VII THE SINGING-PARTY

 Ferdinand Frog lost no time, after Tired Tim left him. He jumped into the swamp and made straight towards the very middle of it, whence he could already hear the chorus of the numerous Frog family; for the singing-party had begun.

 

Mr. Frog made all haste, not wishing to miss any more of the fun. Now swimming, now leaping from one hummock¹ to another—or sometimes to an old stump—he quickly reached the place where the Frog family were enjoying themselves.

 

"Here he is!" several of the singers exclaimed as soon as Ferdinand Frog's head popped out of the water, in their midst.

 

He saw at once that they had been expecting him; and he smiled and bowed—and waited for the company to stop singing and give him a warm greeting with their cold, damp hands. But except for those first few words, no one paid the slightest attention to the newcomer.

 

In fact, nobody even took the trouble to nod to Ferdinand Frog—much less to shake hands with him and tell him that he was welcome.

 

Meanwhile one song followed another with hardly a pause between them. And Mr. Frog found that he did not know the words of even one.

 

He was so impatient that at last he climbed upon an old fallen tree-trunk, which stuck out of the greenish-black water, and began to roar his favorite song, while he beat time for the other singers. The name of that song was "A Frog on a Log in a Bog"; and Ferdinand Frog thought that he couldn't have chosen another so fitting.

 

But the rest of the singing-party had other ideas. They turned about and scowled² at Mr. Frog as if he had done something most unpleasant.

 

"Stop! Stop!" several of them cried. And an important-looking fellow near him shouted, "Don't sing that, for pity's sake!"

 

"Why not?" Ferdinand Frog faltered³. "What's the matter with my song? It's my special favorite, which I sing at least fifty times each night, regularly."

 

"It's old stuff," the other told him with a sneer⁴. "We haven't sung that for a year, at least."

 

Ferdinand Frog did not try to argue with him. But as soon as he saw another chance he began a different ditty.

 

Then a loud groan⁵ arose. And somebody stopped him again. And Mr. Frog soon learned that they hadn't sung that one for a year and a half.

 

Though he tried again and again, he had no better luck. But he kept smiling bravely. And finally he asked the company in a loud voice if he "wasn't going to have a chance."

 

"Certainly!" a number of the singers assured him. "Your chance is coming later. We shan't forget you."

 

And that made Ferdinand Frog feel better. He told himself that he could wait patiently for a time—if it wasn't too long.[4

1 hummock   

n.小丘

参考例句：

• He crawled up a small hummock and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。
• The two young men advanced cautiously towards the hummock.两个年轻人小心翼翼地向小丘前进。

2 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

3 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

4 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

5 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。