XII KIND TIMOTHY TURTLE

 All day long Timothy Turtle stayed on the Beaver¹ dam. And when the Beavers² returned in the evening, to resume³ their work, they found Timothy still clinging⁴ to the box elder stick.

 

To Timothy Turtle's deep disgust the plump⁵ workers gathered round him and laughed. He could never bear to hear people laugh—laughing was so silly, he always said. And now Brownie Beaver laughed louder than all the rest.

 

"Look!" Brownie cried, pointing straight at Timothy Turtle. "Isn't he kind? He has stopped up that big holep. 57 for us all day.... And now"—Brownie added, turning to Timothy Turtle—"now if you'll kindly⁶ stop working for us and move aside we'll fill that hole that's right under you, with mud."

 

Timothy Turtle never felt more ashamed in all his long life. There he had been working all day long, helping⁷ the Beaver family by plugging a hole in their dam with his flat body—and he had never guessed what he was doing!

 

He let go of the stick and sank hastily⁸ in the pond, where the water was deepest, to bury himself in the soft bottom. And there he stayed and sulked for the rest of the week, until his visit was done. If he stuck his head out of the water now and then for a breath of air, he was careful to let no one see him.

 

He did not even bid the Beaver family good-by at the end of his visit, but left inp. 58 the middle of the day, when everybody was sound asleep.

 

Grandaddy Beaver said it was no more than one could expect of a person so rude as Timothy Turtle.

 

"He was just like that in my great-grandfather's time," the old gentleman explained.

 

And all the rest of the villagers remarked that Timothy Turtle was old enough to have better manners. Certainly, they said, the youngest Beaver child knew better than to treat people in such a rude fashion.

 

Brownie Beaver's mother especially announced that she had never in all her life met a gentleman who had treated her so disrespectfully as old Mr. Turtle. And she grew red and pale by turns as she recalled how he had seized her by the tail and held her fast for a whole day.p. 59

 

"I hope," she said, "that by the time he comes here again he will have learned how to behave himself."

 

But Grandaddy Beaver shook his head.

 

"Timothy Turtle," he declared, "will be no different even if he lives to be a thousand years old."

 

And everybody said that it was a great pity.

1 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 beavers   

海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人

参考例句：

• In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
• Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的，蜜蜂是这样做的，人也是这样做的。

3 resume   

v.（中断后）继续，恢复；n.摘要，简历

参考例句：

• We'll stop now and resume at two o 'clock.我们现在停下来，到两点再干。
• My resume shows that I have the right qualifications for the job.我的简历表明我正符合这项工作的条件。

4 clinging   

adj.执着的；有黏性的；紧靠着的；紧贴着的v.附着于( cling的现在分词 )；抓紧或抱住；坚持；依恋，依附于

参考例句：

• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
• I was very frightened and clinging on like mad. 我很害怕，拼命地向上爬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 plump   

adj.丰满的，丰富的，直接的；vi.下降，支持，变丰满；vt.突然放下，支持，使丰满；n.突然膨胀，坠落；adv.骤降，直线下降，不加限制的

参考例句：

• The baby is plump and very cute.那个婴儿白白胖胖的，十分可爱。
• The grains are quite plump.谷粒儿很饱。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 hastily   

ad.过于匆忙地，急急忙忙地

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily. 我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。