How Mister Breeze Saved Marjorie's Easter Lily

 It was Easter morning and the happy bells from belfry and steeple were ringing out the glad Easter tidings. Sunday School was just over and Marjorie walked through the Park on her way home. In her arms she carried a large pot of lilies and a little fluffy¹ yellow chick,—a tiny fuzzy yellow chicken,—which she had received from the Sunday School for Easter. The flower pot was rather heavy, and after a while, Marjorie became tired, so she sat down on a bench to rest. Crossing one little fat leg over the other she carefully balanced the lily on her knee, and tucked the small chicken under her arm for safe keeping. It was quite windy, and the ribbons on her hat stretched out behind like the tail of a kite, but Marjorie didn't care nearly as much about her pretty Easter hat being blown off her head as she did about the lilies being broken by the mischievous² breeze. It made so much noise rustling³ the dried leaves and branches, that she didn't hear a big white bunny creep up softly behind the bench. He looked cautiously around with his bright pink eyes, but there was nobody near. The big policeman, who had passed but a moment before with a smile and a nod to Marjorie, was far down the path. The nurse in gray uniform with the pink and white baby in the smart English carriage, had disappeared in the distance, and, best of all, Marjorie's face was turned the other way. So up jumped Mr. White Bunny on the back of the bench, and creeping along the narrow top rail, commenced very softly to nibble⁴ the beautiful green leaves of the Easter Lily.

 

The little yellow chicken saw him, but he didn't say a word to Marjorie; he just snuggled up under her arm.

 

Perhaps the bunny looked as big as a polar bear to the fuzzy yellow chicken. At any rate, the little chicken never peeped! He wasn't going to take any chances with a big animal like that!

 

A sparrow close by tried his best to tell Marjorie that her lovely lily was being devoured⁵, but she only laughed when he fluttered his wings and twittered.

 

"Isn't he pretty?" she thought. "He's a funny little fellow," and she watched him hop⁶ about, not understanding that he was trying his best to save her Easter flower.

 

Even the mischievous breeze began to feel sorry for the little girl and tried to blow away the leaves from the bunny's mouth, but Mr. Bunny crept up closer and quietly kept on nibbling⁷. This was too much for the mischievous little breeze. He gave another hard puff⁸, almost overturning the flower pot.

 

Marjorie gave a little scream when she saw what Mr. Bunny had done, and then of course he scampered⁹ away.

 

"You naughty little rabbit," she cried, lifting up the half-eaten leaf, "just see what you've done to my lily."

 

"If you had paid attention to me it wouldn't have happened," twittered the little sparrow. But of course Marjorie didn't understand him.

 

"I saved the lily for you," whispered the mischievous breeze, as she started for home. And I think she understood him, for she laughed as she pushed back her curls, as much as to say, "You needn't muss my hair all up telling me so, Mr. Breeze!"

 

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?"

"Oh, now that I have a car," she said,

"It grows twice as fast, you know."

1 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

2 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

3 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

4 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

5 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

6 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

7 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

9 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》