CHAPTER VIII "TELL US A STORY"

 Many fairies, I have heard,

Are dwelling¹ in the wood,

But I am sure none is so fair

As Little Red Riding Hood²!

 

 

 

The next day it rained and rained. Mama Bear said: "No one shall go out."

 

So they all brought their chairs and sat by the fire.

 

"Please tell us a story," shouted  all the small Bears.

 

Red Riding Hood began: "I go out in the woods every day, and I have never been afraid in my life except once."

 

"That was when you went to visit your grand­mother," said Curly³ Bear.

 

Red Riding Hood went on: "I tapped on the door and the old wolf said: 'Come in!'

 

"You said: 'Grandmother, what great ears you have, '" shouted all the Bears.

 

"And, 'Grandmother, what great eyes you have,"' whispered Little Bear.

 

"I have almost forgotten about it," said Red Riding Hood, "it happened so long ago."

 

"What became of the wolf?" asked Papa Bear.

 

"The wood-choppers frightened him away," said Red Riding Hood.

 

"How is it you do not grow old?" asked Mama Bear.

 

Little Red Riding Hood blushed⁴ rosy⁵ red. She was such a sweet little girl! She looked very young in her short dress.

 

"I should think you would be afraid of the woods," said Papa Bear. "There is Bushy Tail. He is such a sly⁶ fellow."

 

Red Riding Hood laughed. She said: "None of the animals dares to harm me."

 

"I want a cookie," said one little Bear.

 

"I want a cookie," said the next lit­tle Bear.

 

Red Riding Hood went to get her basket of cookies.

 

The Bears all followed her, and they set up a great howl.

 

What do you suppose had hap­pened? The basket was empty.

 

"Who stole the cookies?" asked Mama Bear, and "who stole the cook­ies?" asked Papa Bear.

 

"Oh, oh, oh!" cried all the little Bears. "We want some cookies! We want some cookies!"

 

Red Riding Hood began to sing a little song:

 

"Who is it once went into the wood?

Little Red Riding Hood.

Who carried with her the nicest food?

Little Red Riding Hood!

Who gathered flowers, fresh and sweet,

Who did not fear the wolf to meet?

Who roamed⁷ out in the green retreat?

Little Red Riding Hood."

 

While Red Riding Hood was singing, she was mixing flour and butter and milk and other good things together,  She was mak­ing more cookies for the little Bears.

 

"May I roll  them out?" asked each of the seventeen little Bears.

 

Red Riding Hood had forgotten that Little Bear had no name; she looked at him and said:

 

"What is your name?"

 

Two big tears began to roll down his cheeks, and his brothers and sis­ters shouted:

 

"He hasn't any name! He hasn't any name!"

 

Then Little Red Riding Hood whisked every one of those Bears out of the kitchen, except Little Bear, and he helped roll out the cookies.

 

Little Bear was so happy then that he stopped crying, and he and Red Riding Hood rolled out and baked one hundred cookies that day.

 

Little Bear told Red Riding Hood that he hoped some day to find the pot of gold at the rainbow end.

 

"What would you do with the gold?" asked Little Red Riding Hood.

 

"I don't want the gold," said Little Bear, "but I might find a name in the pot of gold."

 

Red Riding Hood did not talk any more. She went on singing.

 

"I wonder if I could learn to sing," said Little Bear. He tried to sing, but his voice sounded like a growl⁸.

 

"Never mind," said Red Riding Hood. "If you cannot sing, you can roll out cookies!"

 

All the Bears said the cookies were fine, and Papa Bear said: "I am glad Bushy Tail is not here. We have enough cookies to last a while."

 

"I am not sure that they will last," said Mama Bear.

 

Then each little Bear took another cookie, and they all laughed

1 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 curly   

adj.卷曲的，卷缩的

参考例句：

• The little boy has curly hair.这小男孩长着一头卷发。
• She is tall and dark with curly hair.她高高的个子，黑皮肤，卷头发。

4 Blushed   

n. 脸红，外观 vi. 泛红，羞愧

参考例句：

• She blushed at the mention of her lover's name. 她因说到她情人的名字而脸红。
• He blushed when the pretty girl gave him the eye. 那位漂亮的女孩向他抛媚眼时，他脸红了。

5 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

6 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

7 roamed   

随便走( roam的过去式和过去分词 )； 漫步； 眼睛或手 （缓慢地）扫遍； 摸遍

参考例句：

• The lovers roamed around the fields in complete forgetfulness of time. 这对情侣漫步于田野，完全忘记了时间。
• They roamed about in the park. 他们在公园里漫步。

8 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。