Chapter 9 8.margot

Because Stuart was so small, it was difficult to find him from the house.His parents and brother George seldom caught sight of him--they called him often; By the time you get into the bedroom, he may have climbed onto the chair without you seeing him.Mr. Little was always worried about losing him and never getting him back.So he made him a little red hat, like the kind that hunters wear, so that he could be seen easily. One day, the seven-year-old Stuart was in the kitchen watching his mother make cornstarch pudding.He was hungry, and when Mrs. Little opened the refrigerator door to get something, Stuart slipped in to see if he could find some cheese.Of course, he thought his mother had seen him, but when the door closed he found himself locked inside to his horror.

"Help me!" he shouted. "It's too dark in here. The fridge is freezing. Help! Get me out! I'll be freezing in a minute." But his voice was too weak to penetrate the thick walls of the refrigerator.He groped forward in the dark and accidentally fell into the prunes jam.It's so cold there.Stuart gritted his upper teeth from the cold.It wasn't until half an hour later that Mrs. Little opened the refrigerator door again to find him standing on the plate of cream, flapping his arms in an attempt to keep warm, jumping up and down, and breathing on his hands. "Poor thing!" she exclaimed. "Stuart, my poor little son."

"How about a brandy for me?" said Stuart. "I'm chilled to the bone." But his mother gave him some broth, put him on the bed of cigarette boxes, and put a toy hot water bottle on his feet.Even so, Stuart caught a bad cold, which turned into bronchitis, and kept him in bed for almost two weeks. During his illness, other family members showed great concern for him.Mrs. Little came to play "tick-tack-toe" with him. ②George made him a small pipe for blowing soap bubbles, and a pair of bows and arrows.Mr. Little made him a pair of skates out of two paper clips.

One cold afternoon, when Mrs. Little took her rag out of the window to shake, she saw a little bird lying on the windowsill that was about to freeze to death.She picked up the bird and put it by the stove, and after a while it flapped its wings and opened its eyes.It was a lovely little female bird, brown with a yellow stripe on its breast.The Littles were totally at odds as to what kind of bird she was. "She's Big Eyed Willy," said George scientifically. ③ "I think she's more like a little wren," said Mr. Little.Whatever bird she was, they took her into the living room and fed and watered her.Before long, she felt better and began bouncing about the house cautiously and curiously.After a while, she jumped up the stairs and came to Stuart's bedroom.

"Hello," said Stuart. "Who are you? Where are you from?" "I am Margot," said the bird softly in a sweet voice, "from the fields where the tall wheat grew, from the meadows where the thistles and ferns grew, from the embroidered Come to the valley of the daisy, I like to whistle." Stuart sat up immediately. "Say it again!" he said. "No," Margo replied. "I have a sore throat." "Me too," said Stuart. "I've got bronchitis. You'd better not get too close to me. It's easy to catch the infection."

"Then I'll stand at the door," said Margo. "You can use some of my mouthwash if you like," said Stuart. "Here's nasal drops, and plenty of Klinex tissues⑥." "Thank you very much, it's very kind of you," replied the bird. "Did they take your temperature?" Stuart said, beginning to worry about the health of his new friend from the bottom of his heart. "No," said Margo, "I don't think that's necessary." "Oh, we'd better make sure," said Stuart, "because I don't want anything to happen to you. Here..." He handed her the thermometer.Margot put the thermometer under her tongue, and she and Stuart sat in silence for three minutes before carefully taking the thermometer out and examining it carefully.

"Normal," she announced.Stuart could feel his heart beating happily.He had never seen a creature as beautiful as this little bird before, and he was already in love with her. "I hope," he said, "my parents have prepared a place for you to sleep." "Oh yes," Margo replied. "I'm going to sleep on that potted Boston fern on the shelf in the living room. That's a pretty nice place in a city. Now, if you'll forgive me, I'm going to bed— It seems to me it's getting dark outside. I always go to bed at sunset. Good night, sir!"

"Please don't call me sir," cried Stuart. "Call me Stuart." "Okay," said the bird. "Good night, Stuart!" With that, she happily jumped downstairs. "Good night, Margo!" cried Stuart. "See you tomorrow morning." Stuart put the quilt back on. "That's a nice bird," he whispered, with a little sigh. Presently Mrs. Little came in, made Stuart's bed, and listened to his bedtime prayers, and Stuart asked her if the bird was safe to sleep in the living room. "Very safe, my dear," replied Mrs. Little.

"What about the cat named Snowball?" Stuart asked fearfully. "Snowball won't touch that bird," said his mother. "You'd better sleep and forget about it." Mrs. Little opened the window and turned off the light. Stuart closed his eyes and lay down in the dark for a while, but he couldn't fall asleep anyway.He tossed and turned on the bed, crumpling the sheets.All the time he thought of Snowball, and Snowball's shining eyes.Finally, he could bear it no longer, and turned on the light. "I can't always trust a cat," he muttered. "And I just can't sleep thinking of Margot being in danger."

Stuart pushed away the quilt and climbed out of bed.He put on his dressing gown and slippers, took his bow and arrow and flashlight, and tiptoed into the corridor.Everyone was asleep and the house was dark.Stuart found his way downstairs, and followed it slowly, soundlessly and cautiously, to the living room.His throat still hurts, and he's a little dizzy. "Even though I'm sick," he said to himself, "I can still get things done." Without making a sound, he sneaked past the lamp next to the bookshelf, and climbed up the bookshelf along the rope.In the faint street light cast from outside, Stuart could vaguely see Margot sleeping on the fern, her head hidden under the wings.

"Your eyes are tightly closed, and your chest is rising and falling peacefully," he softly repeated a line he heard in the movie.Then he hid behind a candlestick and waited, listening and watching.He heard nothing unusual for half an hour, except for the sound of Margot flapping her wings slightly in her dream.The clock struck ten loudly, and after the last stroke Stuart saw two yellow-green eyes shining behind the sofa. "That's it!" thought Stuart. "I guess something's going to happen here." He drew his bow and arrow. The eyes moved closer.Stuart was a little scared, but he was a brave mouse, even with a sore throat.He put the arrow on the bowstring and waited.Snowball crept silently and slowly towards the bookshelf, and jumped onto the chair again, so as to gain easy access to the pot of fern where Margo slept.Then he crouched down, ready to jump up.His tail was wagging excitedly back and forth.His eyes glowed.Stuart decided to take action.He stepped out from behind the candlestick, knelt down on one leg, drew the bowstring fully, and carefully aimed at Snowball's left ear—the place closest to him. "It's the prettiest thing I've ever done," thought Stuart.He shot the arrow straight into the cat's ear. Howling in pain, Snowball jumped up and fled to the kitchen. "Hit it!" said Stuart. "Thank God! Oh, what a night of work." He blew a kiss to sleeping Margot. The tired little mouse crawled back into bed a few minutes later - he finally wanted to sleep. Note ①: Gorgon powder pudding, the original text is Tapioca pudding, I just translated it literally, because I don’t know what pudding is, I only know patches—in the game, not on clothes. Note ② tick-tack-toe, there are two interpretations: one refers to a children's game played by two people.Two people take turns to draw a cross or a circle on a chessboard with nine squares, and the one whose three marks are connected by vertical, horizontal and oblique lines is the winner.One refers to another children's game. Players close their eyes and point to any set of numbers on the board with a pencil. The one with the most accumulated points wins. Note ③: Vireo, a small insect-eating songbird native to North America. Note ④: Wrens, Passeriformes, Wrenidae birds, small in shape, about 10 cm in body length, about 60 species.The head is light brown, with yellow eyebrow lines, and the upper body and tail are chestnut brown, covered with black fine spots.Especially the wren (called winter wren in North America) that breeds in temperate regions near the polar regions. It is about 10 cm long, brown, with dark stripes, similar in sex, short and slightly curved mouth, short rounded wings, and short and warped tail. .Common from Canada to Tierra del Fuego is the warbler wren, a grey-brown, striped, 12 cm long.Yellow-bellied wren, warbler family, body length is about 14 cm, body feathers are greenish brown on the back, chest and abdomen are white in front and yellow in the back, and the tail length is more than half of the body length.The largest species in the United States is the brown-billed wren of the desert Southwest.In addition, the imperial wren in the eastern United States and the canyon wren in the arid western North America are also birds with beautiful songs.The only striped-breasted species in the United States is the common rock wren, which nests among the rocks west of the Great Plains. Note ⑤: Spiraea (Meadowsweet), Rosaceae, deciduous shrub.The leaves are ovate, bloom in early summer, and the flowers are light red. It is native to Japan. ) Note ⑥: Kleenex: My friend Dou Dou Yun told me that this is a famous brand of nose wipes specially produced in the United States. Note ⑦: Fern is the kind that Garfield likes, but unfortunately I can't find a detailed introduction.