THE JUMPER

THE Flea¹, the Grasshopper², and the Frog once wanted to see which of them could jump highest; and they invited the whole world, and whoever else would come, to see the grand sight. And there the three famous jumpers were met together in the room.

“Yes, I'll give my daughter to him who jumps highest, said the King,“for it would be mean to let these people jump for nothing.”

The Flea stepped out first. He had very pretty manners, and bowed in all directions, for he had young ladies blood in his veins³, and was accustomed to consort⁴ only with human beings; and that is of great consequence.

Then came the Grasshopper: he was certainly much heavier, but he had a good figure, and wore the green uniform that was born with him. This person, moreover, maintained that he belonged to a very old family in the land of Egypt, and that he was highly esteemed⁵ there. He had just come from the field, he said, and had been put into a card-house three stories high, and all made of picture cards with the figures turned inwards. There were doors and windows in the house, cut in the body of the Queen of Hearts.

“I sing so,”he said,“that sixteen native crickets who have chirped⁶ from their youth up, and have never yet had a card-house of their own, have become even thinner than they were with envy at hearing me.”

Both of them, the Flea and the Grasshopper, took care to announce who they were, and that they considered themselves entitled to marry a Princess.

The Frog said nothing, but it was said of him that he thought all the more; and directly the Yard Dog had smelt⁷ at him he was ready to assert that the Frog was of good family.

The old councillor, who had received three medals for holding his tongue, declared that he knew that the Frog possessed⁸ the gift of prophecy: one could tell by his backbone⁹ whether there would be a severe winter or a mild one; and that's more than one can always tell from the backbone of the man who writes the almanac.

“I shall not say anything more,”said the old King. “I only go on quietly, and think my own thoughts.”

Now they were to take their jump. The Flea sprang so high that no one could see him; and then they asserted that he had not jumped at all. That was very mean. The grasshopper only sprang half as high, but he sprang straight into the King's face, and the King declared that was horribly rude. The Frog stood a long time considering; at last peple thought that he could not jump at all.

“I only hope he's not become unwell, ”said the Yard Dog, and then he smelt at him again.

“Tap! He sprang with a little crooked¹⁰ jump just into the lap of the Princess, who sat on a low golden stool.

Then the King said,“The highest leap was taken by him who jumped up to my daughter; for therein lies the point; but it requires head to achieve that, and the Frog has shown that he has a head.”

And so he had the Princess.

“I jumped highest, after all,”said the Flea.“But it's all the same. Let her have the goose-bone with its lump of wax and bit of stick. I jumped the highest; but in this world a body is required if one wishes to be seen.”

And the Flea went into foreign military service, where it is said he was killed.

The Grasshopper seated himself out in the ditch, and thought and considered how things happened in the world. And he too said,“Body is required! body is required! And then he sang his own melancholy¹¹ song, and from that we have gathered this story, which they say is not true, though it's in print.

1 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

2 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

3 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 consort   

v.相伴；结交

参考例句：

• They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
• The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。

5 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chirped   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 )

参考例句：

• So chirped fiber gratings have broad reflection bandwidth. 所以chirped光纤光栅具有宽的反射带宽，在反射带宽内具有渐变的群时延等其它类型的光纤光栅所不具备的特点。
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。

7 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

8 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

9 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

10 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。

11 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。