Day 7：派遣比尔进屋
核心词汇
1. coward /ˈkaʊərd/ (n.) 胆小鬼，懦夫
2. feeble /ˈfiːbl/ (adj.) 虚弱的；衰弱的，无力的
3. instantly /ˈɪnstəntli/ (adv.) 立即，马上
4. swallow /ˈswɑːloʊ/ (v.) 吞咽，吞下，咽下
5. excellent /ˈeksələnt/ (adj.) 极好的；卓越的；优秀的；杰出的
6. neatly /ˈniːtli/ (adv.) 整洁地，整齐地
7. enormous /ɪˈnɔːrməs/ (adj.) 极大的；巨大的；庞大的
8. coax /koʊks/ (v.) 哄劝；哄骗；劝诱
9. dodge /dɑːdʒ/ (v.) 闪（身），躲闪，避开
核心短语
1. at any rate 无论如何；不管怎样
2. a shower of sth. 一大批，一连串（从天而降的小颗粒物或液滴）
3. in spite of 尽管
4. get hold of 找到（某人）；得到
5. all the while 整段时间；一直
6. lean (sth.) against/on sth. 倚着，倚靠着
7. ought to do 应该做…
8. under/in the circumstances 在这种情况下
正文
Next came an angry voice--the Rabbit's-- "Pat! Pat! Where are you?" And then a voice she had never heard before, "Sure then I'm here! Digging (挖) for apples, yer honour!"
"Digging for apples, indeed!" said the Rabbit angrily. "Here! Come and help me out of this!" (Sounds of more broken glass.)
"Now tell me, Pat, what's that in the window?"
"Sure, it's an arm, yer honour!" (He pronounced it "arrum.")
"An arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size ? Why, it fills the whole window!"
"Sure, it does, yer honour: but it's an arm for all that."
"Well, it's got no business there, at any rate: go and take it away!"
There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear whispers (低语) now and then; such as, "Sure, I don't like it, yer honour, at all, at all!" "Do as I tell you, you coward (胆小鬼)!" and at last she spread out her hand again, and made another snatch in the air.
This time there were two little shrieks (尖叫), and more sounds of broken glass. "What a number of cucumber-frames there must be!" thought Alice. "I wonder what they'll do next! As for pulling me out of the window, I only wish they could! I'm sure I don't want to stay in here any longer!"
She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came a rumbling (发出隆隆声) of little cartwheels (货车车轮), and the sound of a good many voices all talking together: she made out the words:
"Where's the other ladder?--Why, I hadn't to bring but one; Bill's got the other--Bill! fetch it here, lad!--Here, put 'em up at this corner--No, tie 'em together first--they don't reach half high enough yet--Oh! they'll do well enough; don't be particular--Here, Bill! catch hold of this rope--Will the roof bear?--Mind that loose slate--Oh, it's coming down! Heads below!"
(a loud crash)--"Now, who did that?--It was Bill, I fancy--Who's to go down the chimney?--Nay, I shan't! you do it!--That I won't, then!--Bill's to go down--Here, Bill! the master says you're to go down the chimney!"
"Oh! So Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?" said Alice to herself. "Why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure; but I think I can kick (踢) a little!"
She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what sort it was) scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her: then, saying to herself "This is Bill," she gave one sharp kick, and waited to see what would happen next.
The first thing she heard was a general chorus of "There goes Bill!" then the Rabbit's voice along--"Catch him, you by the hedge!" then silence, and then another confusion of voices--"Hold up his head--Brandy now--Don't choke him--How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? Tell us all about it!"
Last came a little feeble (无力的), squeaking voice, ("That's Bill," thought Alice,) "Well, I hardly know--No more, thank ye; I'm better now--but I'm a deal too flustered to tell you--all I know is, something comes at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes like a sky-rocket!"
"So you did, old fellow!" said the others.
"We must burn the house down!" said the Rabbit's voice; and Alice called out as loud as she could, "If you do. I'll set Dinah at you!"
There was a dead silence instantly (立即), and Alice thought to herself, "I wonder what they will do next! If they had any sense, they'd take the roof off." After a minute or two, they began moving about again, and Alice heard the Rabbit say, "A barrowful (barrow 手推车) will do, to begin with."
"A barrowful of what?" thought Alice; but she had not long to doubt, for the next moment a shower of little pebbles (砾石) came rattling in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face.
"I'll put a stop to this," she said to herself, and shouted out, "You'd better not do that again!" which produced another dead silence.
Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright idea came into her head. "If I eat one of these cakes," she thought, "it's sure to make some change in my size; and as it can't possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I suppose."
So she swallowed (咽下) one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she began shrinking directly. As soon as she was small enough to get through the door, she ran out of the house, and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside.
The poor little Lizard (蜥蜴), Bill, was in the middle, being held up by two guinea-pigs (豚鼠), who were giving it something out of a bottle. They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could, and soon found herself safe in a thick wood.
"The first thing I've got to do," said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan."
It sounded an excellent (极好的) plan, no doubt, and very neatly (整齐地) and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering about anxiously among the trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.
An enormous (巨大的) puppy (小狗) was looking down at her with large round eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her. "Poor little thing!" said Alice, in a coaxing (哄劝) tone, and she tried hard to whistle to it; but she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.
Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and held it out to the puppy; whereupon (不久) the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once, with a yelp (尖叫) of delight, and rushed at the stick, and made believe to worry it;
then Alice dodged (躲闪) behind a great thistle (蓟，一种花), to keep herself from being run over; and the moment she appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the stick, and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it;
then Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart-horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled (踩踏) under its feet, ran round the thistle again;
then the puppy began a series of short charges at the stick, running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it sat down a good way off, panting (喘息), with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, and its great eyes half shut.
This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance.
"And yet what a dear little puppy it was!" said Alice, as she leant against a buttercup (毛茛，一种花的名字) to rest herself, and fanned herself with one of the leaves: "I should have liked teaching it tricks very much, if--if I'd only been the right size to do it! Oh dear! I'd nearly forgotten that I've got to grow up again! Let me see--how is it to be managed? I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is, what?"
The great question certainly was, what? Alice looked all round her at the flowers and the blades of grass, but she did not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances.
There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the same height as herself; and when she had looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it