The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats

    There was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of them as ever mother was of her children. One day she had to go into the wood to fetch food for them, so she called them all round her.
    "Dear children," said she, "I am going out into the wood; and while I am gone, be on your guard against the wolf, for when he were once to get inside he would eat you up, skin, bones, and all. The wretch¹ often disguises himself, but he may always be known by his hoarse² voice and black paws.""Dear mother," answered the kids, "you need not be afraid, we will take good care of ourselves." And the mother bleated³ good-bye, and went on her way with an easy mind.
    It was not long before someone came knocking at the house door, and crying out,"Open the door, my dear children, your mother has come back, and has brought each of you something."But the little kids knew it was the wolf by the hoarse voice.
    "We will not open the door," cried they; "you are not our mother; she has a delicate and sweet voice, and your voice is hoarse; you must be the wolf."Then off went the wolf to a shop and bought a big lump of chalk, and ate it up to make his voice soft. And then he came back, knocked at the house door, and cried,"Open the door, my dear children, your mother is here, and has brought each of you something."But the wolf had put up his black paws against the window, and the kids, seeing this, cried out, "We will not open the door; our mother has no black paws like you; you must be the wolf."The wolf then ran to a baker⁴.
    "Baker," said he, "I am hurt in the foot; pray spread some dough⁵ over the place."And when the baker had plastered his feet, he ran to the miller⁶.
    "Miller," said he, "strew⁷ me some white meal over my paws." But the miller refused, thinking the wolf must be meaning harm to someone.
    "If you don't do it," cried the wolf, "I'll eat you up!"And the miller was afraid and did as he was told. And that just shows what men are.
    And now came the rogue⁸ the third time to the door and knocked. "Open, children!" cried he. "Your dear mother has come home, and brought you each something from the wood.""First show us your paws," said the kids, "so that we may know if you are really our mother or not."And he put up his paws against the window, and when they saw that they were white, all seemed right, and they opened the door; and when he was inside they saw it was the wolf, and they were terrified and tried to hide themselves. One ran under the table, the second got into the bed, the third into the oven, the fourth ran into the kitchen, the fifth hid in the cupboard, the sixth under the sink, the seventh in the clock-case. But the wolf found them all, and gave them short shrift; one after the other he swallowed down, all but the youngest, who was hid in the clock-case. And so the wolf, having got what he wanted, strolled forth⁹ into the green meadows, and laying himself down under a tree, he fell asleep.
    Not long after, the mother goat came back from the wood; and, oh! what a sight met her eyes! The door was standing¹⁰ wide open; table, chairs, and stools, all thrown about; dishes broken; quilt and pillows torn off the bed. She sought her children; they were nowhere to be found. She called to each of them by name, but nobody answered, until she came to the name of the youngest.
    "Here I am, Mother," a little voice cried, "here, in the clock-case."And so she helped him out, and heard how the wolf had come, and eaten all the rest. And you may think how she cried for the loss of her dear children. At last in her grief she wandered out of doors, and the youngest kid with her; and when they came into the meadow, there they saw the wolf lying under a tree, and snoring so that the branches shook. The mother goat looked at him carefully on all sides and she noticed how something inside his body was moving and struggling.
    "Dear me!" thought she. "Can it be that my poor children that he devoured¹¹ for his evening meal are still alive?" And she sent the little kid back to the house for a pair of shears¹², and needle, and thread. Then she cut the wolf's body open, and no sooner had she made one snip¹³ then out came the head of one of the kids; and then another snip, and then one after the other the six little kids all jumped out alive and well, for in his greediness the rogue had swallowed them down whole. How delightful¹⁴ this was! So they comforted their dear mother and hopped¹⁵ about like tailors at a wedding.
    "Now fetch some good hard stones," said the mother, "and we will fill his body with them, as he lies asleep."And so they fetched some in all haste, and put them inside him, and the mother sewed him up so quickly again that he was none the wiser.
    When the wolf at last awoke, and got up, the stones inside him made him feel very thirsty, and as he was going to the brook¹⁶ to drink, they struck and rattled¹⁷ one against another. And so he cried out:
    What is this I feel inside me.
    Knocking hard against my bones?
    How should such a thing betide me!
    They were kids, and now they're stones.
    So he came to the brook, and stooped to drink, but the heavy stones weighed him down, so he fell over into the water and was drowned. And when the seven little kids saw it they came up running.
    "The wolf is dead, the wolf is dead!" they cried, and taking hands, they danced with their mother all about the place.

1 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

2 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

3 bleated   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• The lost lamb bleated. 迷路的小羊咩咩的叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She bleated her disapproval of her son's marriage to Amy. 她用颤抖的声音表示不赞成儿子与艾米的婚事。 来自辞典例句

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 strew   

vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于

参考例句：

• Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
• Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。

8 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

12 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

13 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

14 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

15 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

16 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

17 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。