The Three Wishes

 THERE were once two little white rats who lived in a hutch with wide bars. They had plenty of soft hay¹ to sleep in, and bread-and-milk at the proper times. But they were dull, for they never saw the world, and they had nothing to talk of in the long winter evenings. One winter day a Fairy knocked at their door.

 

“I am cold and hungry,” she said, “and Fairyland is a long way off; I can never get there in this snowy weather.”

 

“Come in,” said Mrs. Whiterat, and the Fairy crept² in through the bars. Mr. Whiterat gave the Fairy some bread-and-milk, and Mrs. Whiterat sat close beside her in the hay—so that soon the Fairy felt quite warm and cheerful³ again. And she lodged⁴ with the white rats all the winter, and they were all three as happy as could be.

 

Then when spring came, and the daffydowndillies were waving their yellow heads in the sun, the Fairy said: “I must go home now. You have been very good to me. You may have three wishes.” And she waved her little wand and flew away.

 

Now, the white rats had often longed to be free, to run about under the haystacks, and bring up large lively families, like the brown farm rats. So now they said—

 

“Oh! I wish we were out of the hutch!” And in a minute they found themselves among the hayricks.

“Oh! how big and beautiful the world is,” they said.

 

And then a dreadful⁵ thing happened. A great brown rat jumped out at them.

 

“Get along with you!” it said. “We don’t want any toy-rats here.” And it showed its sharp teeth and looked so fierce⁶ that Mrs. Whiterat trembled⁷ to the end of her grey tail, as she cried out—

 

“Oh! I wish we were safe in the hutch!” And the same instant⁸, there they were at home again.

 

And the third wish? Well, they haven’t made up their minds about that yet. It gives them something to talk about in the winter evenings!

 

E. Nesbit.

1 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。

2 crept   

v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的过去式和过去分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I crept up the stairs, trying not to wake my parents. 为了尽量不吵醒父母，我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• He had crept up on his unsuspecting victim from behind. 他从背后悄悄逼近了那毫无戒备的受害者。

3 cheerful   

adj.快活的，高兴的，兴高采烈

参考例句：

• Yellow is a cheerful colour.黄色是令人高兴的颜色。
• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。

4 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

6 fierce   

adj.凶猛的，残忍的；狂热的，强烈的

参考例句：

• The soldiers got ready for a fierce battle.战士们准备进行一场恶战。
• What he said met with fierce opposition.他的话语遭到激烈反对。

7 trembled   

v.发抖( tremble的过去式和过去分词 )；焦虑；颤动；轻轻摇晃

参考例句：

• They all trembled at the prospect of an enemy invasion. 他们想到敌人可能入侵都不寒而栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The whole house trembled as the train went by. 火车开过时，整座房子都颤动了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 instant   

adj.紧迫的；立即的；本月的；已配制好的时刻；瞬息，霎时

参考例句：

• If you don't leave this instant,I will scream.你要是不马上离开，我就喊了。
• It all happened in an instant.这一切都发生在一刹那间。