THE TALE OF TOM KITTEN

 Once upon a time there were three little kittens, and their names were Mittens¹, Tom Kitten, and Moppet.

 

They had dear little fur coats of their own; and they tumbled about the doorstep and played in the dust.

 

But one day their mother—Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit—expected friends to tea; so she fetched the kittens indoors, to wash and dress them, before the fine company arrived.

 

First she scrubbed their faces (this one is Moppet).

 

Then she brushed their fur (this one is Mittens).

 

Then she combed their tails and whiskers (this is Tom Kitten).

 

Tom was very naughty, and he scratched.

 

Mrs. Tabitha dressed Moppet and Mittens in clean pinafores and tuckers; and then she took all sorts of elegant uncomfortable clothes out of a chest of drawers, in order to dress up her son Thomas.

 

Tom Kitten was very fat, and he had grown; several buttons burst off. His mother sewed them on again.

 

When the three kittens were ready, Mrs. Tabitha unwisely turned them out into the garden, to be out of the way while she made hot buttered toast.

 

"Now keep your frocks clean, children! You must walk on your hind² legs. Keep away from the dirty ash- pit, and from Sally Henny Penny, and from the pigsty³ and the Puddle- ducks."

 

Moppet and Mittens walked down the garden path unsteadily. Presently they trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.

 

When they stood up there were several green smears⁴!

 

"Let us climb up the rockery and sit on the garden wall," said Moppet.

 

They turned their pinafores back to front and went up with a skip and a jump; Moppet's white tucker fell down into the road.

 

Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs in trousers. He came up the rockery by degrees, breaking the ferns and shedding buttons right and left.

 

He was all in pieces when he reached the top of the wall.

 

Moppet and Mittens tried to pull him together; his hat fell off, and the rest of his buttons burst.

 

While they were in difficulties, there was a pit pat, paddle pat! and the three Puddle-ducks came along the hard high road, marching one behind the other and doing the goose step— pit pat, paddle pat! pit pat, waddle⁵ pat!

 

They stopped and stood in a row and stared up at the kittens. They had very small eyes and looked surprised. Then the two duck-birds, Rebeccah and Jemima Puddle-duck, picked up the hat and tucker and put them on.

 

Mittens laughed so that she fell off the wall. Moppet and Tom descended⁶ after her; the pinafores and all the rest of Tom's clothes came off on the way down.

 

"Come! Mr. Drake Puddle-duck," said Moppet. "Come and help us to dress him! Come and button up Tom!"

 

Mr. Drake Puddle-duck advanced in a slow sideways manner and picked up the various articles.

 

But he put them on HIMSELF! They fitted him even worse than Tom Kitten.

 

"It's a very fine morning!" said Mr.

Drake Puddle-duck.

And he and Jemima and Rebeccah Puddle-duck set off up the road, keeping step—pit pat, paddle pat! pit pat, waddle pat!

 

Then Tabitha Twitchit came down the garden and found her kittens on the wall with no clothes on.

 

She pulled them off the wall, smacked⁷ them, and took them back to the house.

 

"My friends will arrive in a minute, and you are not fit to be seen; I am affronted," said Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit.

 

She sent them upstairs; and I am sorry to say she told her friends that they were in bed with the measles— which was not true.

 

Quite the contrary; they were not in bed:

NOT in the least.

Somehow there were very extra— ordinary noises overhead, which disturbed the dignity and repose⁸ of the tea party.

 

And I think that some day I shall have to make another, larger book, to tell you more about Tom Kitten!

 

As for the Puddle-ducks—they went into a pond.

 

The clothes all came off directly, because there were no buttons.

 

And Mr. Drake Puddle-duck, and Jemima and Rebeccah, have been looking for them ever since.

1 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。

2 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

3 pigsty   

n.猪圈，脏房间

参考例句：

• How can you live in this pigsty?你怎能这住在这样肮脏的屋里呢？
• We need to build a new pigsty for the pigs.我们需修建一个新猪圈。

4 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

5 waddle   

vi.摇摆地走；n.摇摆的走路(样子)

参考例句：

• I am pregnant.I waddle awkwardly and my big stomach pressed against the weight of the world. 我怀孕了，我滑稽可笑地瞒珊而行，大肚子上压着全世界的重量。
• We waddle and hop and have lots of fun.我们走起路来摇摇摆摆，还一跳一跳的。我们的生活很有趣。

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 smacked   

拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
• She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

8 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。