XVII WHAT BROWNIE WANTED

 Nimble Deer had stopped at Brownie Beaver¹'s pond to get a drink. Just as he raised his head from the water he spied Brownie a little way off, on the bank, gnawing² at a box alder³ tree.

 

"Good evening!" Nimble called to him.

 

"Good evening!" Brownie Beaver answered.

 

"I see you're busy, as usual," Nimble remarked.

 

"Yes!" Brownie replied. "And what are you doing—if I may ask?"

 

"Oh! I'm just rambling⁴ about," Nimble explained.

 

"Then you're not doing much of anything," said Brownie Beaver.

 

Nimble admitted that he wasn't.

 

"Since you're not working, perhaps you'll be willing to help me," Brownie suggested.

 

"Certainly!" Nimble cried. He liked Brownie Beaver. Everybody liked him—unless it was Timothy Turtle, who had a grudge⁵ against the whole Beaver tribe.

 

"Maybe I can make arrangements with you to——" Brownie began.

 

"Of course you can!" Nimble interrupted.

 

"That's very kind of you," Brownie said. "I'm sure I'm much obliged to you."

 

"You're quite welcome," Nimble assured him.

 

"You're sure you won't mind!" Brownie Beaver inquired.

 

"Not at all! No, indeed! What is it you want me to do for you? Do you want me to help you roll a log into the water, when you've finished cutting down that tree? I might use my horns for a cant⁶ hook, such as the lumbermen have."

 

"No! It's not that—thank you!" Brownie Beaver mumbled⁷. He had not stopped working, while he talked. And having some chips in his mouth he did not speak any too clearly.

 

"Maybe you'd like me to walk back and forth⁸ along the top of your dam and make it firmer," Nimble suggested.

 

"No, it's not that," Brownie told him. "The dam is firm. It has been here a great many years, ever since my great-great-grandfather's time.... You've noticed my house, I dare say," he went on.

 

"I have," Nimble answered. "It's a good one, though the chimney looks a bit lopsided, to me. Shall I give it a push and see if I can straighten it?"

 

"No, indeed—thank you!" said Brownie hurriedly. "For mercy's sake, don't touch my chimney! I worked a long time to make it. And if I do say so, it's the best one in the whole village."

 

Well, Nimble Deer couldn't guess what it was that Brownie Beaver wanted him to do. He couldn't think of any other way in which he might help.

 

"Then what—" he demanded—"what is it you want?"

 

"There's something I need for my house," Brownie explained.

 

"Shingles⁹!" Nimble cried.

 

"No!" Brownie said, as he shook his head.

 

"I hope you don't want a pair of antlers to fasten over your chimney piece!" Nimble exclaimed. "I shouldn't care to part with my antlers—not just at present!"

 

"No!" Brownie said once more.

 

"I'm glad of that," Nimble replied. For a moment he had been worried.

 

And then Brownie Beaver told him what he had in mind: "I need a flag to fly over my house."

 

"That would be fine," Nimble observed. "But I don't see how I could help you with that."

 

"I've heard that you have a flag. I thought perhaps you'd let me have it—or borrow it, at least," Brownie Beaver told him.

 

Nimble Deer looked puzzled.

 

"I haven't any flag," he said. And then he cried, "Yes! Yes, I have one!"

 

"Ah! I was told you had," said Brownie Beaver.

 

"Who told you?"

 

"Old Mr. Crow!" Brownie Beaver said.

 

"I might have known it," Nimble muttered. "He has played a joke on you. It's true that I have a flag; but it's not the kind of flag you want. Some people call my tail a flag, on account of the way I wave it in the air when I'm startled. Of course you wouldn't care to have my tail on the top of your house."

 

And Brownie Beaver admitted that he shouldn't.

 

"But I can't help being disappointed," he confessed.

该作者的其它作品
《The Tale of Timothy Turtle》
《The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat》
《The Tale of Solomon Owl》

1 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

3 alder   

n.赤杨树

参考例句：

• He gave john some alder bark.他给了约翰一些桤木树皮。
• Several coppice plantations have been seeded with poplar,willow,and alder.好几个灌木林场都种上了白杨、柳树和赤杨。

4 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

5 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

6 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

7 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

8 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。

9 shingles   

n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板

参考例句：

• Shingles are often dipped in creosote. 屋顶板常浸涂木焦油。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The roofs had shingles missing. 一些屋顶板不见了。 来自辞典例句