儿童英语读物 神秘农场 Mystery Ranch Chapter 4 简姑婆的第一顿饭

Let’s not wait for Maggie,” Jessie said, in her businesslike way. “Let’s get dinner.”

Soon, Violet¹ was busy beating eggs in a bowl. Jessie put butter in a big pan² and set it on the stove³. The girls put pieces of dry bread in the eggs and milk, and Jessie began to brown them in the pan.

“My, that smells good!” cried Maggie, coming into the kitchen. “She going to eat this?”

“No,” said Jessie. “I’m just going to give her something to drink. But we’ll eat first.”

Violet had found a pretty blue cloth⁴ and some white flowers. She had set three places with fine old blue plates. A knife and fork were at each place, and a glass of milk.

“All ready!” Jessie said, with a smile. “Come on, Maggie, and sit down. I hope you’ll have enough to eat tonight.”

“It’s the most I have had for two weeks, anyway,” said Maggie. “You are a good cook for a young girl.”

They did not hear a sound from the bedroom. At last, even Maggie couldn’t eat any more.

“Now for Aunt Jane,” said Violet, getting up. She opened the lunch box and took out an orange.

“I could drink that myself!” Violet said, watching Jessie mix the orange juice with a beaten egg.

Jessie knocked gently⁵ on the bedroom door.

“Well, come in!” said Aunt Jane. “Don’t stand there knocking!”

Her voice was cross, but Jessie thought she had been lying there waiting for something to happen. She put the glass on the table. Then she went over to the bed, and bent⁶ over the tiny little lady.

“Aunt Jane, this is delicious,” she said. “Violet and I made it just for you.”

Jessie went on, “Now I’m going to lift you up higher in the bed, so you can drink better.”

To the old lady’s surprise, Jessie lifted her in her strong arms as if she were a child. Then she took the glass and sat down by the bed.

“Drink it slowly,” she said. “As Benny would say, ‘Don’t rush it.’”

“Who is this Benny?”

“Well,” began Jessie. “Benny is—” she stopped. “It’s so hard to tell you about our brother Benny.”

Violet came in, folding up the blue tablecloth⁷. She acted as if she had always lived there.

She said, “Benny is the funniest boy you ever saw, Aunt Jane, and he is good, too. He can always make people laugh. He loves our dog, Watch. Benny and Watch almost talk to each other. Benny always looks for Watch if things go wrong.”

Jessie noticed that her aunt was drinking the egg and orange; and not very slowly, either. She seemed to be very hungry.

“Who else is in your family?” asked Aunt Jane.

“Well, there’s Henry,” said Jessie. “He’s our oldest brother. He is very clever, and very kind and thoughtful⁸. He can make Benny mind, too, without being⁹ cross.”

“If your brothers are like you, I’d like to see them, too. Take the glass now, and go. I’m tired.”

Jessie bent down again and lowered¹⁰ the little lady from her high pillows¹¹.

“Call Maggie now,” said Aunt Jane.

The girls went out quietly and called Maggie. They finished washing¹² the dishes. Then they waited in the front room for Maggie.

“You see how she is,” said the tired woman. “First she wants me, and then she doesn’t. I think she is finally settled¹³ for the night. You might as well go to bed, too.”

“A fine idea,” said Jessie. “Where do you sleep?”

“In this room off the kitchen,” said Maggie. “If you want anything in the night, you can come down.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” said Jessie. “We won’t feel so strange here, knowing that.”

“Well, thank you both,” she answered. “It’s wonderful to have someone nice to talk to.”

The girls went up to their big room. They climbed into bed and talked awhile.

“How beautiful the stars are!” Violet said. “They seem so near.”

“I have never seen stars so bright before,” said Jessie. “It’s because there are no other lights at all.”

Just as they were going to sleep, Jessie laughed and said, “Violet, where do you suppose that young man went? The one on the train.”

“I can’t think,” answered Violet. “He just disappeared¹⁴ in the air!”

“A Mystery¹⁵ Man really,” said Jessie.

And so they fell asleep.

1 violet   

adj.紫色的；n.紫罗兰

参考例句：

• She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
• Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的，和平的和力量的颜色。

2 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

3 stove   

n.炉；窑；温室，干燥室；vt.以火炉烤；vbl.stave的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He cooks his meal with a gas stove.他用煤气炉做饭。
• The stove is smoking badly.那炉子烟冒得很厉害。

4 cloth   

n.布；植物；衣料

参考例句：

• This kind of cloth washes very well.这种布料很好洗涤。
• We make cotton into cloth.我们把棉花织成布。

5 gently   

adv.轻轻的；温和的

参考例句：

• I should knock at the door gently.我应该轻轻地敲门。
• Push your chair in gently.轻轻把椅子推进去。

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

8 thoughtful   

adj.思考的，沉思的，体贴的，关心的

参考例句：

• She is thoughtful for her friends.她很体贴她的朋友们。
• This is a thoughtful essay.这是一篇具有思想性的随笔。

9 being   

n.存在；生存；生命存在，生命，人， 本质；art.在，有，是

参考例句：

• Can you explain to me the purpose of being?你能对我解释一下存在的目的吗？
• What is the purpose of our being?我们生存的目的是什么？

10 lowered   

v.（使）降低， （使）跌落( lower的过去式和过去分词 )；削弱；削减；减少

参考例句：

• Every evening at sunset the flag was lowered. 每天傍晚日落时都要降旗。
• She lowered her eyelids, then sprang them open. 她低垂着眼睑，然后突然睁开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 pillows   

n.枕头( pillow的名词复数 )；用作枕头的东西

参考例句：

• She lay back against the pillows. 她半躺半坐靠在枕头上。
• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 washing   

n.洗，洗涤，洗衣，洗脸，洗澡，冲洗，冲刷

参考例句：

• A washing machine is run by a small electric motor.洗衣机由一台小电动机驱动。
• She hung the washing on the line to dry.她把洗好的衣服晾在绳子上。

13 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式

14 disappeared   

v.不见，消失( disappear的过去式和过去分词 )；不复存在；奭

参考例句：

• The plane disappeared behind a cloud. 飞机消失在云层里。
• He double-crossed the rest of the gang and disappeared with all the money. 他骗了其他同伙，携款潜逃了。

15 mystery   

n.神秘，奥秘，秘密，玄妙，不可思议的事

参考例句：

• He often tells stories full of mystery.他常讲些充满神秘色彩的故事。
• The mystery was never solved.这个奥秘始终未得到解释。