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儿童英语读物 The Stuffed Bear Mystery CHAPTER 9 Bear Talk

时间:2017-10-23 07:39来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The tubas stopped playing, the marchers stopped marching. But the Aldens didn’t stop looking for Herr Bear.

“I’m sad Herr Bear is still missing,” Violet said when the doors to the Old Mills Town Hall opened to the public. “But I’m glad Mrs. Keppel didn’t take him.”

Jessie wasn’t quite so sure. “She does have the birth certificate for her Fraulein Bear, but she wouldn’t tell Doc anything else. I still think she’s hiding something. I just have a feeling she’s connected to Herr Bear somehow.”

Henry was used to talking to bears now, but he wasn’t used to constantly sharing his sisters and brother. Wherever they went in their Three Bears costumes, people followed them.

“I thought we were supposed to follow people, not the other way around,” Benny said when he was alone for a minute with Henry. “I like being a bear, but I like being a detective better.”

As the children decided1 what to do next, they heard a familiar voice.

“Ugh, I hear Chatter2 Bear’s voice in the next aisle3!” Jessie said. “He’s so loud, he drowns out ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’ song. I suppose we ought to visit Miss Sayer’s booth. I wonder whether she’s having any success with her talking bear.”

So the Three Bears, along with their human brother, Henry, followed the sound of Chatter Bear’s voice until they came to Miss Sayer’s booth.

“What’s her bear saying, anyway?” Benny asked. “It’s different than before.”

As the children drew closer, they made out the words of Chatter Bear’s new message: “Come see Sayer’s All-Natural Cubs4. Come see Sayer’s All-Natural Cubs.”

Miss Sayer’s booth was packed with people who had answered Chatter Bear’s invitation.

Henry whispered to the younger children. “Listen, I’ll be in the next booth. Since Miss Sayer doesn’t know who you are, one of you can ask her a lot of questions while the other two of you look around. Peggy said she’s always copying other bears. Maybe the Herr Bear will turn up in Miss Sayer’s booth.”

Jessie looked at Henry through the eye openings of her costume. “I’d also like to find out if she took all that nice fleece that disappeared from the Firmans’ barn. Okay, bears, let’s go.” She took hold of Benny’s paw in one hand and Violet’s in the other.

“Oh, no!” Jessie said when she finally got a good look at Miss Sayer’s booth.

Violet touched Jessie’s arm with her paw. “What’s the matter?”

Jessie held out her paw. “Look! Those are copies of Peggy Bears.”

The Three Bears stared at the many bears on the shelves. Sure enough, there was a row of stuffed bears that looked almost the same as Peggy’s.

“They’re not as nice,” Violet whispered to Jessie. “Some of the stitching is loose. They’re not as plump, either.”

Jessie was mad. “So this is why she kept snooping around Doc Firman’s Toy Hospital and Woolly Farm!” she whispered to Benny and Violet. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find the Herr Bear here. Maybe she plans to copy him, too.”

“Oh, hello, bears,” Miss Sayer cried in her own chirpy voice. “Please come visit my cubs—and my Chatter Bear, of course. I’ll take your picture with him.”

The Three Bears posed in front of Chatter Bear. Their bear faces were smiling, but their real faces were frowning underneath5.

“I’ve never seen your bears before,” Jessie said in a deep voice she hoped Miss Sayer wouldn’t recognize. “Are they new?”

Miss Sayer brought over one of the fleecy bears, whose stuffing wasn’t quite tucked in. “Yes, they’re my new line of bears—the old-fashioned kind that don’t talk like my Chatter Bear here. Would you like to hold this one? It’s stuffed with real fleece from real sheep.”

Violet decided to learn more about Chatter Bear’s new voice. “I heard your talking bear when he was in Doctor Firman’s Toy Hospital. Didn’t he say a different message a few days ago?”

Miss Sayer waved off Violet’s question. “Oh, I’m just using him to get attention for my new bears. Everyone wanted to see a talking bear, but parents don’t seem to want to buy one for their children,” she said. “I’ve been told children like bears they can talk to, not the other way around. Is that true?”

Violet thought about Mister B. “Yes,” she said, so quietly Miss Sayer didn’t hear her. Not that it mattered, since she was already trying to interest another customer in her All-Natural Cubs.

With all the commotion6 going on with the Three Bears, Chatter Bear, and the new bears, Henry saw his chance. He squeezed himself into the booth. Bending down, he took a close look at some of Miss Sayer’s new bears on the bottom shelf. He even searched behind some of them. Maybe he would find one bear that wasn’t new—the one-of-a-kind Swiss Herr Bear. But Sayer’s All-Natural Cubs were brand-new, all-of-a-kind bears.

“Well, don’t you three bears want a few of my All-Natural Cubs to bring home?” Miss Sayer asked the Alden bears.

Benny couldn’t stop himself from speaking up. “We like Peggy Bears!” he said, so loudly his voice rose even louder than Chatter Bear’s.

Miss Sayer moved away. “Then I guess you’re not interested in anything new and exciting.” She turned to a child who had arrived with her mother. “Perhaps you are, young lady. Meet one of my new All-Natural Cubs,” Miss Sayer told the child. “Would you like to hold it?”

“The stuffing is coming out,” the little girl said. “It’s too skinny.”

Miss Sayer bustled7 around the booth. “Not to worry. I’ve had so much … uh … interest in my bears, I had to order more before they were quite done. Let me show you what I can do.”

Miss Sayer unlocked a small storage cabinet. She pulled out the orange tote bag that was never far from her. “See all this fleece?” She grabbed a fistful from her bag. “This is the finest lamb’s wool around. That’s what goes into my bears.”

Henry overhead this. He stepped between Miss Sayer and the child. “Fleece like this goes into Peggy Bears, too. Where did you get it?”

For once, Miss Sayer couldn’t speak. “From a farm,” she finally answered, more slowly than usual.

“Oh, do you own a sheep farm?” the mother of the child asked. “With your own lambs?”

Miss Sayer took the rest of fleece from her bag. It began to expand into a big puff8 as she tried to come up with a truthful9 answer to the woman’s question.

“No, actually, I don’t have my own sheep farm.”

“But I do.”

The Three Bears, along with Henry and the other visitors, turned around.

Peggy Firman stood in Miss Sayer’s booth, looking over the rows of copycat bears on the shelves.

Miss Sayer put her hand down on the fleece puff and tried to hide it. Of course, it was much too big to hide.

Jessie was too quick for Miss Sayer. “I need some stuffing, too,” she said to the people in the booth. She patted her furry10 belly11. “I didn’t eat enough porridge.”

Peggy broke into a smile. “Thank you, Papa Bear. My fleece somehow walked out of my barn without being on one of my sheep. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad you helped me find it.”

Miss Sayer went over to Chatter Bear. She pushed a button. Finally the booth quieted down. “I’m sorry, Peggy. When Doc couldn’t get Chatter Bear working, I decided he was right. Children want bears to cuddle, not to talk. So I decided to finish some bears I’d started last year and use some natural wool to stuff them. I didn’t call them Hazel Bears, though.”

“That’s because you couldn’t,” Peggy said. “Putting your own name on these bears would have been wrong. You used some of my designs and now my wool fleece.”

The customers began to drift away. Henry and the Three Bears stayed with Peggy.

“The day Peggy taught us how to sort fleece, were you up in the loft12?” Henry asked.

Miss Sayer stared at Peggy. “Yes. You never let me help out with shearing13 the fleece or cleaning it. I wanted to learn how it was done in case my bear business became successful and I could buy a nice farm like Woolly Farm.”

Peggy sighed. “Miss Sayer, Doc and I have offered you a great deal of help over the years. We even let you into the studio and the toy hospital to borrow things. But I couldn’t give away all our secrets.”

Miss Sayer held one of her bears so tightly some of the stuffing squeezed out. “I know, Peggy. I’m sorry. I get ideas, but then I don’t stick with them very long. I like bears, but I can’t figure out how to make children like my bears.”

Peggy seemed a little less upset. “Well, that’s the real secret, isn’t it? Why don’t you ask these three bears?”

Miss Sayer looked at the Aldens in their bear outfits14. She still had no idea who they were. “Well, what’s the secret about bears?”

Benny spoke15 up first. “They have to be fat, not skinny. And soft.”

“They shouldn’t talk too much,” Violet said.

“Or be too big, because then you can’t hold them,” Jessie added.

“What about old bears?” Miss Sayer asked, forgetting everything the children had just told her. “I could find old bears, fix them up, and sell them for a lot of money. Yes, that’s an idea I never thought of.”

Henry looked at Miss Sayer. “Are you sure you never thought of it?”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 decided lvqzZd     
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 chatter BUfyN     
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战
参考例句:
  • Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
  • I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。
3 aisle qxPz3     
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
参考例句:
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
4 cubs 01d925a0dc25c0b909e51536316e8697     
n.幼小的兽,不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
  • Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
6 commotion 3X3yo     
n.骚动,动乱
参考例句:
  • They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵,引起了一阵骚乱。
  • Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间,整条街道变得一片混乱。
7 bustled 9467abd9ace0cff070d56f0196327c70     
闹哄哄地忙乱,奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 ); 催促
参考例句:
  • She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
  • The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。
8 puff y0cz8     
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气
参考例句:
  • He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
  • They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。
9 truthful OmpwN     
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的
参考例句:
  • You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心,他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
  • I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。
10 furry Rssz2D     
adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的
参考例句:
  • This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
  • Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗,当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。
11 belly QyKzLi     
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
参考例句:
  • The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
  • His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
12 loft VkhyQ     
n.阁楼,顶楼
参考例句:
  • We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
  • By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下,他们就可以多出两间卧室。
13 shearing 3cd312405f52385b91c03df30d2ce730     
n.剪羊毛,剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 );切断;剪切
参考例句:
  • The farmer is shearing his sheep. 那农夫正在给他的羊剪毛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The result of this shearing force is to push the endoplasm forward. 这种剪切力作用的结果是推动内质向前。 来自辞典例句
14 outfits ed01b85fb10ede2eb7d337e0ea2d0bb3     
n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 );一套服装;集体;组织v.装备,配置设备,供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
  • Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具,因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句
15 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
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