There was once on a time a King who had three sons, of whom two were clever and wise, but the third did not speak much, and was simple, and was called the Simpleton. When the King had become old and weak, and was thinking of his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him. Then he said to them, “Go forth¹, and he who brings me the most beautiful carpet shall be King after my death.” And that there should be no dispute amongst them, he took them outside his castle, blew three feathers in the air, and said, “You shall go as they fly.” One feather flew to the east, the other to the west, but the third flew straight up and did not fly far, but soon fell to the ground. And now one brother went to the right, and the other to the left, and they mocked Simpleton, who was forced to stay where the third feather had fallen. He sat down and was sad, then all at once he saw that there was a trap-door close by the feather. He raised it up, found some steps, and went down them, and then he came to another door, knocked at it, and heard somebody inside calling,

“Little green maiden² small, Hopping⁴ hither and thither⁵;

Hop³ to the door, And quickly see who is there.”

The door opened, and he saw a great, fat toad⁶ sitting, and round about her a crowd of little toads⁷. The fat toad asked what he wanted? He answered, “I should like to have the prettiest and finest carpet in the world.” Then she called a young one and said,

“Little green maiden small, Hopping hither and thither,

Hop quickly and bring me The great box here.”

The young toad brought the box, and the fat toad opened it, and gave Simpleton a carpet out of it, so beautiful and so fine, that on the earth above, none could have been woven like it. Then he thanked her, and ascended⁸

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1 forth
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。 He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 maiden
n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的
参考例句：
The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。 The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

3 hop
n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过
参考例句：
The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。 How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 hopping
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式
参考例句：
The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。 I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

5 thither
adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的
参考例句：
He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。 He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

6 toad
n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆
参考例句：
Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。 Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

7 toads
n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )
参考例句：
All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

8 ascended
v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 entreated
恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
They entreated and threatened, but all this seemed of no avail. 他们时而恳求，时而威胁，但这一切看来都没有用。 'One word,' the Doctor entreated. 'Will you tell me who denounced him?' “还有一个问题，”医生请求道，“你可否告诉我是谁告发他的？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

10 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。

11 tormenting
使痛苦的，使苦恼的
参考例句：
He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。 The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。

12 turnip
n.萝卜，芜菁
参考例句：
The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。 A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

13 random
adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
参考例句：
The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。 On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

14 deafened
使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音
参考例句：
A hard blow on the ear deafened him for life. 耳朵上挨的一记猛击使他耳聋了一辈子。 The noise deafened us. 嘈杂声把我们吵聋了。

15 aged
adj.年老的，陈年的
参考例句：
He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。 He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

17 opposition
n.反对，敌对
参考例句：
The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。 The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。