美国小学英语教材5:第11课 神奇的牛奶罐(9)

 "Mercy on us!" whispered¹ Baucis to her husband. "If the young man has such a terrible appetite², I am afraid there will not be half enough supper!" 请饶恕我们吧！柏西斯跟她的丈夫低语道。如果那个年轻人有这么大的胃口，恐怕他最多只能吃个半饱！

Then they all went into the cottage. 接着他们都走进了小屋。

And now shall I tell you something that will make you open your eyes very wide? 那么现在我可以告诉你一件会使你感到非常吃惊的事情吗？

Quicksilver's staff, you remember, had set itself up against the wall of the cottage. 你记得水银的手杖是自己靠在小屋的墙上的。

Well, when its master entered the door, leaving this wonderful staff behind, 哎呀，当它的主人进了屋，而将这根奇妙的手杖落在后时，

what should it do but spread its little wings and go hopping³ and fluttering⁴ up the doorsteps! 它展开它的小翅膀，震颤着、跳跃着上了门前的台阶！

Tap, tap, went the staff on the kitchen floor; nor did it rest until it stood beside Quicksilver's chair. 哒，哒，手杖轻轻地敲打着厨房的地板前行，一直来到水银的椅子旁边才立住。

Old Philemon and his wife were so busy taking care of their guests that they did not notice what the staff was doing. 老菲利蒙和他的妻子忙着照顾客人，他们都没有注意到手杖在干什么。

The Wonderful Supper 美好的晚餐

As Baucis had said, there was but a scanty⁵ supper for two hungry travelers. 正如柏西斯所言，只能给两位饥饿的旅行者提供仅有的一点粗劣晚饭。

In the middle of the table was part of a brown loaf, with a piece of cheese on one side of it, and a dish of honeycomb⁶ on the other. 在桌子中央是一块黑面包，一边放着一块奶酪，另一边放着一盘蜂巢。

A pitcher⁷ nearly full of milk stood at a corner of the table; 一个几乎装满了牛奶的牛奶罐竖立在桌子的角上；

and when Baucis had filled two bowls and set them before the strangers, only a little milk remained at the bottom of the pitcher. 当柏西斯盛满了两碗牛奶放在那两个陌生人面前时，牛奶罐里只剩下一点点牛奶了。

1 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 appetite   

n.食欲，胃口；欲望，性欲；爱好，趣味

参考例句：

• The baby has a good appetite.这个婴儿食欲很好。
• She feels pretty well,but she hasn't much of an appetite.她精神还不错，不过胃口不太好。

3 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

4 fluttering   

v.飘动( flutter的现在分词 )；（心）快速跳动；振翼，拍翅膀

参考例句：

• The women were all fluttering about finishing their preparations for the wedding. 女人们做好婚礼准备后显得不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was autumn, and leaves were fluttering down in the light wind. 现在是秋天，树叶在微风中飘落下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

6 honeycomb   

n.蜜蜂窝；蜂窝状物

参考例句：

• He built a special hive,containing only one honeycomb.他特制了一个只有一个蜂窝的蜂箱。
• Bees store honey in the cells of the honeycomb.蜜蜂把蜂蜜储藏在蜂巢里。

7 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。