CHAPTER VII LEARNING TO SKATE

 "Now we'll bait our hooks," said Mr. Blake, when he had put the lunch, which they had brought along, safely away in a sheltered place. "And after that we will have a little skate practice to get warmed up, for it is colder than I thought."

 

"But if we bait our hooks, and leave them in the water, won't the fish run away with our lines if we are not here to watch them?" asked Mab.

 

"We'll fix the lines so the fish that bite will ring a little bell, to tell us to come and take them off the hook!" replied Daddy Blake with a laugh.

 

"Oh, now I know you're fooling us!" said Hal.

 

"No, really I am not," replied his father, but Mr. Blake could not keep the funny twinkle out of his eyes, and Hal was sure there was some joke.

 

From a small satchel¹, in which he had put the things for fishing, Mr. Blake took several pieces of wire. On the ends were some bits of red cloth, and also, on each wire, a little brass² bell, that went "tinkle-tinkle."

 

"Oh, they are really bells!" cried Mab, as she heard them jingle³.

 

"Of course they are" said her father. "Now I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll bait our hook, and lower it into the water through a hole in the ice. Then, close to the hole, we'll fasten one of these pieces of wire each one of which has, on the upper end, a bell and a bit of red cloth.

 

"When the wires are stuck in the ice we'll fasten our lines to them, and then, when the fish, down in the cold water, pulls on the baited hook he will make the piece of red cloth flutter, and he will also ring the bell."

 

"Oh, now I see!" cried Hal. "And if we are off skating we can look over here, and if we see the red rag fluttering we'll know we have a bite, and can come and pull up the fish."

 

"That's it," said Daddy Blake, smiling.

 

"And if we don't happen to see the red rag fluttering, we will hear the bell ring," added Mab, clapping her hands. "How nice it is to fish this way!"

 

The hooks were soon baited, and lowered into the water through the holes in the ice Then the other end of each fish line was made fast to a wire sticking up, with its bit of red rag, and the little brass bell.

 

"Now we'll go skating," said Daddy Blake. "The fish themselves will tell us when they are caught. Come along."

 

Hal and Mab had, by this time, learned to put on their own skates, though of course Hal helped his sister with the straps⁴.

 

"You must begin to learn to skate by yourselves," said Daddy Blake, after he had held the hands of the children for a time. "Don't be afraid, strike out for yourselves."

 

"But s'pose we fall?" asked Mab.

 

"That won't hurt you very much," her father said. "Be careful, of course, not to double your legs up under you, and when you tumble don't hit your head on your own skates, or any one's else. But when you feel that you are going to fall, just let yourself go naturally. If you strain, and try not to fall, you may sprain⁵ and hurt yourself more than if you fall easily. Now strike out!"

 

Hal and Mab tried it. At first they were timid, and only took little strokes, but, after a while, they grew bolder, and did very well. They were really learning to skate.

 

"Oh, look!" suddenly cried Hal. "My red rag is bobbing; I must have a bite!"

 

He started in such a hurry toward the ice-hole where his line was set that he fell down. But he did not mind that, and was soon up again. However, Mab, who did not stumble, teached her line first.

 

"Oh dear! I haven't a bite!" she sighed, for her bell was not jingling⁶.

 

"But I have!" cried Hal, pulling his line in. "A big one, too!"

 

"I'll help you," said Daddy Blake, as he skated up to his little son, and when Daddy had felt of the tugging⁷ line he remarked:

 

"Yes, that is a large fish! Up he comes!" And he pulled up Hal's fish.

 

Just as the big, flopping⁸ pickerel was hauled out on the ice, Mab cried:

 

"My bell is tinkling⁹! My bell is tinkling! I've got a fish, too!" And indeed her piece of wire was moving to and fro where it was stuck up in the ice, and the bell was jingling merrily.

 

"Wait, Mab, I'll help you!" called Daddy Blake, and, leaving Hal to take care of his own fish, the children's papa went to pull in Mab's catch.

 

Her fish was not quite as large as was Hal's, but it was a very nice one. Then Mr. Blake called out:

 

"Oh ho! Now there's a bite on my line!"

 

His bell jingled¹⁰ quite loudly, and when the string was pulled up through the hole there was a fine, large pickerel on the hook. The fish were placed in a basket to be taken home, after having been mercifully put out of pain by a blow on the head. Then the hooks were baited again.

 

In a little while each one had caught another fish and then Daddy

Blake said:

"Now we have all the fish we can use, so there is no need of catching¹¹ any more. We will practice our skating a little longer, and then go home. For I am sure you children must be cold."

 

"Oh, but aren't we going to eat the lunch we brought, before we go home?" cried Hal.

 

"I was just wondering if you would think of that!" laughed Daddy Blake. "Yes, we will eat lunch as soon as we get a little warm by skating around, or by running."

1 satchel   

n.(皮或帆布的)书包

参考例句：

• The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门，把他的书包甩了进去。
• She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱，取出了她父亲的手套来。

2 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

3 jingle   

n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵

参考例句：

• The key fell on the ground with a jingle.钥匙叮当落地。
• The knives and forks set up their regular jingle.刀叉发出常有的叮当声。

4 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

5 sprain   

n.扭伤,扭筋

参考例句：

• He got a foot sprain in his ankle. 他脚踝受了严重的扭伤。
• The sprain made my ankle swell up. 我的脚踝扭伤肿了起来。

6 jingling   

叮当声

参考例句：

• A carriage went jingling by with some reclining figure in it. 一辆马车叮当驶过，车上斜倚着一个人。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Melanie did not seem to know, or care, that life was riding by with jingling spurs. 媚兰好像并不知道，或者不关心，生活正马刺丁当地一路驶过去了呢。

7 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

8 flopping   

n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我，你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

9 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

10 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。