100个儿童英语小故事: The city mouse and the country mouse 城市老鼠和乡下老鼠

 

089 The city mouse and the country mouse

A city mouse and a country mouse were distant relatives. The country mouse wrote a letter to the city mouse. "How are you, my city cousin? Come visit us sometime." The city mouse in his best suit visited the country mouse.

"Welcome. Please help yourself before you leave." The country mouse prepared rice, beans and dried fruit. The city mouse laughed at the food and said,

"Gosh! You invited me over to give me this kind of food? You should come visit me. I will treat you to delicious food." The city mouse bragged¹ about the city where he was living to the country mouse.

"Thank you for inviting² me. I will come over for sure." Thinking about his trip to the city, the country mouse was too excited to sleep. 'At last, I'm going to the city tomorrow.'

Delighted, the country mouse came to the city mouse's house. "Knock, knock." "Anybody home?" "Oh, welcome!" greeted the city mouse cheerfully³. The city mouse showed the country mouse all over his house.

The country mouse was surprised how grand the house was. "The house is really big. Magnificent⁴! I am so proud that you are my relative." "Don't mention it." The city mouse was pleased.

The city mouse led the country mouse to the kitchen. When they climbed up the table, there were a large piece of bread, fruit and cheese on it. "Well, help yourself. I have food like this everyday." "Wow! They look delicious. I envy you."

The country mouse began eating the tasty cheese. It was right then that the kitchen door opened with a bang⁵ and a man came in. The city mouse dragged the country mouse and ran away helter-skelter.

Breathing heavily after hiding in the mouse-hole, the city mouse said, "Hugh! That was close." The country mouse was unable to understand the city mouse's behavior. However, on the next day and the following day, the same thing happened.

After a few days, the country mouse said to the city mouse, "I should go back to my house in the country. Even if I eat nothing but beans, I can live peacefully. Why don't you come with me to the country? It would be better than living here nervously⁶ like this."

The city mouse was so embarrassed that he could not do anything. The country mouse came back home and never went back to the city.

1 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

3 cheerfully   

adv.高兴地，愉快地

参考例句：

• The train rolled cheerfully into the station.火车欢呼着驶进车站。
• He takes our advice quite cheerfully.他欣然接受我们的劝告。

4 magnificent   

adj.壮丽的，宏伟的；华丽的；极好的

参考例句：

• The museum that we visited is very magnificent.我们参观的博物馆是很宏伟的。
• That's a magnificent task.这是一项宏伟的任务。

5 bang   

n.巨响，猛击；vi.砰砰作响；vt.砰地敲，猛击

参考例句：

• Pack it up, you kids;or I'll bang your heads together!住手，你们这些小孩，再弄就揍你们！
• She fell and got a nasty bang on the knee.她摔倒了，膝盖猛撞在地上。

6 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。