II A BLOW FOR THE BULLY

 Jasper Jay had some queer notions in his head. One of them was that a person couldn't be happy unless he was making a great deal of noise. And if there was anything that roused Jasper's wrath¹, it was the sight of some quiet, modest little neighbor who minded his own affairs and had little to say.

 

There was one such chap who made his home in a wild grapevine that grew upon the stone wall in front of the farmhouse². His name was Mr. Chippy; and he was never known to do anybody the least bit of harm. On the contrary, he was quitep. 7 helpful to Farmer Green's wife, for he went to the farmhouse almost every day and cleared the crumbs³ off the kitchen doorstep.

 

But Jasper Jay complained that Mr. Chippy was altogether too humble⁴.

 

"He never says anything except 'Chip, chip, chip, chip,'" Jasper often remarked. "And his voice is so high and thin that anybody would think he was a little old lady, to hear him. He's too quiet to get on in the world. And as for a good time, I don't believe he ever had one in all his life."

 

Jasper said a good many other unpleasant things about mild Mr. Chippy. And one day when the saucy⁵ rascal⁶ had nothing better to do he flew over to the stone wall just to talk to Mr. Chippy and tell him what he thought of him.

 

"Hi there, red-head!" Jasper Jayp. 8 shouted. "Come out here on the wall! I want to see you."

 

Mr. Chippy thrust his chestnut⁷ crowned head through the leaves of the wild grapevine. And one could hardly say that he looked pleased. Like most people, he was not overjoyed by Jasper Jay's visits. But he crept on top of the stone wall and chipped a how-dy-do to his caller.

 

"That's no way to greet anybody!" cried Jasper Jay, rudely. "If you want to make a person feel that he is welcome you ought to speak up good and loud—and slap him on the back. And you must look happy, too."

 

Little Mr. Chippy smiled faintly.

 

But Jasper Jay was not satisfied.

 

"You don't look happy!" he scoffed⁸. "You appear as if you had a pain somewhere.... Come, now! Let me hear you give a hearty⁹ laugh!"

 

 

If Mr. Chippy had known that his caller was going to be so rude he would have stayed hidden in the wild grapevine. And now he wished that Jasper would go away and leave him in peace. As for laughing, he saw nothing at all to laugh at.

 

"You'd better do as I tell you!" Jasper Jay warned him. And he raised his crest¹⁰ and stamped angrily upon the stone wall. "You're altogether too quiet. I want you to laugh loud.

 

"You're going to be happy, if I have to break every bone in your body," Jasper added.

 

Naturally, that threat did not help little Mr. Chippy to laugh. Instead, he looked quite worried. He knew that Jasper Jay was a bully¹¹. And there was no telling what he might do to anyone so small as Mr. Chippy was. So he tried his best to please Jasper. But he was so upp. 10set that he could manage only a feeble "Chip, chip, chip, chip!"

 

"That'll never do," Jasper told him.

 

"Maybe this will, then," said Mr. Chippy, quietly. And darting¹² at Jasper Jay, he knocked him off the stone wall before Jasper knew what was happening.

 

Jasper Jay was furious. He scrambled¹³ quickly back upon the wall. But Mr. Chippy had vanished. He had dived under the cover of the grapevine and hid in a chink between the stones, where Jasper could not find him.

 

"I declare—" said Jasper Jay at last—"I declare, he's got away from me!" And so Jasper went off, shaking his head. He had never supposed that mild Mr. Chippy would dare do anything so bold as to knock anybody off a stone wall.

 

It is plain that Jasper Jay had never learned that one can be brave withoutp. 11 boasting. And as he flew off across the road toward the river, Jasper thought he heard a peculiar¹⁴ noise from the depths of the wild grapevine.

 

It was only Mr. Chippy, chuckling¹⁵ to himself. For Jasper had made him quite happy, after all—though not exactly in the way that the blue-coated bully had intended.

 

1 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

2 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

3 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

4 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

5 saucy   

adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的

参考例句：

• He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。
• It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲，真是无礼。

6 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

7 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

8 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

9 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

10 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

11 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

12 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

13 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

15 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子