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儿童英语读物 The Mystery Bookstore Chapter 4 Snooping Around

时间:2017-08-16 06:44来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“These book tables are as well organized as a library,” Miss Chase told the Aldens the next day. “I’m glad to see Violet reading one of her fairy tales because some of these books have been sitting in this shop unread for decades.”

Henry laid down an armful of books on a sale table. “We’re almost done!” he said. “Now we can clean up the inside of the bookshop before the painters come.”

Jessie checked each table to make sure the books were in alphabetical1 order. She turned to Miss Chase. “I hope you make lots of money on these dusty old books. Then you can order some brand-new ones for your brand-new shop!”

“All that’s left is to hire someone who knows a lot about these books to help me price them,” Miss Chase said. “I do hope someone will answer my newspaper ad.”

“How come you didn’t . . .” Jessie started to say before she stopped. She didn’t want to be nosy2.

“. . . hire Ezra Bindry?” Miss Chase said, finishing Jessie’s question. “I’d like nothing better. But Ezra goes out of his way to say he doesn’t like mystery books — or the people who write them! He’s a strange one. He doesn’t really read the words in books. He just looks at how they’re made, not what they say. They could be shoes or hats or loaves of bread.”

“I wish some of these books were loaves ofbread,” Benny said when he heard this.

“What if Mr. Bindry answers your ad?” Violet asked Miss Chase.

“Why, I guess I’d give him the job,” Miss Chase answered. “Maybe now that Mrs. Post doesn’t stand between us, I can start fresh with Ezra.”

Everyone was surprised to hear someone trying to open the courtyard door.

“That’s funny,” Violet said when she went to see who was there. “I put a sign up saying we’re closed until Saturday.” But before she could unlock the door, Violet felt it push open.

“Why, Rex!” Miss Chase said when she saw who was there. “What brings you here?”

Mr. Phillips’s answer was a frown. He shifted from foot to foot and dropped his keys. Violet put down her copy of Tom Thumb to pick them up.

“I’ve got them,” Mr. Phillips snapped, stepping on his keys. He picked them up and handed Violet her book. “Where’d you get this book anyway?”

“It’s a present from me, Rex,” Miss Chase said. “I’m sorry, but the shop isn’t open for business yet.”

Mr. Phillips explained his visit. “Since I’m an old friend of Mabel’s, too, I wanted to look around before the sale. I expected to be the owner by now, but you seem to have arranged to get the bookstore for yourself.”

Miss Chase blushed at Mr. Phillips’s rude remark.

“I didn’t arrange anything of the kind, Rex. Mr. Alden is renting me the bookstore. I expect to pay him back shortly. I certainly don’t have to explain things any further.”

“All right. All right,” Mr. Phillips said. “I just want a quick look.”

Miss Chase stepped between Mr. Phillips and the book tables. “I’m sorry, Rex. The Aldens have put these books in perfect order for my sale. Everything is all set to be priced. Our sale starts Saturday morning at nine sharp. I will see you then.”

With that, Miss Chase guided Mr. Phillips out.

“What a difficult man! He was always pestering3 Mabel Post, too,” Miss Chase explained. “The only thing they had in common was stamp collecting. Rex was convinced Mabel had a valuable stamp she had hidden away. In any case, Rex already bought all her albums. What more could he want?”

“I’m sure glad he left,” Henry said. “Now we can get started washing down these shelves before the painters get here.”

“Good idea,” Miss Chase said. “With all of us pitching in, we’ll be done in a snap.”

They got right to work. Henry started with the top shelves while the younger children washed the bottom ones.

Benny was full of questions. “Are the painters painting the walls black? Can we keep those cobwebs up on the ceiling? Maybe the shop should look like a haunted house!”

Miss Chase laughed. “I don’t know about black walls and cobwebs, Benny, but I love Violet’s idea to decorate the store windows and walls with black paper footprints. Oh my, there’s someone staring in the window.”

The children turned around.

“It’s Mr. Bindry,” Henry said. “I bet he wants to snoop around like he did yesterday. I told him to come back on Saturday.”

Miss Chase opened the bookshop door. “Come in, come in, Ezra,” she said, giving the grumpy man a big smile. “Can I help you with anything?”

“I’d like to speak with you privately4, Olivia,” Mr. Bindry said as he gave the Aldens a disapproving5 look.

“Oh, these are my helpers, Ezra,” she explained. “This is Jessie, Violet, and Benny. Henry told me you met yesterday. I’ve been so busy I must have left the door unlocked.”

“Yes, why yes . . . that’s right,” Mr. Bindry said. “Anyway, I’m here for the job of pricing the books. Nobody knows more about books in these parts than I do. You couldn’t go wrong since I’m already familiar with most of the books from Mabel’s shop.”

“I’d like that,” Miss Chase said.

“Well, these children can’t do everything,” Mr. Bindry said. “Anyway, children and old books don’t mix.”

The Aldens looked at each other.

Miss Chase straightened herself. “That’s quite enough, Ezra. I’ll have you know that the Aldens are completely responsible for getting Mabel’s books — I should say my books — in perfect order. Just take a look at those tables out there. There’s not a book damaged or out of place.”

“Hrmph,” Mr. Bindry said, making one of his favorite sounds.

“I simply can’t hire you if you’re not willing to work with the Aldens,” Miss Chase informed the old man. “I plan to repay their grandfather for investing in the shop. I need plenty of help.”

Mr. Bindry seemed about to leave but changed his mind. “All right. But just keep these kids out of my hair until Saturday. I’ll price the books out in the courtyard. They can work in here.”

“I agree you need peace and quiet to do your job,” Miss Chase said. “So, here’s what we can do. The children need some fun. I’d like them to take a little time off for some sightseeing today and part of each day they’re here.”

“But we don’t need to go sightseeing,” Jessie said. “We like helping6 with your shop just as much. Honest.”

Miss Chase smiled. “Now Ezra, how can you resist this lovely family?”

“Hrmph!” Mr. Bindry repeated. He was interested in books, not children.

“I guess ‘Hrmph’ means the arrangement suits you?” Miss Chase asked.

“Hrmph!” Mr. Bindry answered.

“Okay, children,” Miss Chase said. “You’ve done plenty for today. I want you to take a break and go over to the French Market for milk and beignets. Before Mr. Bindry gets started, go out to the book tables and choose any books you’ve had your eyes on. They’re yours.”

“Choose any books they’d like?” Mr. Bindry shouted, not mumbling7 at all now. “There might be something here worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. You can’t mean they can choose any books?”

Miss Chase folded her arms. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

Henry picked up some books from the mystery table. “These are by my favorite writer,” he said, holding up two mysteries. “Olivia Chase.”

“Same here,” Jessie said, holding up two other Olivia Chase mysteries.

Benny found an old copy of The Boy’s Handbook. “Is this worth a lot of money, Mr. Bindry?”

“Hardly!” Mr. Bindry sniffed8. “Every boy your age had a copy years ago. They’re as common as yesterday’s newspaper.”

Benny held onto the nice old book all the same.

“What about you, Violet? Don’t you want to choose anything?” Miss Chase asked.

“Thank you so much, Miss Chase,” Violet said softly. “But I’m happy with my fairy tales.”

“Fairy tales? What fairy tales?” Mr. Bindry asked Miss Chase.

Violet held out her copy of The Little Mermaid9. “Can you tell if this is worth anything? It’s part of a boxed set.”

Mr. Bindry’s eyes widened, and he reached out to examine the book. “Worth something? If it’s what I think it is, it’s . . .” The old man stopped talking. “It’s practically worthless.”

Violet bit her lip and hugged the books tightly. “It’s not worthless to me. I’m going to keep the whole set next to my bed so it doesn’t get sold by mistake.”

“Keep out one book for now, okay, Violet?” Jessie suggested. “That way we’ll have something to read if we sit in the park later.” Violet nodded and disappeared upstairs to put the rest of the set away.

Miss Chase saw how Mr. Bindry had upset Violet. She guided him to the far end of the courtyard to get him away from the Aldens. “I can’t have you talking so sharply to these children, Ezra.”

But Mr. Bindry just wouldn’t drop the subject. “If you hire someone to fix a car, you don’t give the car away before the mechanic opens the hood10, Olivia. How can I do my work if you’re giving everything away before I even start?”

Miss Chase calmly peeled back the plastic coverings over the book table. “There are plenty of books for you right here, Ezra. I’ll get you a notebook and some pencils so you can get started right away.”

“Mr. Bindry is so grumpy,” Benny told his brother and sisters after they went back inside the bookshop.

“Miss Chase will calm him down,” Jessie said. “She knows what to do. Now let’s put these buckets and sponges away, grab our backpacks, and go to the French Market.”

“Do we have to talk French at the French Market?” Benny asked as he finished cleaningup. “All I know is ‘French fries.’ ”

Henry dumped two pails of water into a small sink in the back of the store. “Don’t worry,” he said.

“I know what I want at the French Market,” Benny said. “Those Benny things. . . .”

“Beignets,” Violet said when she came backdownstairs with everyone’s backpacks for their outing. “They are yummy.”

“Mmm, sounds good to me. Oops,” Henry said when they stepped out into the street and he almost tripped. “Here’s Miss Chase’s newspaper. Let’s check for her ad.” Henry opened to the classified section. He ran his finger up and down the columns of job ads. “Hmm. It must be in tomorrow’s paper.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Jessie cried. “How did Mr. Bindry know about Miss Chase’s ad for a book expert if it’s not in the paper yet?”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 alphabetical gfvyY     
adj.字母(表)的,依字母顺序的
参考例句:
  • Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
  • There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。
2 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的,好管闲事的,爱追问的;n.大鼻者
参考例句:
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人,他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
3 pestering cbb7a3da2b778ce39088930a91d2c85b     
使烦恼,纠缠( pester的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
  • I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我,你将来会后悔的。
4 privately IkpzwT     
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地
参考例句:
  • Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
  • The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。
5 disapproving bddf29198e28ab64a272563d29c1f915     
adj.不满的,反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
7 mumbling 13967dedfacea8f03be56b40a8995491     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
  • He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时,他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着,他在一块冰上滑倒,跌断了左腿。
8 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。
10 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
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