TOO-WIT, TOO-WOO AND HIS OWL FAMILY

 Too-Wit, Too-Woo lived in a big hollow tree with his family. There was Mrs. Too-Wit, and their two little sons, T'wit and T'woo. In one of the biggest holes in the old hollow tree they had a very comfortable home.

 

Every night as the shadows began to creep through the Great Forest, T'wit would sing a little song. He was very proud of it, for he had made it up himself. He would look over at T'woo as much as to say, "You never could make up such a lovely song," and then he would toot across to his brother:

 

"How happy I am

In the forest so deep;

I sing and I play

While other folks sleep!"

T'woo was quite provoked to think that his brother had made up such a pretty song, and he tried very hard to think up one for himself. Finally, one evening just as T'wit was about to sing his evening verse, T'woo opened his beak¹ very wide, and before T'wit could commence, he tooted across:

 

"All thro' the night

I sing and I play,

While other folk do

Just the opposite way!"

T'wit was so surprised that he almost fell off the limb on which he sat, winking² and blinking in the early twilight³.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Too-Wit, Too-Woo looked at each other as much as to say, "Did you ever see such bright children as ours?"

 

Presently Mr. Too-Wit flew off for his evening flutter, and both his small sons followed, while Mrs. Too-Wit went inside the house.

 

"Where are you going, father?" asked T'wit as they flew along silently; but his parent did not vouchsafe⁴ a reply until they neared the edge of the forest. Then he turned and said, "You two boys sit here while I fly over to tell my little friend some news," and with these words, off he flew straight for the Indian camp, leaving the two small owls⁵ perched on a limb of a tree. When he reached a tent near a big tree, he fluttered down to the ground, and gave a low hoot⁷. The little Indian boy pushed his head out: "What is it, Too-Wit?" he asked.

 

"There's a flock of wild turkeys roosting in the clump⁸ of trees by the lake. Bring your bow and arrows before it gets too dark. I'll wait at the edge of the wood for you. T'wit and T'woo are keeping a look-out while I'm here."

 

Little Indian hastily picked up his bow and arrows, and started off for the lake. As he drew near the clump of trees, he crept stealthily along, so as not to frighten the wild turkeys. When he was near enough, he fitted a bow to his arrow, and taking careful aim, shot one of the birds. The flock became frightened as soon as they saw one of their comrades fall, and taking wing, they flew off in all directions, not before, however, the little Indian boy had shot off his bow the second time. This time, his aim was not so true; the turkey must have been only slightly wounded, because there was no trace of him, save a few feathers, when little Indian ran up to the spot where he had last seen him.

 

Picking up the bird which he had killed with his first arrow, he turned back to the camp. "Thank you," he said to Too-Wit, as he passed the tree on which his feathered friend sat, "You see, I've got my dinner for tomorrow."

 

Too-Wit spread his wings, and his two small sons followed after, and presently they were all three back at the big hollow tree, where Mrs. Too-wit had a nice supper all ready for them.

 

The next afternoon Little Indian and Too-Wit went to see two funny little Frogs who lived in the lake.

 

"Look," said Little Indian to Too-Wit. "Aren't they cunning?"

 

"Yes," answered the Owl⁶; "that's Freddie and Fannie Frog. Wait a minute and I'll fly over and tell them how kind you are, for the Forest Folk are quick to trust a friend."

 

So Too-Wit flew over to where Freddie and Fannie Frog were contentedly⁹ sitting on their lily-pad under the long grass on the edge of the lake.

 

"Hello, hullo, Too-woo!" cried Too-Wit.

 

Freddie jumped up so quickly that the lily-pad tilted¹⁰ to one side, and overboard went Fannie Frog with a splash.

 

But Fannie knew how to swim, as every well-trained Lady Frog does, and after shaking the water from her eyes, she scrambled¹¹ back upon the lily-pad, none the worse for her ducking.

 

But, dear me, I forgot to say she had lost her pretty parasol! Little Indian saw it floating away from the spot—a pretty little lily, the petals¹² of which Fannie had bent¹³ downward until they had made a very nice umbrella top, indeed, and by holding it up by the stem, she was able to keep the hot sun from freckling¹⁴ her funny little face.

 

"Oh, where's my parasol?" screamed Fannie. "Oh, dear! oh, dear! there it is, 'way out of my reach!"

 

Little Indian leaned over the bank and picked up the lily.

 

"Oh, thank you!" said Fannie, now smiling again; "thank you so much!"

 

"Oh, that's nothing!" answered Little Indian. "I'm glad to be able to get it for you. It certainly would be a shame to lose such a pretty thing!"

 

Just then a breeze sprang up, and away drifted the lily-pad with Freddie and Fannie.

 

Little Indian watched them as they sailed away, for Fannie was now holding up for a sail the little pink parasol, which helped to pull their boat along at a good pace.

 

Then Too-Wit, Too-Woo said good-by, and flew back to his home in the forest.

 

The big, round sun was now going down behind the purple hills, the shadows were slowly filling all the nooks and corners of the big forest, and the lake, in the gathering¹⁵ darkness, looked dim and gloomy.

 

Little Indian could no longer see the lily-pad boat. "They must have landed on the other side of the lake by this time," he thought, as he started for home, and when he came out of the forest he was glad to see in the distance the cheerful glow of his camp fire.

1 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

2 winking   

n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到，简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

4 vouchsafe   

v.惠予，准许

参考例句：

• Elinor would not vouchsafe any answer.埃莉诺不想给予任何回答。
• Vouchsafe me a spirit of faith and knowledge.赐予我信心和一颗有知识的心灵。

5 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

6 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

7 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

8 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

9 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

10 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

11 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

14 freckling   

n.斑点v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The first sign of potassium deficiency is a white speckling or freckling of the leaf blades. 缺钾的最初病症是叶片呈现白色斑痕或斑点。 来自辞典例句

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。