THE COUSINS 1

 The house-mouse went about quietly, minding her business.

 

She lived in the forester's house that lay just on the skirt of the forest, so that there were woods on one side and fields on the other. She had a comfortable home behind the wainscot in the forester's dining-room, right under the window. And the window looked out on the woods; and then down at the bottom of the wall there was a very tiny hole, which the house-mouse was just able to squeeze¹ through, so that she could slip into the woods and home again whenever she pleased.

 

In this way, the house-mouse had a very enjoyable time; and she had a good time also with regard to the people she lived with. True, the forester was a grumpy sort of man, who could not hear the word "mouse" mentioned without flying into a rage². But he was a very old man and the house was managed by his daughter. She never forgot the house-mouse; and this came of a meeting that once took place between the two. One morning, you must know, the young lady went to the sideboard to get out the sugar for her father's coffee. And there sat the mouse in the sugar-basin. She had forgotten the time and gone to sleep. And there she was!

 

Of course, she was terribly frightened; and it was worse still when the girl put out her hand over the sugar-basin, as if to catch her:

 

"So there you are, Mousie!" she said. "I thought it was you that was after my sugar! Apart from that, you're a nice little thing. But you needn't go shaking so terribly in your little grey shoes, for, I assure³ you, I have not the least intention of doing you any harm. Perhaps you have little children, who would starve if you didn't come home to them. So I'll let you go. But, on the other hand, it will never do for you to go stealing our sugar. So, when you get down to the floor, run straight to your hole. I don't know where it is, but, when I find out, I will put a piece of sugar on the floor outside it, every evening before I go to bed. And then I will look for the hole through which you got into the sideboard and stop it up; and then we shall be friends."

 

When she had made this speech, which was much handsomer than the speeches which mice are accustomed to hear from human beings, she put the terrified mouse down on the floor. The mouse at once scudded⁴ across the room and disappeared in her hole under the wainscoting.

 

"So that's where you live," said the forester's daughter. "That's all right. Now you will see I shall remember my promise."

 

In the evening she put a lump⁵ of sugar there and she did so every evening before she went to bed. And, every morning, the mouse had fetched the sugar. And, when, one day, she heard a squeaking⁶ behind the wainscot, she guessed that the little mouse had now got children; and, from that day, she put two lumps⁷ of sugar for her every evening.

 

The mouse, therefore, could not complain of the people she lived with and no more she did. Add to this that the only cat that the forester's house contained was an enormous⁸ old ginger⁹ tom who could no longer either see or hear. He had been there in the forester's wife's day. She was dead now. And, as she had been fond of him, he was allowed to live and eat the bread of charity in the forester's house, though he was no longer of the least use. And, as he could not tolerate¹⁰ other and younger cats, there was no other cat in the place, which of course was a great source of joy to the mouse, who often ran right under the old ginger tomcat's nose, without his noticing her.

1 squeeze   

vt.硬塞，硬挤；挤压；n.榨；经济困难；拮据

参考例句：

• This machine helps you to squeeze more juice out.这台机器能挤出更多的果汁。
• It was a tight squeeze in the crowded bus.公共汽车上载客太多，挤得很。

2 rage   

vi.(烈火)熊熊燃烧；发怒；怒斥；季风

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• Haines got into a rage.海恩斯勃然大怒。

3 assure   

vt.使确信；向…保证，使有保证

参考例句：

• The only ladder to assure success is to work hard.确保成功的惟一途径是刻苦努力。
• I assure you that she can be trusted to do the job.我担保她能做好这项工作。

4 scudded   

v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• White clouds scudded across the sky. 白云在天空疾驰而过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Clouds scudded across the sky driven by high winds. 劲风吹着飞云掠过天空。 来自辞典例句

5 lump   

n.块状，瘤，很多；v.使...成块状，混在一起，忍耐

参考例句：

• I thanked him with a lump in my throat.我哽咽着向他道谢。
• If you don't like it,you may lump it.你不喜欢，也得容忍一下。

6 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lumps   

n.金丝鸟病，块煤；块( lump的名词复数 )；肿块；傻大个；笨拙的人v.结成块( lump的第三人称单数 )；把…归并在一起（考虑），将人[物]同等对待[分类]

参考例句：

• This oatmeal lumps if you don't stir it well. 如果你不好好搅动，麦片粥会结块的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Break up these large lumps of dirt. 把这些大泥块弄碎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 enormous   

adj.巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• An enormous sum of money is injected each year into teaching.每年都有大量资金投入到教学中。
• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。

9 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

10 tolerate   

v.忍受，容忍，容许，宽恕；vt.容忍，忍受，容许

参考例句：

• She can tolerate that rude fellow.她能容忍那个粗鲁的家伙。
• The teacher cannot tolerate eating on the class.老师不容许在课堂上吃东西。