CHAPTER 2

 Next year, the heath had crept a little way down the hill, towards the wood. The wood saw this, but said nothing. She thought it beneath her dignity to talk to such an ugly fellow; but, in her heart of hearts, she was afraid. Then she made herself greener and prettier and looked as if there were nothing the matter.

 

But, every year, the heath came nearer. He had now covered all the hills and lay just outside the fence of the wood.

 

"Be off!" said the wood. "You annoy me. Take care you don't touch my fence!"

 

"I'm coming over your fence," said the heath. "I'm coming into you, to eat you up and destroy you."

 

Then the wood laughed till all her leaves quivered:

 

"So that's what you mean to do, is it?" she said. "If only you can manage it! I'm afraid that you will find me too big a mouthful. I daresay you think I'm a bit of a field or meadow, which one can walk over in a couple of strides. But I'm the most powerful and important person in the neighbourhood, you may as well know. I shall soon sing my song to you; then perhaps you will change your ways of thinking."

 

Then the wood began to sing. All the birds sang; and the flowers raised their heads and sang too. The smallest leaf hummed with the rest, the fox stopped in the middle of eating a fat chicken and beat time with his brush, the wind blew through the branches and played an organ accompaniment to the song of the wood:

 

"Merrier meeting was never yet

Than the festal wood discloses,

When wood-ruff nestles by violet

In a cluster of sweet wild roses.

 

"Small birds in the brake fly up and down

Nor ever a bird flies single

And the woodman twines¹ for his lass a crown

Where berries and beech² commingle³.

 

"Roe⁴, fox and hare hold revel⁵ all,

Thro' flowerage the wee worm glances;

There great and small a-dancing fall

And the sun up in Heaven dances."

"What do you say to that?" asked the wood.

 

The heath said nothing. But, next year, he came over the fence.

 

"Are you mad?" screamed the wood. "Why, I forbade you to cross the fence!"

 

"You are not my mistress," said the heath. "I am doing as I said I would."

 

Then the wood called the red fox and shook her branches so that a quantity of beech-mast fell upon him and remained hanging in his skin:

 

"Run across to the heath, Foxie, and scatter⁶ the beech-mast out there!" said the wood.

 

"Right you are!" said the fox and jogged away.

 

And the hare did the same and the marten and the mouse. And the crow lent a hand, for old acquaintance' sake, and the wind took hold and blew and shook the branches till the mast flew far out into the heath.

 

"That's it!" said the wood. "Now let's see what comes of that."

 

"Yes, let us!" said the heath.

 

A certain time passed and the wood grew green and withered⁷ and the heath spread more and more and they did not talk to each other. But, one fine spring day, tiny little new-born beeches⁸ and oaks peeped up from the ground round about in the heather.

 

"What do you say now?" asked the wood, triumphantly⁹. "My trees shall grow year after year, till they become tall and strong. Then they shall close their tops over you: no sun shall shine, no rain shall fall upon you; and you shall die, as a punishment for your presumption¹⁰."

 

But the heath shook his black twigs¹¹ earnestly:

 

"You don't know me," he said. "I am stronger than you think. Your trees will never turn green in me. I have bound the earth under me as firm as iron and your roots can't go through it. Just wait till next year! Then the little fellows you are so pleased with will all be dead."

 

"You're lying," said the wood.

 

But she was frightened.

1 twines   

n.盘绕( twine的名词复数 )；麻线；捻；缠绕在一起的东西

参考例句：

• The vine twines round the tree. 这藤盘绕在树干上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A stream twines across the valley. 一条小溪蜿蜒流过山谷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

3 commingle   

v.混合

参考例句：

• I think I'll commingle some of these blue flowers with the pink ones.我想把一些蓝花和粉红花搀在一起。
• Ground waters originating in different beds commingle.来源于不同层位的地下水相互混合。

4 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

5 revel   

vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢

参考例句：

• She seems to revel in annoying her parents.她似乎以惹父母生气为乐。
• The children revel in country life.孩子们特别喜欢乡村生活。

6 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

7 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

8 beeches   

n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材

参考例句：

• The beeches, oaks and chestnuts all belong to the same family. 山毛榉树、橡树和栗子树属于同科树种。 来自互联网
• There are many beeches in this wood. 这片树林里有许多山毛榉。 来自互联网

9 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

10 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

11 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。