XIV AN ODD THOUGHT

 "Umph! Umph!"

 

Farmer Green had fenced off a piece of the old orchard¹. And into this new yard he turned Mrs. Pig's children.

 

"Umph! Umph!"

 

They had a fine time there, rooting down under the sod, rubbing their backs against the trunks of the old apple trees, and sprawling² in the shade when they were sleepy.

 

"Umph! Umph!"

 

Sometimes an apple dropped from a tree. And then there was a mad scramble³.

 

"Umph! Umph!"

 

 

"Dear me!" said Jolly Robin⁴'s wife as she sat in the apple tree where she and her husband had a nest every summer. "Don't Mrs. Pig's children make a dreadful noise? I never knew half-grown pigs to have such loud voices. Their grunts⁵ certainly are full-sized."

 

Jolly Robin, who had perched himself beside his wife, looked down at their new neighbors.

 

"They're having a good time," he observed cheerfully. "We ought not to complain. We may be thankful that they don't climb trees and try to sing."

 

Jolly Robin had a way of looking on the bright side of things. It was seldom that he couldn't act cheerful. Even when he felt quite downhearted, inside, he managed usually to appear happy, outside. And now his remark put his wife in a pleasanter frame of mind.

 

 

 

"Imagine a pig up a tree!" Mrs. Robin tittered.

 

"Umph! Umph! Are you talking about me?" a voice inquired right beneath them. It gave Mrs. Robin such a start that she almost tumbled off the limb.

 

"No! No! We're not talking about you—not exactly!" Jolly Robin answered.

 

It was Grunty Pig that had spoken.

 

"Pardon me!" he said. "I thought I heard you mention the name, 'Pig'."

 

"Er—yes! We did speak of your family, in a general way," Jolly Robin admitted.

 

"Ah!" said Grunty Pig. "And what was it you said about us? Weren't you and your wife laughing about our climbing trees?"

 

Somehow Jolly Robin thought that Grunty's little eyes had a spiteful gleam as he looked upward into the tree top. And Mrs. Robin couldn't help moving to a higher limb. Grunty's glare sent a most uncomfortable shiver over her.

 

Jolly Robin tried his best to act at his ease.

 

"It was just an odd thought that popped into my head," he assured Grunty Pig. "It made Mrs. Robin giggle⁶ when I mentioned it." He laughed merrily enough. And his wife managed to smile faintly. But Grunty Pig frowned.

 

"I thought so!" he cried. "You Robins⁷ were poking⁸ fun at me and my brothers and sisters. Yes! And no doubt at my mother, too!"

 

"Oh, no!" Jolly Robin assured him. "We weren't thinking of any one in particular."

 

"Aha!" Grunty snorted. "You were laughing at all of us, then." And Jolly Robin could say nothing to change his64 opinion. "You can't fool me," Grunty declared. "You have insulted my whole family. And it's time that you learned better manners. I see that I shall have to teach you a lesson."

 

Well, when they heard that speech Jolly Robin and his wife had to laugh. The idea of a lesson in manners from Grunty Pig was the funniest thing on the farm.

1 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。

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

4 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

5 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。

6 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

7 robins   

n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书）

参考例句：

• The robins occupied their former nest. 那些知更鸟占了它们的老窝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Benjamin Robins then entered the fray with articles and a book. 而后，Benjamin Robins以他的几篇专论和一本书参加争论。 来自辞典例句

8 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。