"WILLIE WON'T"

 It was baking day at Willie Wright's house. Willie was on hand, as usual, to scrape the dish and tease for raisins¹.

 

Suddenly Jennie the cook threw up her hands. "Oh, dear," she cried, "I forgot to order baking powder! Willie, will you—"

 

Bang! went the door, and off ran Willie down the path, with Laddie at his heels.

 

"I won't go to the store!" he grumbled².

 

"Wil-lie!" called Jennie from the house.

 

"Won't, won't, won't!" Willie screamed.

 

The next-door pussy³ was sunning herself in the Wrights' yard.

 

"Sic 'em, Laddie!" cried Willie.

 

"Wow-wow!" barked Laddie joyously⁴.

 

"S-s-s-t!" spit pussy, scurrying⁵ to the top of the pump.

 

"Wil-lie-e-e!"

 

Willie dropped down beside the fence, out of Jennie's sight. "She c'n go herself," he said.

 

Laddie cuddled down beside him. It was warm in the sun, and the locusts⁶ were droning drowsily⁷ in the grass.

 

"Oo-ff! Oo-ff! Oo-ff!" snored Laddie.

 

Willie nodded—and nodded—and nodded.

 

"Ho-ho!" came a voice over the fence. "Willie Won't! That's a funny name!"

 

"Funny!" retorted another voice. "It's ugly. Willie Will would be far nicer."

 

"Nobody named Willie Will would ever set a dog on a cat," came a third voice.

 

"No," said a fourth, "nor run off and hide when there are errands to do."

 

And then the four began to sing—

 

"Willie Won't's a horrid⁸ boy!

No one will like him till

He helps when people want him to

And turns to Willie Will."

Willie jumped to his feet and looked around. The neighbors' sunflowers nodded solemnly over the fence.

 

"Willie Will," they seemed to urge.

 

Willie started for the house. "Willie Will," he echoed, as he went up the path.

1 raisins   

n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆，味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句

2 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

3 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

4 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分

5 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

6 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drowsily   

adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地

参考例句：

• She turned drowsily on her side, a slow creeping blackness enveloping her mind. 她半睡半醒地翻了个身，一片缓缓蠕动的黑暗渐渐将她的心包围起来。 来自飘（部分）
• I felt asleep drowsily before I knew it. 不知过了多久，我曚扙地睡着了。 来自互联网

8 horrid   

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。