The Little Green Man

 JUST as the Mother was going to make the tea, she heard a funny, faint voice from the tea-pot, crying:

 

“Oh, please don’t scald me with the boiling water! Take me out! Take me out!”

 

The Mother, greatly astonished, peeped into the tea-pot—it was one which she had not used for some time—and saw there a queer little man, dressed all in green, with a green cap upon his head.

 

“How did you get into my tea-pot?” asked she.

 

“A cruel Fairy put me here,” replied the little man; “please, oh, please take me out!”

 

 

The Mother took him out, and placed him upon the table. How delighted the children were to see him trotting¹ round and round, taking tiny sips² from their cups, and crumbs³ from their plates!

 

“Is it a doll, Muvver?” asked Baby.

 

“A doll, indeed!” exclaimed the little green man; “I am no doll! Did you ever see a doll walk, or hear a doll talk? I am a man!” And he stood on tip-toe and straightened himself up in such an amusing fashion that all the children laughed.

 

When bed-time came, the little green man was put to bed in the doll’s house. But early in the morning, Dora was awakened⁴ by something tickling⁵ her nose. Opening her eyes, she saw the green man standing⁶ upon her pillow.

 

“You darling!” said Dora; “you shall go into the garden with me, and see my pretty white rabbits.”

 

Jumping out of bed, she dressed herself as quickly as possible; then, with the little man standing on one hand, and some green food for her pets in the other hand, she ran down the garden. When she got to the hutch, she fed the rabbits with the nice, fresh, juicy cabbage-leaves, while the little man looked on with much interest. The rabbits were very hungry, and when they had eaten all the leaves, one of them made a sudden snatch at the little green man, and ate him up also. Being rather short-sighted, it mistook the green man for a leaf.

 

Such was the sad fate of the little green man!

 

E. Dyke⁷.

1 trotting   

小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
• Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳，小马开始慢跑起来。

2 sips   

n.小口喝，一小口的量( sip的名词复数 )v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You must administer them slowly, allowing the child to swallow between sips. 你应慢慢给药，使小儿在吸吮之间有充分的时间吞咽。 来自辞典例句
• Emission standards applicable to preexisting stationary sources appear in state implementation plans (SIPs). 在《州实施计划》中出现了固定污染的排放标准。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

4 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。