儿童英语读物 棚车少年 Boxcar Children 3 树林里的新家

III—A New Home in the Woods

AT LAST Jessie opened her eyes. It was morning, but the sun was covered by clouds. She sat up and looked all around her, and then she looked at the sky. It seemed like night, for it was very dark. Suddenly it began to thunder, and she saw that it was really going to rain.

“What shall we do? Where shall we go?” thought Jessie.

The wind was blowing more and more clouds across the sky, and the lightning was very near.

She walked a little way into the woods, looking for a place to go out of the rain.

“Where shall we go?” she thought again.

Then she saw something ahead of her in the woods. It was an old boxcar.

“What a good house that will be in the rain!” she thought.

She ran over to the boxcar. There was no engine, and the track¹ was old and rusty². It was covered with grass and bushes³ because it had not been used for a long time.

“It is a boxcar,” Jessie said. “We can get into it and stay until it stops raining.”

She ran back as fast as she could to the other children. The sky was black, and the wind was blowing very hard.

“Hurry! Hurry!” cried Jessie. “I have found a good place! Hurry as fast as you can!”

Henry took Benny’s hand, and they all ran through the woods after Jessie.

“It’s beginning to rain!” cried Henry.

“We’ll soon be there,” Jessie shouted back. “It is not far. When we get there, you must help me open the door. It is heavy.”

The stump⁴ of a big tree stood under the door of the boxcar and was just right for a step. Jessie and Henry jumped up on the old dead stump and rolled back the heavy door of the car. Henry looked in.

“There is nothing in here,” he said. “Come, Benny. We’ll help you up.”

Violet⁵ went in next, and, last of all, Jessie and Henry climbed in.

They were just in time. How the wind did blow! They rolled the door shut, and then it really began to rain. Oh, how it did rain! It just rained and rained. The children could hear it on the top of the boxcar, but no rain came in.

“What a good place this is!” said Violet. “It is just like a warm little house with one room.”

After awhile the rain and lightning and thunder stopped, and the wind did not blow so hard. Then Henry opened the door and looked out. All the children looked out into the woods. The sun was shining, but some water still fell from the trees. In front of the boxcar a pretty little brook⁶ ran over the rocks, with a waterfall in it.

“What a beautiful place!” said Violet.

“Henry!” cried Jessie. “Let’s live here!”

“Live here?” asked Henry.

“Yes! Why not?” said Jessie. “This boxcar is a fine little house. It is dry and warm in the rain.”

“We could wash in the brook,” said Violet.

“Please, Henry,” begged Jessie. “We could have the nicest little home here, and we could find some dishes, and make four beds and a table, and maybe chairs!”

“No,” said Benny. “I don’t want to live here, Jessie.”

“Oh, dear, why not, Benny?” asked Jessie.

“I’m afraid the engine will come and take us away,” answered Benny.

Henry and Jessie laughed. “Oh, no, Benny,” said Henry. “The engine will never take this car away. It is an old, old car, and grass and bushes are growing all over the track.”

“Then doesn’t the engine use this track any more?” asked Benny.

“No, indeed,” said Henry. He was beginning to want to live in the boxcar, too.

“We’ll stay here today, anyway,”

“Then can I have my dinner here?” asked Benny.

“Yes, you shall have dinner now,” said Henry.

So Jessie took out the last loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces, but it was very dry. Benny ate the bread, but soon he began to cry.

“I want some milk, too, Jessie,” he begged.

“He ought to have milk,” said Henry. “I’ll go to the next town and get some.”

But Henry did not want to start. He looked to see how much money he had. Then he stood thinking.

At last he said, “I don’t want to leave you girls alone.”

“Oh,” said Jessie, “we’ll be all right, Henry. We’ll have a surprise for you when you come back. You just wait and see!”

“Good-by, Henry,” said Benny.

So Henry walked off through the woods.

When he had gone, Jessie said, “Now, children, what do you think we are going to do? What do you think I saw over in the woods? I saw some blueberries!”

“Oh, oh!” cried Benny. “I know what blueberries are. Can we have blueberries and milk, Jessie?”

“Yes,” Jessie was beginning. But she suddenly stopped, for she heard a noise. Crack⁷, crack, crack! Something was in the woods.

1 track   

n.轨道；足迹；痕迹；磁轨；途径；vt.循路而行；追踪；通过；用纤拉；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent.这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• The police are on his track.警察在跟踪他。

2 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

3 bushes   

n.灌木（丛）( bush的名词复数 )；[机械学]（金属）衬套；[电学]（绝缘）套管；类似灌木的东西（尤指浓密的毛发或皮毛）

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

5 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。

6 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。

7 crack   

vi.发破裂声；噼啪地响；vt./vi.（使）开裂；破裂；n.裂缝，缝隙；爆裂声，破裂声，劈啪声

参考例句：

• There's a crack in this cup.这个杯子上有个裂缝。
• There's a crack on the underneath of the bowl.碗底有一道裂缝。