“Now, I think that was a pretty good story,” said Mr. Rabbit. “It had something about cows in it, and there was nothing about kings and princes. I wouldn’t give that”—Mr. Rabbit blew a whiff of smoke from his mouth—“or all your princes and kings. Of course that’s on account of my ignorance. I don’t know anything about them. I reckon they are just as good neighbors as anybody, when you come to know them right well.”
Buster John laughed at this, but Sweetest Susan only smiled.
“Oh, I am not joking,” remarked Mr. Rabbit solemnly. “There’s no reason why kings and queens and princes shouldn’t be just as neighborly as other people. If a king and queen were keeping house anywhere near me, and were to send over after a mess of salad, or to borrow a cup of sugar or a spoonful of lard, I’d be as ready to accommodate them as I would any other neighbors, and I reckon they’d do the same by me.”
“They’d be
mighty1 foolish if they didn’t,” said Mrs. Meadows.
“I hear tell dat folks hafter be monstus umble-come-tumble when dey go foolin’ ’roun’ whar dey er kingin’ an’ a queenin’ at,” remarked Drusilla. “Ef dey sont me fer ter borry any sugar er lard fum de house whar dey does de kingin’ an’ queenin’, I boun’ you I’d stan’ at the back gate an’ holler ’fo’ I went in dar whar dey wuz a-havin’ der gwines on. Dey wouldn’t git me in dar ’fo’ I know’d how de lan’ lay.”
“I expect you are right, Tar-Baby,” replied Mr. Rabbit.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go to sleep over the story of the little boy and the lantern. But it didn’t have any moral,” said Mr. Thimblefinger.
“Why, I reckon that’s the reason I didn’t do any nodding,” explained Mr. Rabbit. “I knew there was something the matter.”
There was a pause, during which Mr. Rabbit betrayed a tendency to fall to nodding again. Presently Mrs. Meadows remarked:—
“I mind me of a story that I heard once—I reckon the talk about kings and queens made me remember it. Anyway, it popped into my head all of a sudden, though I hadn’t thought about it in years.”
“Fire away!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, opening his eyes and slowly closing them again.
“Once upon a time there lived in the land of Moraria a man who was very poor. He worked whenever and wherever he could find work, yet he had so many children that even if he had found work every day he could have made hardly enough for all to eat and wear. As it was, times were so hard and work was so scarce that he frequently had to go hungry and half clothed. His wife did the best she could, which was very little. She worked about the palace where the king had lived, but as she was only one among a hundred, she got small wages, and had few opportunities to carry any
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 |
参考例句： |
- A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
- The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
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scraps
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| 油渣 |
参考例句： |
- Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
- A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
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victuals
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| n.食物；食品 |
参考例句： |
- A plateful of coarse broken victuals was set before him.一盘粗劣的剩余饭食放到了他的面前。
- There are no more victuals for the pig.猪没有吃的啦。
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 |
参考例句： |
- Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
- The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 |
参考例句： |
- The duchess arrived,surrounded by her retinue of servants.公爵夫人在大批随从人马的簇拥下到达了。
- The king's retinue accompanied him on the journey.国王的侍从在旅途上陪伴着他。
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 |
参考例句： |
- He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
- She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 |
参考例句： |
- A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
- Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 |
参考例句： |
- The waters of the Changjiang River rolled to the east on majestically. 雄伟的长江滚滚东流。
- Towering snowcapped peaks rise majestically. 白雪皑皑的山峰耸入云霄。
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majesty
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| 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！
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 |
参考例句： |
- She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
- Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 |
参考例句： |
- The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
- The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 |
参考例句： |
- A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
- We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。
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hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 |
参考例句： |
- He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
- He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 |
参考例句： |
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 |
参考例句： |
- Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
- He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
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standing
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| 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。
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 |
参考例句： |
- They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
- I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 |
参考例句： |
- He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
- The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 |
参考例句： |
- Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
- The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 |
参考例句： |
- It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
- To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 |
参考例句： |
- She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
- My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。
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needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 |
参考例句： |
- Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
- They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。
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