儿童英语读物 The Clue in the Corn Maze CHAPTER 3 Yuck!

Violet woke up during the night. She was thirsty, so she decided¹ to go down to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

She slipped quietly out of bed. As she crept across the room, something out the window caught her eye.

Violet tiptoed over to the window and peered out into the darkness. She saw a round white light bobbing through the cornfield. Was it a flashlight? Was somebody in the maze² in the middle of the night?

“Jessie!” Violet whispered. She hurried over to the other bed and gently shook her sister’s shoulder. “Jessie, wake up! I think there’s someone in the corn maze.”

Jessie rubbed her eyes and rolled toward Violet. “What?” she said sleepily.

“There’s a light in the corn maze,” Violet hissed³. “I think someone’s in there.”

Jessie tossed her covers aside and followed Violet over to the window. But now, when the girls looked, the light was gone.

“That’s strange,” Violet said.

“Are you sure you saw a light in the field?” Jessie asked. “There’s a light on inside Mr. Sweeney’s trailer. Maybe that’s what you saw?”

Violet couldn’t remember whether there had been a light on in Mr. Sweeney’s trailer when she looked before, but she was sure she’d seen another light in the field.

“The light I saw was moving,” Violet said. “It was bobbing up and down—the way it would if someone was carrying a flashlight.”

A moment later the light in Mr. Sweeney’s trailer went out. Everything was dark.

“Maybe it was just Mr. Sweeney checking to make sure no one was in the maze,” Jessie suggested. “He probably didn’t see anything, so he went back to bed.”

“You’re probably right, Jessie,” Violet agreed. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“That’s okay,” Jessie said. “Let’s try and get some sleep.”

The next morning, Ken⁴ had stacks of pancakes and a frying pan full of sausages ready when the Aldens came downstairs.

“You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, Ken,” Grandfather said.

“Why not?” Ken asked. “I love to cook. Always have. You know that. Now eat up, before everything gets cold.”

“Okay,” Benny said as he slid into a chair. Grandfather, Henry, Jessie, and Violet sat down, too.

Benny helped himself to several pancakes. A warm breeze blew through the open kitchen window. The Aldens could tell it was going to be another hot day.

A strange odor caught Benny’s attention. “What’s that smell?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

“It must be pancakes,” Henry answered. “You sure have a lot of them on your plate.”

“No,” Benny shook his head. “I know how pancakes smell. This is something else. Something that doesn’t smell very good.”

Violet sniffed⁵. “I smell it, too.”

“Me, too,” Jessie said.

Ken set a plate of toast on the table. “I think what you all are smelling is fresh manure⁶,” Ken said. “I’m afraid that’s not an unusual smell when you live in the country. But you get used to it.”

There was a knock at the back door and Jack⁷ Sweeney poked⁸ his head inside. “Ken?” he said in a serious voice. “We’ve got a problem.”

“What is it?” Ken asked.

“Come outside,” Mr. Sweeney said. He was dressed in overalls⁹ and the same muddy cowboy boots he had worn the day before.

Ken grabbed his cane¹⁰ and followed Mr. Sweeney. The Aldens went outside, too. Mr. Sweeney glared at the children, but said nothing. He led them all down the porch steps and out toward the corn maze. The smell of manure was getting stronger. It was so strong that Benny pinched his nose shut.

Mr. Sweeney stopped at the entrance to the maze. The maze path was completely buried under a layer of manure.

“Oh!” Jessie gasped¹¹.

“A little manure helps things grow,” Ken said. “But this is more than a little manure. People who come to visit the maze aren’t going to want to wade¹² through this. Is it all through the maze?”

“’Fraid so,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “It’ll take a while to shovel¹³ it all out and then spread hay over the paths. Looks like you’re going to have to close up the maze a second time.” But Mr. Sweeney didn’t look very disappointed. In fact, he almost looked happy.

“We can help you clean it up, Mr. Sweeney,” Henry offered.

“Of course we can,” Jessie put in. “You don’t want to close the maze two days in a row.”

“I don’t want a bunch of kids tromping through a maze full of manure, Ken,” Mr. Sweeney said. “They’ll just make more work for me.”

“No, we won’t,” Benny said.

“I assure you, Mr. Sweeney, these children are very good workers,” Grandfather said. “With their help, I’m sure you’ll be able to open on time, Ken.”

“It’s settled then.” Ken banged his cane on the ground. “Let’s finish our breakfast. You’re welcome to join us, Jack.”

“I’ve already eaten,” Mr. Sweeney said coldly.

“After breakfast, we’ll find some old clothes, gloves, and shoes for you all,” Ken told the Aldens. “Then you can help Jack clean things up. With a little luck, the maze will open on schedule today.”

Once the Aldens were dressed for cleaning up manure, Mr. Sweeney passed out shovels¹⁵ and a wheelbarrow. Then he showed them where to dump the manure.

“I may use it for the garden later,” Mr. Sweeney explained.

Then he led the children back to the maze. “I’ve been working on the path straight ahead,” Mr. Sweeney said. “Why don’t you kids work the paths that go off over there? I haven’t been down that way.” Mr. Sweeney gestured toward the right.

“Okay,” the Aldens agreed.

Before Mr. Sweeney turned to leave, Violet told him about the light she’d seen moving through the maze during the night.

“Jessie and I also saw a light on in your place, Mr. Sweeney,” Violet said. “So we know you were up. Did you see anything unusual?”

“Nope,” Mr. Sweeney said.

“What were you doing up in the middle of the night?” Jessie asked. “Did you go outside to check on the maze?”

Mr. Sweeney looked annoyed. “No. I got up to use the bathroom. Then I went right back to bed. Same as every other night.”

“So maybe the person who spread the manure was carrying the light,” Henry said. “Do you know anyone who would want to sabotage¹⁶ the corn maze?”

“Can’t think of anyone,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “Look, I really don’t have time for all these questions,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Now, I thought you kids wanted to help.”

“We do,” Violet said. “But we also want to figure out who’s been making such a mess in the maze.”

“We’re good at solving mysteries,” Henry said.

“Well, right now I need kids who are good at cleaning things up rather than kids who are good at solving mysteries.” He set off down the maze path.

“I don’t think Mr. Sweeney likes us very much,” Benny said after the older man had left.

“He sure doesn’t like us asking questions,” Henry said. “Do you think he could have anything to do with the vandalism?”

“Why would he vandalize Ken’s maze?” Violet asked. “It looks like he’s the one who ends up doing most of the cleanup.”

“Plus, he and Ken are friends,” Benny said. “He works for Ken. And he lives right by Ken, on his land!”

“Well, he sure isn’t very friendly,” Jessie put in. “But maybe that’s just because he’s had a lot of extra work to do lately.”

“Speaking of work, we’d better get started,” Henry said as he grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow.

The Aldens started down the main path, then followed the path that veered¹⁷ off to the right.

“Yuck,” Benny said, stepping gingerly. This is disgusting!” He jabbed his shovel into a pile of manure and plopped it into the wheelbarrow.

“Wait a minute!” Violet said. “Look! There are footprints over here.”

“Mr. Sweeney said he hasn’t been down this path yet,” Henry said. “So the footprints must belong to the person who made all this mess.”

The footprints were long and narrow and pointed¹⁴ at the tip.

“They look like prints from cowboy boots,” Violet said.

“You could be right, Violet,” Jessie said.

“Mr. Sweeney had on cowboy boots,” Benny pointed out.

“I bet a lot of people who live around here wear cowboy boots,” Violet said.

“Violet’s right,” Henry said. “We don’t want to jump to any wrong conclusions.”

“Besides,” Violet put in. “It’s possible Mr. Sweeney did come down this path after all. Maybe he just didn’t remember.”

For the next couple of hours, the Aldens mucked out the maze paths and dumped the manure in the pile behind the storage shed.

“There sure are a lot of paths in this maze,” Jessie said as she wiped the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead.

Not every path was covered in manure, but the Aldens went down every path anyway. Cleaning up manure was hot, dirty work. But the important thing was getting the maze ready so Ken could open in the afternoon.

“Hey, what’s that?” Benny asked when they turned another corner. Something red lay in the dirt up ahead. Benny ran to see what it was.

“It’s a cap,” Benny said, picking it up.

“Not just a cap,” Jessie said. “It’s a cap that has a built-in flashlight. Look.” She flipped¹⁸ a tiny switch on the side of the cap and a bulb lit up.

“Wow! That’s pretty cool!” Benny exclaimed.

“I knew I’d seen a light in the maze last night,” Violet cried.

“Good work, Benny,” Henry said. “Whoever was in here last night probably dropped it.”

Mr. Sweeney came to check on them a few minutes later. “How are you kids doing?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” Jessie said. “We’re almost done with all the paths on this side of the maze.”

“Good.” Mr. Sweeney nodded.

“Mr. Sweeney?” Benny held up the cap he’d found. “We found this while we were working. Do you know who it belongs to?”

Mr. Sweeney squinted¹⁹ at the cap in Benny’s hand. “It’s not mine.”

“Does it belong to Ken?” Violet asked.

“Don’t know,” Mr. Sweeney replied. “You’d have to ask him.”

“No, it’s not my cap,” Ken said later when the Aldens showed the cap to him. “Where did you find it?”

“We found it inside the maze,” Henry said.

“We’re wondering if it belongs to the person who dumped the manure there,” Jessie added.

Ken frowned. “I wish I knew who that was.”

“You don’t have any idea?” Grandfather asked.

“Not a clue,” Ken replied. “But I’ll tell you something. No one is going to scare me into canceling the festival. The King Corn Days Festival must go on!” He pounded his fist on the table.

“Yeah!” shouted Benny.

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 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

3 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 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》

9 overalls   

n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣

参考例句：

• He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
• He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤，换上了一套西服。

10 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

11 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

13 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

16 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

17 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

19 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。