100个儿童英语小故事: The Bremen Music Band

 

080 The Bremen Music Band

There was once an old horse that became so useless that his owner decided¹ to sell him. When the horse found out he decided to run away to Bremen. The horse wanted to join the Bremen band. On his way the horse met an old dog. The horse asked the dog, "Looking at you, I'm sure your owner threw you out too. Why don't you go with me to join the Bremen band." "That's a good idea."

They left together for Bremen. One their way they met a cat and a hen. They all left together to go to Bremen. Just when the sun was about to go down they found a house in the forest. "There is a house over there. Let's go over there."

They looked inside the house. It was a house full of thieves. The four animals decided to throw out the thieves. For a long time they discussed and finally thought of a good idea. If the horse stood on his hind² legs, the dog will clim on next then the cat will go on, and finally the hen will stand on the very top. And then each of them will yell from the top of their lung. "Neigh, neigh" "Bark, bark" "Meow, meow" "Cock a doodle doo"

At the same time, they crashed through the window and went inside. Already, the thieves were frightened by the terrible voice that they ran away into the forest. The animals ate the food that was set up on the table. "Let's go to sleep." When the thieves, who were crouched³ and hiding far away, couldn't hear anything. "Go over there and check it out!"

One thief went inside to light a candle. In the dark, he saw the cat's glowing eyes and yelled. The thief was startled and just as he was about to run out the back door, the dog bit his leg. And the horse with his hind legs kicked him hard. In this commotion⁴, the hen who woke up startled, started yelling, "cock a doodle doo" loudly.

The thief went and told the leader. "There is a scary witch in the house." From that day on the thieves didn't even go near that house. The Bremen band lived there forever.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

3 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

4 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。