VI MR. FLICKER'S PLANS

 

 

In a little while Mr. Flicker¹ returned from his trip to the pasture to see the Woodchuck brothers. Hurrying into the orchard² he called to Reddy Woodpecker, "They're thinking it over."

 

"They'll want you to drum for them," Reddy assured him. "There's no doubt that the Woodchuck brothers will accept your offer.... Why don't you move up to the pasture at once? You'd find it handy, living in the Woodchucks' door-yard."

 

"I can't do that," said Mr. Flicker. "You forget my family."

 

"Move them too!" Reddy urged him.

 

But Mr. Flicker shook his head. "I don't believe my wife would be willing," he replied. "Besides, there's that piece of tin on the roof of the barn. Would you advise me to move that?"

 

"No!" Reddy cried hastily. "Don't move the tin! In fact, Mr. Flicker, I shouldn't move at all, if I were you."

 

But Mr. Flicker had liked the plan of moving to the pasture to live. He had found great quantities of ants there. And to Reddy's dismay he insisted that he should move and take the strip of tin with him. That is to say, he intended to move as soon as his wife gave him permission.

 

It was no wonder Reddy wished he had never put such an idea into his cousin Mr. Flicker's head. He had hoped to get rid only of Mr. Flicker and his drumming. He had never dreamed that Mr. Flicker would want to take the precious bit of tin with him when he went.

 

Shortly afterward³ Mr. Flicker reported that it was just as he had thought. Mrs. Flicker wouldn't listen to moving just then. But later, after the children learned to fly, and could feed themselves, she would have no objection to the change of residence.

 

Reddy Woodpecker cocked an eye toward the roof of the barn.

 

"That tin—" he said—"you can't take it with you when you move. It belongs to Farmer Green."

 

"Oh!" Mr. Flicker exclaimed. "I thought it belonged to you. And I knew you wouldn't object to your cousin's borrowing it for the rest of the season—now would you?"

 

But Reddy Woodpecker wasn't going to answer any dangerous questions. "The tin is Farmer Green's," he declared.

 

It seemed as if Mr. Flicker were full of alarming thoughts.

 

"I wish," he said, "we'd have a cyclone⁴ that would rip that tin off the barn and carry it up to the pasture."

 

"Oh, my goodness!" cried Reddy Woodpecker. And he worried dreadfully all the rest of that day. There's no knowing when he would have stopped fretting⁵ had Mr. Flicker not made a certain report to him the following morning.

 

"The Woodchuck brothers don't want me to drum for them," he announced.

 

"Then you aren't going to move!" cried Reddy.

 

"No!" Mr. Flicker replied. "And I don't intend there shall be any cyclone, either."

 

So at last Reddy Woodpecker felt better.

 

1 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

2 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

5 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。