XIII THE CARPENTER

 One day Reddy Woodpecker was tap, tap, tapping on a tall poplar that grew beside the brook¹. He had discovered a tiny opening in the bark and he wanted to see what was at the further end of it.

 

Suddenly a voice called out, "Well, well, well! What is it?" And a pale-faced person not unlike Buster Bumblebee peered out at Reddy Woodpecker. He was careful to keep safely out of reach of Reddy's horny tongue. "I hope," said the dweller² in the poplar, "you're not wanting me to build you a house. I can't work for you just now. I'm very busy to-day, making an addition to my own house."

 

Reddy stared at the speaker.

 

"I've already built my house—with my wife's help," he replied. "Why should you think I needed your assistance?"

 

"Because," said the other, "I'm Whiteface, the Carpenter Bee. The neighbors are always pestering³ me to help them."

 

Then Reddy Woodpecker noticed that Whiteface was covered with sawdust. But before he could examine him very closely the carpenter vanished.

 

"I must have another look at that queer person," Reddy thought. So he began to rap once more.

 

Again the carpenter peeped forth⁴.

 

"If you're out of work," he said, "I'll tell you plainly that you can't find it here. I never employ strangers to work for me, for I'm very particular." Then he was gone.

 

Tap, tap, tap! This time, when the carpenter answered Reddy's knocking, he was most impatient.

 

"Go away!" he cried. "You're shaking my whole house. I don't like it."

 

"Not so fast!" said Reddy Woodpecker. "I'm only making a friendly call. You and I are neighbors. But how am I ever going to get acquainted with you if you won't stop for a short chat?"

 

"I can't stand here idling my time away," the carpenter replied. "I'm a busy bee. Come inside if you want to see me!" And he disappeared again.

 

How could Reddy Woodpecker accept his invitation to enter? The carpenter's doorway⁵ was too small for him. And the wood was not the sort that Reddy liked to chisel⁶ away with his bill. It wasn't brittle⁷ enough to suit him. So he knocked again.

 

When the carpenter came rushing back to his doorway his pale face wore an anxious look.

 

"Oh!" he said. "I thought it was a fire. I thought somebody wanted to tell me my house was on fire. But it's only you. What do you want now?"

 

"I know you'd like to learn my name," Reddy Woodpecker began.

 

"Just leave your card!" the carpenter told him. "I'll look at it later when I have more time."

 

"When will that be?" Reddy demanded.

 

"I don't know," the odd person confessed. "It seems as if I never would get my house finished."

 

"Then," said Reddy, "there can't be any use in my leaving my card. Probably when you found time to look at it you wouldn't remember who left it."

 

"Probably not!" the carpenter admitted. "Good day, sir!" And he dodged⁸ out of sight.

 

Still Reddy Woodpecker was not discouraged. He knocked a fifth time.

 

"What!" exclaimed the carpenter when he answered Reddy's tapping. "Haven't you gone yet?"

 

"No!" Reddy replied. "I want to say——"

 

"If you have anything more to tell me, write me a letter!" said the pale-faced carpenter. And he set up a sign where Reddy Woodpecker could see it: "This Is My Busy Day!" Then he passed from view.

 

Reddy Woodpecker stayed a long time at the poplar tree beside the brook. He knocked and knocked and knocked until at last his head began to ache. But the sawdust-covered carpenter never showed his pale face again.

 

1 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

2 dweller   

n.居住者，住客

参考例句：

• Both city and town dweller should pay tax.城镇居民都需要纳税。
• The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.城市居民从未经历过这种担忧。

3 pestering   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
• I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我，你将来会后悔的。

4 forth   

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。

5 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

6 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

7 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

8 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》