STORY XIII PAPA KINKYTAIL AND GOOSEY GANDER

 "Come, Mr. Kinkytail," said Mrs. Kinkytail to her husband one morning after breakfast, "it is time for you to go to your work in the hand-organ factory."

 

"Oh, I'm not going to work to-day," said the papa monkey, as he slowly folded the news-paper inside out so that he might read about whether it was going to rain or snow.

 

"Why aren't you going to work?" asked the monkey mamma.

 

"Because," answered her husband, "something is the matter with one of the music machines, and the engineer has to fix it. So the factory is closed, and I have a vacation. And, as it is Saturday, I'll take the boys for a walk."

 

"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Jacko Kinkytail.

 

"That will be fine!" shouted Jumpo, and he tied his tail in such a hard knot in his excitement that his mamma almost had to cut the knot out with the scissors. But finally it was loosened with a knitting needle.

 

"Come on, boys," said their papa. "The paper says it will be a fair day, so we will go off in the woods. And, who knows? Perhaps we may have an adventure."

 

It was a fine, cool day, and the monkey boys and their papa hurried along. Soon they came to the woods, where the ground was all covered with leaves that rustled¹ under foot like tissue paper in a box of candy.

 

"Oh, look there!" suddenly exclaimed Jacko in a whisper. "There is a big elephant!"

 

"Where?" asked his brother, and the red monkey pointed² off through the woods. Surely enough, there was something that looked like an elephant with a bushel of peanuts on his back.

 

"Why, that's not an elephant," said Mr. Kinkytail, when he had looked most carefully, "that is only a stump³, though I admit there is something about it that seems like an elephant's trunk. Well, that was almost an adventure. Come along, and after a while we may have a real one."

 

On they walked a little farther, and, all of a sudden Jumpo stopped and grasped his brother by the paw.

 

"Look," whispered the green monkey. "Isn't that a big lion over there?"

 

"Sure enough it is!" exclaimed Jacko, as he looked toward where his brother pointed.

 

"Nonsense!" cried Mr. Kinkytail, as he saw the object. "It is only a pile of yellow leaves, though it is big enough for a lion, and the same color. But soon we may have a real adventure."

 

So they went on some more—about as far as two oranges and half a banana—and, all at once, all three saw something moving in the bushes, and they knew that was real, for the bushes wiggled to and fro like a rabbit's ears.

 

"Look out!" exclaimed Mr. Kinkytail, and the next instant they saw Grandfather Goosey Gander come waddling⁴ out, with his shiny, tall, silk hat on his head.

 

"Why, how do you do?" asked the old gentleman goose, as he walked toward them. "I'm real glad to see you, as I am quite lonesome. I guess I'll—"

 

But Grandfather Goosey Gander didn't have time to say what he was going to guess, for at that very particular instant a big, fat cow, with two crumpled⁵ horns, stepped out from behind a tree, and with one swoop⁶ she grabbed Grandfather Goosey Gander's tall hat in her mouth.

 

"Why, the very idea!" exclaimed Grandfather Goosey. "The very idea! To take my hat! How dare you! What do you want with it?"

 

"I want it for a milk pail, to be sure," said the cow, as she stuck the hat on one of her horns. "I want to take some milk to a sick cousin of mine, and I need a pail in which to carry it. This tall hat will do very nicely."

 

"Why, the very preposterous⁷ idea!" gasped⁸ the gander gentleman. "My fine silk hat to be used as a milk pail! I'll never allow it—never!"

 

"Ah, but you see you can't help yourself," said the cow, as she hung the tall hat on the branch of a tree, and sat down under it to rest. "I'm going to walk away, directly, with your hat, and don't you dare come here and get it, for I'll jiggle you with my crumpled horns if you do," went on the cow supercilious⁹ like which means sort of proud.

 

"That's right, she will," whispered Mr. Kinkytail. "You must let her have her way, grandfather."

 

"But my nice, tall silk hat!" objected Grandfather Goosey Gander. "I can't let her have it. I need it to wear to church, and also down to the bank when I go to put in my money. Oh, this is terrible! I must get it."

 

He started toward the tree, where his hat was hanging, but the cow got up and shook her crumpled horns at him in such a savage¹⁰ way that he was afraid to go any farther.

 

"Perhaps I can get it," whispered Jumpo. So he crept up behind the tree, thinking he could grab the hat away, but the cow heard him, and almost snitched him with one horn. Then Jacko tried, by climbing up one tree, and getting ready to drop down into the other one where the hat was. But the cow heard him and she almost kerfuddled him with her left crinkly horn, so that plan failed.

 

"I think I know a way to get your hat," said Mr. Kinkytail at last.

 

"Oh, if you only can I will be so thankful!" cried Mr. Gander.

 

"You stay here with Jacko and Jumpo," said the monkey boys' father, "and watch the cow so that she doesn't run away with the hat. Jacko, you and your brother make some funny faces, and do some funny tricks so the cow will be interested in watching you and will stay. I'll go off and get something I need."

 

So the monkey boys did a lot of tricks for the cow. Jumpo made a face like half a cherry pie, and Jacko did the trick of standing¹¹ on his two ears and making a noise like a trolley¹² car. It was too funny for anything, and the cow was real interested.

 

Then, all of a sudden, off in the woods there sounded the music of a hand organ. And the tune¹³ it played was one called "I'm a Yellow-striped Tiger and I'm Very Savage Now, So I Think I'll Make a Sandwich of a Crinkled-crumpled Cow!"

 

Well, as soon as the cow heard that, up she jumped, crying out:

 

"No you don't, Mr. Tiger! You can't catch me!" And with that the cow with the crimpled-crumpled horns ran off in the woods, leaving Grandfather Goosey Gander's tall hat hanging on the tree.

 

And then, from the other side of the woods, came Mr. Kinkytail, and it was he who had played the hand organ to scare the cow. He had hurried to the factory to get the music machine just especially for that.

 

"Now your hat is safe, Mr. Gander," said the papa monkey, and soon Jacko had scrambled¹⁴ up and got it, and then the goosey grandfather and the monkey boys took turns playing the hand organ until it was time to go home.

 

But I see it's your bedtime, so I can't tell any more stories for a while. The one on the next page will be about Mrs. Kinkytail and Aunt[Pg 94] Lettie the lady goat—that is, if the dining-room table doesn't put its legs down the back of the chair and tickle¹⁵ it so it sneezes its seat off.

1 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 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。

4 waddling   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rhinoceros Give me a break, were been waddling every day. 犀牛甲：饶了我吧，我们晃了一整天了都。 来自互联网
• A short plump woman came waddling along the pavement. 有个矮胖女子一摇一摆地沿人行道走来。 来自互联网

5 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

6 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

7 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

8 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 supercilious   

adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was very supercilious towards me when I asked for some help.我要买东西招呼售货员时，那个售货员对我不屑一顾。
• His manner is supercilious and arrogant.他非常傲慢自大。

10 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

11 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。

12 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

13 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

14 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。