小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » Dickory Dock » CHAPTER I.
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER I.
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 Of course there was a baby in the case—a baby and mongrel dog, and a little boy and girl.  They baby was small, and not particularly fair, but it had round limbs and a dimple or two, and a soft, half-pathetic, half-doggy look in its blue eyes, and the usual knack1, which most helpless little babies have, of twining itself round the hearts of those who took care of it.
 
The caretakers of this baby were the two children and the dog.  Of course p. 6a woman, who went by the name of nurse, did duty somewhere in the background; she washed the baby and dressed it in the morning, and she undressed it at night, and she prepared food for it; but the caretakers who called up smiles to the little white face, who caused the baby to show that enticing2 little dimple which it had in one of its cheeks, who made that strange, sweet, half-pathetic, half-humorous look come into its eyes, were the children and the dog.  The baby had a sad history; it had entered the world with sorrow.  Its mother had died at its birth, and the little wee orphan3 creature had been brought away almost directly to an uncle’s house.
 
‘We must do it, wife,’ said Mr Franklin; ‘there’s poor John died two months back, and now there’s his widow following him, poor creature, and no one to look p. 7after that wee mite4 of a babe.  We must have it here, it’s our plain duty, and I don’t suppose one extra mouth to feed can make much difference.’
 
‘That’s all you men know,’ replied Mrs Franklin, who was a very tall, thin, fretful-looking woman.  ‘No difference indeed!  A baby make no difference!  And who’s to tend on the lodgers5, and bring in the grist to the mill, if all my time, day and night, is taken up minding the baby!’
 
‘Well, well,’ said Mr Franklin.  He was as peaceable as his wife was the reverse.  He did not want the baby, but neither did he wish to send poor John’s child to the workhouse.
 
‘You must make the best of it, wife,’ he said.  ‘Martha’ll help you, and I daresay Peter and Flossy will take a turn in looking after the young ’un.’
 
Mrs Franklin said no more; she went up-stairs, and got a certain disused attic6 p. 8into some sort of order.  The attic was far away from the rest of the house; it was the top story of a wing, which had been added on to the tall, ramshackle old house.  In some of the rooms underneath7, the Franklin family themselves slept; in others they lived, and in others they cooked.  The rest of the house, therefore, was free for the accommodation of lodgers.
 
Mrs Franklin earned the family bread by taking in lodgers.  She was far more active than her husband, who had a very small clerkship in the city; without her aid the children, Peter and Flossy, could scarcely have lived, but by dint8 of toiling9 from morning to night, of saving every penny, of turning and re-turning worn-out clothes, and scrubbing and cooking and brushing and cleaning, Mrs Franklin contrived10 to make two ends meet.  Her lodgers said that the rooms they occupied were clean and neat, that their food was p. 9well cooked, and above all things that the house was quiet.  Therefore they stayed on; year after year the same people lived in the parlours, and occupied the genteel drawing-room floor; and hard as her lot was, Mrs Franklin considered herself a lucky woman, and her neighbours often envied her.
 
The house where the Franklins lived was in one of those remote old-world half-forgotten squares which are to be found at the back of Bloomsbury.  In their day these squares had seen fashion and life, but the gay world had long, long ago passed them by and forgotten them, and in consequence, although the houses were large and commodious11, the rents were low.
 
Things had gone fairly well with the Franklins since they took the old house—that is, things had gone fairly well until the arrival of the baby—but, as Mrs Franklin said to her husband, no p. 10baby could come into any house without making a sight of difference.  She had only two servants to help her in all her heavy work, and how could either she or they devote much time to nursing and tending a little new-born child?
 
The baby, however, arrived.  It was sent up at once to the nursery which was hastily prepared for it.  Flossy, aged12 six, and Peter, who was between eight and nine, followed it up-stairs, and watched it with profound and breathless interest, while Martha, the most trustworthy of the servants, undressed it, and fed it, and put it to sleep.
 
‘It’s a perfect duck,’ said Flossy.  ‘Look at its wee little face, and isn’t its skin soft!  Might we kiss it, Martha?  Would it break it, or anything, if we was to kiss it very soft and tender like?’
 
‘It ain’t a doll, child,’ said Martha.  ‘It won’t break with you loving of it.  p. 11Kiss it, Flossy—babes is meant for kissing of.’
 
The children bent14 down, and printed a tender salute15 on the wee baby’s face, and that night they scarcely slept themselves for fear of disturbing it.
 
‘I hope we’ll be allowed to take care of the wee baby,’ whispered Flossy to her brother.  ‘I think we could do it werry nice; don’t you, Peter?’
 
‘Yes,’ replied Peter.  ‘It would be something to amuse us; it’s rather dull, you know, always having to keep quiet on account of the lodgers.’
 
Peter and Flossy soon found they were to have their wish.  Martha could only spare a very short time to attending to the baby’s wants, and the poor little mite would have had a very unhappy and neglected life but for the children.
 
As it happened, however, the wee white baby had not a dull life of it at p. 12all; when its teeth were not troubling it, and when it was not very hungry, it had quite a merry time.  It was devoted16 to the children, and even when it was sending forth17 its wail18 for more food and some real mother’s love, it would stop crying and give a clear hearty19 little laugh if Flossy shook her head of tangled20 red-brown hair in front of it, or if Snip21-snap, the mongrel terrier, stood on his hind-legs and begged to it.
 
Peter and Flossy had been rather troublesome children before the arrival of the baby.  Mrs Franklin’s lodgers were fond of calling them ‘little termagants,’ and liked exceedingly to hint to the mother that if the termagants did not make themselves scarce they would be obliged to seek other quarters.  Poor Mrs Franklin was always extremely frightened when these things were said, for she knew the rent, and to a certain p. 13extent the daily bread of the children, depended on the lodgers.  When she learned that the baby must inevitably22 come to them, she laid one very solemn command upon her household.
 
‘On no account whatever let out to Mrs Sinclair, and Mrs Potts, and Mr Martin that there is a baby in the house.  If you do, go they will, and nothing that I can possibly say will keep them.  I’m terribly frightened to think how the baby’s existence can be kept from them, but if they know it, most certainly go they will.’
 
‘Mother,’ said Flossy, who was rather afraid of her mother, and did not often put a direct question to her, ‘if the baby stays up in the old, old attic-nursery, and if Pete and me and Snip can play with it and it never cries, then Mrs Potts and Mr Martin needn’t know nothing about it, need they, mother?’
 
p. 14‘If it never cries, Flossy, they need not know about it,’ answered Mrs Franklin; ‘but whoever yet heard of a baby not crying?  Of course it will cry all day and all night.  I know it will be the ruin of us, and I think it was very unkind of your father to allow it to be brought here.’
 
‘But suppose, mother, Pete and I play with the baby, and we make it so happy that it doesn’t cry?’ answered little Flossy.
 
Mrs Franklin gave a short sniff23, and said in decidedly an unbelieving voice, ‘You may try your best, my dear, of course.’
 
Then Flossy looked at Peter, and Peter looked back at her, and they called Snip-snap and went out of the room.
 
This was the way in which the baby became the children’s special care; she was immediately thrown upon their p. 15tender mercies, they considered themselves answerable for her good behaviour, and Flossy almost wore herself out in devising amusements for her.  She would toss all her hair over her face and dance wildly up and down, and contort that same little, funny, freckled24 face into all sorts of grimaces25; and when the baby laughed and crowed, and made chirrupy sounds, she was abundantly satisfied.  Peter, too, was most ingenious in keeping off the fatal sounds of baby’s wailing26: he would blow into a paper bag, and then when the baby had screwed up her face, and was preparing to let out a whole volley of direful notes, he would clap his hands violently on the bag and cause it to explode, thereby27 absolutely frightening the poor little creature into smiles.
 
Peter would sing all kinds of nursery rhymes for the baby, and walk up and p. 16down with it, and even run with it until his arms ached very badly indeed.  But after all, the one who suffered most in the cause of the baby was Snip-snap.  The patience with which he bore being dressed up in all kinds of costumes, being made to represent grannie with her spectacles, and lame28 John with his crutch29, and a soldier in full-dress uniform, and a sailor with a broken arm, and everything in the world, in short, except a spirited little dog with four legs, was truly wonderful.  He never did attempt to bite, and he was only once guilty of barking; but during the grandmother exhibition he could not help throwing up his head and giving a prolonged and unearthly howl.  But the naughty baby only laughed quite merrily over the howl, and the two children begged of Snip-snap to do it again.  He never did howl any more—that was his last despairing protest—in p. 17future he submitted to the baby’s caprices, but with the air of a broken-hearted dog.
 
Peter and Flossy had commenced their care of the baby without any special love for her, but of course they could not long hold her in their arms, and play with her, and think for her, and earnestly desire to win her smiles and banish30 her tears, without the usual thing happening.  The baby stole their little hearts into her own safe keeping.  Notwithstanding his sufferings she also stole Snip-snap’s heart.  After that the baby was of course mistress of the situation.
 
The children took care of her by day, and the lodgers knew nothing about her existence; but at night Martha, the old nurse, went into her nursery and slept with her, and attended to her wants.  Peter and Flossy having learned the mystery of amusing the small mite, were p. 18tolerably happy about her during the daytime, but at night they were obliged to be parted from her, and in consequence at night they were full of fears.  Martha meant to be kind, but she was tired, and she often slept soundly, and did not hear the baby when she awoke and demanded attention.
 
Flossy became quite a light sleeper31 herself, and would sometimes steal into the nursery and try to quiet the baby; so that, on the whole, for some time, even at night, the lodgers heard no sound of the new little inmate32.  But all happy and worthy13 things come to an end, and so, alas33! did the baby’s good behaviour.  There came a night, about three months after her arrival, and when she was about six months old, when baby was very restless, cross, and fidgety, with the cutting of her first tooth.  The children had quite worn themselves out in p. 19her cause in the daytime, and Snip-snap had allowed himself to be arrayed in all his costumes for her benefit; but Martha had come to bed as tired and weary as the baby herself, and in consequence she fell fast asleep, and never heard the little creature’s cries.
 
Peter and Flossy heard them at the other side of the wall, and knowing that they were much louder and more piercing than usual, they both got up and, hand-in-hand, went to the nursery door.  Snip-snap also followed them, but unwillingly34, and with his tail between his legs.  The door on this unfortunate night was locked, and the children could not get in.  Martha slept on, and the baby screamed on, and presently poor Peter and Flossy heard Mr Martin get up and ring his bell violently.  Mrs Potts was also heard to open her room door and come out on the landing, and p. 20sniff in a very disagreeable way, and go back again.  Flossy’s heart quite beat with terror, and Peter said:
 
‘It’s all up, Flossy; they’ll all know about our baby in the morning.’
 
‘What’ll they do?’ asked Flossy in an awe-struck voice.
 
‘I don’t know,’ answered Peter.  ‘I daren’t think.  Something bad I ’spect.’
 
Then the two children crept back to their beds, and Flossy cried herself to sleep.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 knack Jx9y4     
n.诀窍,做事情的灵巧的,便利的方法
参考例句:
  • He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
  • Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难,但有窍门。
2 enticing ctkzkh     
adj.迷人的;诱人的
参考例句:
  • The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力,使人难以拒绝。
  • Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短,但浑圆可爱;两臂丰腴,也很动人。
3 orphan QJExg     
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的
参考例句:
  • He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大,并且把自己的医术传给了他。
  • The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。
4 mite 4Epxw     
n.极小的东西;小铜币
参考例句:
  • The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
  • He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。
5 lodgers 873866fb939d5ab097342b033a0e269d     
n.房客,租住者( lodger的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He takes in lodgers. 他招收房客。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A good proportion of my lodgers is connected with the theaters. 住客里面有不少人是跟戏院子有往来的。 来自辞典例句
6 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
7 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
8 dint plVza     
n.由于,靠;凹坑
参考例句:
  • He succeeded by dint of hard work.他靠苦干获得成功。
  • He reached the top by dint of great effort.他费了很大的劲终于爬到了顶。
9 toiling 9e6f5a89c05478ce0b1205d063d361e5     
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
参考例句:
  • The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
  • She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎,心中涌满愤恨。
10 contrived ivBzmO     
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的
参考例句:
  • There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
  • The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。
11 commodious aXCyr     
adj.宽敞的;使用方便的
参考例句:
  • It was a commodious and a diverting life.这是一种自由自在,令人赏心悦目的生活。
  • Their habitation was not merely respectable and commodious,but even dignified and imposing.他们的居所既宽敞舒适又尊严气派。
12 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
13 worthy vftwB     
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。
14 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
15 salute rYzx4     
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮
参考例句:
  • Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
  • The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。
16 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
17 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
18 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸
参考例句:
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
19 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
20 tangled e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e     
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
  • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
21 snip XhcyD     
n.便宜货,廉价货,剪,剪断
参考例句:
  • He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
  • The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑,可谓物美价廉。
22 inevitably x7axc     
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地
参考例句:
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去,毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。
23 sniff PF7zs     
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视
参考例句:
  • The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
  • When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候,他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
24 freckled 1f563e624a978af5e5981f5e9d3a4687     
adj.雀斑;斑点;晒斑;(使)生雀斑v.雀斑,斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句
25 grimaces 40efde7bdc7747d57d6bf2f938e10b72     
n.(表蔑视、厌恶等)面部扭曲,鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相,做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Mr. Clark winked at the rude child making grimaces. 克拉克先生假装没有看见那个野孩子做鬼脸。 来自辞典例句
  • The most ridiculous grimaces were purposely or unconsciously indulged in. 故意或者无心地扮出最滑稽可笑的鬼脸。 来自辞典例句
26 wailing 25fbaeeefc437dc6816eab4c6298b423     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱
参考例句:
  • A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
27 thereby Sokwv     
adv.因此,从而
参考例句:
  • I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市,因此对它不怎么熟悉。
  • He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民,因而得到了投票权。
28 lame r9gzj     
adj.跛的,(辩解、论据等)无说服力的
参考例句:
  • The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
  • I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。
29 crutch Lnvzt     
n.T字形拐杖;支持,依靠,精神支柱
参考例句:
  • Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后,她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
  • He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心,总把妻子当作主心骨。
30 banish nu8zD     
vt.放逐,驱逐;消除,排除
参考例句:
  • The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
  • He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。
31 sleeper gETyT     
n.睡眠者,卧车,卧铺
参考例句:
  • I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
  • But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。
32 inmate l4cyN     
n.被收容者;(房屋等的)居住人;住院人
参考例句:
  • I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
  • The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。
33 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
34 unwillingly wjjwC     
adv.不情愿地
参考例句:
  • He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
  • Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访,他也是很不情愿地接待我。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533