The Town Mouse and Country Mouse_说漂亮英语_免费在线阅读收听下载

The Town Mouse and Country Mouse

Johnny Town Mouse put his paws in his pockets and whistled to the wind as he sauntered down the country lane. At last, he came to a little door in the hedge, half-covered with ivy, and knocked.

"Surprise!" he called, as Pipin, his country cousin, unlatched the door.

"I've come to stay!"
"Then it's time for a feast," cried Pipin. He gathered up nuts and berries, cups of dew, and pieces of honeycomb laid out on a rush grass plate.

Johnny Town Mouse put his nose in the air. "Oh dear!" he sneered. He flicked away a berry with his paw. "This isn't my idea of a feast. And where am I to sleep?" He pointed at Pipin's mossy mattress. "Not there!"

"That is where I sleep..." Pipin began.
"No, no.This won't do," Johnny Town Mouse declared. "I think I've had enough of your country life. Let's go to town and live like kings."

The mice ran the station and scampered on board a train. It pulled away with a jolt and a blast, rattling over the tracks.

Pipin gazed out of the window. He watched as tall trees turned to houses. He sniffed smoke and sausages on the air.

"We're here! We're here!" cried Johnny Town Mouse.
They ran across the station, dodging between stamping feet.

"So many people..." thought Pipin, his heart pounding with fear.

They ran down dirty pavements, past belching buses and vrooming cars, until they came to a towering town house.

"Impressed?" asked Johnny Town Mouse, casually pointing his paw.
"Very," nodded Pipin.
"Now," said Johnny, "I'll show you a feast."

He led Pipin to the dining room, and a table groaning with food. Pipin's eyes grew rounder and rounder. And then they began to eat... ice cream and pie, chocolate and cheese, huge slices of cake topped with raspberry cream.

Pipin clutched his tummy and shut his eyes. "How wonderful," he sighed, "to live like this always."

"You think?" purred a voice in his ear.
"Oh, no!" cried Johnny Town Mouse. "It's the cat!"

The mice ran this way and that. After them pounced the hungry cat.

"Quick!" called Johnny Town Mouse. "Into this hole."
"Oh, my paws and whiskers," said Pipin, sinking to the floor. "Please, take me home."

Back to the station they ran, dancing in and out of rushing feet... and Pipin dashed onto the train. He looked out of the window and waved to his cousin. "Goodbye! Goodbye!"

Johnny Town Mouse ran beside the train. "Stay with me," he called.
Pipin just shook his head.
The train chugged away, leaving the city behind. Finally, in the starry dark, Pipin reached his hedge. All was quiet. All was calm. He sniffed the cold, sweet air and smiled.

"Better nuts and berries in peace than cake and cream in fear," thought Pipin. "This is the life for me."

The Town Mouse and Country Mouse

The Town Mouse and Country Mouse

用户评论