XII A TERRIBLE BLUNDER

 When the beautiful Betsy Butterfly turned her gaze on him, Daddy Longlegs couldn't help wishing that he had worn his new coat that day. However, he straightened his necktie carefully and tried to look as well as he could.

 

"So you've seen me eating butter, have you?" Betsy Butterfly asked him.

 

"Not eating it!" he corrected her. "I've seen you standing¹ on it. And your face was hidden in it, too."

 

Mrs. Ladybug shot a triumphant² glance at the crowd, of which she and Betsy Butterfly and Daddy Longlegs were the center.

 

"What have you to say now, my fine lady?" she demanded of Betsy with a sneer³.

 

And still Betsy Butterfly was quite unruffled.

 

"Where did you see me doing that?" she asked Daddy Longlegs pleasantly enough.

 

"I object!" Mrs. Ladybug interrupted hastily. "You needn't answer her question," she advised Daddy Longlegs. "I know her tricks! She'll keep us talking here until we forget what our errand was!"

 

But Daddy Longlegs paid no attention to Mrs. Ladybug's advice.

 

"I saw you in this meadow," he explained.

 

And Mrs. Ladybug began to look somewhat worried.

 

"Come!" she cried. "Let's all go home now. We've warned her; and we'll leave her to think over what she's done....p. 59 I hope—" Mrs. Ladybug added, turning to Betsy Butterfly—"I hope you'll decide to turn over a new leaf."

 

"Why, that's exactly what she did, that time when I saw her!" Daddy Longlegs shouted. "While I was watching her I saw her turn over a leaf. So what's the use of her turning over another."

 

And now it was Mrs. Ladybug's turn to look amazed and bewildered.

 

"I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, glaring at Daddy Longlegs. "And I don't believe you know, yourself."

 

"Oh! yes, I do!" he retorted shrilly⁴.

 

"Butter has no leaves," said Mrs. Ladybug with a knowing air. "I saw heaps and heaps of it in Farmer Green's buttery yesterday. And there wasn't a leaf on it."

 

"How about eggs, then?" shouted somebody in the crowd. It was stupid Buster Bumblebee! And of course nobody paid any heed⁵ to his silly question.

 

As he stared at Mrs. Ladybug dully Daddy Longlegs let his mouth fall wide open.

 

"Why, what do you mean?" he demanded at last. "You and I aren't talking about the same sort of butter at all! You're describing the kind of butter that Mrs. Green makes at the farmhouse⁶."

 

"And what, pray tell, have you been talking about all this time?" Mrs. Ladybug gasped⁷.

 

"The butter-and-eggs in the meadow!" Daddy Longlegs informed her. "I suppose you know the plant, don't you?"

 

"I've heard of it," Mrs. Ladybug replied. "But I doubt if there is such a thing."

 

"And I say there is!" Buster Bumblebee clamored. "We Bumblebees are very fondp. 61 of butter-and-eggs. And we're about the only field people that know how to open a blossom and reach its nectar."

 

Little Mrs. Ladybug waited to hear no more.

 

"You've made a terrible blunder!" she told Daddy Longlegs hurriedly. And before he could answer her she had hastened away.

 

Like many another jealous body, Mrs. Ladybug had behaved very foolishly. And it was no wonder that she wanted to get away from the crowd.

 

She didn't even beg Betsy Butterfly's pardon for calling her a thief. But all the rest of the field people realized at last that Betsy was no thief.

 

The butter-and-eggs plant, they were well aware, was as free as the clover, or the milk-weed blossoms, or any other of the wild flowers. Everybody knew that Farmerp. 62 Green laid no claim to them, though they did grow in his meadow.

 

And when Betsy Butterfly thanked Daddy Longlegs for his explanation he wished more than ever that he had worn his new coat that day—and his new hat, too.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

3 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

4 shrilly   

尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的

参考例句：

• The librarian threw back his head and laughed shrilly. 图书管理员把头往后面一仰，尖着嗓子哈哈大笑。
• He half rose in his seat, whistling shrilly between his teeth, waving his hand. 他从车座上半欠起身子，低声打了一个尖锐的唿哨，一面挥挥手。

5 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

6 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

7 gasped   

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》