英语博客：Thumbelina part 3.

　　Thumbelina (part 3).
Thumbelina told the field mouse of the horrible frog who took her away from her home. She told her how much she couldn't wait to get back to her mother and her garden. The field mouse invited Thumbelina to stay with her for the Winter. Together they gathered nuts, grains, and berries for the cold months ahead. Thumbelina sang songs and told stories, while the field mouse cokked their dinner or sewed by the fire. One day it began to snow lightly. Thumbelina had never seen snow before, so she opened the door to peek¹ outside. But as she looked outside, she saw something strange. Lying near the front door was a young sparrow with a broken wing. He was shivering and he looked sad. Thumbelina called the field mouse. Together they helped the sparrow into the burrow² and fed him some soup. Thumbelina, the sparrow, and the old field mouse spent the Winter together in the burrow. Thumbelina helped to mend the sparrow's wing so that he would be able to fly again. She told them stories of her kind mother and the beautiful garden where she was born. She hoped she would see her home again. One day, Thumbelina poked³ her head outside the burrown again. Tiny green shoots were beginning to appear all over the meadow⁴. "Spring is coming!" she shouted to her friends. Soon the days were warm and sunny. The sparrow decided⁵ it was time to leave the burrow. "Thumbelina," he said, "you saved my life. Now I woiuld like to help you find your mother." Thumbelina said good-bye to her field mouse friend and climbed on top of the sparrow. She held on tight to the sparrow's feathers as he flew high above the trees. "Do you think we will ever find my mother?" Thumbelina asked the sparrow. "Yes, but first I have something special to show you," said the sparrow. He flew deep into the forest and landed gently in a thicket⁶. All around them, beautiful flowers blossomed⁷. No sooner had they landed, than a lily opened and out stepped a tiny boy. He wore a crown on his head, and he had a pair of shiny wings. "I am the Prince of the Flowers,: said the boy. "Live with us and be the Princess of the Flowers." He gave her a tiny pair of silvery wings and a beautiful crown. But Thumbelina missed her mother. She agreed to come back to the prince, but she had to see her mother. When Thumbelina flew into her mother's garden, the woman was so overjoyed to see her tiny daughter that she laughed and cried for joy.

1 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

2 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

3 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 meadow   

n.草地，牧草地

参考例句：

• The children ran free across the meadow.孩子们在草地里自由地奔跑。
• The meadow is peopled with wild flowers.草地长满了野花。

5 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。

6 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

7 blossomed   

v.（植物）开花( blossom的过去式和过去分词 )；发展；长成；变得更加健康（或自信、成功）

参考例句：

• He has really blossomed out since he came to live here. 自从他住到这里来以后他确实变得快活了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That lonely, remote settlement blossomed into a charming little city. 那个寂寞而偏僻的开拓地变成了一个可爱的小城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》