THERE was once a Shilling．He came out quite bright from the Mint，and sprang up，and rant¹ out，"Hur-rah！Now I'm off into the wide world．"And into the wideworld he went．

The child held him with warm hands，and the miserwith cold clammy hands；the old man turned it over andover many times，while youth rolled him lightly away．The Shilling was of silver，and had very little copperabout him：he had been now a whole year in the world-that is to say，in the country in which he had beenstruck．But one day he started on his foreign travels；hewas the last native coin in the purse borne by his travel-ling master．The gentleman was himself not aware that hestill had this coin until it came among his fingers．

"Why，here's a shilling from home left to me，"hesaid．"Well，he can make me journey with me．"

And the Shilling rattled² and jumped for joy as it wasthrust back into the purse．So here it lay among strangecompanions，who came and went，each making room for asuccessor；but the Shilling from home always remained inthe bag；which was a distinction for it．

Sevenal weeks had gone by，and the Shilling hadtravelled far out into the world without exactly knowingwhere he was，though he learned from the other coins thatthey were French or Italian．One said they were in suchand such a town，another that they had reached such andsuch a spot；but the Shilling could form no idea of allthis．He who has head in a bag sees nothing；and thiswas the case with the Shilling．But one day，as he laythere，he noticed that the purse was not shut，and so hecrept forward to the opening，to take a look around．Heought not to have done so；but he was inquisitive，andpeople often have to pay for that．He slipped out into thefob：and when the purse was taken out at night the Shilling remained behind，and was sent out into the pas-sage with the clothes．There he fell upon the floor：noone heard it，no one saw it．

Next morning the clothes were carried back into theroom；the gentleman put them on，and continued his jour-ney，while the Shilling remained behind．The coin was found，and was required to go into service again，so he wassent out with three other coins．

"It is a pleasant thing to look about one in the world，"thought the Shilling，"and to gat to know otherpeople and other customs．"

"What sort of a shilling is that？" was said at the samemoment；"that is not a coin of the country，it is false，it'sof no use．"

And now begins the history of the Shilling，as told byhimself．

"'Away with him，he's bad-no use．'These wordswent through and through me，"said the Shilling．"I knewI was of good silver，sounded well and had been properlycoined．The people were certainly mistaken．They couldnot mean me！but，yes，they did mean me．I was the oneof whom they said，'He's bad-he's no good．''I mustget rid of that fellow in the dark，'said the man who hadreceived me；and I was passed at night，and abused in thedaytime．'Bad-no good！'was the cry：'we must make haste and get rid of him．'

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1 rant
v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话
参考例句：
You can rant and rave at the fine,but you'll still have to pay it.你闹也好，骂也好，罚金还是得交。 If we rant on the net,the world is our audience.如果我们在网络上大声嚷嚷，全世界都是我们的听众。

2 rattled
慌乱的，恼火的
参考例句：
The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。 Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

3 holder
n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物
参考例句：
The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。 That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 miserable
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。 Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 shuddered
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动
参考例句：
He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》 I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bard
n.吟游诗人
参考例句：
I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！ I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

7 baker
n.面包师
参考例句：
The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。 The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

8 miserably
adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地
参考例句：
The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。 It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 distress
n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛
参考例句：
Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。 Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

10 lottery
n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事
参考例句：
He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。 They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

11 festive
adj.欢宴的，节日的
参考例句：
It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。 We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

12 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。