XXII THE UNWELCOME GUEST

 Ferdinand Frog did not like Timothy Turtle. But he always said he thought Mr. Turtle could be trusted.

 

"You can depend on him," Mr. Frog often remarked. "Yes, you can depend on him to grab you if he ever gets a chance."

 

And all the rest of the musical Frog family agreed with him.

 

It is not surprising, therefore, that they never invited Timothy Turtle to attend their singing parties in Cedar¹ Swamp. It made no difference how much Timothy Turtle hinted. Though he frequentlyp. 111 took pains to tell Ferdinand Frog how fond he was of music, Mr. Frog never once asked him to come to a concert.

 

In private Mr. Frog and his friends often spoke² of Mr. Turtle—and giggled³. And one of the Frog family even made up a song about Timothy Turtle, which the whole company loved to chant in Cedar Swamp, safe—as they thought—from Timothy's snapping jaws⁴.

 

But one fine summer's evening they had a great surprise. They had scarcely begun their nightly concert when Timothy Turtle appeared, out of the water and crawled upon an old stump⁵, right in their midst.

 

"Good evening!" he cried. "I was just passing on my way home; and hearing the singing, I thought I'd stop and enjoy it."

 

For a few moments none of the Frogp. 112 family said a word. And then Ferdinand Frog spoke up and asked Mr. Turtle a question:

 

"Have you had your dinner?"

 

"No, I haven't," Timothy answered. "But you needn't trouble yourselves on my account. Go on with your singing. And if I feel faint no doubt I can find a bite to eat hereabouts."

 

Now, Mr. Turtle hoped that his speech would put the singers quite at their ease. But they looked at one another and rolled their eyes as if to say, "This Timothy Turtle is a dangerous person. Look out for him!"

 

At the same time they did not wish to appear frightened. And Ferdinand Frog's mother's uncle even made a short speech, saying that he hoped Mr. Turtle would enjoy the singing half as much as everybody else enjoyed his company.p. 113

 

He was about to make some further remark. But no one knew what. For Timothy Turtle wheeled about to look at the old gentleman. And the moment Timothy moved, Ferdinand Frog's mother's uncle jumped hastily into the water from the hummock⁶ where he had been sitting, and swam away.

 

The rest of the company then sang a song. And their listener said that he had never heard anything like it.

 

"I wish you'd sing it again," he said, "with your mouths open and your eyes shut."

 

But the musical Frog family objected that they were not used to singing in that fashion.

 

"Why don't you keep your own eyes shut?" Ferdinand Frog asked Mr. Turtle. "Then you wouldn't know whether ours were open or closed."p. 114

 

"Let us all shut our eyes!" Timothy Turtle then suggested. And when the Frog family began another song, a few of the younger and more foolish singers followed Mr. Turtle's advice.

 

So, too, did Mr. Turtle himself—for a few moments.

 

But he soon opened his eyes slyly. And he became very angry when he saw that most of the singers were watching him.

 

"You aren't doing as I asked you!" he shouted.

 

1 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

5 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

6 hummock   

n.小丘

参考例句：

• He crawled up a small hummock and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。
• The two young men advanced cautiously towards the hummock.两个年轻人小心翼翼地向小丘前进。