Twenty-nine
It seemed like a long time before the seagulls were able to pull the peach away from that horriblerainbow- cloud. But they managed it at last, and then everybody gathered around the wretchedCentipede and began arguing about the best way to get the paint off his body.
He really did look a sight. He was purple all over, and now that the paint was beginning to dry andharden, he was forced to sit very stiff¹ and upright², as though he were encased in cement³. And all forty-two of his legs were sticking out straight in front of him, like rods⁴. He tried to say something, but hislips wouldn’t move. All he could do now was to make gurgling noises in his throat.
The Old-Green-Grasshopper reached out and touched him carefully on the stomach. ‘But how couldit possibly have dried so quickly?’ he asked.
‘It’s rainbow-paint,’ James answered. ‘Rainbow-paint dries very quick and very hard.’
‘I detest⁵ paint,’ Miss Spider announced. ‘It frightens me. It reminds me of Aunt Spiker – the lateAunt Spiker, I mean – because the last time she painted her kitchen ceiling my poor darlinggrandmother stepped into it by mistake when it was still wet, and there she stuck. And all through thenight we could hear her calling to us, saying “Help! help! help!” and it was heartbreaking to listen toher. But what could we do? Not a thing until the next day when the paint had dried, and then of coursewe all rushed over to her and calmed her down and gave her some food. Believe it or not, she lived forsix months like that, upside down on the ceiling with her legs stuck permanently⁶ in the paint. She reallydid. We fed her every day. We brought her fresh flies straight from the web. But then on the twenty-sixth of April last, Aunt Sponge⁷ – the late Aunt Sponge, I mean – happened to glance up at the ceiling,and she spotted

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1 stiff
adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的
参考例句：
There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。 You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

2 upright
adj.直立的；正直的；adv.挺直着，竖立着
参考例句：
He stood himself upright.他笔直地站着。 An upright man is respectable.正直的人是值得尊敬的。

3 cement
n.水泥；胶结材料；vt.粘结；巩固
参考例句：
We need 100 tons of cement at most for this project.这项工程满打满算有一百吨水泥就足够了。 Let's cement the parts together.咱们来把这些部件粘接在一起吧。

4 rods
竿( rod的名词复数 )； 杆； （责打人用的）棍棒； 手枪
参考例句：
The wheels of the toy car were fixed on metal rods. 玩具车的轮子固定在金属棒上。 A typewriter in which the characters are situated on type rods. 一种打字机，其字符安装在字模棒上。

5 detest
vt.痛恨，憎恶
参考例句：
I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。 The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

6 permanently
adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地
参考例句：
The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。 The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 sponge
n.海绵，海绵状的东西；v.用海绵擦拭，吸收掉， 抹掉
参考例句：
The child is screwing water out of a sponge.小孩正把海绵中的水挤出来。 You should try to sponge out the memory of the accident.你该努力抹除那次事故的记忆。

8 spotted
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
参考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

9 lawn
n.草地，草坪，上等细麻布
参考例句：
The lawn was crawling with ants.草坪上爬满了蚂蚁。 They are lying on a grassy lawn.他们躺在绿草如茵的草坪上。

10 rubbing
n. 摩擦, 研磨, 按磨
参考例句：
This insect makes its strange noise by rubbing its back legs together. 这只昆虫摩擦它的两条后腿发出一种奇怪的声音。 Jerry was already unhappy because he fumbled the ball,but his teammates kept rubbing it in. 本来杰瑞就很不高兴，因为他失了球，而他的队友们还一再提那件事。

11 proposal
n.提议，建议；求婚
参考例句：
I feel that we ought to accept his proposal.我觉得我们应该接受他的建议。 They could not gain over anyone to support their proposal.他们无法争取到支持他们建议的人。