IV WHAT JOLLY DID BEST

 Jolly¹ Robin² had something on his mind. For several days he had been turning a certain matter over in his head. But in spite³ of all his thinking, he seemed unable to find any answer to the question that was troubling him. So at last he decided⁴ he would have to ask somebody to help him.

 

And that was why Jolly stopped Jimmy Rabbit near the garden one day.

 

“I want your advice,” he told Jimmy Rabbit.

 

“Certainly!” that young gentleman replied. And he sat himself down upon his wheelbarrow and looked very earnest⁵. “If 17it’s anything about gardening,” he said, “I should advise you to raise cabbages, by all means.”

 

But Jolly Robin said he wasn’t thinking of planting a garden.

 

“In fact,” he explained, “the trouble is, I don’t know what to do. I’d like to have some regular work, you know. And since you’ve had a good deal of experience, having run a tooth-pulling parlor⁶, a barber-shop, and a shoe-store, I thought you might be able to tell me what would be a good business for me to take up.”

 

For a few minutes Jimmy Rabbit did not speak. But he nodded his head wisely.

 

“Let me see!” he said at last. “What’s the thing you do best?”

 

Jolly Robin replied at once that he thought he could fly better than he could do anything else. And he felt so happy, because he was sure Jimmy Rabbit was going to help him, that he began to laugh gaily⁷. And he couldn’t help singing a snatch⁸ of a new song he had heard that morning. And then he laughed again.

 

“You’re mistaken,” Jimmy Rabbit said to him. “You fly well enough, I dare say. But there are others who can beat you at flying.... No!” he declared. “What you can do better than anybody I know is to laugh. And if I were you I should make laughing my regular business.”

 

That idea struck Jolly Robin as being so funny that he laughed harder than ever. And Jimmy Rabbit nodded his head again, as if to say, “I’m right and I know it!”

 

At last Jolly Robin stopped laughing long enough to ask Jimmy to explain how anyone could make a business of laughing. “I don’t see how it could be done,” said Jolly Robin.

 

“Why—it’s simple enough!” Jimmy told him. “All you need do is to find somebody who will hire you to laugh for him. There are people, you know, who find it very difficult to laugh. I should think they’d be glad to pay somebody to do their laughing for them.”

 

“Name someone!” Jolly Robin urged him.

 

And Jimmy Rabbit did.

 

“There’s old Mr. Crow!” he said. “You know how solemn⁹ he is. It’s positively¹⁰ painful to hear him try to laugh at a joke. I’m sure he would be delighted with this idea. And if I were you I’d see him before somebody else does.”

 

Jolly Robin looked puzzled.

 

“Who would ever think of such a thing but you?” he asked.

 

“Nobody!” Jimmy Rabbit replied. “But I like the scheme so well that I almost 20wish I hadn’t mentioned it. And unless you make your bargain with old Mr. Crow at once I may decide to go into the laughing business myself.... My advice to you,” he said, “is to hurry!”

 

So Jolly Robin thanked him. And then he flew away to find old Mr. Crow.

 

Of course, he went to the cornfield first.

 

1 jolly   

adj.快乐的，高兴的；adv.很；vt.劝服，哄

参考例句：

• That day they got together and had a jolly time.那天他们聚在一起热闹了一番。
• She was a jolly,kindhearted woman.她是个整天乐呵呵心地善良的女人。

2 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。

3 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

4 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。

5 earnest   

n.定金，诚挚，认真；adj.认真的，热心的，重要的

参考例句：

• The words were earnest but they fell on deaf ears.言者谆谆，听者藐藐。
• Her earnest manner arrested me.她那种热忱的态度引起了我的注意。

6 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

7 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

8 snatch   

n.抢夺，碎片，一阵，一瞬间，一点点；v.夺取，抢劫，抓住

参考例句：

• The magazine was snatch from my hand before I could read it.我还没来得及看那期杂志，就被从我手里抢走了。
• He had a snatch of sleep sitting in his chair.他坐在椅子里稍睡片刻。

9 solemn   

adj.庄严的，肃穆的；严肃的

参考例句：

• He wore an extraordinarily solemn expression.他脸上带着异常严肃的表情。
• Do not let us be too solemn on the business.关于这件事，还是不要让我们太认真了吧。

10 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。