Chapter 15 Motorcycle mouse-1

The strong wind whistled and rolled over the corner.Snowflakes fluttered on the windows of the small inn with mountain views.In the inn, the fire in the fireplace is "crackling"; and the clock that is as old and tired as the inn is walking slowly "tick-tick" and "tick-tick". , recording the passing time, as if saying: "Wait a minute, wait a moment..." At this moment, the whole front room was waiting for a receptionist, a temporary luggage-handler, old Maite, the new housekeeper's son, Jean Bramble, oh, and Ralph, the The mouse that lived under the clock.

The receptionist dozed off, waiting for the guests to come and stay.And Matt, leaning against the wall watching TV, waited for the receptionist to finish.Jean, who was sitting on the floor watching TV, waited for his mother to put him to bed because he had school tomorrow.Ralph crouched beside Jean, also waiting for the grown-ups to leave so he could roll out his scooter.Unfortunately, his brothers, sisters, and distant relations waited with him, hiding in the woodpile or behind curtains. On TV, a racing car crashes into a truck and rolls down a cliff, bursting into flames. "Wow!" Jean said, staring at the TV screen, "There's a boy at our school named Brad Kirby who must love watching this. He has a BMX bike. His dad sometimes Take him to school in a big trailer." At this time, another police car appeared on the TV, chasing the racing car and driving to the edge of the cliff.Jean added, "Brad isn't exactly a buddy to me, he's the kind of loner."

Contrary to Jean's mind, Ralph preferred the scenes on TV.He said: "If I had such a car, I would never let it roll off the cliff." Ralph was no ordinary mouse.He listens to the children a lot and watches TV a lot, so he can talk now.But not everyone could understand him, only the lonely kids who shared Ralph's interest in racing cars and motorcycles could, if they bothered to listen.As for the other children, if they saw Ralph by chance, they would just say, "I saw a mouse, and 'cheep cheep' was so much fun." Matt was the only grown-up who could understand Ralph.He used to say to himself, "Yes, sir, that mouse is really one of a kind."

One hundred!Ralph knew the shop would never be so full of rats, though he had to admit that the rat-holes did get crowded in the winter, as his uneducated distant relatives moved in for warmth.Ralph's mother said that the rowdy outdoor rats had set a bad example for our civilized indoor rats. Ralph and Jean were admiring an ad for a truck that wouldn't roll over even on twisty roads.At this moment Matt went into the Leaping Frog Lounge, brought out a handful of popcorn, and dropped a kernel in front of Ralph. "Thanks!" said Ralph.He always likes to eat popcorn while watching TV.

As soon as the TV commercial was over, Mrs. Bramble came into the lobby and said to Jean, "Go to bed, kid. It's past bedtime. You know, the manager doesn't like you wandering around in the lobby." "Oh, mother, just let me finish the show," Jean begged, "I'll go back as soon as the guests come." At this time, there was the "creaking" sound of a car rolling on the snow, and the sound of anti-skid chains on the wheels.Jean stood up and walked backward step by step, so as not to miss the chase scene on TV with wheels spinning and sirens blazing.As he left, he greeted Ralph quietly with the tip of his finger, which no one noticed.Ralph wished Jean could stay up all night like a mouse.

As soon as the car stopped in front of the inn, the receptionist woke up from his dream immediately.Ralph scuttled quickly into the nest under the old clock.His nest was put together from such materials - used "Clenex" ①, a cableway ticket that the skier lost, and a few small carpet tassels that he bit off when no one was looking.Beside his nest are two of his most prized possessions: a little red motorcycle and a helmet made of half a ping-pong ball stuffed with thistles.These two treasures were a present from a little boy who lived here. The big clock on Ralph's head began to ring "bang, bang...", as if it would renew its strength from each impact.Ralph was afraid of the sound, but that was why he wanted to live here.The sound terrified his distant relatives.They thought that the big clock was going to throw them out.

Because they were terrified of the clock, so was Ralph's motorcycle. With a bang, the door closed.A few feet stepped heavily on the threshold.As soon as Matt opened the door, the two guests rushed in, and a gust of chilly wind blew Ralph's nest to pieces and whirled in the air.Don't get in the way, don't get in the way.As Ralph was thinking, he secretly looked at the two pairs of boots outside. They were called snow boots, and there were deep anti-skid lines on the soles. "Is there a place to stay tonight?" a man in big boots asked the receptionist. "Hmm...let me see." The receptionist muttered softly.Although he knew that the room was not full, he always acted as if the room was not enough.

Stop pretending!Ralph thought.Now he was getting impatient. The receptionist finally stopped being a stalker.Say, "Okay, you can stay in room 207. Please fill out this form first." Ralph's sharp ears could hear the scratching of the pen on the paper and the clattering of the keys.The receptionist slammed the bell on the desk to alert Matt, even though Matt was standing there waiting to carry the guests' luggage.The noise made Ralph shrink back in fright. One of the guests said to Matt: "No, we can find a room." The two guests entered the elevator with their luggage, leaving puddles of snow in their wake.

"Smoothie!" Matt muttered.Usually, guests who come here insist on carrying their luggage by themselves in order to save tips. The elevator door closed.Ralph was in such a panic that the water in the little pool in the front hall would dry out.Time passed little by little.The man in the red uniform who worked in the "Leaping Frog Lounge" also came out yawning, which meant that he was going to rest too, and the broadcast on the TV station was over.The receptionist locked the front door and left.If there were any more guests, the bell would have to be rung, and Matt would come and turn on the lights.

Finally, Lal slipped onto his motorcycle, straightened the rubber straps under his helmet, and grabbed his tail with one of his front paws to keep him from getting caught in the bars.We know that if a person can make a sound imitating the start of a motorcycle, the toy motorcycle will really move forward slowly.So, Ralph took a deep breath, let out a sound of "Huh, huh, huh...", and rushed out from under the big clock on his bicycle.The car drove faster and faster, passing through the puddle with a "swish", and the water splashed from under the wheels to the sides, looking like a pair of wings.This is a thrilling feeling.

All Ralph's brothers and sisters and distant relations hoped Mat would not notice them in the dim light.Suddenly, they all ran out of their hiding places.Of course, in this way, Ralph would have to show off even more.He took another deep breath and rode faster, the puddle's ① American trademark of a soft cleaning fiber. The water splashed higher and higher, leaving only a small wheel mark on the dry linoleum.Matt, who got up to add fire at night, couldn't help but put down the poker in his hand to enjoy the scene. Unfortunately, the little brothers and sisters are not satisfied, yes, especially now.Ralph used to take them up and down the halls on his motorcycle, and they were happy.But this way of playing will never satisfy the rowdy distant relatives outside.What they want is to ride for themselves. So, all the rats present demanded a motorcycle ride.They scuttled and jumped across the worn carpet to the linoleum, yelling, "Let me ride." "It's (time) me." "Hey, Ralph, come on down, let's ride for a while!" The wheel of the motorcycle slipped, the body of the motorcycle tilted, and Ralph ran an "8" with a "whoosh" font.He lost control all of a sudden, leaving the car stuck in a puddle of dirty snow. The bold outdoor mice waded over the water and grabbed the motorcycle. Ralph's eyes were quick and his hands were quick, shaking the water droplets all over his body, he jumped on the seat again, and after riding, he ran away Open it up and keep those claws out of it.Hopefully he can subdue his distant relatives.Ralph said, chattering his teeth as he turned the handlebars so as not to crush their little paws, "Go away, you're so small." "You'll forget to bring your tails forward, you'll put Tail caught in the wheel." He wiped his nose vigorously with his wet paw.He wished these little mice went to bed at night like people. "We don't!" Several rough mice grabbed the motorcycle and forced Ralph to stop, "You are not big yourself, you get off." At this time, all the mice began to complain: "Let us ride, or we will complain to your mother, she said you should let us ride." The cousins ​​who were about Ralph's age People were talking about how it wasn't fair that you, Ralph, had a motorcycle.Rats as good as you have never been given a motorcycle.A few rogue mice also said that their mothers said Ralph was a spoiled, selfish mouse who wouldn't be a good thing when he grew up. Ralph was hurt. "I'm not spoiled, I'm not selfish," he argues, grabbing his motorcycle from those clinging claws.He didn't feel selfish at all.He just wants to keep something that belongs only to him, which is very difficult for a mouse. "You're too greedy," said a cheeky outdoor mouse.Then all the mice, including the smallest mouse wrapped in the fringe of the carpet, coaxed together: "Ralph is greedy, Ralph is greedy!" At last Ralph was pissed off.He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Go away, you little stinky mice!" "Let's try it out," said the outdoor mice challengingly.Ralph knew they were not as brave as they pretended to be. Hearing these gunpowder-smelling words, the house mice fell silent.They were intimidated and hurt.They looked at Ralph sadly, and Ralph was ashamed. "You're swearing," said a mouse reproachfully. "Let me tell you, my mother doesn't like you calling me those dirty words," said another mouse. Ralph felt terrible. "Oh, never mind," said Ralph, "mainly because my motorcycle is so worn out that the tires are thin. If they do, where am I going to get another pair? " The little mice couldn't listen to this explanation at all. "But we never had a motorcycle," said one of them. "I know, but—" said Ralph, not knowing what to do next.It's not his fault that his younger brothers and sisters don't have motorcycles.Also, perhaps his words were too harsh for the little mice.He just wanted to keep his fellow pushing, jostling, scratching fellows in order. Matt must have read Ralph's mind, and lo and behold, he came to his rescue: he let out a "Shhh..." The sound was loud enough to startle the little mice without frightening them.As a result, they all ran back to their hiding places. "Thank you very much," said Ralph. "You're welcome." Matt turned the fire on again, and went back to sleep, leaving Ralph alone by the drying puddles.He stepped on the car again and walked through the puddles. Although the water was still splashing from under the wheels like a fan, the game that night suddenly became dull. Wearily Ralph pushed the bike back into the hole under the clock where it was safe.Drenched and numb from the cold, Ralph painstakingly wiped the mud and dirty paws from the chrome bars with little balls of Clenex print.When he wiped the exhaust pipe, he found that the exhaust pipe was loose, which was pulled by those little claws.The shock absorbers on the rear wheels were also loose. Ralph wiped all the grime off the car, polished the slats, and rummaged around in his den for a few tassels of blanket that, too badly, were apparently too thick for the exhaust pipe.He began to groom his damp mouse fur, feeling more and more uncomfortable.The tires were too thin, and he never wanted to risk riding his motorcycle on that rough carpet again.The car is wearing out bit by bit.His countrymen don't like him anymore, they'll gossip about him behind his back.Tomorrow morning, mother would risk coming downstairs to lecture him about being selfish and having a dirty mouth.Mom will also teach him that he should be a good leader for the little mice. Ralph built the nest again.He thought full of distress and regret, I am a bad mouse, I am a stinky mouse, and my brothers and sisters are definitely not.He crawled into the nest, curling his tail and hugging his body tightly.He wished he had left the Mountain View Inn so he would never see them again.But where can a mouse go in winter?With the wind and snow outside, he would freeze to death, starve to death, or be swept away by the wind.Maybe both are possible.Ralph shivered, pulling his tail tighter against his body.