V The Cold Weather Coat

 Yes! As he held up his new coat and looked at it, Solomon Owl¹ was puzzled. He turned his head toward Mr. Frog and stared at him for a moment. And then he turned his head away from the tailor and gazed upon the coat again.

 

Mr. Frog was most uncomfortable—especially when Solomon looked at him.

 

“Everything's all right, isn't it?” he inquired.

 

Solomon Owl slowly shook his head.

 

“This is a queer coat!” he said. “What's this bag at the top of it?”

 

“Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Frog. “That's the hood²! Knowing that you spend your winters here in Pleasant Valley, I made a hood to go over your head.... You'll find it very comfortable in cold weather—and it's the latest style, too. All the winter coats this year will have hoods³, with holes to see through, you know.”

 

Solomon Owl looked relieved at Mr. Frog's explanation. But there was still something more that appeared to trouble him.

 

“How shall I get into the coat?” he inquired. “It doesn't open in front, as it should.”

 

“Another cold-weather style!” Mr. Frog assured him. “It's wind-proof! And instead of buttoning the coat, you pull it on over your head.”

 

Solomon Owl said he didn't like that style very well.

 

“Then I can easily change it,” the tailor told him. “But just try it on!” he urged. “It may please you, after all.”

 

So Solomon Owl pulled the coat over his head. And it fell down about him, almost reaching his feet. But the coat did not seem to suit him at all, for he began to splutter and choke.

 

“What's the matter now?” Mr. Frog asked him.

 

“I can't see—that's what's the matter!” Solomon Owl cried in a voice that sounded hollower than ever, because it was muffled⁴ by the hood, which covered his head.

 

“I declare—I haven't cut the holes for your eyes!” the tailor exclaimed. “Just wait a moment and I'll make everything satisfactory.” He clinked his shears⁵ together sharply as he spoke⁶.

 

But Solomon Owl told him that he wouldn't think of letting anybody use shears so near his eyes.

 

“I'll take off the coat,” he said. “And I know now that you're a very poor tailor, or you wouldn't have made such a mistake.” He began to tug⁷ at the coat. But he soon found that taking it off was not so easy as putting it on. Solomon's sharp claws caught in the cloth; and his hooked beak⁸, too, fastened itself in the hood the moment he tried to pull the coat over his head. “Here!” he cried to Mr. Frog. “Just lend me a hand! I can't see to help myself.”

 

But Mr. Frog did not even answer him.

 

“Don't you hear me?” Solomon Owl shouted, as he struggled with his new coat, only to become tangled⁹ in it more than ever.

 

Still, the tailor said never a word, though something very like a giggle¹⁰, followed by a splash, caught Solomon's ear.

 

“He's left me!” Solomon Owl groaned¹¹.

 

 

“Mr. Frog has left me to get out of this coat alone. And goodness knows how I'm ever a-going to do it.” He threshed about so vigorously that he tripped himself and fell upon the bank of the brook¹², rolling over and over toward the water.

 

He had a very narrow escape. If he hadn't happened to bring up against an old stump¹³ he would certainly have tumbled into the stream.

 

Though Solomon couldn't see, he knew that he was in danger. So he lay on his back on the ground and carefully tore his new coat into strings¹⁴ and ribbons.

 

At last he was free. And he rose to his feet feeling very sheepish, for he knew that Mr. Frog had played a sly trick on him.

 

“Nevermind!” said Solomon Owl, as he flew way. “I'll come back to-morrow and ask Mr. Frog to make me a waistcoat and trousers. And then——” He did not finish what he was saying. But there is no doubt that whatever it was, it could not have been very pleasant for Mr. Frog.

 

Just as he had planned, Solomon Owl returned to the brook the next day. And he was both surprised and disappointed at what he found.

 

The door of Mr. Frog's tailor's shop was shut and locked. And on it there was a sign, which said:

 

TO LET

 

“He's moved away!” cried Solomon Owl. And he went off feeling that he had been cheated out of a good dinner—to say nothing of a new waistcoat—and new trousers, too.

 

He had not been gone long when the door opened. And Mr. Frog leaped nimbly outside. He took the sign off the door; and sitting down cross-legged upon the bank, he began to sew upon Jasper Jay's new blue suit, while his face wore a wider smile than ever.

 

He had suddenly decided¹⁵ not to let his shop, after all.

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 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

4 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

6 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。

7 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

8 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

9 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

10 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

11 groaned   

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》

12 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。

13 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

14 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。