XV HENRIETTA'S FRIGHT

 When the old horse Ebenezer stood in his stall in the barn he was always glad to talk with anybody that came along.

 

Henrietta Hen sometimes strolled into the horse-barn to see if she could find a little grain that had spilled on the floor. So it came about that she and Ebenezer had many a chat together. Henrietta had no great opinion of horses. She thought that they had altogether more than their share of grain.

 

But she was willing to pass the time of day with Ebenezer, because he let her walk right into his stall and pick up tidbits[Pg 71] that had dropped upon the floor beneath his manger.

 

It was on such an occasion, on a summer's day, that he said to her with a sigh, "Haying's going to begin to-morrow."

 

Henrietta Hen remarked that she wasn't at all interested in the news. "And I don't see why you should sigh," she added. "Goodness knows you'll eat your share of the hay—and probably more—before the winter's over."

 

"It's the work that I'm thinking of," Ebenezer explained. "They'll hitch¹ me to the hayrake and Johnnie Green will drive me all day long in the hot hayfields. I always hate to hear the clatter² of the mowing³ machine," he groaned⁴. "It means that the hayrake will come out of the shed next."

 

Henrietta Hen caught her breath.

 

"The mowing machine!" she gasped⁵. "Is Farmer Green going to use the mowing machine now?"

 

"Certainly!" said Ebenezer. "I hear he's going to harness the bays to it to-morrow morning."

 

"My! my!" Henrietta wailed⁶. "Isn't there any way I can stop him from doing that?"

 

"I don't know of any," Ebenezer told her. "I've often felt just as you do about it. There's nobody that dreads⁷ hearing the mowing machine more than I do."

 

"You can't feel the way I do," Henrietta declared.

 

"On the contrary," the old horse insisted, "I don't see how it can matter to you in the least. You don't have to pull the mowing machine nor the hayrake. Besides, didn't you just tell me that my news about haying didn't interest you?"

 

"But it does!" Henrietta cried. "I was mistaken. It means everything to me. It's the worst news I ever heard in all my life."

 

Old Ebenezer looked down at her with mild astonishment⁸ on his long, honest face.

 

"Why is it bad news?" he inquired. "If you'll tell me, perhaps I can help you."

 

So Henrietta Hen explained her difficulty. Whatever it was, it amazed Ebenezer. And he had to admit that he could think of no way out of the trouble.

 

"It was very, very careless of you," he told Henrietta. Then suddenly he had a happy thought. "Cheer up!" he cried. "If Farmer Green sits on them, maybe they'll hatch."

 

"Hatch!" she groaned. "They'll break!"

 

And she ran out of the stall and hurried into the yard.

 

She was just in time to hear Farmer Green calling to his son Johnnie.

 

"Look here!" said he. "I started to oil the mowing machine so I could use it to-morrow; and just see what I found in the seat!"

 

Johnnie Green came a-running. And there in the seat of the mowing machine, nestling in the hay which had been put there for a cushion the summer before, three eggs greeted Johnnie's eyes.

 

"They must belong to the speckled hen," Johnnie decided⁹. "I knew she'd stolen her nest again. I couldn't find it anywhere." He picked up the eggs and put them in his hat. "She's a sly one," he said.

 

That remark made Henrietta Hen somewhat angry. At the same time she was glad that Farmer Green had discovered the eggs before it was too late. She[Pg 75] wouldn't have liked him to sit on them.

 

It always upset her to see her eggs broken.

1 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

2 clatter   

v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声

参考例句：

• The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
• Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。

3 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

4 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

7 dreads   

n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The little boy dreads going to bed in the dark. 这孩子不敢在黑暗中睡觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A burnt child dreads the fire. [谚]烧伤过的孩子怕火（惊弓之鸟，格外胆小）。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

9 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。