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The Black Sheep
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 Black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, my little master, three bags full;
One for my master and one for his dame1,
And one for the little boy that lives in the lane.
IT was a bright spring day, and the sun shone very warm and pleasant over the pastures, where the new grass was growing so juicy and tender that all the sheep thought they had never tasted anything so delicious.
 
The sheep had had a strange experience that morning, for the farmer had taken them down to the brook2 and washed them, and then he tied their legs together and laid them on the grass and clipped all the heavy, soft wool from their bodies with a great pair of shears4.
 
The sheep did not like this very well, for every once in a while the shears would pull the wool and hurt them; and when they were sheared5 they felt very strange, for it was almost as if someone took off all your clothes and let you run around naked. None of them were in a very good temper this morning, although the sun shone so warmly and the grass was so sweet, and as they watched the farmer and his man[56] carry their wool up to the house in great bags, the old ram6 said, crossly,
 
"I hope they are satisfied, now that they have stolen from us all our soft, warm fleece."
 
"What are they going to do with it?" asked one of the sheep.
 
"Oh, they will spin it into threads and make coats for the men and dresses for the women. For men are such strange creatures that no wool grows on them at all, and that is why they selfishly rob us of our fleece that they may cover their own skinny bodies!"
 
"It must be horrid7 to be a man," said the Black Sheep, "and not to have any wool grow on you at all. I'm sorry for that little boy that lives in the lane, for he will never be able to keep warm unless we give him some of our wool."
 
"But what a shame it is," continued the ram, "for the farmer to steal all the wool from us when we have taken all the trouble to grow it!"
 
"I don't mind," bleated8 a young lamb named Frisky9, as it kicked up its heels and gambolled10 about upon the grass; "it's nice to have all that heavy wool cut off my back, for I sha'n't have to carry it around wherever I go."
 
"Oh, indeed!" sneered11 the ram, "you like it, do you? Have you any idea what you look like, all sheared down to your skin? How would you like to have someone come along and see you, now that you are all head and legs?"
 
[57]
 
"Oh, I wouldn't mind," said the lamb again; "I shall grow more wool by winter-time, and I'm sure I don't look any worse than you do."
 
Some of the sheep looked at the ram and began to titter, for he was old and thin, and looked very comical indeed without any wool. And this made him so angry that he went off by himself and began eating grass, and would not speak to the others at all.
 
"I don't know why sheep should feel badly about having their fleeces cut," remarked the Black Sheep, thoughtfully, "for the farmer is very kind to us, and so is his dame, and I am glad my wool serves to keep them warm in the winter. For before the snow comes our wool will grow out again, and we shall not be any the worse for our loss."
 
"What do those people who haven't any sheep do for clothes?" asked the lamb.
 
"I'm sure I don't know. They must nearly freeze in the winter. Perhaps the ram can tell us."
 
But the ram was still angry, and refused to say anything, so the sheep stopped talking and began to scatter12 over the pasture and eat the tender, new grass.
 
By and by the Black Sheep wandered near the lane, and looking up, saw the little boy watching it through the bars.
 
"Good morning, Black Sheep," said the boy; "why do you look so funny this morning?"
 
"They have cut off my wool," answered the sheep.
 
[58]
man and sheep
The Black Sheep
 
"What will they do with it, Black Sheep?" enquired13 the little boy.
 
"They will make coats of it, to keep themselves warm."
 
"I wish I had some wool," said the boy, "for I need a new coat very badly, and mamma is so poor she cannot buy me one."
 
"That is too bad," replied the Black Sheep; "but I shall have more wool by and by, and then I will give you a bagful to make a new coat from."
 
"Will you really?" asked the boy, looking very much pleased.
 
"Indeed I will," answered the sheep, "for you are always kind and have a pleasant word for me. So you watch until my wool grows again, and then you shall have your share of it."
 
"Oh, thank you!" said the boy, and he ran away to tell his mother what the Black Sheep had said.
 
When the farmer came into the field again the Black Sheep said to him,
 
"Master, how many bags of wool did you cut from my back?"
 
"Two bags full," replied the farmer; "and it was very nice wool indeed."
 
"If I grow three bags full the next time, may I have one bag for myself?" asked the sheep.
 
"Why, what could you do with a bag of wool?" questioned the farmer.
 
[59]
 
"I want to give it to the little boy that lives in the lane. He is very poor and needs a new coat."
 
"Very well," answered the master; "if you can grow three bags full I will give one to the little boy."
 
So the Black Sheep began to grow wool, and tried in every way to grow the finest and heaviest fleece in all the flock. She always lay in the sunniest part of the pastures, and drank from the clearest part of the brook, and ate only the young and juicy shoots of grass and the tenderest of the sheep-sorrel. And each day the little boy came to the bars and looked at the sheep and enquired how the wool was growing.
 
"I am getting along finely," the Black Sheep would answer, "for not one sheep in the pasture has so much wool as I have grown already."
 
"Can I do anything to help you?" asked the little boy.
 
"Not that I think of," replied the sheep, "unless you could get me a little salt. I believe salt helps the wool to grow."
 
So the boy ran to the house and begged his mother for a handful of salt, and then he came back to the bars, where the Black Sheep licked it out of his hand.
 
Day by day the wool on the sheep grew longer and longer, and even the old ram noticed it and said,
 
"You are foolish to grow so much wool, for the farmer will cut it all off, and it will do you no good. Now I am growing just as little as possible, for since[60] he steals what I have I am determined14 he shall get very little wool from my back."
 
Black Sheep did not reply to this, for she thought the old ram very ill-tempered and selfish, and believed he was doing wrong not to grow more wool.
 
Finally the time came to shear3 the sheep again, and the farmer and his man came into the pasture to look at them, and were surprised to see what a fine, big fleece the Black Sheep had grown.
 
"There will be three bagsful at the least," said the master, "and I will keep my promise and give one to the little boy in the lane. But, my goodness! how scraggly and poor the old ram looks. There is scarcely any wool on him at all. I think I must sell him to the butcher!"
 
And, in truth, although the ram kicked and struggled and bleated with rage, they tied his legs and put him into the cart and carried him away to the butcher. And that was the last the sheep ever saw of him.
 
But the Black Sheep ran up to the bars by the lane and waited with a glad heart till the little boy came. When he saw the sheep waiting for him he asked,
"Black Sheep, Black Sheep, have you any wool?"
 
And the sheep replied,
"Yes my little master, three bags full!"
 
"That is fine!" said the boy; "but who are the three bags for?"
 
[61]
"One for my master, one for his dame,
And one for the little boy that lives in the lane."
 
"Thank you, Black Sheep," said the little boy; "you are very kind, and I shall always think of you when I wear my new coat."
 
The next day the sheep were all sheared, and the Black Sheep's fleece made three big bagsful. The farmer kept his promise and carried one bag to the little boy that lived in the lane, and the wool was so soft and so heavy that there was enough not only for the new coat, but to make his mother a warm dress as well.
 
The Black Sheep was very proud and happy when the mother and her little boy came down to the bars and showed the new clothes that had been made from the wool.
 
"This pays me for all my trouble," said the Black Sheep, and the little boy reached his hand through the bars and patted her gently upon the head.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dame dvGzR0     
n.女士
参考例句:
  • The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
  • If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会,你就要跟那个夫人结婚。
2 brook PSIyg     
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让
参考例句:
  • In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
  • The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。
3 shear BzhwZ     
n.修剪,剪下的东西,羊的一岁;vt.剪掉,割,剥夺;vi.修剪,切割,剥夺,穿越
参考例句:
  • Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
  • In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹,剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。
4 shears Di7zh6     
n.大剪刀
参考例句:
  • These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
  • With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。
5 sheared 1e4e6eeb7c63849e8f2f40081eedb45c     
v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 );切断;剪切
参考例句:
  • A jet plane sheared the blue sky. 一架喷气式飞机划破蓝空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The pedal had sheared off at the pivot. 踏板在枢轴处断裂了。 来自辞典例句
6 ram dTVxg     
(random access memory)随机存取存储器
参考例句:
  • 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存,640K内存则更佳。
7 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
8 bleated 671410a5fa3040608b13f2eb8ecf1664     
v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说
参考例句:
  • The lost lamb bleated. 迷路的小羊咩咩的叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She bleated her disapproval of her son's marriage to Amy. 她用颤抖的声音表示不赞成儿子与艾米的婚事。 来自辞典例句
9 frisky LfNzk     
adj.活泼的,欢闹的;n.活泼,闹着玩;adv.活泼地,闹着玩地
参考例句:
  • I felt frisky,as if I might break into a dance.我感到很欢快,似乎要跳起舞来。
  • His horse was feeling frisky,and he had to hold the reins tightly.马儿欢蹦乱跳,他不得不紧勒缰绳。
10 gambolled 822a6e3922a85d5946c64ec3603062d2     
v.蹦跳,跳跃,嬉戏( gambol的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
11 sneered 0e3b5b35e54fb2ad006040792a867d9f     
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
  • It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。
12 scatter uDwzt     
vt.撒,驱散,散开;散布/播;vi.分散,消散
参考例句:
  • You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
  • Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。
13 enquired 4df7506569079ecc60229e390176a0f6     
打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 ); 询问; 问问题; 查问
参考例句:
  • He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。
  • Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。
14 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。


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