi.漫游，闲逛，徜徉

参考例句：

• He used to roam the streets for hours on end.他过去常逛大街，一逛就是几个小时。
• I like to roam about over the countryside.我喜欢在乡间走一走。

2 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。

3 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

4 splash   

v.溅，泼；n.溅泼声，溅出的水等，斑点

参考例句：

• I fell into the water with a splash.我跌入水中，激起水花四溅。
• There's a splash of paint on the white wall.白墙上溅上了一片油漆。

5 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

6 instant   

adj.紧迫的；立即的；本月的；已配制好的时刻；瞬息，霎时

参考例句：

• If you don't leave this instant,I will scream.你要是不马上离开，我就喊了。
• It all happened in an instant.这一切都发生在一刹那间。

7 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

8 bound   

adj.一定的，必然的；受约束的，有义务的

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• If he signs that paper,he will be bound hand and foot.如果他签署那份文件，他就会受到束缚。

9 chorus   

n.合唱，合唱队，齐声

参考例句：

• Never before have I heard this song sung in chorus.我从来没有听过这首歌的合唱。
• The children repeated the words after her in chorus.孩子们跟她齐声朗读单词。

10 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

11 sensible   

adj.可察觉的，意识到的，实用的；n.可感知物

参考例句：

• Are you sensible of the dangers of your position? 你觉察到你处境中的危险了吗？
• He was sensible enough to mind his own business.他颇有见识，不去管闲事。

12 folks   

n.人们；父母；亲人；家属；人们( folk的名词复数 )；亲属；大伙儿；民间音乐

参考例句：

• Ask yourself what the folks in Peoria will think of it. 想一想皮奥里亚的人会如何看待这件事。
• When good folks meet, evil men keep their distance. 好人相逢，恶人远离。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》