THE FLEET

 Something had happened in the Shady Forest since Busy Beaver¹ had built his dam. You see, as it held back the Bubbling Brook², the water grew deeper and deeper, and by and by it began to spread all around, until after a while, there was a pond.

 

This didn’t trouble the Little People of the Shady Forest. No, indeed. They liked to have a pond in the forest. But they didn’t like to have the Big Chestnut³ Tree right in the middle of it. No, sir. The water had spread all around the biggest and finest nut tree in the whole forest, and, of course, now no one could gather the nuts.

 

“What are we going to do?” asked Chippy Chipmunk⁴.

 

“Make a boat and sail over,” answered Featherhead, the gray squirrel. This wasn’t a bad idea, but who was going to make the boat? Nobody in the Shady Forest knew how to build one.

 

Professor Crow suggested that the birds carry the nuts for the four-footed people, but they answered that they had all they could do to feed themselves and couldn’t spare the time. And Grandmother Magpie⁵ said she wouldn’t carry nuts for anybody, even if she had all the time that was wasted every day by some people right there in the Shady Forest.

 

Just then along came Old Squirrel Nutcracker.

 

“Why not make rafts out of twigs⁶? You don’t need a boat builder for that, you know.”

 

This seemed a splendid idea, and at once all the squirrels set to work, and in a short time quite a fleet was ready to be launched. There wasn’t room for more than one squirrel on a raft, so some of the squirrels had to stay ashore⁷.

 

Featherhead was the first to shove off. He had a little sack and a large oar⁸, and spread out his tail for a sail.

 

Billy Breeze was very kind and blew the rafts over to the island on which the Big Chestnut Tree stood. Then all the squirrels went ashore and commenced to fill their sacks with nuts, when, all of a sudden, Old Barney Owl⁹ looked out of his nest and said:

 

“This is my tree and these nuts belong to me. If you wish any, you must pay a penny!”

“If we bring you something to-morrow, will that do?” asked Twinkle Tail.

 

“Yes,” answered the old owl.

 

So the squirrels filled their sacks and sailed home.

 

But soon the news from Squirrelville

Spread o’er the meadow to the hill,

And up the Shady Forest Trail,

And through the quiet verdant¹⁰ vale.

 

It’s strange how Rumor¹¹ quickly goes;

It runs on very nimble toes,

And everybody hears the news

Before it has worn out its shoes.

1 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

3 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

4 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

5 magpie   

n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者

参考例句：

• Now and then a magpie would call.不时有喜鹊的叫声。
• This young man is really a magpie.这个年轻人真是饶舌。

6 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

7 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

8 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

9 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。

10 verdant   

adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的

参考例句：

• Children are playing on the verdant lawn.孩子们在绿茵茵的草坪上嬉戏玩耍。
• The verdant mountain forest turns red gradually in the autumn wind.苍翠的山林在秋风中渐渐变红了。

11 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。