THE biggest leaf here in the country is certainly the burdock leaf. Put one in front of your waist and it's just like an apron¹, and if you lay it upon your head it is almost as good as an umbrella, for it is quite remarkably² large. A burdock never grows alone; where there is one there are several more. It's splendid to behold³ ! and all this splendour is snails⁵' meat.

The great white snails, which the grand people in old times used to have made into fricassees, and when they had eaten them they would say, “H' m, how good that is！” for they had the idea that it tasted delicious. These snails lived on burdock leaves, and that's why burdocks were sown.

Now there was an old estate, on which people ate snails no longer. The snails had died out, but the burdocks had not. These latter grew and grew in all the walks and on all the beds----there was no stopping them; the place became a complete forest of burdocks. Here and there stood an apple or plum tree; but for this, nobody would have thought a garden had been there. Everything was burdock, and among the burdocks lived the two last ancient Snails.

They did not know themselves how old they were, but they could very well remember that there had been a great many more of them, that they had descended⁶ from a foreign family , and that the whole forest had been planted for them and theirs. They had never been away from home, but it was known to them that something existed in the world called the manor-house, and that there one was boiled, and one became black, and was laid upon a silver dish; but what was done afterwards they did not know. Moreover, they could not imagine what that might be, being boiled and laid upon a silver dish; but it was said to be fine, and particularly grand! Neither the cockchafer, nor the toad⁷, nor the earth worm, whom they questioned about it, could give them any information, for none of their kind had ever been boiled and laid on silver dishes.

The old white Snails were the grandest in the world; they knew that! The forest was there for their sake, and the manor-house too, so that they might be boiled and laid on silver dishes .

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1 apron
n.围裙；工作裙
参考例句：
We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。 She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

2 remarkably
ad.不同寻常地，相当地
参考例句：
I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。 He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

3 behold
v.看，注视，看到
参考例句：
The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。 The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

4 snail
n.蜗牛
参考例句：
Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。 Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

5 snails
n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )
参考例句：
I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 descended
a.为...后裔的，出身于...的
参考例句：
A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。 The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 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。

8 retired
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。 Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 distinguished
adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的
参考例句：
Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。 A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

10 deliberately
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。 They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 conceited
adj.自负的，骄傲自满的
参考例句：
He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。 I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

12 gnats
n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 )
参考例句：
He decided that he might fire at all gnats. 他决定索性把鸡毛蒜皮都摊出来。 来自辞典例句 The air seemed to grow thick with fine white gnats. 空气似乎由于许多白色的小虫子而变得浑浊不堪。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 honourably
adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地
参考例句：
Will the time never come when we may honourably bury the hatchet? 难道我们永远不可能有个体面地休战的时候吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》 The dispute was settled honourably. 争议体面地得到解决。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 progeny
n.后代，子孙；结果
参考例句：
His numerous progeny are scattered all over the country.他为数众多的后代散布在全国各地。 He was surrounded by his numerous progeny.众多的子孙簇拥着他。

16 uncommonly
adv. 稀罕(极，非常)
参考例句：
an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童 My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。