XII A BAD BLUNDER

 When it was almost dark Grandaddy Beaver¹ swam across the pond to the big rock, where Ferdinand Frog had told him to come.

 

And trooping after Daddy was almost everybody in the village. Not counting the women and children, there were eleven of them. They climbed upon the rock, looking for Mr. Frog. But he was nowhere in sight.

 

"He'll be here in a minute or two, probably," Grandaddy Beaver said hopefully, for all he looked a bit anxious.

 

Then somebody spied a neat building near-by, which not one of them had noticed before.

 

"What's this strange house?" people asked one another. "Is this where Mr. Frog lives?"

 

But nobody seemed to know the answer to that question.

 

"It can't be a shop," Grandaddy decided², "for there's no sign on it. And nobody would have a shop without a sign."

 

Now, the door of the little building was shut and fastened. And the window-shades were pulled carefully down. It certainly looked as if nobody was at home.

 

But suddenly there came a sound that made the Beaver family jump. It came from the house—there was no doubt of that.

 

In fact it came right through the keyhole; and it was like nothing in the world but a sneeze.

 

A number of people were all ready to jump into the water and swim away, they were so startled³.

 

And then a snicker followed the sneeze. And by that time Grandaddy Beaver and his friends guessed who was inside the building. It was Ferdinand Frog; and he had been watching his callers all the time, through the keyhole, and listening to everything that they said.

 

A few felt slightly uneasy⁴, as they tried to remember exactly what remarks they had made about Mr. Frog himself.

 

"Come out!" they all cried, as soon as they had recovered from their surprise. "We want to see you!" And they formed a half-circle in the dooryard.

 

Presently the door swung out, as if somebody had pushed it open. And there, on the inside of the open door, which was flung⁵ back against the outside of the building, they all saw a sign, which said:

 

MR. FERDINAND FROG

UNFASHIONABLE TAILOR

ALL THE STYLES

FIVE YEARS AHEAD

OF THE TIMES

People began exclaiming that that was just like Ferdinand Frog—who was an odd fellow—to have his sign painted on the inside of his door instead of on the outside.

 

"It'll be all the style five years from now," he retorted⁶.

 

So that was Mr. Frog's secret! He was a tailor himself! And there he was, ready to make clothes for all of them!

 

It was almost too good to be true. But there he stood in the doorway⁷, with a tape around his neck, smiling and bowing.

 

"You'd better form in line!" he suggested. "You can come in through the front door. I'll measure you. And you can pass out the back way. . . . Don't crowd, please!"

 

Now, that was just where Mr. Frog made a great blunder⁸. But he didn't find it out till it was too late.

1 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 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。

3 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 uneasy   

adj.心神不安的，担心的，令人不安的

参考例句：

• He feels uneasy today.他今天心里感到不安。
• She had an uneasy feeling that they were still following her.她有一种他们仍在跟踪她的不安感觉。

5 flung   

（尤指生气地）扔( fling的过去式和过去分词 )； 猛动（身体或身体部位）； 粗暴地（向某人）说； 气势汹汹地（对某人）说

参考例句：

• expeditions to the far-flung corners of the world 去世界偏远地方的探险
• Someone had flung a brick through the window. 有人把一块砖扔进了窗户。

6 retorted   

反驳( retort的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She retorted upon me, saying I was to blame. 她反驳我，说我才应该受责备。
• She retorted upon him, saying he was to blame. 她反驳他，说他不好。

7 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

8 blunder   

n.错误；vi.跌跌撞撞地走，慌乱地走，犯错误

参考例句：

• I saw that I had been guilty of a careless blunder.我意识到自己因疏忽而酿成大错。
• He has made a terrible blunder.他铸成大错。