IX HAUGHTY HENRIETTA

 Feeling as important as she did, Henrietta Hen liked to have her own way. She said that she couldn't be expected to do just as others wished.

 

"I'll take orders from nobody," she often declared. "And if I lay eggs for Farmer Green I shall lay them when and where I please."

 

Henrietta took special delight in laying her eggs in out-of-the-way places. She was never content to lay two in the same nest.

 

"If they left them for me perhaps I'd feel differently," she explained to her neighbors. "But Johnnie Green gathers every egg that he can find. And if he takes my eggs I'll make him hunt for them, anyhow."

 

The older, more staid hens shook their heads when Henrietta talked like that. They told her she was ungrateful.

 

"Farmer Green gives you a snug¹ home and plenty of food," they reminded her. "And the least you can do is to repay² him. You ought not to make trouble by hiding your eggs."

 

But Henrietta Hen couldn't—or wouldn't—agree with them.

 

"It's all very well for you to talk," she retorted³. "If my eggs were undersized I shouldn't mind losing them as fast as I laid them. But I lay the biggest and finest eggs to be had. So it's only natural that I should like to have at least one around to look at—and to show to callers."

 

Now, there were plenty of other hens in the flock⁴ that laid eggs exactly as big—or even bigger—than Henrietta Hen's. Some of them told her as much. Yet it did them no good to talk to her. She wouldn't believe that there were any eggs in the world to compare with hers. So her neighbors learned⁵ after a while that they might as well let Henrietta Hen manage her affairs as she pleased. They couldn't help hoping, however, that somehow Farmer Green would find a way to outwit her.

 

"What can Henrietta Hen be so boastful about now?" the hens asked one another one day. "She acts as if she thought more highly⁶ of herself than ever."

 

They soon discovered the reason for Henrietta's unusually pompous⁷ manner. For she began to make calls on all her friends. And she invited everybody to come to her latest nest high up in the haymow.

 

"I've something there to show you," she said with an air of mystery. "You'll be surprised to see it."

 

Most of Henrietta's neighbors did not show any great curiosity⁸ to see the surprise. They smiled at one another. "She's laid another egg—that's all!" they whispered.

 

But there are always some that can't rest until they know everybody else's business. And it was lucky that Henrietta Hen hurried home to receive her callers, because she had a good many. They came even earlier in the afternoon than was strictly⁹ fashionable. And they came in a crowd, too. That, however, didn't bother Henrietta Hen. Nor could they have arrived too soon to suit her.

 

"Look!" she cried, when they reached[Pg 45] her nest high up in the haymow. "Did you ever see anything to beat that?"

1 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

2 repay   

v.偿还，报答，还钱给

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• I must repay her for her kindness.我必须报答她的恩惠。

3 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。

4 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

6 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

7 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。

8 curiosity   

n.好奇心，新奇的事物，珍品

参考例句：

• He gave in to curiosity and opened my letter.他抑制不住好奇心，拆开了我的信。
• The children are dying of curiosity to see what's in the parcel.孩子们出于好奇，迫不及待地想看看包裹中是什么东西。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。