Six months after our "gam" with the Yankees Tom Lokins and I found ourselves seated once more in the little garret beside my dear old mother.

 

"Deary me, Robert, how changed ye are!"

 

"Changed, Mother! I should think so! If you'd gone through all that I've done and seen since we last sat together in this room, you'd be changed too."

 

"And have ye really seen the whales, my boy?" continued my mother, stroking my face with her old hand.

 

"Seen them? aye, and killed them too—many of them."

 

"You've been in danger, my son," said my mother earnestly, "but the Lord has preserved you safe through it all."

 

"Aye, Mother, He has preserved my life in the midst of many dangers," said I, "for which I am most thankful."

 

There was a short silence after this, during which my mother and I gazed earnestly at each other, and Tom Lokins smoked his pipe and stared at the fire.

 

"Robert, how big is a whale?" enquired¹ my mother suddenly.

 

"How big? why, it's as big as a small ship, only it's longer, and not quite so fat."

 

"Robert," replied my mother gravely, "ye didn't use to tell untruths; ye must be jokin'."

 

"Joking, Mother, I was never more in earnest in my life. Why, I tell you that I've seen, aye, and helped to cut up, whales that were more than sixty feet long, with heads so big that their mouths could have taken in a boat. Why, Mother, I declare to you that you could put this room into a whale's mouth, and you and Tom and I could sit round this table and take our tea upon his tongue quite comfortable. Isn't that true, Tom?"

 

My mother looked at Tom, who removed his pipe, puffed² a cloud of smoke, and nodded his head twice very decidedly.

 

"Moreover," said I, "a whale is so big and strong, that it can knock a boat right up into the air, and break in the sides of a ship. One day a whale fell right on top of one of our boats and smashed it all to bits. Now that's a real truth!"

 

Again my mother looked at Tom Lokins, and again that worthy3

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点击收听单词发音  

1 enquired
打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问
参考例句：
He enquired for the book in a bookstore. 他在书店查询那本书。 Fauchery jestingly enquired whether the Minister was coming too. 浮式瑞嘲笑着问部长是否也会来。

2 puffed
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 worthy
adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的
参考例句：
I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。 There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

4 hearty
adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的
参考例句：
After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。 We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

5 yarn
n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事
参考例句：
I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。 The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

6 apron
n.围裙；工作裙
参考例句：
We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。 She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

7 meekly
adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地
参考例句：
He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》 He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 poke
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：
We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。 Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

9 alas
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句：
Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！ Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

10 blessing
n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿
参考例句：
The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。 A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

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