3. SOAP AND WATER.

 1. After a little more time had passed, Betty was taken out of the yard. They did not let her stay with her sisters and the other fowls¹ any longer, but she was placed in a large room by herself.

 

2. Here she was fed on all sorts of dainties. She had chestnuts², minced³ liver, new milk, and fresh lettuce⁴. Life was now a feast to Betty, but she found it rather dull.

 

3. "I would rather have one worm or a spider," said she, with a sigh. How she longed for a good scamper⁵ with her sisters! "I am sure that we should never squabble now," said the poor, lonely little thing.

 

4. But this time alone did not last long. One morning a worse thing was done to her. She was taken by the cook and plunged⁶ into a warm bath. It was not of the least use for her to kick and scream.[Pg 115]

 

5. The cook did not care. She rubbed Betty gently with a soaped flannel⁷, talking to her in a soothing⁸ way all the time, and then set her down before the fire to dry.

 

6. But Betty's fright was soon over, and she was not at all hurt, of course. Yet she might have caught her death of cold, and all this because of the show! that her feathers might look fine.

 

 

7. If the cook had let Betty alone to clean them, she would have done it better. The soap was bad for them, so was the water.

 

8. Betty felt very pleased when the cook went to call all the other servants. She wished them to admire the snowy whiteness of her feathers. "If she does[Pg 116] not win a first prize I will eat my head!" said the cook.

 

9. "You will have a fine big meal, then," said the housemaid, "and I should not wonder if you have not spoilt her feathers for ever by washing them. You never ought to have done it, and the poor thing may get ill."

 

10. But thanks to the care taken of her, Betty did not get ill, though the nasty soap made her feel sick; and the cook saw that she had made a mistake in washing Betty.

 

11. "All creatures can clean themselves," said the housemaid, "leastways all birds can, at any rate, and we do harm by meddling⁹."

 

12. "I think we ought to keep her under a wash-tub or in a basket until the day for the show," said the cook. "She will be sure to get dirty again in that barn."

 

13. When a nice new hen-coop was turned over her, Betty began to think about her mother. "What a horrid¹⁰ time she must have spent when we were little,[Pg 117] and she had to stay in a coop!" said the young hen to herself.

 

14. "And yet I think that I am even worse off than she was, for I have to stay here without any little chickens to amuse me, or to run under my wings."

 

Write: The young hen was washed. It was bad for her and made her feathers rough. She grew tired of being shut up though she was well fed.

 

Questions: 1. Where was Betty placed alone? 2. What did she say to herself about her food? 3. What did the cook do to her? 4. What did the housemaid tell her? 5. Where was Betty put next? 6. What did she think about in the coop?

1 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

2 chestnuts   

n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马

参考例句：

• A man in the street was selling bags of hot chestnuts. 街上有个男人在卖一包包热栗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Talk of chestnuts loosened the tongue of this inarticulate young man. 因为栗子，正苦无话可说的年青人，得到同情他的人了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 minced   

v.切碎( mince的过去式和过去分词 )；剁碎；绞碎；用绞肉机绞（食物，尤指肉）

参考例句：

• He minced over to serve us. 他迈着碎步过来招待我们。
• A young fop minced up to George and introduced himself. 一个花花公子扭扭捏捏地走到乔治面前并作了自我介绍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

5 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

8 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

9 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

10 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。