I CUFFY WAKES UP

 Far up on the side of Blue Mountain lived Cuffy Bear with his father and mother and his little sister Silkie. Mr. Bear's house was quite the finest for many miles around. It was what people call a cave, being made entirely² of stone, and so there was no danger of its ever catching³ fire; and since it was built straight into the side of the mountain the roof was so very, very thick that Cuffy's father never had to worry for fear a tree would fall upon his house and hurt his family. No matter how hard the wind blew, Mr. Bear was never afraid of that.

 

Little Cuffy was not a bad bear at heart. But often when he was playing with Silkie, his sister, he would lose his temper⁴ and cuff¹ her on the head and make her cry. Then his father or his mother would cuff him. Somehow, he never could learn not to strike out when he became angry. That was why he was called Cuffy. It happened sometimes that a day or two would pass without Cuffy's cuffing⁵ his sister. And Mr. Bear and Mrs. Bear would begin to think that at last Cuffy had been cured of his bad habit.

 

"I do believe the child is growing better mannered," Mrs. Bear would say to her husband, as they watched their son and daughter playing upon the floor. And then just as likely as not, the first thing they knew Cuffy would give Silkie a good, hard box on the ear, or a slap⁶ right on the end of her nose.

 

But for a long time every winter Cuffy was never naughty. You might think that that was just before Christmas. But no—it was not then. All winter long Cuffy was just as good as any little bear could be. He was good because he was asleep! You see—when cold weather came, Mr. and Mrs. Bear and their children stayed in their cozy⁷ house, which was snug⁸ and warm, and slept and slept and slept for weeks and weeks until spring came.

 

Now, this tale begins on the very first day of spring. And on that day Mr. Bear waked up. He rose slowly to his feet, for his bones felt stiff⁹ because he had been asleep for such a long time. And he was hungry—oh! very hungry, because he had not eaten anything for months and months, since he went to sleep at the beginning of winter.

 

He went to the door of his house and looked out. And he saw that the weather was warm and fine. So he stepped back into the bedroom and said—

 

"Ou-e-e-ee!" Just like that. And then Mrs. Bear awaked. "Spring has come," Mr. Bear told her, "and I am going out to fetch something to eat. Wake up Cuffy and Silkie and tell them that it is time to get up."

 

Gently Mrs. Bear roused¹⁰ Cuffy and Silkie.

 

"Come, children! Run out and play and get your lungs full of nice, fresh air. Now, be good and don't go far away!" she said.

该作者的其它作品

The Tale of Timothy Turtle

The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat

The Tale of Old Dog Spot

The Tale of Kiddie Katydid

 

1 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 temper   

n.恶劣的心情，心绪焦躁；性情，脾气

参考例句：

• The man lost his temper and struck out wildly.那人因发怒而大打出手。
• One day the man flew at me in a temper.一天,那个人冲着我大发脾气。

5 cuffing   

v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集

参考例句：

• Thickening and perivascular lymphocytic cuffing of cord blood vessels. H and E X250. 脊髓血管增粗；脊髓血管周围可见淋巴细胞浸润，形成一层套膜（苏木精-伊红染色，原始放大倍数X250倍）。 来自互联网
• In 1990 the agency allowed laser cuffing of soft tissue such as gums. 1990年，这个机构允许使用激光切割像牙龈这样的软组织。 来自互联网

6 slap   

n.掴，侮辱，拍击声；vt.拍击，侮辱，惩罚，申斥；adv.正面地，直接地，突然地

参考例句：

• He sent the horse forward with a slap on its rump.他拍了一下马尾，马便向前跑去。
• He gave her a slap on the cheek.他打了她一耳光。

7 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

8 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

9 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

10 roused   

v.醒来，唤醒( rouse的过去式和过去分词 )；使…活跃起来[产生兴趣]；激昂

参考例句：

• Her mother's voice in the corridor roused her from an angry trance. 她气得失魂落魄，是她妈妈在走廊里的声音唤醒了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their rejection of these measures roused the people to indignation. 他们拒不采取这些措施，引起了人民的愤慨。 来自《简明英汉词典》