XX THE STRANGER'S MESSAGE

 Leaper the Locust¹ was a rude fellow. He actually tried to snatch the message out of Kiddie Katydid's hands. But the stranger promptly² bowled him over and told him sternly to be off.

 

Leaper did not dare disobey. So he hurried away. But after a few moments he came sailing back again and hung on the outskirts³ of the crowd, to see what was going on.

 

He soon discovered that there was some difficulty. Kiddie Katydid had torn open the message; and now he turned it over and over, wondering what it said—for to tell the truth, he couldn't read a single word.

 

"Ah!" the stranger remarked presently. "I see what your trouble is. You haven't your spectacles on!"

 

He was a polite person—that stranger. He knew better than to suggest that a body didn't know his letters!

 

"Let me help you!" he continued. And taking the message from Kiddie Katydid, he held it upside down and began reciting in a sing-song voice:

 

Dear Mr. Grasshopper⁴,

in Pleasant Valley——

Though you do not know me, I am a distant cousin of yours; and I am now on my way to your neighborhood, with my family. Not being acquainted in your part of the country, I am sending you this message with the hope that you will be ready to welcome us when we arrive. Please see that there's a plenty to eat!

 

"That's odd!" Kiddie Katydid exclaimed, after the stranger had finished. "Won't you please read that once more? I want to be sure that I understand it."

 

Thereupon the travel-worn messenger repeated the contents of the letter. And this time he held it with the back towards him, so that he couldn't see the writing at all. Like Kiddie Katydid, he didn't know how to read a word. But luckily he had learned the message by heart before starting on his journey.

 

"What's my cousin's name?" Kiddie Katydid asked him abruptly⁵. "Hasn't he signed the message?"

 

"I'm afraid he forgot to do that," the stranger muttered. "No doubt he wants to surprise you," he added, as he handed the letter back to Kiddie.

 

"This cousin of mine—is he a Long-horn or a Short-horn?" Kiddie Katydid inquired.

 

At that question the stranger shifted uneasily from one foot to another. And since he had six feet, he looked for a moment as if he were engaged in a queer sort of dance.

 

"I should say—" he said at last—"I should say his horns were about medium."

 

Kiddie Katydid stared at the fellow very hard.

 

"I believe you know more than you're willing to tell!" he suddenly cried. And then he quickly shoved the letter inside the stranger's mail-pouch. "That's not for me, after all!" he declared. "Unless I'm greatly mistaken, the person that sent this letter is a Short-horn, the same as you. And I want nothing to do with him!"

 

"Where's that other fellow that was clamoring for the message?" the stranger asked. And spying Leaper the Locust on the edge of the crowd, he sprang upon him, collared him, and explained that there had been a mistake.

 

"The message is for you," he announced.

 

"But I don't want it now!" Leaper the Locust shouted. "I've heard it twice already; and I don't like it in the least!"

1 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

2 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

3 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

4 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。