X THE NUTTING PARTY

 For a long time Jasper Jay had been waiting for something. It was fall; and he impatiently watched the tree-tops on the side of Blue Mountain change from their quiet summer green to hues¹ of flaming gold and red. Though they were beautiful, to tell the truth Jasper did not in the least care what color a tree was. So long as it bore nuts, he was satisfied. And to him the turning leaves meant only that the autumn was lengthening—and the nuts were growing ripe.

 

That was what Jasper Jay was waiting for. And as soon as the frosts came and burst open the prickly pods that covered the beechnuts he intended to lead the first nutting party of the season to the place where the beeches³ grew.

 

Now, going a-nutting with a crowd is much more fun than gathering⁴ nuts alone. And Jasper usually preferred a nutting party of a dozen blue jays. Then he always had twelve times as much fun as he could have just by himself—because there was twelve times the noise.

 

So on the very first day that the nuts were ready to be eaten Jasper Jay asked eleven friends to join him. As it happened, Jasper found a company of twelve waiting for him at the appointed time on the edge of the woods. Somehow, Noisy Jake (whom Jasper hadn't invited) had heard of the party. And he invited himself.

 

Jasper was not at all pleased when he found that Noisy Jake intended to go a-nutting too. He had not yet forgiven that boisterous⁵ rowdy for not having warned him, when Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk⁶ was sailing about over Farmer Green's barnyard, and Jasper had to seek safety in the chicken house.

 

Jasper gave Jake a cool nod and turned his back on him. But it would have taken a great deal more than that to hurt Noisy Jake's feelings. Indeed, he was so impudent⁷ that he immediately imitated Mr. Hawk's cry, "Kee-you! kee-you!"

 

It gave Jasper a great start to hear that screech⁸ behind his back. He jumped into the air and alighted with his face toward Noisy Jake, having turned around while his feet were off the ground.

 

Jake was laughing loudly at his own joke, while all the rest—except Jasper—squalled with delight.

 

 

Jasper Jay thought for a moment that he would have to fight Jake on the spot. But he was in such a hurry to get to the place where the beeches grew that he decided⁹ to pay no more attention to the rude fellow.

 

"Come on!" Jasper cried. "Follow me!" And he made for the beech² grove¹⁰ at top speed, with the nutting party following close behind him.

 

There was a great squawking and screaming and whistling as the nutting party flew into the tops of the beech trees and the nuts began rattling¹¹ down upon the ground.

 

But their fun did not last long. Another nutting party, led by Johnnie Green, arrived at the grove soon after them; and, of course, that put an end to their sport. They knew that boys not only whistled but threw stones as well.

 

It was most disappointing. And Jasper and his friends were feeling quite peevish¹² when Noisy Jake suddenly cried:

 

"Let's go over to the oak woods! There are plenty of acorns¹³ there; and we can have lots of fun!"

 

All the crowd—except Jasper Jay—shouted something that sounded like "Hurrah¹⁴!" And before Jasper knew what was happening everybody had started for the oak woods. This time it was Noisy Jake that led the nutting party. And all Jasper could do was to follow with the others.

 

He was no longer the leader. And he was very, very angry. It had been his party, in the first place. And there was Noisy Jake, whom he had not even invited to it, acting¹⁵ as if he were the one who should say what should—or shouldn't—be done.

 

 

Jasper could see Jake talking with some of the others. And he couldn't help feeling that they were talking about him. Jake laughed loudly now and then; and although he was flying fast, he looked around occasionally, to make sure that the party was following him. Seeing that Jasper was the last of the procession, Jake shouted to him that he had better hurry, if he didn't want to be left behind.

 

And that made Jasper Jay more indignant than ever.

 

1 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。

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 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

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

6 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

7 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

8 screech   

n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。
• The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

11 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

12 peevish   

adj.易怒的，坏脾气的

参考例句：

• A peevish child is unhappy and makes others unhappy.一个脾气暴躁的孩子自己不高兴也使别人不高兴。
• She glared down at me with a peevish expression on her face.她低头瞪着我，一脸怒气。

13 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。