7
　　On the way
　　With Bill, Mrs Mannering, Effans and Mrs Evans waving and calling goodbye, the party set off ontheir donkeys. They had to go up by Trefor the shepherd’s little cabin, and the donkeys pickedtheir way steadily¹ up the steep hillside.
　　Snowy ran beside them, bobbing about under the donkeys’ bodies as he pleased. They seemedto like him, and Dapple kept putting his head down to the kid whenever he came near. Kiki wasperched as usual on Jack²’s shoulder, jogging up and down contentedly³, snapping her beak⁴, andmaking a few quiet remarks into Jack’s ear.
　　They came to Trefor’s cabin. He was on the hillside, seeing to a sick sheep. He came to meetthem, his untidy hair blowing in the wind, and his eyes shining as blue as forget-me-nots.
　　There was a conversation between the two men in Welsh. David sounded rather complaining.
　　Trefor seemed to be pooh-poohing what he said. David got out a map that Bill had given him, andappeared to be saying that he didn’t understand it at all.
　　Trefor then spoke⁵ earnestly, pointing in this direction and that, poking⁶ David with his fingerevery time he wanted to make a point go home. The children thought he must be telling David theexact way to go.
　　‘I hope David really does know the way,’ said Jack. ‘He might have thought Bill would helphim with the map if Bill had been going. It looks to me as if he’s telling Trefor he’s not too certainof the way.’
　　‘Well, what does it matter?’ said Philip, pushing Snowy off with his hand as the kid tried tojump up on to his donkey with him. ‘I’d like to see the Vale of Butterflies – but so long as we gooff camping in those gorgeous mountains, that’s all that matters.’
　　‘Yes. We shall see heaps of birds and animals anyway,’ said Jack, feeling that Philip was right.
　　‘Come on, David! Let’s go!’
　　David leapt on to his donkey at once. He called goodbye to Trefor, and the little company set offonce more, taking a narrow path along the mountain-side that went neither very far up, nor veryfar down.

分享到：