STORY III ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S NEW BONNET

 When the Wibblewobble family came back to their house after a swim around the pond one bright sunny afternoon, and when the grass on the edges of the water was as green as it could be, Mamma Wibblewobble looked at her children, who were walking ahead of her. Jimmie and Lulu were throwing stones along the path, but Alice, who was as ladylike a little duck as one could wish, would not throw pebbles¹ even, to say nothing of stones.

 

"I declare," exclaimed Mamma Wibblewobble, "those girls will have to have new bonnets³. I must see to it at once."

 

"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "I will get them when I come home to-morrow. I met Mrs. Gooseyoosy this morning and she said they had a special sale of hats at the store by the barnyard gate."

 

"A man duck cannot get bonnets for Alice and Lulu," declared Mrs. Wibblewobble. "You would not know what to pick out! It is bad enough to have you get Jimmie's hats and shoes, but you would never know how to buy bonnets for the girls."

 

"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "then I will let you do the buying. I think a green colored bonnet² would be nice for Alice."

 

"Green! With her complexion⁴!" cried his wife. "Never! It must be blue—blue for Alice and a brown one for Lulu. Give me the money and I will start out shopping to-morrow."

 

So Mamma Wibblewobble started out the next day, taking Alice and Lulu with her, while Jimmie stayed home and played cross-tag with Bully⁵, the frog, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who had a day's vacation.

 

They had lots of fun, and once Jimmie nearly fell down a great big—but there, I started to tell you about Alice Wibblewobble's bonnet, and I must not get off the track. That story about Jimmie will do for another time.

 

Well, you should have seen the numbers and numbers of duck-bonnets that Mrs. Wibblewobble looked at before she was satisfied with two for the girls. Not that Alice and Lulu were hard to please. Oh, my, no! But their mamma wanted them to look just right, and you know it is quite difficult to fit a bonnet on a duck and make it look like anything. The milliner said so herself, and she ought to know. But at last the two duck girls both had very fine bonnets indeed; as fine as mustard⁶ seeds, which are very, very fine. Alice had a nice blue one, and Lulu a brown one.

 

Well, would you ever imagine it? Something is going to happen to Alice's bonnet, and very soon, too. Just be patient and you shall hear.

 

"Now children," said Mrs. Wibblewobble, when they had reached the pen where they lived, "you may go out and swim around a bit with your new bonnets on until your papa comes home. I want him to see how well they fit you, for I think I have very good taste when it comes to bonnets."

 

"Oh, I don't want to wear my new one," spoke⁷ Lulu. "I will put on my old one and go and play with Jimmie and Bully, the frog."

 

So she did, but Alice, who was very fond of nice clothes, went for a swim on the pond. At first she paddled around, gazing down in the water, which was just like the looking-glass some men shave by, and she thought: "Oh, what a lovely bonnet I have! How fine I shall look when I go for a walk on Sunday!"

 

And just then—really I'm not exaggerating a bit—If it didn't begin to rain! Now, of course, rain couldn't hurt Alice any, for she was a duck and was used to the water, but she knew it would spoil her new bonnet. So she took it off and laid it under a big burdock plant leaf near the pond, to keep the flowers and ribbons dry.

 

"I wish it would stop raining," said Alice, after a while. "I want to go home," but the big drops kept on falling, and she had to remain near her bonnet for fear something would happen to it.

 

Then, in a little while, oh, maybe half an hour or so, all at once as quick as a wink⁸, along came Mooleyooly, the big brown cow. Mooleyooly walked up to the burdock leaf, under which was the new bonnet, and Mooleyooly saw the pretty yellow flowers on it, and she saw the blue flowers on it and she saw the red flowers on it. Then Mooleyooly said, as she licked⁹ her lips with her red tongue:

 

"What have we here? It looks very nice."

 

"It is nice," answered Alice proudly, for she was glad to have some one, even a cow, admire her bonnet.

 

"It looks just like the green meadow¹⁰ where I live," went on Mooleyooly, "with buttercups, and daisies, and ragged¹¹ sailor flowers and some red poppies growing in it. Oh, very fine, indeed. Why, those flowers are real!" exclaimed the cow, looking carefully at the new bonnet under the big leaf.

 

"Of course," cried Alice, "certainly they are real."

 

"Better and better!" went on Mooleyooly. "Most delightful¹², I am sure!" Then, oh, how sorry I feel that I have to tell it—then, if that brown cow didn't start right in and eat up Alice's new bonnet!

 

Yes, sir, every single bit, down to a bunch of green grass that looked so pretty on it. She ate it all up at one mouthful, before Alice could cry out "stop" or "halt" or "cease" or any words like that. Well, of course, Alice cried. Wouldn't you, boys and girls—I mean, of course, you girls—have done the same? Well, I guess so!

 

Then, when the cow saw how sorry Alice felt, Mooleyooly felt badly, too, and she cried great big tears until you would have thought it was raining harder then ever. Then, being a good cow, Mooleyooly promised to get Alice a new bonnet, which she did, made of the finest straw in the stable.

 

So Alice had a hat for Sunday after all, even if one was eaten up by mistake. Well, pretty soon it stopped raining and Alice went home with the bonnet the cow gave her, and Mamma Wibblewobble said it was even better than the one she had bought. Now, wasn't that rather odd? I thought so, myself.

 

To-morrow night if you do not sneeze, I hope to have the pleasure of telling you how Jimmie Wibblewobble almost fell over the waterfall; but don't let that alarm you the least bit, for he was saved in a most wonderful way.

 

1 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

2 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

3 bonnets   

n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子

参考例句：

• All the best bonnets of the city were there. 城里戴最漂亮的无边女帽的妇女全都到场了。 来自辞典例句
• I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. 我是在用帽子和镯子引诱你，引你上钩。 来自飘（部分）

4 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

5 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

6 mustard   

n.芥子，芥末，深黄色，强烈的兴趣，热情的人

参考例句：

• This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
• This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣，你的舌头会吃不消的。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 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。

9 licked   

舔( lick的过去式和过去分词 )； 打败； （波浪）轻拍； （火焰）吞卷

参考例句：

• He licked his fingers. 他舔了一下自己的手指。
• The flames of the fire licked the sides of the fireplace. 火焰卷烧着壁炉的边缘。

10 meadow   

n.草地，牧草地

参考例句：

• The children ran free across the meadow.孩子们在草地里自由地奔跑。
• The meadow is peopled with wild flowers.草地长满了野花。

11 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

12 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。