STORY XI UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHURCH BELL

“Here is a package for you, Mr. Longears,” said Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat¹ lady housekeeper², as she entered the dining-room, of the hollow stump³ bungalow⁴, where the rabbit gentleman was eating his breakfast right after supper—the next day, of course.

 

“A package for me—how nice!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. “Let me see—what day is it?”

 

“I don’t see that it makes any difference,” spoke⁵ Nurse Jane. “A package is a package any day.”

 

“Ah, yes, very true,” admitted Uncle Wiggily. “But a package on April Fools’ day is quite different from one on Christmas.”

 

“So it is,” said the muskrat lady with a laugh. “But as it happens, this is not April Fools’ day.”

 

“No, it is not,” admitted Uncle Wiggily, “and in that case I will open the package. Who brought it?”

 

“Billie Bushytail, the squirrel boy, on his way[Pg 73] to school left it for you,” answered Nurse Jane.

 

“And from whom did it come?” Uncle Wiggily wanted to know.

 

“You had better open it and see,” suggested Nurse Jane.

 

Uncle Wiggily did so, and what do you s’pose he found? Why in the package was a lovely chocolate cake, with cocoanut on top, and a yellow carrot in the middle. And there was a little card on which was written:

 

“From the Scrump, who used to be a Flump, to Dear Uncle Wiggily.”

 

“Ha!” exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. “This is very nice. I am glad I helped change the Flump into a Scrump.”

 

I told you that story on the page before this, you remember. The Flump was a curious, sad sort of a mixed-up animal, but when Uncle Wiggily fixed⁶ her smoky chimney, the Flump turned into a Scrump, which is short for Scrumptious, and scrumptious means lovely.

 

“My! that is good chocolate cake,” said the gentleman rabbit, passing Nurse Jane a large slice. “Just give it away to the animal children when they come home from school.”

 

“That’s just like you!” cried the muskrat lady. “Giving away everything you get! Why don’t you eat it yourself?”

 

[Pg 74]

 

“I had rather see others eat it,” replied Uncle Wiggily. And I might say that if ever you feel yourself turning into a Flump, just start giving things away, or making others happy, and you’ll become a Scrump right away. And it’s much nicer to be a Scrump than a Flump.

 

“Where are you going?” asked Nurse Jane, as Uncle Wiggily got up from the table.

 

“Out for a ride in my airship,” replied the rabbit gentleman. “It is a lovely day, and I might find some in trouble whom I could help. Yes, I shall go for a little ride.”

 

“Well, don’t fall,” begged Nurse Jane, and Uncle Wiggily promised that he would not. Soon he was soaring and flying up near the clouds in his airship, that was made from a clothes basket, some circus balloons, a Japanese umbrella and an electric fan.

 

Pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, Uncle Wiggily heard, down on the earth, some one saying most sadly:

 

“Oh, dear! Now I am in trouble!”

 

“My! I wonder if that’s Tom, the grocery cat, who has another broken basket?” said Uncle Wiggily to himself. “If it is I must help him.”

 

He looked down and found that, right under him, was a big church with a steeple and in front of the church was the sexton, or janitor⁷, a very[Pg 75] nice man, indeed, if you will kindly⁸ allow me to say so.

 

“Oh, dear! Such trouble!” cried the sexton man, sadly.

 

“What is the trouble?” asked Uncle Wiggily kindly, as he lowered his airship. “Perhaps I can help you.”

 

“I’m afraid not,” answered the janitor. “You see, the rope by which I pull the church bell is broken. To-morrow is Sunday and I have not time to mend the rope. I can’t ring the bell, and unless I do make it jingle⁹ ding-dong, the people will not hear it and will not come to church.”

 

“Ha! That is too bad!” agreed Uncle Wiggily. “For going to church does every one good. But won’t they come even if the bell doesn’t ring?”

 

“I am afraid not,” said the sexton man. “You see, the bell has been rung every Sunday for years and years and years. The people have become used to it. They don’t even look at their clocks, but when they hear the bell go ‘ding-dong!’ they say: ‘Ah! it is time to go to church.’ But now, alas¹⁰, the rope is broken and I will not be able to ring the Sunday bell to-morrow.”

 

“Don’t worry,” said Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. “And don’t be gloomy like a Flump,[Pg 76] whatever happens. Perhaps I may be able to help you.”

 

But the sexton man did not think so, and he was quite sad. He tried to fix the bell rope, but he could not, and it looked as though the bell would not ring for Sunday church.

 

But what did Uncle Wiggily do? Listen, as the telephone girl says, and I will tell you. Sunday morning, bright and early, the rabbit gentleman took a lot of stones in the clothes basket and he went sailing up in his airship.

 

Right up over the church spire¹¹ he sailed, and he hovered¹² over the steeple and the bell, and, when it was time for church, the rabbit gentleman threw stones at the bell. And, as he was a good shot, he hit it every time.

 

“Crack!” went a stone on the bell, and the bell went “Ding-dong! Ding-dong!” slowly and solemn-like. More stones did Uncle Wiggily throw from his airship, and every time the rabbit gentleman hit it the bell rang just as well as though the sexton had pulled the rope.

 

“Ha!” cried all the people. “There goes the bell! It is time for church!”

 

So they went, and were not late, but they were much surprised when they saw Uncle Wiggily in his airship, throwing stones at the bell to ring it.

 

[Pg 77]

 

And when all the people were in their seats, Uncle Wiggily didn’t have to ring the bell any more. He came down out of his airship and went to church himself, and everybody was happy, and the sexton was most especially thankful to the rabbit gentleman.

 

So that’s all now, if you please, but next, if my typewriter doesn’t go in swimming and get its hair ribbon all wet, so it’s as crinkly as a corkscrew, I’ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the doll’s house.

1 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

2 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

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 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

5 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。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 jingle   

n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵

参考例句：

• The key fell on the ground with a jingle.钥匙叮当落地。
• The knives and forks set up their regular jingle.刀叉发出常有的叮当声。

10 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

11 spire   

n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点

参考例句：

• The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
• They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。

12 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。