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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » The Mean-Wells » CHAPTER VIII PISKIES STILL LIVE AT PORTHCALLIS
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CHAPTER VIII PISKIES STILL LIVE AT PORTHCALLIS
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 PRESENTLY though, just for a time another shadow fell, for it seemed only a very, very little while before it was time for her mother to leave.
 
“I wish you could stay all the time, mother,” she whispered eagerly. “Couldn’t you, mother? It would do you good too.”
 
“But, darling, think of poor Priscilla. She will be wanting me, and I know you wouldn’t like to keep me away from her.”
 
Loveday was not quite sure of that at the moment, but she would not have said so; and when she thought of pale, suffering Prissy, she tried hard to choke down any selfish feeling, and to be very brave. “But—you will come again soon, won’t you, mother?”
 
“Yes, darling, very soon; and I expect father will run down to see you in a very little while, and we will always let you know if any of us are coming, so that you can come to meet us. Now, are you going to see me off at the station, or will you stay here and wave your handkerchief to me?”
 
“Oh, please, I’ll go to the station.”
 
They all had tea on the beach outside the cottage, and when that was done it was almost time for Mrs. Carlyon to start on her homeward journey. Bessie was to go to the station too, and take Aaron with her; and Mrs. Carlyon felt pretty sure that by the time Loveday had had the double walk, she would be too tired to fret1 much, or feel lonely, or to do anything but go to bed and sleep.
 
She was a very brave little woman, on the whole, considering that she was alone in a strange place, and with people who were almost strangers to her. A few tears did force themselves through her lids, but she did not say anything.
 
“When you get back, darling, you must help Bessie to unpack2 your box, and you will be able to give Aaron his monkey, then you will be ready for bed, and when you wake up again it will be morning, and you will feel so happy, and there will be so much to see and do, that you will scarcely know what to see and do first. But don’t forget to collect a nice lot of shells for Priscilla.”
 
Then the engine gave two or three snorts and puffs3, and a loud whistle—away moved the train, and Loveday found herself left alone.
 
She might have shed a few tears more when the train puffed4 away—in fact, it is pretty certain that she would have if she had not, at that moment, caught sight of the station-master, and remembered his rude laughter about Shanks’s mare5. He had not caught sight of her yet, and Loveday was anxious to hurry away before he did, and in her eagerness and hurry she quite forgot about her tears and her loneliness; and then it was such fun to watch the ducks and geese on the green, and to make them run at one, and stretch their necks and scream, that she was soon laughing instead of crying; and when they got back there was a boat drawn6 up on the beach, and that was very exciting, for Mr. Lobb had come back with a big catch of crabs7 and lobsters8, and Loveday, after being introduced to him, was for quite a long while perfectly9 fascinated, watching the creatures trying to get out of the great lumbering10 crab-pots which he had brought them home in.
 
“I wish now, missie, as yer ma hadn’t a-been gone, for she could have took home two or three of these, and welcome to ’em.”
 
“Oh, I wish she hadn’t,” said Loveday earnestly. “Father loves lobsters and crabs; he would have been so glad—so would Geoffrey.”
 
“Well, look here now,” said John Lobb good-naturedly. “Bessie’ll bile these presently, and then if she’ll pop one or two into a basket, I’ll take them up and post ’em, and your pa’ll have ’em in time for his breakfast in the morning.”
 
At which Loveday was full of gratitude11, and thanked her new host very heartily12 and prettily13.
 
So Bessie hurried in to attend to her fire, and as a cold wind was blowing in from the sea, she bade the children follow her.
 
“Now I’ll unpack my box,” thought Loveday, and, Bessie having unstrapped and unlocked it for her, she began. There was a little white chest of drawers in the room, and a big cupboard built into the wall, so that she had plenty of room for her belongings14. Her little frocks, though she had quite a lot of them, took up a very small space indeed, but two of her sun-hats covered one shelf of the cupboard, and she had to take another shelf for her best one and her red and blue bérets. Her boots and shoes she arranged very neatly15 at the bottom of the cupboard—at least Aaron did for her, for by this time he had followed her in, and had grown quite friendly, and he worked really busily until Loveday took out a big monkey and presented it to him, after which he did nothing but gaze at it and hug it with delight, and Loveday, who had been a little shy of offering it to him when she saw how big a boy he was, felt greatly relieved on seeing his pleasure.
 
“After all,” she said to herself, “he isn’t such a very big boy—he is rather a baby, and I am very glad.”
 
Then Bessie came to call them to supper, and soon after that Loveday, holding tight to her elephant, was sound asleep in her snow-white room; and Aaron, still hugging his monkey, was snoring contentedly16 under his gay patchwork17 quilt.
 
“A rare lot of wild beasts we’ve a-got in our little bit of a place to-night,” said John Lobb, with a hearty18 laugh. “’Tis lucky they b’ain’t given to bellowing19, or we should be given notice to quit, I reckon!”
 
When Loveday awoke the next morning, the first thing she noticed was the curious dull roar of the sea. Then she opened her eyes and looked about her. The next moment she was out of bed, drawing back her white curtains to look out at the new, wonderful world without. There was little to see, though, from her window, for the cliff rose sheer up, and between the house and the cliff there was only a little bit of fenced-in ground. It was too close under the shadow of the cold rock for anything to grow in it, and the house, though it kept off the wind and the salt spray, also kept off the sun. To make up for this, John Lobb had a piece of garden ground at the top of the cliff, where he worked when he wasn’t out fishing.
 
But when Loveday looked out he was in the yard at the back, examining the nets that were spread on the palings to dry. A moment later, Aaron, still clasping his monkey, ran out and joined his father.
 
“Oh, Aaron is dressed!” thought Loveday. “I ought to be. Why didn’t Bessie call me?”
 
She put her head out of her bedroom door, and called:
 
“Bessie! Bessie! Please can I have my bath! I am sorry I am so late,” she added, as Bessie appeared with the bath and the water.
 
“It isn’t late, Miss Loveday,” said Bessie smilingly. “It has only this minute gone seven by my old clock, and that’s always galloping20.”
 
“Only seven!” cried Loveday. “What are you all up so early for? Is anybody going away?”
 
“’Tisn’t early for us, miss. My husband is going out all day fishing, and he’s got to catch the tide.”
 
“There is always something that has got to be caught,” sighed Loveday—“the train, or the tide, or the fish, or the post. But I’m very glad I am up so early, now I am up. I want to go out and see what things are like in the morning. They generally look different then, don’t they?”
 
“Oh dear,” she said quite apologetically, when presently she came to the breakfast-table, “I am afraid I am very hungry. I hope you won’t be frightened when you see what a lot I eat.”
 
She really felt quite ashamed of her big appetite, but John and Bessie only laughed, and John said:
 
“That’s good hearing, missie. Nothing you can do in that way’ll frighten us, seeing as we’m ’customed to Aaron and me.”
 
John sat at the head of the table, nearest the fireplace, while Bessie sat outside, where she could easily reach the kettle or the teapot on the stove. Loveday’s chair was placed at the end, facing John, while the table was pulled out a little way for Aaron to sit in the window amongst the geraniums and cinerarias. In her heart Loveday wished that she could sit in there, but at the same time she was rather pleased with her own position; it seemed older and more dignified21.
 
After breakfast there came the excitement of seeing off the boat, and then, when that was done, Loveday felt that she really could settle down for a moment and have time to look about her. Aaron was very anxious to see her toys and all the other treasures she had brought with her, for this was a much greater novelty to him than picking up shells or hunting for crabs, besides which Bessie would not let them go alone clambering over the rocks, or paddling in the pools, and she could not go with them for a little while, as she had her house to set straight and the dinner to get.
 
So they sat on the sands within sight of Bessie, and played with a grocer’s shop that Loveday had brought, and a box of cubes, and a popgun, and a monkey and an elephant, and sundry22 other things, but to her surprise none of the things pleased Aaron so much as did the books. He turned the pages of her fairy-tales over and over, and gazed at the pictures, and asked questions about them, until at last Loveday grew quite tired of answering him.
 
“Haven’t you got any books?” she asked at last rather impatiently, for she would have been much better pleased to have had his help in building sand-castles.
 
“No, I have never had a book in all my life,” he said wistfully. “I didn’t know there was any with picshers in them like these here.”
 
“Didn’t you?” cried Loveday, scarcely able to believe him. “I wish I’d known it; I’d have brought you one of mine.”
 
“But I knows some stories,” he said proudly—“lots! All ’bout piskies, and fairies, and giants, and buccas, and——”
 
“What are buccas?” interrupted Loveday eagerly.
 
“Why—why, little people, of course,” said Aaron.
 
Loveday looked at him to see if he was “telling true” or laughing at her, but Aaron was quite serious.
 
“Are you telling truth or making up?” she asked.
 
It was a question she was often obliged to put to Geoffrey and Priscilla when they told her things.
 
“True, honour bright,” said Aaron earnestly, just a little indignant. “Don’t you ever read about buccas in your books?”
 
Loveday shook her head.
 
“Are they fairies?” she asked.
 
“Yes.”
 
“Good ones or bad?”
 
“Good, I b’lieve,” said Aaron. “I never heard of their doing anybody any harm.”
 
“Have you ever seen one?” asked Loveday, in a lowered voice.
 
“No,” said Aaron; “they lives in caves and wells, mostly—so father says—and they’m always digging. You ask father to tell ’ee about them.”
 
“No, you tell me. I want to hear about them now. Go on.”
 
“Well, if I tell you one story, you must tell me one.”
 
“All right,” said Loveday; “go on. It must be about buccas, ’cause I never heard about them before, and—and I don’t think there are any.”
 
“Aw, hush23! Don’t ’ee say such things!” cried Aaron, quite scared. “You’d be sorry if you was to get Barker’s knee, and you will most likely, if you say things like that. They do all sorts of things to folks that ’fend them.”
 
Loveday felt rather frightened, but she would not let Aaron know it if she could help it.
 
“I thought you said they were good fairies,” she said half irritably24.
 
“So they are, but fairies never likes folks to say they don’t believe in ’em. That was how Barker got his bad knee.”
 
“Go on—tell,” said Loveday.
 
“Well, ’twas like this: Barker, he was a great lazy fellow what wouldn’t work nor nothing, and he laughed at those that did; and when his father said to him that the buccas put him to shame, he said there wasn’t any, and he said he’d prove it: he’d go to the well where folks said they lived, and where they could hear them working, and he’d listen, and he’d listen, and if he heard them he’d believe in them, but not else. So he went to the well every day, and lay down in the grass close by all day long. And he heard the little buccas as plain as plain; they was digging and shovelling25 and laughing and talking all the time. But Barker, he wouldn’t tell anybody that he’d heard them, and he went every day and lay down by the well to listen to them, and soon he got to understand their talk, and how long they worked; and when they stopped working they hid away their tools, but they always told where they was going to hide them.”
 
“That was silly!” said Loveday. “There’s no sense in doing that.”
 
“Hoosh!” said Aaron nervously27; “you’d best be careful what you’m saying. One night Barker heard one little bucca say, ‘I’m going to hide my pick under the ferns.’ ‘I shan’t,’ says another; ‘I shall leave mine on Barker’s knee.’”
 
“Oh!” gasped28 Loveday, “then they knew his name. Did they know all the time that he was there listening to them?”
 
“I reckon so,” said Aaron gravely. “Little people knows everything mostly; that’s why you’ve got to be so careful.”
 
“Go on,” said Loveday eagerly.
 
“Well, Barker, he was prettily frightened when he heard that, and he was just going to jump up and run away, when whump! something hit him right on the knee like anything, and oh!” groaned29 Aaron, his eyes big and round with the excitement of his story, “it ’urt him so he bellowed30 like a great bull, and he kept on saying, ‘Take ’em away; take them there tools away; take your old pick and shovel26 off my knee, I tell ’e!’ But the little buccas only laughed, and the more he bellowed, the more they laughed. He tried to get up, but ’twas ever so long before he could, and he had a stiff knee all the rest of his life.”
 
“Did people know why?” asked Loveday.
 
“Yes, that they did, and everybody was fine and careful after not to laugh at the buccas, for fear they’d get Barker’s knee too.”
 
“I think,” said Loveday, “I like the piskies best—I mean, of course, I like the buccas too, but I love the piskies ’cause they come and do nice things to help people, and I love the fairies ’cause they are so pretty.”
 
“There’s a fairy ring up top cliff,” said Aaron, “where they comes and dances night-times. I’ll show it to you some day.”
 
“Oh, do!” cried Loveday. “We’ve got one near home, too, but I’ve never seen any fairies near it—have you?”
 
“No, but I haven’t been out at night, and that’s when they come.”
 
“Come along, dears; I am ready now,” said Bessie, appearing at the door. “Come in and have a glass of milk and some cake, and then we’ll go and look for crabs and things, shall we?”
 
Loveday and Aaron were on their feet in a moment.
 
“I must get my bucket and spade if we are going to get crabs and shells,” said Loveday, and dashed into the house, leaving all her toys scattered31 on the sand.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fret wftzl     
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损
参考例句:
  • Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急,我们能准时到那里。
  • She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.
2 unpack sfwzBO     
vt.打开包裹(或行李),卸货
参考例句:
  • I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
  • She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。
3 puffs cb3699ccb6e175dfc305ea6255d392d6     
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里,轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
  • Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句
4 puffed 72b91de7f5a5b3f6bdcac0d30e24f8ca     
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟,狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了,便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 mare Y24y3     
n.母马,母驴
参考例句:
  • The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
  • The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。
6 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
7 crabs a26cc3db05581d7cfc36d59943c77523     
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 );阴虱寄生病;蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 lobsters 67c1952945bc98558012e9740c2ba11b     
龙虾( lobster的名词复数 ); 龙虾肉
参考例句:
  • I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
  • She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。
9 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
10 lumbering FA7xm     
n.采伐林木
参考例句:
  • Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
  • Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家,伐木业十分重要。
11 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
12 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
13 prettily xQAxh     
adv.优美地;可爱地
参考例句:
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back.此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。
  • She pouted prettily at him.她冲他撅着嘴,样子很可爱。
14 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
15 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
16 contentedly a0af12176ca79b27d4028fdbaf1b5f64     
adv.心满意足地
参考例句:
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
  • "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.
17 patchwork yLsx6     
n.混杂物;拼缝物
参考例句:
  • That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
  • She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上,所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。
18 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
19 bellowing daf35d531c41de75017204c30dff5cac     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • We could hear he was bellowing commands to his troops. 我们听见他正向他的兵士大声发布命令。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He disguised these feelings under an enormous bellowing and hurraying. 他用大声吼叫和喝采掩饰着这些感情。 来自辞典例句
20 galloping galloping     
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下,它就奔驰起来了。
  • Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速,日新月异。
21 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
22 sundry CswwL     
adj.各式各样的,种种的
参考例句:
  • This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
  • We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。
23 hush ecMzv     
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静
参考例句:
  • A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
  • Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去!
24 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
25 shovelling 17ef84f3c7eab07ae22ec2c76a2f801f     
v.铲子( shovel的现在分词 );锹;推土机、挖土机等的)铲;铲形部份
参考例句:
  • The workers are shovelling the sand. 工人们正在铲沙子。 来自辞典例句
  • They were shovelling coal up. 他们在铲煤。 来自辞典例句
26 shovel cELzg     
n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出
参考例句:
  • He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
  • He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。
27 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
28 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
29 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
30 bellowed fa9ba2065b18298fa17a6311db3246fc     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的过去式和过去分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • They bellowed at her to stop. 他们吼叫着让她停下。
  • He bellowed with pain when the tooth was pulled out. 当牙齿被拔掉时,他痛得大叫。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
31 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。


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