6 Off to the Vale of Butterflies

　　6
　　Off to the Vale of Butterflies
　　It happened the very next day. It was when Mrs Mannering had gone with Mrs Evans to the bigbarn. The door suddenly blew shut, and caught her hand in it, trapping it tightly.
　　Mrs Mannering screamed. Mrs Evans ran to open the door, but poor Mrs Mannering’s hand wasbadly bruised¹ and crushed.
　　Bill was very concerned. ‘I must take you down to the doctor,’ he said. ‘I’ll get the car. Whereare the children? Out on their donkeys? Tell them where we’ve gone, Mrs Evans, when they comeback. They needn’t worry. I’ll have Mrs Mannering’s hand seen to, and properly bandaged. I don’texpect it will be very much, but I’d like her to have it X-rayed in case any small bone is broken.’
　　Looking rather white, Mrs Mannering was driven off by Bill, down the steep mountain road tothe town that lay some way off in the next valley. It was about fifteen miles and soon MrsMannering was in hospital having her hand X-rayed and bound up.
　　The children were very upset when they heard what had happened. ‘Poor Mother!’ said Philip.
　　‘It must have hurt dreadfully when her hand got caught in that heavy door.’
　　‘Indeed to gootness, it did,’ said Mrs Evans, who looked quite upset too. ‘She gave one scream,poor soul, and then made not a sound, whateffer. Now don’t look so sadly – she’ll be backtonight.’
　　‘Will she be able to go off to the mountains tomorrow?’ asked Lucy-Ann. ‘How can she ridewith a bad hand?’
　　‘Well, there now, she can’t,’ said Mrs Evans. ‘But she can stay here with me and I’ll look afterher for you. You can go with Mr Cunningham and David.’
　　‘But will Bill go if Mother’s hurt?’ wondered Philip. ‘He thinks the world of her. Oh, blow! It’sbad luck for this to happen just when we had such a lovely plan. Poor Mother! I do hope herhand’s better now.’
　　Mrs Mannering arrived back in Bill’s car that evening, just before high tea. She looked better,and made light of her hand.
　　‘We’ve had it X-rayed,’ said Bill. ‘She’s broken a tiny bone just here,’ and he showed themwhere, on the back of his hand. ‘It’s got to be bandaged and kept at rest. I’m to take her down tohave it seen again in three days’ time.’
　　‘I’m so sorry, dears,’ said Mrs Mannering. ‘And Bill, you don’t need to take me down, youknow. I’m quite able to drive myself down even with an injured hand. Take the children on theirtrip tomorrow. I can’t bear to have them disappointed.’
　　‘What! And leave you like this!’ said Bill. ‘Don’t be silly, Allie. I shall take you down myself inthe car on Friday. The children can go with David, if he’ll take them on by himself. It’s a perfectlyordinary trip, and they’ll be back in a few days’ time. They can all ride their donkeys as easily asDavid – and probably they’ll enjoy a trip without us!’
　　‘We’d much rather you and Aunt Allie came,’ said Jack³. ‘But as you can’t, it’s decent of you tolet us go alone. We’ll be perfectly² all right, Bill. David knows the way, and we can all look afterourselves.’
　　So it was settled that the four children should go by themselves on the donkeys with their guideDavid, taking with them tents, bedding and food. Philip questioned Bill to make sure that hismother’s hand was not seriously hurt.
　　‘Oh, no – it will soon be right,’ said Bill. ‘But I want to be sure she doesn’t use it, and I want totake her down to the doctor in three days’ time. I’m sorry not to come with you – but you’ll be allright by yourselves. I don’t see that you can get into any trouble, or any startling adventure, goingdonkey-riding in the mountains with David. Maybe we can all go together, later on.’
　　The children were very excited that night, getting ready the things they wanted to take. Theyhad two small tents, a sleeping-bag each, two ground-sheets, cameras, field-glasses, a change ofclothes – and food.
　　The food was Mrs Evans’ care. Bill watched her packing up what she thought they would eat inthe next few days.
　　‘I didn’t like to stop her,’ he told the others. ‘But, honestly, she’s packed enough for a month.
　　She’s put in a whole ham!’
　　‘Golly!’ said Jack. ‘What else?’
　　‘A tongue or two, hard-boiled eggs, tins of all kinds, plum-cake and goodness knows what!’
　　said Philip. ‘We shall feast like kings.’
　　‘Well,’ began Lucy-Ann, ‘I always think that we eat twice as much in the open air, becausefood tastes so . . .’
　　‘Much nicer!’ chorused everyone. Lucy- Ann always said that at least a dozen times eachholidays. She laughed.
　　‘Well, anyway, it will be nice to have as much as ever we can eat. There’s David too – we’vegot to take food for him as well.’
　　‘He doesn’t look as if he’d eat much,’ said Dinah. ‘Skinny little fellow, he is!’
　　‘You’d better go to bed early, children,’ said Mrs Mannering a little later. ‘You’ll have a longride tomorrow, according to Effans.’
　　‘All right. It’ll make tomorrow come all the sooner!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘How’s your hand feel,Aunt Allie?’
　　‘It’s quite comfortable, thank you,’ said Mrs Mannering. ‘I’m sure I could have gone with youtomorrow, really!’
　　‘Well, you couldn’t,’ said Bill hastily, half afraid that Mrs Mannering would try to be foolishand go with the others after all. She laughed.
　　‘Don’t worry! I’m going to be sensible – and, dear me, it will be quite a change to be rid of fournoisy ruffians and an even noisier bird for a few days, Bill, won’t it?’
　　All the children were awake very early the next day. Snowy the kid, who was a real sleepy-headin the mornings, didn’t want to wake up at all, and snuggled deeper into Philip’s blankets as theboy tried to get out of bed.
　　Kiki took her head from under her wing and scratched her poll. ‘Dithery Slithery,’ sheremarked, which meant that she had spied Philip’s slow-worm. It was coiled up in a corner of theroom. It would very much have liked to sleep on Philip’s bed, but it was afraid of Snowy, who hada habit of nibbling⁴ anything near him.
　　The boys got up and looked out of the window. It was a really perfect day. The mountainstowered up into the fresh morning sky, as beautiful as ever.
　　‘They look as if someone had just been along and washed them,’ said Jack. ‘The sky lookswashed too – so very very clean and new.’
　　‘I like the feel of an early morning,’ said Philip, putting on his shorts. ‘It has a special new feelabout it – as if it was the first morning that ever happened!’
　　Snowy went over to the corner where Sally the slow-worm was, and the slow-worm at oncewriggled away under the chest of drawers. Philip picked her up and she slid gracefully⁵ into hispocket.
　　‘Have to get you a few flies for breakfast, Sally,’ said Philip. ‘Shut up, Kiki – you’ll wake therest of the household with that awful cough.’
　　Kiki could give a terrible, hollow cough at times, which she had copied from an old uncle ofJack’s, and she was practising it now. She stopped when Philip spoke⁶ to her, and hopped⁷ to Jack’sshoulder.
　　‘Funny bird, silly bird,’ said Jack affectionately, scratching her neck. ‘Come on, Philip – let’ssee if the girls are up.’
　　They were just getting up, both of them thrilled at the fine day and the idea of going camping inthe mountains. ‘Have you got that horrid⁸ slow-worm on you?’ asked Dinah fearfully, looking atPhilip.
　　‘Yes, somewhere about,’ said Philip, feeling all over him. ‘There’s one thing about SallySlithery – she does get about!’
　　Dinah shuddered⁹ and went to wash in the bathroom. Snowy the kid was there, nibbling the corkbath-mat, which he evidently thought was delicious.
　　‘Oh, Snowy! Mrs Evans won’t be at all pleased with you!’ said Dinah, and shooed the kid outof the door. He went to find Philip. He was quite one of the family now.
　　Mrs Mannering’s hand was stiff and sore that morning, but she said very little about it, notwanting to upset the children. She was glad it was such a lovely day for them, and watched withamusement as Mrs Evans carefully packed up all the food she had prepared for the children to takewith them.
　　‘If you eat all that you’ll never be able to ride home on the donkeys,’ she said. ‘You’ll be toofat.’
　　‘They must not go hungry,’ said kind Mrs Evans. ‘There! I think I have thought of everything.
　　Children, you must use one donkey for the food and the other for everything else, look you. I willsee that David straps¹⁰ everything on well.’
　　The children listened to her kind, lilting voice as they sat at breakfast. They felt very happy, andthe only thing that spoilt their pleasure was the fact that Bill and Mrs Mannering were not comingwith them. On the other hand, they would be freer without grown-ups!
　　Kiki gave a hiccup¹¹, with one eye on Mrs Mannering. She looked at the parrot severely¹². ‘Kiki!
　　You did that on purpose. Do you want your beak¹³ smacked¹⁴?’
　　‘Pardon,’ said Kiki, and went off into a cackle of laughter. Effans choked over his bacon, tryingto laugh with his mouth full, and went purple in the face. His bacon went down the wrong way,and he got the hiccups¹⁵ too.
　　‘Pardon, look you!’ he said to Mrs Mannering, with such a horrified¹⁶ look on his face thateveryone roared with laughter.
　　‘Now here is David, all ready for you!’ cried Mrs Evans from the door, where she had gone tochase away a turkey that had suddenly appeared. It made a gobbling noise that scared Snowyterribly. Kiki, of course, at once gobbled too, and the turkey looked into the kitchen in amazement¹⁷.
　　‘Shoo!’ said Mrs Evans. ‘Good morning, David, it’s early you are, and a nice day you havebrought with you!’
　　‘Indeed to gootness I have,’ said David and smiled timidly at the company in the big kitchen.
　　His donkeys crowded round him, sturdy and patient, their harness clinking and glinting.
　　‘Come on!’ yelled Jack, suddenly feeling too excited to sit at the table any longer. ‘Come on!
　　Let’s pack the things on the donkeys and go!’
　　They all rushed out. Soon David and Effans were strapping¹⁸ everything on two donkeys. Onedonkey had big panniers each side for food. The other had the things strapped¹⁹ across his broadlittle back. They stood perfectly still, their ears twitching²⁰ as a fly or two settled on them.
　　‘Well – are we ready to start?’ said Philip. ‘I think we’ve got everything. Oh, gosh, where aremy field-glasses?’
　　At last everyone and everything was ready. It had been explained to David that Bill and MrsMannering could not come, and Effans had said he would care for the two extra donkeys till thechildren came back. David did not seem too pleased to think he was to go alone with the children.
　　He looked rather alarmed, Bill thought. Poor fellow! Bill wished it was Effans who was going withthe children, not David. Still, the children were used to camping out and could be trusted to besensible.
　　‘Goodbye!’ called everyone. ‘See you in a few days’ time. Take care of your hand, Mother!
　　Now we’re off – off to the Vale of Butterflies! Goodbye, everyone!’

1 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

6 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。

7 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

8 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。

9 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

11 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

14 smacked   

拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
• She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

15 hiccups   

n.嗝( hiccup的名词复数 )；连续地打嗝；暂时性的小问题；短暂的停顿v.嗝( hiccup的第三人称单数 )；连续地打嗝；暂时性的小问题；短暂的停顿

参考例句：

• I cannot find a rhyme to "hiccups". 我不能找到和hiccups同韵的词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can we rhyme 'hiccups'with 'pick-ups'? 我们能把‘hiccups’同‘pick－ups’放在一起押韵吗？ 来自辞典例句

16 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

17 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

18 strapping   

adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• He's a strapping lad—already bigger than his father. 他是一个魁梧的小伙子——已经比他父亲高了。
• He was a tall strapping boy. 他是一个高大健壮的小伙子。

19 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》