X OBEYING ORDERS

 

 

Jolly Robin¹'s worrying wife wouldn't give him a moment's peace.

 

"You'd better get along over to the raspberry patch," she kept telling him. "If you don't hurry that terrible Reddy Woodpecker will eat every berry. He'll snatch each one as it ripens² and we shall not have any to feed our children."

 

Now, Jolly Robin didn't care to have any trouble with Reddy Woodpecker. But he soon saw that if he avoided Reddy he would only have trouble with Mrs. Robin. So at last he said, "Very well! I'll attend to him, my love." And off he flew, looking much braver than he felt. You'd have thought, to see him, that he longed to find Reddy Woodpecker. Really he hoped that he wouldn't find Reddy anywhere.

 

Much to Jolly Robin's dismay he met Reddy Woodpecker among the raspberry bushes. Jolly jumped when he saw that dashing newcomer. But it was too late to dodge³ out of sight. Reddy Woodpecker saw him. So Jolly Robin made up his mind to put on a bold front. Sitting on a fence post that overlooked the raspberry patch he stared hard at Reddy Woodpecker. He thought perhaps he could frighten him away.

 

He might as well have stared at the barn door. To his great distress⁴ Reddy Woodpecker picked a berry and flew to a near-by post, where he sat and ate the fruit with relish⁵. When he had finished the dainty he pretended to notice Jolly Robin for the first time and he bowed and scraped in the politest fashion.

 

Still Jolly Robin did not utter a word. Nor did he return any of Reddy's bows. But he began to feel himself swelling⁶; he began to feel his feathers ruffle⁷ up. And he knew then that he must speak soon or burst. For there was no doubt that he was growing angry. So presently he cried:

 

"Was that raspberry ripe?"

 

"Yes," replied Reddy Woodpecker, "and very juicy."

 

Now, Jolly Robin hadn't meant to ask any such question as that. He had meant to make some cutting remark. But he was so in the habit of being pleasant to everybody that it was very hard for him to be disagreeable.

 

"A-ahem!" he said. "Pardon me, sir! Did—did you know that my wife and I have been expecting to pick these raspberries for our children?"

 

But he might as well have said nothing at all. For Reddy Woodpecker only laughed and exclaimed, "You're a joker, aren't you?"

 

"No, I'm not," Jolly replied.

 

"Yes, you are," said Reddy Woodpecker. "You can't fool me. I know well enough that you don't intend to bring your children up on berries. I've seen you pulling angleworms for them too many times." Then Reddy dropped off his post and clung to a bush while he picked another berry that seemed redder than the rest.

 

"Well," Jolly thought, "I've talked to him anyhow. At least I can tell my wife that." So he left Reddy to enjoy the fruit and sailed away to his home.

 

"You're back very quickly," Mrs. Robin remarked when she saw him. "Didn't you find that Woodpecker person?"

 

"Oh, yes! I found him," Jolly explained. "I found him and I talked with him, too."

 

Mrs. Robin cast a sharp glance at her husband.

 

"Where is he now?" she inquired.

 

"He's eating raspberries in the berry patch," Jolly told her. "When I talked with him I said——"

 

"You said!" Mrs. Robin interrupted. "You said! The question is, what did you do? If you didn't fight him you must go back and do your duty."

 

There was nothing he could do except obey her. So, feeling very desperate, Jolly Robin hurried back to the place where the raspberry bushes grew by the fence. He gave three loud chirps⁸, to encourage himself. And then he darted⁹ down and sailed very close to Reddy Woodpecker's head. He didn't pause an instant to see what effect this action had on Reddy Woodpecker, but flew away as quickly as he could. "I guess I scared him that time," he muttered.

 

Meanwhile Reddy Woodpecker stared after him and watched him as he disappeared among the apple tree tops.

 

"Well, what do you think of that?" he said to himself with a grin.

 

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 ripens   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The sun ripens the crops. 太阳使庄稼成熟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then their seed ripens, and soon they turn brown and shrivel up. 随后，它们的种子熟了，不久就变枯萎。 来自辞典例句

3 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

6 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

7 ruffle   

v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边

参考例句：

• Don't ruffle my hair.I've just combed it.别把我的头发弄乱了。我刚刚梳好了的。
• You shouldn't ruffle so easily.你不该那么容易发脾气。

8 chirps   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的第三人称单数 )； 啾； 啾啾

参考例句：

• The linnet chirps her vernal song. 红雀吱喳鸣叫着她春天的歌。
• She heard nothing but the chirps and whirrs of insects. 除了虫的鸣叫声外，她什么也没听见。

9 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》