儿童英语读物 灯塔之谜 The Lighthouse Mystery Chapter 7 焗黄豆和海鲜汤

CHAPTER¹ 7
Baked³ Beans⁴ and Chowder

Henry went to the store to get the paper. He nearly bumped⁵ into the Cook boy coming out. The angry look on his face kept Henry from even trying to say hello.

“What’s up now?” Henry wondered. Then he forgot about the boy because a sign on the store door said:

VILLAGE SUPPER. JULY 25TH.

Henry said to Mr. Hall, “What’s this supper on the twenty-fifth?”

Mr. Hall sat down and said, “Oh, every July this village has a chowder supper outdoors⁶. Everybody in town comes. We have chowder and baked beans, hot rolls and coffee, pies and cakes. It costs one dollar.”

“It sounds good,” said Hendry. “Can anybody come?”

“Oh, yes. We want all the money we can get. We are trying to put in street lights. This year I think we will do it. All the tickets will be sold in one day. Everybody wants to come.”

“I had better buy five tickets now,” said Henry. “My family will all love to come.”

“Here you are,” said Mr. Hall. He gave Henry five tickets. “I’ll tell you something else, too. You’ll be surprised. Guess who makes the chowder and coffee and baked beans? Larry Cook! You see he isn’t all bad. He does this every year. He loves to cook.”

“Imagine that,” said Henry. “I wouldn’t think it.”

“No, that Larry Cook is a surprise in many ways.”

“Well, so he is,” said Henry, thinking⁷. “I met him as I came into the store. He seemed crosser than ever.”

“Want to know why?” asked Mr. Hall. “Every year two summer people come up and help him. This year they sent word they can’t come. That’s why Larry is crosser than ever. He can’t do this alone with such a big crowd. Everybody else is busy making pies.”

“I wonder if we could help him?” said Henry. “We would do just as he said. Maybe that would cheer him up.”

“I’m sure it would. Your family would be a big help.”

Henry went home with the tickets and the paper and the news. Everyone wanted to help Larry.

“I think Mr. Hall will tell him what I said,” said Henry. “But if we meet him, we’ll tell him, too.”

“I heard something new about Larry’s father,” said Benny. “He is night watchman sometimes at the shipyard. So off and on he is busy all night. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t know his boat is gone.”

Later that day the Aldens walked over to the dock⁸. They met Larry. He went by them with a gruff hello.

Benny said, “Wait a minute, Larry. Would you like some help with your supper? We can peel onions and potatoes, and we all know how to get clams⁹ out of the shells¹⁰.”

“Do you?” asked Larry. He almost smiled. “There will sure be a lot of clams. I can’t do it alone.”

“Then we can help?” asked Benny.

“Yes, I’d be glad of your help,” said Larry.

“Grandfather will help, too,” said Jessie. “He is fine at getting out clams.”

“Well, well!” said Larry. “I never thought Mr. Alden would be working for me, that’s sure. You come around at nine Saturday morning, and we’ll all get to work.”

When Saturday came, the five Aldens went to meet Larry behind the store. There was a big field there, with a place for cooking and a tent for shelter¹¹. Other men had set up the long tables and chairs.

Larry had five chairs ready. The Aldens sat down and started to peel potatoes.

Larry said, “We’ll get through quicker this year with six workers. I always had three.”

When the onions came around, Larry had big pails¹² of water. “Peel the onions under water,” he said. “If you don’t, you will cry and not be able to see.”

It was a fine idea, for there were many onions.

Next Larry and the Aldens got the clams out of their shells. They had piles¹³ and piles of clams.

“You should see this crowd eat,” said Larry. “We have to have baked beans, too. Chowder isn’t enough.”

The beans were all baked ahead¹⁴ of time.

Henry said, “Too bad we can’t get more food from the ocean.” But if Larry heard him, he kept quiet.

At five o’clock the people began to come. It certainly looked as if everyone in town was there. Jessie had made paper caps for the family, to show that they were waiters. Other people helped, too.

Larry was a different boy. He smiled at everyone. He could hardly believe it when he saw Grandfather waiting on table in a paper hat.

One tall man was a summer visitor, just going through the town. He called Benny and said, “Sonny, ask the cook how he makes baked beans.”

“He won’t tell,” said Benny. “A lot of people want to know. He always says, ‘That is my secret.’ The chowder is secret, too.”

After the stranger¹⁵ had finished supper he went out to the kitchen tent to talk to Larry. But he did not learn how to bake² the beans.

Larry was very polite and was willing¹⁶ to talk. But he said just what Benny had said—“That is my secret, sir.”

“They say you like to cook,” said the stranger.

“Oh, yes. Ever since I was fourteen I have cooked this supper. I love to cook. I like to put things together to see what will happen.”

“Oh, do you? Do you go to college?”

“No.” said Larry. He scowled¹⁸.

The man saw the scowl¹⁷, so he said goodbye to Larry and went down to his car. Nobody else noticed him very much. And nobody knew his name until some time later. Then they were really surprised.

1 chapter   

n.章，篇，重要章节

参考例句：

• I will skip the next chapter.我将略过下一章。
• Go and open a wonderful new chapter.去开启美好的新篇章。

2 bake   

v.烤，烘，焙；烧硬，烘干(砖块、陶器等)

参考例句：

• I will bake a delicious cake for her.我将为她烤制美味的蛋糕。
• The bread will not bake if the fire is too small.如果火太小，面包就烤不成。

3 baked   

adj.烘烤制作的，[俚语] 喝醉的，酒醉的v.烤( bake的过去式和过去分词 )；烘焙；（将某物）烤硬；（变得）灼热

参考例句：

• a baked potato and beans 一份烤土豆加烘豆
• the delectable smell of freshly baked bread 新烤面包的香味

4 beans   

n.豆( bean的名词复数 )；[亦用复数][口语][通常用于否定结构]丝毫；[复数][美国口语]毫无价值的东西；（咖啡树或几种其他植物的）子实

参考例句：

• a baked potato and beans 一份烤土豆加烘豆
• a can of beans 豆罐头

5 bumped   

凸起的，凸状的

参考例句：

• In the dark I bumped into a chair. 我在黑暗中撞上了一把椅子。
• I bumped against an old friend in town today. 我今天在城里偶然碰见了一个老朋友。

6 outdoors   

adv.在户外，在野外

参考例句：

• I like to practice yoga outdoors.我喜欢在户外练习瑜伽。
• The boys are playing outdoors.男孩们在户外玩。

7 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。

8 dock   

n.码头；被告席；vt.使(船)进港；扣；vi.进港

参考例句：

• We took the children to the dock to see the ships.我们带孩子们到码头去看轮船。
• The corrupt official stood in the dock.那贪官站在被告席上。

9 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

10 shells   

n.（贝、卵、坚果等的）壳( shell的名词复数 )；外壳；炮弹；（人的）表面性格

参考例句：

• We collected shells on the beach. 我们在海滩拾贝壳。
• But at last the shells cracked, one after another. 最后，蛋壳一个接着一个地裂开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 shelter   

n.掩蔽，掩蔽处，避身处；庇护所，避难所，庇护；vt.庇护，保护，隐匿；vi.躲避

参考例句：

• We took shelter from the rain in a cave.我们在一个山洞里避雨。
• Trees are a shelter from the sun.树木可以遮挡阳光。

12 pails   

n.桶，提桶( pail的名词复数 )；一桶的量

参考例句：

• Families upstairs have to carry pails to the hydrant downstairs for water. 住在楼上的人家得提着水桶去楼下的水龙头打水。 来自互联网
• We brought some spades, pails and saplings with us. 同学们拿着铁锨、水桶和小树苗上路了。 来自互联网

13 piles   

痔，痔疮； 桩( pile的名词复数 )； 一堆； 绒头； 摞

参考例句：

• piles of dusty books 一摞一摞布满灰尘的书
• a substructure of timber piles 木桩下部结构

14 ahead   

adv.在前，向前，提前，在前面

参考例句：

• We have to go ahead to find a garage.我们得到前边找个修车厂。
• Youth looks ahead and age backward.青年人向前看，老年人向后看。

15 stranger   

n.陌生人；外地人，异乡人

参考例句：

• A stranger walked up to me and asked me the time.一个陌生人走到我跟前，问我时间。
• It's hard for a stranger to make friends in this town.外地人在这个城里很难交朋友。

16 willing   

adj.愿意的，自愿的，乐意的，心甘情愿的

参考例句：

• We never lack food and clothing if we're willing to work.如果我们愿意工作,就不会缺吃少穿。
• He's quite willing to pay the price I ask.他很愿意照我的要价付钱。

17 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

18 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。