THE TALE OF MRS. TIGGY-WINKLE

 Once upon a time there was a little girl called Lucie, who lived at a farm called Little-town. She was a good little girl—only she was always losing her pocket-handkerchiefs!

 

One day little Lucie came into the farm-yard crying—oh, she did cry so! "I've lost my pocket-handkin! Three handkins and a pinny! Have YOU seen them, Tabby Kitten?"

 

The Kitten went on washing her white paws; so Lucie asked a speckled hen—

 

"Sally Henny-penny, have YOU found three pocket-handkins?"

 

But the speckled hen ran into a barn, clucking—

 

"I go barefoot, barefoot, barefoot!"

 

And then Lucie asked Cock Robin¹ sitting on a twig². Cock Robin looked sideways at Lucie with his bright black eye, and he flew over a stile and away.

 

Lucie climbed upon the stile and looked up at the hill behind Little- town—a hill that goes up—up—into the clouds as though it had no top!

 

And a great way up the hillside she thought she saw some white things spread upon the grass.

 

Lucie scrambled³ up the hill as fast as her short legs would carry her; she ran along a steep path-way—up and up—until Little-town was right away down below—she could have dropped a pebble⁴ down the chimney!

 

Presently she came to a spring, bubbling out from the hillside.

 

Some one had stood a tin can upon a stone to catch the water—but the water was already running over, for the can was no bigger than an egg- cup! And where the sand upon the path was wet—there were footmarks of a VERY small person.

 

Lucie ran on, and on.

 

The path ended under a big rock. The grass was short and green, and there were clothes-props cut from bracken stems, with lines of plaited rushes, and a heap of tiny clothes pins—but no pocket-handkerchiefs!

 

But there was something else—a door! straight into the hill; and inside it some one was singing—

 

     "Lily-white and clean, oh!

     With little frills between, oh!

     Smooth and hot-red rusty⁵ spot

     Never here be seen, oh!"

Lucie knocked-once-twice, and interrupted the song. A little frightened voice called out "Who's that?"

 

Lucie opened the door: and what do you think there was inside the hill?—a nice clean kitchen with a flagged floor and wooden beams— just like any other farm kitchen. Only the ceiling was so low that Lucie's head nearly touched it; and the pots and pans were small, and so was everything there.

 

There was a nice hot singey smell; and at the table, with an iron in her hand, stood a very stout⁶ short person staring anxiously at Lucie.

 

Her print gown was tucked up, and she was wearing a large apron⁷ over her striped petticoat. Her little black nose went sniffle, sniffle, snuffle, and her eyes went twinkle, twinkle; and underneath⁸ her cap-where Lucie had yellow curls-that little person had PRICKLES!

 

"Who are you?" said Lucie. "Have you seen my pocket-handkins?"

 

The little person made a bob- curtsey—"Oh yes, if you please'm; my name is Mrs. Tiggy-winkle; oh yes if you please'm, I'm an excellent clear- starcher⁹!" And she took something out of the clothesbasket, and spread it on the ironing-blanket.

 

"What's that thing?" said Lucie- "that's not my pocket-handkin?"

 

"Oh no, if you please'm; that's a little scarlet¹¹ waist-coat belonging to Cock Robin!"

 

And she ironed it and folded it, and put it on one side.

 

Then she took something else off a clothes-horse—"That isn't my pinny?" said Lucie.

 

"Oh no, if you please'm; that's a damask table-cloth belonging to Jenny Wren¹²; look how it's stained with currant wine! It's very bad to wash!" said Mrs. Tiggy-winkle.

 

Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's nose went sniffle sniffle snuffle, and her eyes went twinkle twinkle; and she fetched another hot iron from the fire.

 

"There's one of my pocket- handkins!" cried Lucie—"and there's my pinny!"

 

Mrs. Tiggy-winkle ironed it, and goffered it, and shook out the frills.

 

"Oh that IS lovely!" said Lucie.

 

"And what are those long yellow things with fingers like gloves?"

 

"Oh that's a pair of stockings belonging to Sally Henny-penny—look how she's worn the heels out with scratching in the yard! She'll very soon go barefoot!" said Mrs. Tiggy-winkle.

 

"Why, there's another hankersniff— but it isn't mine; it's red?"

 

"Oh no, if you please'm; that one belongs to old Mrs. Rabbit; and it DID so smell of onions! I've had to wash it separately, I can't get out that smell."

 

"There's another one of mine," said Lucie.

 

"What are those funny little white things?"

 

"That's a pair of mittens¹³ belonging to Tabby Kitten; I only have to iron them; she washes them herself."

 

"There's my last pocket-handkin!" said Lucie.

 

"And what are you dipping into the basin of starch¹⁰?"

 

"They're little dicky shirt-fronts belonging to Tom Titmouse—most terrible particular!" said Mrs. Tiggy- winkle. "Now I've finished my ironing; I'm going to air some clothes."

 

"What are these dear soft fluffy¹⁴ things?" said Lucie.

 

"Oh those are woolly coats belonging to the little lambs at Skelghyl."

 

"Will their jackets take off?" asked

Lucie.

"Oh yes, if you please'm; look at the sheep-mark on the shoulder. And here's one marked for Gatesgarth, and three that come from Little-town. They're ALWAYS marked at washing!" said Mrs. Tiggy-winkle.

 

And she hung up all sorts and sizes of clothes—small brown coats of mice; and one velvety¹⁵ black moleskin waist-coat; and a red tail-coat with no tail belonging to Squirrel Nutkin; and a very much shrunk blue jacket belonging to Peter Rabbit; and a petticoat, not marked, that had gone lost in the washing—and at last the basket was empty!

 

Then Mrs. Tiggy-winkle made tea—a cup for herself and a cup for Lucie. They sat before the fire on a bench and looked sideways at one another. Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's hand, holding the tea-cup, was very very brown, and very very wrinkly with the soap-suds; and all through her gown and her cap, there were HAIRPINS¹⁶ sticking wrong end out; so that Lucie didn't like to sit too near her.

 

When they had finished tea, they tied up the clothes in bundles; and Lucie's pocket-handkerchiefs were folded up inside her clean pinny, and fastened with a silver safety-pin.

 

And then they made up the fire with turf, and came out and locked the door, and hid the key under the door-sill.

 

Then away down the hill trotted¹⁷ Lucie and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle with the bundles of clothes!

 

All the way down the path little animals came out of the fern to meet them; the very first that they met were Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny!

 

And she gave them their nice clean clothes; and all the little animals and birds were so very much obliged to dear Mrs. Tiggy-winkle.

 

So that at the bottom of the hill when they came to the stile, there was nothing left to carry except Lucie's one little bundle.

 

Lucie scrambled up the stile with the bundle in her hand; and then she turned to say "Good-night," and to thank the washer-woman.—But what a VERY odd thing! Mrs. Tiggy-winkle had not waited either for thanks or for the washing bill!

 

She was running running running up the hill—and where was her white frilled cap? and her shawl? and her gown-and her petticoat?

 

And HOW small she had grown— and HOW brown—and covered with PRICKLES!

 

Why! Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was nothing but a HEDGEHOG! * * * * * *

 

(Now some people say that little Lucie had been asleep upon the stile—but then how could she have found three clean pocket-handkins and a pinny, pinned with a silver safety-pin?

 

And besides—I have seen that door into the back of the hill called Cat Bells—and besides I am very well acquainted with dear Mrs. Tiggy-winkle!)

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

3 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

5 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

7 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

9 starcher   

搜索者，检查官

参考例句：

• The searcher fannned out to look for the missing boy. 搜寻者散开去找那个丢失的男孩。
• The industry must be a Price Searcher. 行业必须是一觅价者。

10 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

11 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

12 wren   

n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员

参考例句：

• A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
• My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。

13 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

14 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

15 velvety   

adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的

参考例句：

• a velvety red wine 醇厚的红葡萄酒
• Her skin was admired for its velvety softness. 她的皮肤如天鹅绒般柔软，令人赞叹。

16 hairpins   

n.发夹( hairpin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The price of these hairpins are about the same. 这些发夹的价格大致相同。 来自互联网
• So the king gives a hundred hairpins to each of them. 所以国王送给她们每人一百个漂亮的发夹。 来自互联网

17 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。