IV An Odd Bargain

 While Mr. Frog was swallowing nothing rapidly, he was thinking rapidly, too. There was something about Solomon Owl¹'s big, staring eyes that made Mr. Frog feel uncomfortable. And if he had thought he had any chance of escaping he would have dived into the brook² and swum under the bank.

 

But Solomon Owl was too near him for that. And Mr. Frog was afraid his caller would pounce³ upon him any moment. So he quickly thought of a plan to save himself. “No doubt——” he began. But Solomon Owl interrupted him.

 

 

“There!” cried Solomon. “You can speak, after all. I supposed you'd swallowed your tongue. And I was just waiting to see what you'd do next. I thought maybe you would swallow your head.”

 

Mr. Frog managed to laugh at the joke, though, to tell the truth, he felt more nervous than ever. He saw what was in Solomon Owl's mind, for Solomon was thinking of swallowing Mr. Frog's head himself.

 

“No doubt—” Mr. Frog resumed—“no doubt you've come to ask me to make you a new suit of clothes.”

 

Now, Solomon Owl had had no such idea at all. But when it was mentioned to him, he rather liked it.

 

“Will you?” he inquired, with a highly interested air.

 

 

“Why, certainly!” the tailor replied. And for the first time since he had turned his backward somersault into the bulrushes, he smiled widely. “I'll tell you what I'll do!” he said. “First, I'll make you a coat free. And second, if you like it I will then make you a waistcoat and trousers, at double rates.”

 

Solomon Owl liked the thought of getting a coat for nothing. But for all that, he looked at the tailor somewhat doubtfully.

 

“Will it take you long?” he asked.

 

“No, indeed!” Mr. Frog told him. “I'll make your coat while you wait.”

 

“Oh, I wasn't going away,” Solomon assured him with an odd look which made Mr. Frog shiver again. “Be quick, please! Because I have some important business to attend to.”

 

Mr. Frog couldn't help wondering if it wasn't he himself that Solomon Owl was going to attend to. In spite of his fears, to work to cut up some cloth that hung just outside his door.

 

“Stop!” Solomon Owl cried in a voice that seemed to shake the very ground. “You haven't measured me yet!”

 

“It's not necessary,” Mr. Frog explained glibly⁴. “I've become so skilful⁵ that one look at an elegant figure like yours is all that I need.”

 

Naturally, Mr. Frog's remark pleased Solomon Owl. And he uttered ten rapid hoots⁶, which served to make Mr. Frog's fingers fly all the faster. Soon he was sewing Solomon's coat with long stitches; and though his needle slipped now and then, he did not pause to take out a single stitch. For some reason, Mr. Frog was in a great hurry.

 

Solomon Owl did not appear to notice that the tailor was not taking much pains with his sewing. Perhaps Mr. Frog worked so fast that Solomon could not see what he was doing.

 

Anyhow, he was delighted when Mr. Frog suddenly cried:

 

“It's finished!” And then he tossed the coat to Solomon. “Try it on!” he said. “I want to see how well it fits you.”

 

Solomon Owl held up the garment and looked at it very carefully. And as he examined it a puzzled look came over his great pale face.

 

There was something about his new coat that he did not understand.

1 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。

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 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

4 glibly   

adv.流利地，流畅地；满口

参考例句：

• He glibly professed his ignorance of the affair. 他口口声声表白不知道这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He put ashes on his head, apologized profusely, but then went glibly about his business. 他表示忏悔，满口道歉，但接着又故态复萌了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

6 hoots   

咄，啐

参考例句：

• His suggestion was greeted with hoots of laughter. 他的建议引起了阵阵嗤笑。
• The hoots came from the distance. 远处传来呜呜声。