12. THEIR OWN MOTHER.

 1. And where was Snowdrop to be found? At the pond, of course, swimming round and round with half-a-dozen other ducks and drakes as happy and careless as herself.

 

2. She swam towards the brink¹ when[Pg 147] she saw Betty coming. The ducklings waddled² as fast as they could lay their flat feet to the ground, as soon as they caught sight of the pond.

 

3. Betty could not keep up with them, for she had never quite lost a limp, after[Pg 148] having her toe bitten off. "See," she said to Snowdrop, as she hobbled up, "here are your children.

 

4. "Look at them well! How unlike they are to any ducklings you ever brought up yourself! There are no ducks in the whole yard that can compare with them. Just watch how well they behave."

 

5. "Quack³!" said Snowdrop. "It is all because of the pains I have taken," said Betty.

 

"Quack, quack!" said Snowdrop again.

 

6. "They have never been tempted⁴ to go into horrid⁵ cold water. They have never even seen a pond till now. What do you say to that?"

 

7. "Quack, quack, quack!" replied the snowy sailor, glancing her bright eye upon her little ones. The next moment the merry little ducks were sailing after her round the pond!

 

8. They dived head foremost, they grubbed for leeches⁶, they paddled with their flat feet as if they had done nothing else since they were out of the shell.

 

9. Poor Betty with outspread wings[Pg 149] danced round the pond crying at the top of her shrill⁷ voice, "Come back! come back! You will all be drowned."

 

10. But it was useless. The little ducks would obey her no longer. They went on swimming about after their own lily-white mother.

 

11. Snowdrop swam to the edge at last, and spoke⁸ thus to Betty. "I thank you for the good you meant to me and mine. But dry land will not give us your sharp toes to scratch with, any sooner than water will give you web-feet to swim with.

 

12. "All that you have taught my children on dry land, I shall be pleased to repay by teaching the next brood you have to swim and dive." At this the gander stretched out his throat and laughed.

 

13. "You should allow yourself more time to think," said old Dame⁹ Turkey, the wife of the turkey-cock, as she stood on one leg to listen.

 

14. "You are always in a hurry and a bustle¹⁰. Don't mind so much about the affairs of other people, and take things calmly, as I do. If you had been more[Pg 150] like me, you would not have made this mistake about the duck."

 

15. "We have not all the same habits,—the same nature," said Mistress Betty, softly. "And I see that it is of no use trying to make other folks' children like our own." Dame Turkey nodded her head in a very wise manner.

 

16. She must have been a very clever old dame, for she knew when to keep silent. As for Betty, she grew to be a very modest, useful hen, with no pride or conceit¹¹ about her.

 

17. At the present time, though she is getting old, she is still a worthy¹² fowl¹³. She lives at the same farm, and would divide her last worm with a chicken or a friend. But she has never tried to turn ducklings into chicks again.

 

Write: The little ducks saw the pond. They ran to it and went in. It was of no use for the hen to call them back. They went after their own mother-duck.

 

Questions: 1. Where was Snowdrop to be found? 2. What did the ducklings do when they saw the pond? 3. What did the guinea-hen call out? 4. What did Betty do? 5. What did Dame Turkey say? 6. What sort of hen did Betty become?

1 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

2 waddled   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

4 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

5 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。

6 leeches   

n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 )；蚂蟥；榨取他人脂膏者；医生

参考例句：

• The usurers are leeches;they have drained us dry. 高利贷者是吸血鬼，他们吸干了我们的血汗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does it run in the genes to live as leeches? 你们家是不是遗传的，都以欺压别人为生？ 来自电影对白

7 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

10 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

11 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

12 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

13 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。