I THE RUNT

 He was the smallest of seven children. At first his mother thought she would call him "Runty." But she soon changed her mind about that; for she discovered that even if he was the runt of the family, he had the loudest grunt¹ of all. So the good lady made haste to slip a G in front of the name "Runty."

 

"There!" she exclaimed. "'Grunty' is a name that you ought to be proud of. It calls attention to your best point. And if2 you keep on making as much noise in the world as you do now, maybe people won't notice that you're a bit undersized. You certainly sound as big as any little shote I ever saw or heard."

 

So that was settled—though Grunty Pig didn't care one way or another. He seemed to be interested in nothing but food. There is no doubt that he would have been willing to change his name a dozen times a day for the slight bribe² of a drink of warm milk.

 

His mother sometimes said that he had the biggest appetite—as well as the loudest grunt—of all her seven children. And she was glad that he ate well, because food was the very thing that would make him grow.

 

"You won't always be runty, Grunty, if you eat a plenty," Mrs. Pig often told him. And then he would grunt, as if to3 say, "You don't need to urge me. Just give me a chance!"

 

Grunty Pig soon learned that being the smallest of the family had one sad drawback³. His brothers and sisters (all bigger than he!) could crowd him away from the feeding trough. And they not only could; but they often did. Unless Grunty reached the trough among the first, there was never a place left where he could squirm in. If he tried to eat at one end of the trough he was sure to be shouldered away and go hungry.

 

So whenever he did succeed in getting the first taste of a meal he took pains to plant himself in the exact middle of the trough. Then there would be three other youngsters⁴ on each side of him, all crowding towards him. And though he found it a bit hard to breathe under such a squeezing, at least he got his share of the food.

 

4

 

Poor Mrs. Pig! Her children had frightful⁵ manners. Though she talked and talked to them about not crowding, and about eating slowly, and about eating noiselessly, the moment their food was poured into their trough they forgot everything their mother had said.

 

That is, all but Grunty Pig! If he happened to be left out in the cold, so to speak, and had to stand and look on while his brothers and sister stuffed themselves, he couldn't help remembering his mother's remarks about manners.

 

"It's awful to watch them!" he would gurgle. "I don't see how they can be so boorish⁶." He thought there was no sadder sight than his six brothers and sisters jostling one another over their food, while he couldn't find a place to push in among them.

 

1 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

2 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

3 drawback   

n.缺点，欠缺，不利条件

参考例句：

• Everything has its drawback.事事不免有缺点。
• He felt the apartment's only drawback was that it was too small.他觉得这个公寓唯一的缺点就是太小了。

4 youngsters   

n.孩子( youngster的名词复数 )；少年；青年；年轻人

参考例句：

• We followed the youngsters at a more sedate pace. 我们跟在年轻人后面，步子稍慢一点。
• The camp is for youngsters aged 8 to 14. 这次夏令营是为8至14岁的少年儿童安排的。

5 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

6 boorish   

adj.粗野的，乡巴佬的

参考例句：

• His manner seemed rather boorish.他的举止看上去很俗气。
• He disgusted many with his boorish behaviour.他的粗野行为让很多人都讨厌他。