THE SNOWBALL

 Once upon a time when all the ground was white with snow and all the roofs were trimmed¹ with icicles, a little boy went out into the world to make snowballs.

 

His mother wrapped him up so nice and warm from head to toe that you could scarcely² see anything of him but the tip of his nose; and when the snowbirds that lived in his own front yard saw him, they did not know him.

 

They flew away to the top of the fence, and cocked³ their heads first on one side, and then on the other, as if they were thinking, "Who can this be?" but by and by they found out.

 

"Chirp⁴, chirp," they said to each other. "It is only the little boy who throws us crumbs⁵ from the window;" and they flew down into the yard again to watch him make snowballs.

 

The little boy knew just how to make snowballs, and how to throw them, too, for he had seen his big cousin do it. First he took a handful⁶ of snow, and then he packed it in his hands like this; and then hurrah⁷! he threw it as far as he could send it.

 

One of his snowballs went into the corner of the yard and one against a tree, and one all the way over the fence into the street. It was great fun to play in the snow, and the little boy was sorry when the maid called from the house to tell him it was time to come in.

 

"As soon as I make one more," he answered; and he took a great handful of snow, and made such a big snowball that he thought he must take it into the house to show to his mother.

 

Now the little boy's mother had gone to market while he was playing in the snow; but he took the snowball into her room, and put it on the hearth⁸ so that she might see it when she came home.

 

 

There was a bright fire burning in the grate, and it sounded just as if it were laughing, with its cricklety cracklety, cricklety cracklety, when the little boy put the snowball down in front of it.

 

"Oh! what a nice big fire," he said; and he climbed up into the rocking chair close beside it to wait for his mother.

 

"Rockity rock, rockity rock," said the rocking chair.

 

"Cricklety, cracklety," laughed the fire; and the little boy was so comfortable and so warm that he went fast asleep on the cushions.

 

When he waked up his mother was still away at the market; and the fire was still laughing, louder than ever.

 

"Cricklety cracklety, cricklety cracklety;" but when he looked on the hearth for his snowball it was gone! There was nothing there at all but a little pool of water.

 

The little boy looked under the chair and under the bed and under the dresser, behind the door and in all the corners; upstairs and downstairs, high and low; but he could not find the snowball anywhere.

 

And what do you think had become of it? The little boy's mother guessed as soon as she came home; and if you will ask your mother I am sure she will tell you.

 

1 trimmed   

adj.平衡的，纵倾的v.整理( trim的过去式和过去分词 )；修剪；装饰；减少

参考例句：

• The general's uniform was trimmed with gold braid. 将军的制服饰有金色穗带。
• She wore a white satin gown trimmed with lace. 她穿着一条饰有蕾丝花边的白色缎子长裙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 scarcely   

adv.几乎不，简直没有，勉强

参考例句：

• He found the dullness of his work scarcely bearable.他觉得他的工作枯燥乏味，简直无法忍受。
• She scarcely earns enough money to make ends meet.她几乎挣不到足够的钱以维持开支。

3 cocked   

竖起的

参考例句：

• She cocked her hat at a jaunty angle. 她把帽子歪戴成俏皮的样子。
• The hunter cocked his rifle. 猎人扣扳机准备射击。

4 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

5 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？

6 handful   

n.一把；少量，少数，一小撮

参考例句：

• We invited 30 people, but only a handful came.我们邀请了30人，但是只到了几个人。
• He pulled out a handful of coins from his pocket.他从口袋里掏出一把硬币。

7 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

8 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。