Bruno
I peeped round the leg of the chair and watched the hundreds of witches' feet walking outthrough the doors of the Ballroom¹. When they had all gone and the place was absolutely silent, Ibegan to move cautiously about on the floor. Suddenly I remembered Bruno. He must surely bearound here somewhere, too. "Bruno!" I called out.
I wasn't seriously expecting that I would be able to speak at all now that I had become amouse, so I got the shock of my life when I heard my own voice, my own perfectly² normal ratherloud voice, coming out of my tiny mouth.
It was wonderful. I was thrilled. I tried it again. "Bruno Jenkins, where are you?" I called out.
"If you can hear me, give a shout!"
My voice was exactly the same and just as loud as it had been when I was a boy. "Hey there,Bruno Jenkins! " I called. "Where are you?"
There was no answer.
I pottered about between the seat-legs trying to get used to being so close to the ground. Idecided I rather liked it. You are probably wondering why I wasn't depressed³ at all. I found myselfthinking, What's so wonderful about being a little boy anyway? Why is that necessarily any betterthan being a mouse? I know that mice get hunted and they sometimes get poisoned or caught in traps.
But little boys sometimes get killed, too. Little boys can be run over by motor-cars or they can die ofsome awful illness. Little boys have to go to school. Mice don't. Mice don't have to pass exams. Micedon't have to worry about money. Mice, as far as I can see, have only two enemies, humans and cats.
My grandmother is a human, but I know for certain that she will always love me whoever I am. Andshe never, thank goodness, keeps a cat. When mice grow up, they don't ever have to go to war andfight against other mice. Mice, I felt pretty certain, all like each other. People don't.
Yes, I told myself, I don't think it is at all a bad thing to be a mouse.
I was wandering around the Ballroom floor thinking about all this when I spotted⁴ anothermouse. It was crouching⁵ on the floor holding a piece of bread in its front paws and nibbling

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1 ballroom
n.舞厅
参考例句：
The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。 I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

2 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。

3 depressed
adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的
参考例句：
When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。 His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

4 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。

5 crouching
v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )
参考例句：
a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影 A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

6 nibbling
v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬
参考例句：
We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。 He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 guzzling
v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的现在分词 )
参考例句：
The kids seem to be guzzling soft drinks all day. 孩子们似乎整天都在猛喝汽水。 He's been guzzling beer all evening. 整个晚上他都在狂饮啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 larder
n.食物贮藏室，食品橱
参考例句：
Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。 They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

10 nibble
n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵
参考例句：
Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。 The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

11 perking
（使）活跃( perk的现在分词 )； （使）增值； 使更有趣
参考例句：
The weather seems to be perking up. 天气似乎要变好。 She is perking herself at mirror. 她正对镜化妆。

12 leftovers
n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜
参考例句：
He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。 She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

13 filthy
adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的
参考例句：
The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。 You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

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。