Chapter 2 AWAY ON THEIR OWN

　　Chapter 2 AWAY ON THEIR OWN
　　They were all ready the next day. Everything was neatly¹ packed and strapped² to the bicycles, exceptfor the rucksacks, which each child was to carry on his or her back. The baskets held a variety offood for that day, but when it had been eaten Julian was to buy what they needed.
　　'I suppose all their brakes are in order?' said Uncle Quentin, thinking he ought to take some interest inthe proceedings³, and remembering that when he was a boy and had a bicycle, the brakes would neverwork.
　　'Oh Uncle Quentin - of course they're all right,' said Dick. 'We'd never dream of going out on ourbikes if the brakes and things weren't in order. The Highway Code is very strict about things like that,you know - and so are we!'
　　Uncle Quentin looked as if he had never even heard of the Highway Code. It was quite likely hehadn't. He lived in a world of his own, a world of theories and figures and diagrams - and he waseager to get back to it! However, he waited politely for the children to make last-minute adjustments,and then they were ready.
　　'Good-bye, Aunt Fanny! I'm afraid we shan't be able to write to you, as you won't be able to get intouch with us to let us know where you get fixed⁴ up. Never mind, enjoy yourselves,' said Julian.
　　'Good-bye, Mother! Don't worry about us - we'll be having a jolly good time!' called George.
　　'Good-bye, Aunt Fanny; good-bye, Uncle Quentin!'
　　'So long, Uncle! Aunt Fanny, we're off!'
　　6
　　And so they were, cycling down the lane that led away from Kirrin Cottage. Their aunt and unclestood at the gate, waving till the little party had disappeared round the corner in the sunshine.
　　Timmy was loping along beside George's bicycle, on his long, strong legs, overjoyed at the idea of areally good run.
　　'Well, we're off,' said Julian, as they rounded the corner. 'What a bit of luck, going off like this byourselves. Good old Uncle Quentin! I'm glad he made that muddle⁵.'
　　'Don't let's ride too many miles the first day - I always get so stiff if we do,' said Anne.
　　'We're not going to,' said Dick. 'Whenever you feel tired just say so - it doesn't matter where we stop!'
　　The morning was very warm. Soon the children began to feel wet with perspiration⁶. They hadsweaters on and they took them off, stuffing them in their baskets. George looked more like a boythan ever, with her short curly hair blown up by the wind. All of them wore shorts and thin jerseysexcept Julian, who had on jeans. He rolled up the sleeves of his jersey⁷, and the others did the same.
　　They covered mile after mile, enjoying the sun and the wind. Timmy galloped⁸ beside them, untiring,his long pink tongue hanging out. He ran on the grassy⁹ edge of the road when there was one. Hereally was a very sensible dog!
　　They stopped at a tiny village called Manlington-Tovey. It had only one general store, but it soldpractically everything - or seemed to! 'Hope it sells ginger-beer!' said Julian. 'My tongue's hangingout like Timmy's!'
　　The little shop sold lemonade, orangeade, lime juice, grape-fruit juice and ginger-beer. It was reallydifficult to choose which to have. It also sold ice-creams, and soon the children were sitting drinkingginger-beer and lime-juice mixed, and eating delicious ices.
　　'Timmy must have an ice,' said George. 'He does so love them. Don't you, Timmy?'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, and gulped¹⁰ his ice down in two big, gurgly licks.
　　'It's really a waste of ice-creams to give them to Timmy,' said Anne. 'He hardly has time to tastethem, he gobbles them so. No, Timmy, get down. I'm going to finish up every single bit of mine, andthere won't be even a lick for you!'
　　Timmy went off to drink from a bowl of water that the shopwoman had put down for him. He drankand he drank, then he flopped¹¹ down, panting.
　　7
　　The children took a bottle of ginger-beer each with them when they went off again. They meant tohave it with their lunch. Already they were beginning to think with pleasure of eating the sandwichesput up into neat packets for them.
　　Anne saw some cows pulling at the grass in a meadow as they passed. 'It must be awful to be a cowand eat nothing but tasteless grass,' she called to George. 'Think what a cow misses - never tastes anegg and lettuce¹² sandwich, never eats a chocolate eclair, never has a boiled egg - and can't even drinka glass of ginger-beer! Poor cows!'
　　George laughed. 'You do think of silly things, Anne,' she said. 'Now you've made me want my lunchall the more - talking about egg sandwiches and ginger-beer! I know Mother made us egg sandwiches- and sardine¹³ ones too.'
　　'It's no good,' chimed in Dick, leading the way into a little copse, his bicycle wobbling dangerously,'it's no good - we can't go another inch if you girls are going to jabber¹⁴ about food all the time. Julian,what about lunch?'
　　It was a lovely picnic, that first one in the copse. There were clumps¹⁵ of primroses¹⁶ all round, and fromsomewhere nearby came the sweet scent¹⁸ of hidden violets. A thrush was singing madly on a hazeltree, with two chaffinches calling 'pink-pink' every time he stopped.
　　'Band and decorations laid on,' said Julian, waving his hand towards the singing birds and theprimroses. 'Very nice too. We just want a waiter to come and present us with a menu!'
　　A rabbit lolloped near, its big ears standing¹⁹ straight up inquiringly. 'Ah - the waiter!' said Julian, atonce. 'What have you to offer us today, Bunny? A nice rabbit-pie?'
　　The rabbit scampered²⁰ off at top speed. It had caught the smell of Timmy nearby and was panic-stricken. The children laughed, because it seemed as if it was the mention of rabbit-pie that had sent itaway. Timmy stared at the disappearing rabbit, but made no move to go after it.
　　'Well, Timmy! That's the first time you've ever let a rabbit go off on its own,' said Dick. 'You must behot and tired. Got anything for him to eat, George?'
　　'Of course,' said George. 'I made his sandwiches myself.'
　　And so she had! She had bought sausage meat at the butchers and had actually made Timmy twelvesandwiches with it, all neatly cut and packed.
　　The others laughed. George never minded taking trouble over Timmy. He wolfed his sandwicheseagerly, and thumped²¹ his tail hard on the mossy ground. They all sat and munched²³ happily, perfectlycontented to be together out in the open air, eating a wonderful lunch.
　　8
　　Anne gave a scream. 'George! Look what you're doing! You're eating one of Timmy's sandwiches!'
　　'Urhh!' said George. 'I thought it tasted a bit strong. I must have given Timmy one of mine and takenhis instead. Sorry, Tim!'
　　'Woof,' said Tim politely, and accepted another of his sandwiches.
　　'At the rate he eats them he wouldn't really notice if he had twenty or fifty,' remarked Julian.
　　'He's had all his now, hasn't he? Well, look out, everybody - he'll be after ours. Aha - the band hasstruck up again!'
　　Everyone listened to the thrush. 'Mind how you go,' sang the thrush. 'Mind how you go! Mind howyou do-it, do-it, do-it!'
　　'Sounds like a Safety First poster,' said Dick, and settled down with his head on a cushion of moss²².
　　'All right, old bird - we'll mind how we go - but we're going to have a bit of a snooze now, so don'tplay the band too loudly!'
　　'It would be a good idea to have a bit of a rest,' said Julian, yawning. 'We've done pretty well, so far.
　　We don't want to tire ourselves out the very first day. Get off my legs, Timmy - you're frightfullyheavy with all those sandwiches inside you.'
　　Timmy removed himself. He went to George and flumped himself down beside her, licking her face.
　　She pushed him away.
　　'Don't be so licky,' she said, sleepily, 'just be on guard like a good dog, and see that nobody comesalong and steals our bikes.'
　　Timmy knew what 'on guard' meant, of course. He sat up straight when he heard the words, andlooked carefully all round, sniffing²⁴ as he did so. Anyone about? No. Not a sight, sound or smell ofany stranger. Timmy lay down again, one ear cocked, and one eye very slightly open. George alwaysthought it was marvellous the way he could be asleep with one ear and eye and awake with theothers. She was about to say this to Dick and Julian when she saw that they were sound asleep.
　　She fell asleep too. Nobody came to disturb them. A small robin²⁵ hopped²⁶ near inquisitively²⁷, and, withhis head on one side, considered whether or not it would be a good thing to pull a few hairs out ofTimmy's tail to line his new nest. The slit²⁸ in Timmy's awake-eye widened a little - woe²⁹ betide therobin if he tried any funny tricks on Timmy!
　　9
　　The robin flew off. The thrush sang a little more, and the rabbit came out again. Timmy's eye openedwide. The rabbit fled. Timmy gave a tiny snore. Was he awake or was he asleep? The rabbit wasn'tgoing to wait and find out!
　　It was half past three when they all awoke one by one. Julian looked at his watch. 'It's almostteatime!' he said, and Anne gave a little squeal³⁰.
　　'Oh no - why we've only just had lunch, and I'm still as full as can be!'
　　Julian grinned. 'It's all right. We'll go by our tummies for our meals, not by our watches, Anne.
　　Come on, get up! We'll go without you if you don't.'
　　They wheeled their bicycles out of the primrose¹⁷ copse and mounted again. The breeze was lovely tofeel on their faces. Anne gave a little groan³¹.
　　'Oh dear - I feel a bit stiff already. Do you mean to go very many miles more, Ju?'
　　'No, not many,' said Julian. 'I thought we'd have tea somewhere when we feel like it - and then do abit of shopping for our supper and breakfast - and then hunt about for a really good place to put upour tents for the night. I found a little lake on the map, and I thought we could have a swim in it if wecan find it.'
　　This all sounded very good indeed. George felt she could cycle for miles if a swim in a lake was atthe end of it.
　　'That's a very nice plan of yours,' she said, approvingly. 'Very nice indeed. I think our whole tourought to be planned round lakes - so that we can always have a swim, night and morning!'
　　'Woof,' said Timmy, running beside George's bicycle. 'Woof!'
　　'Timmy agrees too,' said George, with a laugh. 'But oh dear - I don't believe he brought his bathing-towel!'

1 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

2 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》

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

6 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

9 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

10 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 sardine   

n.[C]沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• Every bus arrives and leaves packed as fully as a sardine tin.每辆开来和开走的公共汽车都塞得像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤。
• As we chatted,a brightly painted sardine boat dropped anchor.我们正在聊着，只见一条颜色鲜艳的捕捞沙丁鱼的船抛了锚。

14 jabber   

v.快而不清楚地说；n.吱吱喳喳

参考例句：

• Listen to the jabber of those monkeys.听那些猴子在吱吱喳喳地叫。
• He began to protes,to jabber of his right of entry.他开始抗议，唠叨不休地说他有进来的权力。

15 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 primroses   

n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 )；淡黄色；追求享乐（招至恶果）

参考例句：

• Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The primroses were bollming; spring was in evidence. 迎春花开了，春天显然已经到了。 来自互联网

17 primrose   

n.樱草，最佳部分，

参考例句：

• She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
• The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。

18 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

19 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

20 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

22 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

23 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

24 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

26 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。

27 inquisitively   

过分好奇地； 好问地

参考例句：

• The Mouse looked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little eyes, but It'said nothing. 这老鼠狐疑地看着她，好像还把一只小眼睛向她眨了眨，但没说话。
• The mouse looked at her rather inquisitively. 那只耗子用疑问的眼光看看她。

28 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

29 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

30 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

31 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。