CHAPTER 3

 Then night came and all thought that it would be their last.

 

But, suddenly, the bell-flower raised her aching head and listened.

 

She thought she heard a sound as when a drop falls ... now came another ... it smacked¹ down upon a leaf ... and another ... and another....

 

They all woke up, while the rain poured in torrents².

 

The poor blades of grass stood up, the unhappy moss³ took fresh courage. The linnet began to sing, though it was a dark night. The hazel-bush shook with delight, until he nearly shook the linnet's young out of the nest.

 

Everything round about in the wood revived. The night was full of happiness. The ranger⁴ and the farmer rose from their beds and met in the rain and shook each other by the hand with glad eyes.

 

It rained the whole night and the day after and the next night and one day more. Sometimes it rained gently and sometimes hard. The ground drank all the water with a thirsty mouth and the roots sucked it greedily out of the ground and leaves and flowers unfolded and stood erect⁵ and blithe⁶ on slender stalks.

 

Then came the third day, with sunshine and a blue sky and life and merriment in the wood.

 

"Well," said the wind and came darting⁷ along as though he had never been tired in his life, "do you see, I brought you the rain?"

 

"Well," said the cloud, who drifted high above, in a light, white summer suit, "did you see how I came with the rain?"

 

"Well," said the sun and laughed, rounder and warmer than ever, "so you got what you asked me for!"

 

The friends looked at one another in surprise. But, a little way off, sat the red fox, with his ugly, clever face:

 

"That's the sort of people they are," he said. "When you ask them for something, they're not at home. But they never forget to call for thanks!"

1 smacked   

拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
• She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

2 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

4 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

5 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

6 blithe   

adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的

参考例句：

• Tonight,however,she was even in a blithe mood than usual.但是，今天晚上她比往常还要高兴。
• He showed a blithe indifference to her feelings.他显得毫不顾及她的感情。

7 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句