“NUTS AND RAISINS”

 There was a grand feast after the wedding of Twinkle Tail and little Miss Squirrel. There were nuts and raisins² for everybody, and I don’t know of anything much nicer than nuts and raisins.

 

Of course, all the Barnyard Folk ate raisins, for they couldn’t crack the nuts. It almost gave Ducky Waddles³ a toothache watching Twinkle Tail crack the shells.

 

Cocky Doodle made a pretty speech, wishing the Twinkle Tails a long life and a happy one, in which all the little people of the forest joined him.

 

After that everybody looked at the wedding presents, which if not beautiful, were very useful.

 

Henny Penny gave a nice new laid egg and Turkey Tim a bag of corn. Little Jack⁴ Rabbit brought a big carrot and Chippy Chipmunk⁵ a basket of nuts. Of course Ducky Waddles didn’t give them anything more—the little gold ring was his present, which Twinkle Tail had slipped on the little toe-finger of Miss Squirrel at a nod from Parson Owl⁶.

 

You see, Twinkle Tail had never been married before, so Parson Owl had helped him a little—which I presume all good kind ministers do when they marry young people. At any rate, Parson Owl did, and so everything went off very smoothly⁷.

 

On the way home if it hadn’t been for some friendly Fireflies, Little Jack Rabbitmight have lost his way. And then again, maybe not, for he was a pretty bright little bunny and like all the Forest Folk, knew how to take care of himself. At the same time, it’s nice to have a lantern on a dark night. One might, you know, stumble into a deep hole.

 

When they reached the Old Bramble Patch, the little rabbit said: “I’d ask you in, only I’m afraid mother’s asleep.”

 

“Thank you just the same,” answered the kind Fireflies. “We are glad to have helped you with our little lanterns,” and they flew away to the Sunny Meadow to wink¹ and blink like little stars among the tall grasses.

 

The little rabbit opened the door and hopped⁸ softly up to his room and was soon fast asleep in his comfortable bed.

1 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

2 raisins   

n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆，味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句

3 waddles   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A goose waddles aimlessly. 一只鹅在摇摇摇摆漫无目的地走着。 来自互联网

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 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。

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 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。