AN OLD CROW’S NEST

 Now Featherhead had a much harder time finding a home than Brother Twinkle Tail. He traveled from the oaks to the beech¹ trees, jumping from branch to branch, peeping first into this place and then into that, but every hole and hollow had a tenant².

 

By and by he ran down to the ground and along the winding³ paths through the leaves and brush, but even then he could find nothing. No, sir. There didn’t seem to be a single place in the whole big forest for this little squirrel.

 

“Goodness me!” he exclaimed, “what shall I do? I don’t want to go back to Nutcracker Lodge⁴ and tell them I can’t look out for myself. I’d feel like a baby.” So he sat down to think it over.

 

All of a sudden who should come by but Jimmy Crow.

 

“What’s the matter? You look dreadfully worried.”

 

“And so I am,” replied the little squirrel. “And so would you be if you couldn’t find a home for yourself.”

 

Jimmy Crow turned his head first to one side and then to the other, and winked⁵ his bright little eye. Then he winked the other several times. After that he wagged his feathered tail and opened both eyes.

 

“I know just the place for you.”

 

“You don’t mean it,” cried Featherhead.

 

“I certainly do,” replied Jimmy Crow, “if you’ll follow me I’ll take you there in a jiffy.” And Jimmie Crow knew what he was about, for he quickly led the little squirrel to a tall oak tree whose acorns⁶ lay in heaps all over the ground. Way up high on a branch was an old crow’s nest.

 

“There’s the place for you,” cried Jimmy Crow. “You can fix it up in no time.”

 

Featherhead thanked him and ran up the tree to look it over. It didn’t take him long to make up his mind what to do. Pressing the sticks more closely together, he covered them overhead and all around with leafy twigs⁷, until it looked like a great big ball of leaves. In one side he made a little round hole for a doorway⁸, and as the roof was nicely rounded, and this was the only opening, the rain couldn’t get inside.

 

“With a good supply of nuts,” he laughed, “I won’t have to go down to the ground for my meals, and can sleep for days at a time when it’s cold and stormy!”

 

My little house up in the tree

Is just the very thing for me.

It holds my food and keeps the rain

From off my comfy counterpane.

 

But sometimes it seems lonely quite

When fall the shadows of the night,

And I have no one but myself

To climb up to the pantry shelf.

1 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

2 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

3 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

4 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

5 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。