【英文读物】Told by Uncle Remus.docx

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1、【英文读物】Told by Uncle RemusTOLD BY UNCLE REMUS THE REASON WHY The main reason why Uncle Remus retired from business as a story-teller was because the little boy to whom he had told his tales grew to be a very big boy, and grew and grew till he couldnt grow any bigger. Meanwhile, his father and mother

2、moved to Atlanta, and lived there for several years. Uncle Remus moved with them, but he soon grew tired of the dubious ways of city life, and one day he told his Miss Sally that if she didnt mind he was going back to the plantation where he could get a breath of fresh air. He was overjoyed when the

3、 lady told him that they were all going back as soon as the son married. As this event was to occur in the course of a few weeks, Uncle Remus decided to wait for the rest of the family. The wedding came off, and4 then the father and mother returned to the plantation, and made their home there, much

4、to the delight of the old negro. In course of time, the man who had been the little boy for ever so long came to have a little boy of his own, and then it happened in the most natural way in the world that the little boys little boy fell under the spell of Uncle Remus, who was still hale and hearty

5、in spite of his age. This latest little boy was frailer and quieter than his father had been; indeed, he was fragile, and had hardly any color in his face. But he was a beautiful child, too beautiful for a boy. He had large, dreamy eyes, and the quaintest little ways that ever were seen; and he was

6、polite and thoughtful of others. He was very choice in the use of words, and talked as if he had picked his language out of a book. He was a source of perpetual wonder to Uncle Remus; indeed, he was the wonder of wonders, and the old negro had a way of watching him curiously. Sometimes, as the resul

7、t of this investigation, which was continuous, Uncle Remus would shake his head and5 chuckle; at other times, he would shake his head and sigh. This little boy was not like the other little boy. He was more like a girl in his refinement; all the boyishness had been taken out of him by that mysteriou

8、s course of discipline that some mothers know how to apply. He seemed to belong to a different ageto a different time; just how or why, it would be impossible to say. Still, the fact was so plain that any one old enough and wise enough to compare the two little boysone the father of the othercould n

9、ot fail to see the difference; and it was a difference not wholly on the surface. Miss Sally, the grandmother, could see it, and Uncle Remus could see it; but for all the rest the tendencies and characteristics of this later little boy were a matter of course. “Miss Sally,” said Uncle Remus, a few d

10、ays after the arrival of the little boy and his mother, “what dey gwineter do wid dat chile? What dey gwineter make out n im?” “Im sure I dont know,” she replied. “A grandmother doesnt count for much these days6 unless there is illness. She is everything for a few hours, and then she is nothing.” Th

11、ere was no bitterness in the ladys tone, but there was plenty of feelingfeeling that only a grandmother can appreciate and understand. “I speck dats so,” Uncle Remus remarked; “an a ole nigger dat oughter been dead long ago, by good rights, dont count no time an nowhar. But its a pitya mighty pity.”

12、 “What is a pity?” the lady inquired, though she knew full well what was in the old negros mind. “I cant tell you, maam, an twouldnt be my place ter tell you ef I could; but dar tis, an you cant rub it out. I see it, but I cant say it; I knows it, but I cant show you how ter put yo finger on it; yit

13、 its dar ef Im name Remus.” The grandmother sat silent so long, and gazed at the old negro so seriously, that he became restive. He placed the weight of his body first on one foot and then on the other, and finally struck blindly at some imaginary object with the end of his walking-cane. 7 “I hope y

14、ou aint mad wid me, Miss Sally,” he said. “With you?” she cried. “Why” She was sitting in an easy-chair on the back porch, where the warmth of the sun could reach her, but she rose suddenly and went into the house. She made a noise with her throat as she went, so that Uncle Remus thought she was lau

15、ghing, and chuckled in response, though he felt little like chuckling. As a matter of fact, if his Miss Sally had remained on the porch one moment longer she would have burst into tears. She went in the house, however, and was able to restrain herself. The little boy caught at the skirt of her dress

16、, saying: “Grandmother, you have been sitting in the sun, and your face is red. Mother never allows me to sit in the sun for fear I will freckle. Father says a few freckles would help me, but mother says they would be shocking.” Uncle Remus received his dinner from the big house that day, and by tha

17、t token he knew that his Miss Sally was very well pleased with him. The dinner was brought on a waiter by a strapping8 black girl, with a saucy smile and ivory-white teeth. She was a favorite with Uncle Remus, because she was full of fun. “I dunner how come de white folks treat you better dan dey do

18、es de balance un us,” she declared, as she sat the waiter on the small pine table and removed the snowy napkin with which it was covered. “I know it aint on count er yo beauty, kaze yo aint no purtier dan what I is,” she went on, tossing her head and showing her white teeth. Uncle Remus looked all a

19、round on the floor, pretending to be looking for some weapon that would be immediately available. Finding none, he turned with a terrible make-believe frown, and pointed his forefinger at the girl, who was now as far as the door, her white teeth gleaming as she laughed. “Mark my words,” he said sole

20、mnly; “ef I dont brain you befo de weeks out itll be bekaze you done been gobbled up by de Unkollopsanall.” The girl stopped laughing instantly, and became serious. The threats of age have a meaning that all the gaiety of youth cannot overcome.9 The gray hair of Uncle Remus, his impersonation of wra

21、th, his forefinger held up in warning, made his threat so uncanny that the girl shivered in spite of the fact that she thought he was joking. Let age shake a finger at you, and you feel that there is something serious behind the gesture. Now, Miss Sally had taken advantage of the opportunity to send

22、 the grandchild with the girl; she was anxious that he should make the acquaintance of Uncle Remus, and have instilled into his mind the quaint humor that she knew would remain with him all his life, and become a fragrant memory when he grew old. But the later little boy was very shy, and when he sa

23、w the terrible frown and the threatening gesture with which Uncle Remus had greeted the girl, he shrank back in a corner, seeing which the old negro began to laugh. It was not a genuine laugh, but it was so well done that it answered every purpose. “I dont see nothin ter laugh at,” remarked the girl

24、, and with that she flirted out. Uncle Remus turned to the little boy. “Honey,10 you look so much like Brer Rabbit dat I bleeze ter laugh. Long at fust, I had a notion dat you mought be Mr. Cricket. But youer too big fer dat, an den you aint got no elbows in yo legs. An den I knowd twuz Brer Rabbit

25、I had in min. Yasser, dey aint no two ways bout datyou look like Brer Rabbit when he tryin fer ter make up his min whedder ter run er no.” Then, without waiting to see the effect of this remark, Uncle Remus turned his attention to the waiter and its contents. “Well, suh!” he exclaimed, with apparent

26、 surprise, “ef dar aint a slishe er tater custard! An ef I aint done gone stone blin, dars a dish er homny wid ham gravy on it! Yes, an bless gracious, dars a piece er ham! Dey all look like ol quaintances which dey been gone a long time an des come back; an dey look like deyer laughin kaze dey er g

27、lad ter see me. I wish youd come here, honey, an see ef dey aint laughin; you got better eyes dan what I is.” The lure was entirely successful. The little boy came forward timidly, and when he was within11 reach, Uncle Remus placed him gently on his knee. The child glanced curiously at the dishes. H

28、e had heard so much of Uncle Remus from his father and his grandmother that he was inclined to believe everything the old man said. “Why, they are not laughing,” he exclaimed. “How could they?” “I speck my eyes is bad,” replied Uncle Remus. “When anybody gits ter be a himbly an hombly-hombly year ol

29、 dey er liable fer ter see double.” The child was a very serious child, but he laughed in spite of himself. “Oh, pshaw!” he exclaimed. “Im mighty glad you said dat,” remarked Uncle Remus, smacking his lips, “kaze ef you hadnt a said it, Id a been a bleeze ter say it mysef.” “Say what?” inquired the

30、little boy, who was unused to the quips of the old man. “Bout dat tater custard. Its de funniest tater custard dat I ever laid eyes on, dey aint no two ways bout dat.” 12 “Grandmother wanted to give me some,” said the little boy longingly, “but mother said it wasnt good for me.” “Aha!” exclaimed Unc

31、le Remus in a tone of triumph. “What I tell you? Miss Sally writ on here wid dese dishes dat she want you ter eat dat tater custard. Mo dan dat she sont two pieces. Dars one, an dar de yuther.” There wasnt anything wrong about this counting, except that Uncle Remus pointed twice at the same piece. T

32、he little boy was sitting on Uncle Remuss knee, and he turned suddenly and looked into the weather-beaten face that had harbored so many smiles. The child seemed to be searching for something in that venerable countenance, and he must have found it, for he allowed his head to fall against the old ne

33、gros shoulder and held it there. The movement was as familiar to Uncle Remus as the walls of his cabin, for among all the children that he had known well, not one had failed to lay his head where that of the little boy now rested. “Miss Sally is de onliest somebody in de roun13 worl dat know what yo

34、u an me like ter eat,” remarked Uncle Remus, making a great pretense of chewing. “I dunner how she fin out, but fin out she did, an we oughter be mighty much beholden ter er. I done et my piece er tater custard,” he went on, “an you kin eat yone when you git good an ready.” “I saw only one piece,” r

35、emarked the child, without raising his head, “and if you have eaten that there is none left for me.” Uncle Remus closed his eyes, and allowed his head to fall back. This was his favorite attitude when confronted by something that he could not comprehend. This was his predicament now, for there was s

36、omething in this child that was quite beyond him. Small as the lad was he was old-fashioned; he thought and spoke like a grown person; and this the old negro knew was not according to nature. The trouble with the boy was that he had had no childhood; he had been subdued and weakened by the abnormal

37、training he had received. “Tooby sho you aint seed um,” Uncle Remus14 declared, returning to the matter of the potato custard. “Ef yo pa had a been in yo place hed a seed um, kaze when he wuz long bout yo age, he had mo eyes in his stomach dan what he had his head. But de ol nigger wuz a little too

38、quick fer you. I seed de two pieces time de gal snatch de towel off, an I low ter mysef dat ef I didnt snatch one, Id not git none. Yasser! I wuz a little too quick fer you.” The child turned his head, and saw that the slice of potato custard was still on the plate. “Im so sorry that mother thinks i

39、t will hurt me,” he said with a sigh. “Well, whatsomever she say bout de yuther piece er custard, I boun she aint say dat dat piece ud hurt you, kaze she aint never lay eyes on it. An mo dan dat,” Uncle Remus went on with a very serious face: “Miss Sally writ wid de dishes dat one er de pieces er ta

40、ter custard wuz fer you.” “I dont see any writing,” the child declared, with a longing look at the potato custard. “Miss Sally aint aim fer you ter see it, kaze ef15 you could see it, eveybody could see it. An dat aint all de reason why you cant see it. You been hemmed up dar in a big town, an yo ey

41、es aint good. But dars de writin des ez plain ez pig-tracks.” Uncle Remus made believe to spell out the writing, pointing at a separate dish every time he pronounced a word. “Le me see: she put dis dish fustOne piece is fer de chil.” The little boy reflected a moment. “There are only five dishes,” h

42、e said very gravely, “and you pointed at one of them twice.” “Tooby sho I did,” Uncle Remus replied, with well affected solemnity. “Aint dat de way you does in books?” The little lad was too young to be well-grounded in books, but he had his ideas, nevertheless. “I dont see how it can be done,” he s

43、uggested. “A is always A.” “Ah-yi!” exclaimed Uncle Remus triumphantly. “Its allers big A er little a. But I want callin out no letters; I wuz callin out de words what yo granmammy writ wid de dishes.” The little boy still looked doubtful, and Uncle Remus16 went on. “Now, spozin yo pa wuz ter come l

44、ong an say, Unk Remus, I wanter gi you a cuff. An den, spozin I wuz ter low, Yasser, an thanky, too, but you better gi me a par un um while you bout it. An spozin hed be talkin bout maulin me, whiles I wuz talkin bout dem contraptions what you got on yo shirt-sleeves, an you aint got no mo business

45、wid um dan a rooster is wid britches. Spozin all dat wuz ter happen, how you speck Id feel?” Something in the argument, or the way Uncle Remus held his head, appealed to the little boys sense of humor, and he laughed heartily for the first time since Uncle Remus had known him. It was real laughter,

46、too, so real that the old negro joined in with gusto, and the two laughed and laughed until it seemed unreasonable to laugh any more. To make matters worse, Uncle Remus pretended to become very solemn all of a sudden, and then just as suddenly went back to laughter again. This was more than the litt

47、le chap could stand. He laughed until he writhed in the old mans arms; in fact, till laughter became painful. 17 “Ef we go on dis a-way,” Uncle Remus remarked, “youll never eat yo tater custard in de worl.” With that, he seized a biscuit and pretended to place the whole of it in his mouth at once, c

48、losing his eyes with a smile of ecstasy on his face. “Dont, Uncle Remus! please dont!” cried the little boy who had laughed until he was sore. At this the old man became serious again. “I hear um say,” he remarked with some gravity, “dat ef you laugh too much youll sprain yo goozle-um, er maybe git yo thoat-latch outer jint. Dat de reason you see me lookin so sollumcolly all de time. You watch me right close, an youll see fer yosef.” The little boy ceased laughing, a