STORY IV JACKO AND THE PEANUTS

 One day Jumpo Kinkytail, the little green monkey, was ill with the sniffle-snuffles and could not go to school. I don't know whether it was because he had missed his lesson the day before, or because he waded¹ through a mud-puddle on his way home, and got his feet wet that made him sniffle. Anyhow Dr. Possum came and gave him some bitter medicine.

 

It was so bitter that Jumpo made a funny face like two sour oranges and a piece of lemon pie all rolled up together. And his brother Jacko laughed, which didn't make Jumpo feel any better.

 

"Humph! I don't laugh when you are ill," said Jumpo, twisting up his face like a crooked³ doughnut.

 

"I'm sorry, but really I couldn't help it," said Jacko, as he got ready to go off to school. "You do make the funniest faces, Jumpo. But I'll tell the teacher you can't come to class, and I'll ask her what lesson you are to study. Then I'll bring home your books."

 

"Oh, you needn't bother," said Jumpo quickly. "I—I guess I'm not sick enough for that. Just tell teacher that I can spell cow now. I know better than to begin it with a 'K.'" For that is the lesson Jumpo had missed the day before he was taken ill.

 

Well, Jacko started for school, and on the way all the other animal children asked him where his little green brother was.

 

"I'm very sorry," said Bully⁴ No-Tail, the frog, when he had heard what was the trouble. "I like Jumpo because he is the same color I am, and tomorrow I'm going to bring him some green grapes so he can play marbles with them in bed."

 

"That will be nice," said Jacko. Then he got to school and told the teacher about Jumpo. Of course the owl⁵ lady was also sorry for the little sick monkey, and she wrote him a nice note on a piece of white cocoanut, so that after Jumpo had read it he could eat the cocoanut—that is, when he was well enough.

 

Pretty soon it was time for school to be out, and Jacko hurried home to be with his sick brother.

 

"I'll just take the short path through the woods," thought the little red monkey. "Then I'll be home quicker. And I wish I had a penny, or a five-cent piece. Then I would buy Jumpo an ice cream cone⁶. But I haven't any money."

 

So of course when one has no money one can buy no ice cream cones⁷, but still Jacko wished it just the same, which shows that he had a kind heart.

 

He was going through a dark part of the woods, when all of a sudden he saw, just in front of him, some small, whitish looking things, like little stones.

 

"Ha! I wonder what these are?" said Jacko, as he took hold of his books in his tail and went carefully forward. "Perhaps that is a trap to catch me."

 

Then he saw that the little things were a lot of peanuts, all strung out in a row on the ground, like grains of corn, one after another. "Ah, ha! I see!" exclaimed the Jack² o'Lantern—oh, I beg your pardon, I mean the red monkey. "These are peanuts. Some one has been along here with a bag that had a hole in it, and the peanuts dropped out," went on Jacko. "Well, if I knew to whom they belonged I'd give them back. But, as I don't, I'll take them home to my sick brother, and later on, if some one claims them, I'll save up my pennies and pay them back."

 

So with this kind thought in mind, Jacko set to work to gather up the peanuts. There were quite a number of them, when they were all in one pile—as many as two five-cent bags full.

 

"I think I will eat just one, to see if they will be good for Jumpo," said Jacko, after a while. So, with his strong, white teeth he cracked the shell of one peanut and ate it—that is, he ate the peanut, not the shell. Of course, you understand and I suppose I needn't have mentioned it. But, anyhow, I did.

 

"Oh, my! Oh, dear! Oh, hum suz dud!" exclaimed Jacko, when he had eaten the peanut. "This will never do at all. The peanuts are damp, and wet, and not nice and brown and crisp as they ought to be." For you know there is nothing more unpleasant than half-roasted and soft peanuts—even onions aren't much worse, I think.

 

"I must build a fire and roast them nice and hot and fresh," said Jacko. "Then they will be good for sick Jumpo." So then and there Jacko built a little fire in the woods, and set to work to roast the peanuts over again, first taking his[Pg 33] books out of his tail and putting them safely on a stump⁸ where they wouldn't burn.

 

When the fire was nice and hot, Jacko took a tin can, put the peanuts in it, and set the can on the hot coals. Then he stirred the peanuts with a long stick so they wouldn't burn.

 

He was doing this, and thinking how pleased his brother would be, when, all of a sudden there was a noise up in a tree over Jacko's head, and down climbed the black bear. He landed right near the red monkey and that bear cried out:

 

"Oh, ho! Things are nice and warm and comfortable here. I have come just in time. Now I will have a good supper. I was afraid I wasn't going to have any."

 

"Were you—that is, were you thinking of eating the peanuts?" asked Jacko. "Because if you were, they are my brother's."

 

"No. I wasn't thinking of eating the peanuts," growled⁹ the bear. "I was thinking of eating you. And now I am done thinking, and I am going to get busy. Here I come!"

 

Then, with a growl¹⁰, he made a grab¹¹ for Jacko, but the monkey jumped back. He was thinking very hard, for he didn't want to be eaten up. Then he said very quickly:

 

"Will you grant me one favor before you eat me, Mr. Bear?"

"What is it?" growled the shaggy creature.

 

"Please let me take the peanuts off the fire so they won't burn," spoke¹² Jacko.

 

"Go ahead," growled the bear. "That will be the last thing you do."

 

"We'll see about that," thought Jacko, as he tied a hard knot in his tail. Then, taking a lot of damp leaves in his paws so he wouldn't get burned, he lifted off the fire the can of hot peanuts. And then and there, while the bear was still growling¹³, the red monkey threw the hot pan, hot peanuts and all, right on top of the bear's soft and tender nose.

 

"Wow, Oh, wow! My! Oh, my!" howled the bear, and he felt so badly about it that he ran off through the woods to find a spring of water where he could cool his nose.

 

But Jacko didn't wait for the bear to come back. Instead, the red monkey gathered up the hot peanuts from where they had fallen. Into his school bag he packed them as fast as he could and then he set out for home on the jump, and got there safely.

 

And oh! how glad Jumpo was to get the hot roasted peanuts. In fact they made him well the next day. And he said Jacko was a brave monkey boy to think of such a trick to play on the bear. And so did Mr. and Mrs. Kinkytail.[Pg 35] But you are sleepy now, so you must go to bed. Good night.

 

And the next story will be about Jumpo and the ice cream—that is, if the bathroom looking-glass doesn't see the pussy¹⁴ cat standing¹⁵ on its head under the stove and get so frightened it can't clean its teeth.[Pg 36]

 

1 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

6 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

7 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

8 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

9 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

11 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

14 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

15 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。