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CHAPTER IV PARTY PREPARATIONS
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 When Mother Morrison had suggested a fishpond for the party, Louise and Grace had protested.
 
"Oh, Mother!" they cried. "That's so old!"
 
"But the children like it," said Mother Morrison mildly.
 
"It's fun," urged Brother. "It's fun to fish over the table and catch something!"
 
Sister, too, had asked for the pond, so it was decided1 to have one. Louise and Grace might not care for such things at their birthday parties, but this, as Sister said, was "different."
 
"We bought bushels and bushels," Brother informed Sister as she bounded through the hedge and up to the front porch. "Little colored pencils, and crayons, and games, and dolls, and oh!—everything!"
 
Louise, whose shopping bag was certainly bulging2 with parcels, laughed merrily.
 
"We bought all the little gifts for the fish-pond and for the—there! I almost told you." She clapped her hand over her mouth and laughed again.
 
"For the what?" teased Sister. "Tell me, Louise—I won't tell."
 
"No, Mother said no one was to know," declared Louise firmly. "Now all these packages you may open, and after lunch I'll help you tie them up again and fix the pond. But these other parcels go upstairs to Mother's room and no one is to touch them."
 
She tumbled half the contents of her bag on the porch floor and then ran upstairs with the rest.
 
"Let's look at them," said Sister eagerly. "What's the matter, Roddy?"
 
"I was thinking," explained Brother, making no move to open the packages. "We saw a little boy down town and his foot was all tied up in a rag, and I know it hurt him 'cause he limped."
 
"Maybe he sprained3 his ankle," said Sister. "Like Dr. Yarrow's cousin, you know."
 
"It wasn't his ankle—it was his foot," insisted Brother. "And I told Louise Mother said we mustn't go on the ground without our sandals, and she said she guessed the boy didn't have any sandals; she said he prob'bly didn't have any shoes, either."
 
"Nor any stockings—just rags?" asked Sister in pity. "I like to go barefoot, Roddy, but I like my new patent leather slippers4, too."
 
"Maybe he has some for Sunday," comforted Brother, trying to be hopeful. "Everybody has to wear shoes on Sunday."
 
"Yes, of course they do," agreed Sister, who had never heard of a boy and girl who didn't wear shoes on Sunday and every day in the week except when they were allowed to go barefoot as a great treat.
 
The tempting5 packages were not to be forgotten one moment longer, and they decided to "take turns" opening them.
 
"Isn't it fun!" giggled6 Sister. "What do you s'pose Mother is going to make you, Roddy?"
 
"I don't know," replied Brother absently. "I keep thinking about Ralph's present. He says that he thinks I'll be tall enough to have it by tomorrow."
 
"Did you drink all your milk for breakfast?" asked Sister anxiously.
 
Ralph was most particular about the children's milk. He insisted that they couldn't grow properly without enough milk, and as both were anxious to grow tall, Brother and Sister usually drank their milk without fussing.
 
Brother had finished his to the last drop that morning, he said, and when they were called in to lunch presently, he drank another glass so that he would surely grow enough to please Ralph.
 
"And now we'll do up the fishpond presents," said Louise, when they had finished lunch.
 
She and Grace both helped, for Mother Morrison was busy in the kitchen with Molly, and of course none of the brothers were home during the day except Jimmie, and he was usually busy out in the barn where the gymnasium was.
 
You have probably "fished" in a fishpond yourself at parties, and know what it is. Little gifts are placed somewhere out of sight, and each small guest is given a fishing rod and line with a hook at the end. He dangles7 this over the back of a sofa, or over a table, and when he draws it up there is a "fish," or the present, attached to it.
 
Louise had plenty of nice white paper and pink string, and each gift was carefully wrapped and tied. Dark blue crepe paper was tacked8 around three sides of a table and this table placed across one corner of the parlor9. This was the "ocean." The presents were placed on the floor back of the table, and Brother and Sister knew, from past pleasant experience, that when it came time to fish, the packages would obligingly attach themselves to the hooks.
 
"Tomorrow's ever so long off," sighed Brother, when the fishpond was ready and Louise and Grace had gone over to the library to take back some books.
 
He and Sister were not wanted in the kitchen and they were asked not to touch the clean white clothes spread out on the guest room bed for them to wear to the party. There really did not seem to be anything for them to do.
 
"Let's go out and watch for Ralph?" suggested Sister.
 
Ralph was the best loved brother, after all, though, of course, the children loved Dick and Jimmie dearly. But no one was quite as patient as Ralph, no one had time to read to them as often as he did, no one told them stories without coaxing10 as Ralph did.
 
He and Dick came up the street from the station together this night, and though Dick kissed Sister and said, "Hello, kid," to Brother, he dashed into the house, while Ralph stayed to talk.
 
"Birthday tomorrow, Brother?" he asked teasingly, though he knew very well that Brother would be six years old.
 
"Oh, Ralph!" Brother was so excited he nearly stuttered. "Ralph, couldn't you tell me what the present is now? I'm just as tall, and it's almost my birthday. Please, Ralph?"
 
Ralph swung Sister up and sat her on the fence-post.
 
"Well, I don't believe I could do that," he replied slowly. "Let's see, did you drink your milk today without grumbling11?"
 
"Yes, I did—didn't I, Sister?" said Brother eagerly.
 
"Yes," nodded Sister. "He drank all of his for lunch, too, Ralph, and didn't spill any."
 
"That's certainly fine," praised Ralph. "I'm sure you've grown a little bit every day, too. Well, Brother, I tell you what I'll do—tomorrow morning I'll bring the present up to your room before breakfast. How will that do?"
 
Brother was more excited than ever, and for once he was ready to go to bed that night without a protest. He and Sister trailed sleepily off upstairs, wishing for the morning to come so that they might know what this mysterious present was.
 
They had two little white beds in the same room and they could undress themselves very nicely if they helped each other with the buttons. Mother Morrison usually came up before they were ready for bed, and on bath nights she always came up with them and stayed till they were in bed.
 
The night before a birthday party was, of course, a bath night, and Sister was very willing to let Brother take his bath first because she had a picture book she wanted to look at. She was lying on her bed, in her nightie, looking at the pictures while Brother splashed in the tub and Mother Morrison waited for him to stop playing and use the soap to lather12 himself, instead of pretending it was a boat, when Dick knocked on the door.
 
"Look here!" he said, opening it and thrusting in his head. "Have either of you kids been in my room today?"
 
"How nice you are!" cried Sister, sitting up to look at Dick, who, indeed, did seem very nice, though he was without his coat.
 
"I'm twenty minutes late now," growled13 Dick. "I've hunted everywhere for my collar buttons and studs, and I can't find them."

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 decided lvqzZd     
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。
2 bulging daa6dc27701a595ab18024cbb7b30c25     
膨胀; 凸出(部); 打气; 折皱
参考例句:
  • Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
  • Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她:“问问是不是重要的事。”
3 sprained f314e68885bee024fbaac62a560ab7d4     
v.&n. 扭伤
参考例句:
  • I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤,把脚脖子扭了。
  • When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝,约翰驮她去看医生。
4 slippers oiPzHV     
n. 拖鞋
参考例句:
  • a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
  • He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋,倒在床上。
5 tempting wgAzd4     
a.诱人的, 吸引人的
参考例句:
  • It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
  • It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。
6 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 dangles ebaf6b5111fd171441fab35c8a22ff8a     
悬吊着( dangle的第三人称单数 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口
参考例句:
  • A kite dangles from a telephone wire. 一只风筝悬挂在电话线上晃来晃去。
  • Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. 她一只手耷拉在一边,闪耀着珠宝的寒光。
8 tacked d6b486b3f9966de864e3b4d2aa518abc     
用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 ); 附加,增补; 帆船抢风行驶,用粗线脚缝
参考例句:
  • He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
  • The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。
9 parlor v4MzU     
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?
10 coaxing 444e70224820a50b0202cb5bb05f1c2e     
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱;“锻炼”效应
参考例句:
  • No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
  • It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句
11 grumbling grumbling     
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的
参考例句:
  • She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
  • We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。
12 lather txvyL     
n.(肥皂水的)泡沫,激动
参考例句:
  • Soap will not lather in sea-water.肥皂在海水里不起泡沫。
  • He always gets in a lather when he has an argument with his wife.当他与妻子发生争论时他总是很激动。
13 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
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》


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