THE SPIDER 6

 The mouse was astir early next morning:

 

“Have you seen nothing of the young couple?” she asked.

 

“No,” said the parsley.

 

“They’re asleep,” said the goat’s-foot.

 

“Ah!” said the mouse. “What a good thing that we got her married at last. Now you’ll see how sweet and amiable¹ she will become. There is no end to the wonders that love can work. And when the children come!...”

 

“Do you think she’ll sing then?” asked the goat’s-foot.

 

“I shall hope for the best,” said the mouse. “She does not look as if she had a voice, but, as I said—love! Now you’ll just see, when she comes, what a radiance there will be about her. I half doubt if we shall know her when we see her.”

 

And the mouse laughed and the parsley and the goat’s-foot laughed and the sun rose and laughed with the rest.

 

Then the spider came crawling from under her leafy hiding-place.

 

“Good luck! Good luck!” squeaked² the mouse.

 

“Good luck! Good luck!” said the parsley and the goat’s-foot.

 

The spider stretched herself and yawned. Then she went off and sat in her web, as though nothing had happened.

 

“Where’s the husband?” asked the mouse. “Won’t he get out of bed?”

 

“I’ve eaten him this morning,” replied the spider.

 

The mouse gave a scream that was heard all over the hedge. The parsley and the goat’s-foot trembled so that all their flowers fell off. The twigs³ snapped as though a storm were raging.

 

“He looked so stupid and ugly as he sat there beside me,” said the spider; “so I ate him. He could have staid away!”

 

“Heaven preserve us all!” screamed the mouse. “To eat one’s own, lawful⁴ husband!”

 

“Oh dear, oh dear!” said the goat’s-foot and the parsley.

 

“Stuff!” said the spider.

 

1 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

2 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。