THERE was a miller¹ who left no more estate to the three sons he had than his mill, his ass², and his cat. The partition was soon made. Neither scrivener nor attorney was sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the poor patrimony³. The eldest⁴ had the mill, the second the ass, and the youngest nothing but the cat. The poor young fellow was quite comfortless at having so poor a lot.

“My brothers,” said he, “may get their living handsomely enough by joining their stocks together; but for my part, when I have eaten up my cat, and made me a muff of his skin, I must die of hunger.”

The Cat, who heard all this, but made as if he did not, said to him with a grave and serious air:

“Do not thus afflict⁵ yourself, my good master. You have nothing else to do but to give me a bag and get a pair of boots made for me that I may scamper⁶ through the dirt and the brambles, and you shall see that you have not so bad a portion in me as you imagine.”

The Cat’s master did not build very much upon what he said. He had often seen him play a great many cunning tricks to catch rats and mice, as when he used to hang by the heels, or hide himself in the meal, and make as if he were dead; so that he did not altogether despair of his affording him some help in his miserable⁷ condition. When the Cat had what he asked for he booted himself very gallantly⁸, and putting his bag about his neck, he held the strings⁹ of it in his two forepaws and went into a warren where was great abundance of rabbits. He put bran and sow-thistle into his bag, and stretching out at length, as if he had been dead, he waited for some young rabbits, not yet acquainted with the deceits of the world, to come and

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1 miller
n.磨坊主
参考例句：
Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。 The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 ass
n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人
参考例句：
He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。 An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

3 patrimony
n.世袭财产，继承物
参考例句：
I left my parents' house,relinquished my estate and my patrimony.我离开了父母的家，放弃了我的房产和祖传财产。 His grandfather left the patrimony to him.他的祖父把祖传的财物留给了他。

4 eldest
adj.最年长的，最年老的
参考例句：
The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。 The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

5 afflict
vt.使身体或精神受痛苦，折磨
参考例句：
I wish you wouldn't afflict me with your constant complains.我希望你不要总是抱怨而使我苦恼。 There are many illnesses,which afflict old people.有许多疾病困扰着老年人。

6 scamper
v.奔跑，快跑
参考例句：
She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。 The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

7 miserable
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。 Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 gallantly
adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地
参考例句：
He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。 The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。

9 strings
n.弦
参考例句：
He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。 She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

10 rummage
v./n.翻寻，仔细检查
参考例句：
He had a good rummage inside the sofa.他把沙发内部彻底搜寻了一翻。 The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her spectacles.老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。

11 prey
n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨
参考例句：
Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。 The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 majesty
n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权
参考例句：
The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。 Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

13 reverence
n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬
参考例句：
He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。 We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

14 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 brace
n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备
参考例句：
My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。 You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

16 rogues
n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽
参考例句：
'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛 The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

17 caressed
爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。 He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

18 mien
n.风采；态度
参考例句：
He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien.他是个越战老兵，举止总有些惶然。 It was impossible to tell from his mien whether he was offended.从他的神态中难以看出他是否生气了。

19 inclination
n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好
参考例句：
She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。 I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

20 distraction
n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐
参考例句：
Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。 Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

21 mow
v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆
参考例句：
He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。 We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。

22 mowing
n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )
参考例句：
The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

23 plentiful
adj.富裕的，丰富的
参考例句：
Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。 Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

24 reapers
n.收割者，收获者( reaper的名词复数 )；收割机
参考例句：
Ripe white wheat reapers reap ripe white wheat right. 成熟的白色小麦收割者最懂得收获成熟的白色小麦。 来自互联网 A pair of reapers help fend off the attack. 几个收割者辅助攻击这些小狗。 来自互联网

25 gutter
n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟
参考例句：
There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。 He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

26 spacious
adj.广阔的，宽敞的
参考例句：
Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。 The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

27 collation
n.便餐；整理
参考例句：
It was in this retreat that Mr. Quilp ordered a cold collation to be prepared.奎尔普先生就是在这个别墅里预定冷点的。 I was quite taken with your line of photocopiers with collation and stapling capability.我被贵公司能够自动整理和装订的系列复印机吸引住了。

28 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

29 possessed
adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的
参考例句：
He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。 He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。