“Now what can that be?” said the Tailor of Gloucester, jumping up from his chair. The dresser was covered with crockery and pipkins,
willow1 pattern plates, and tea-cups and mugs.
The tailor crossed the kitchen, and stood quite still beside the dresser, listening, and peering through his spectacles. Again from under a tea-cup, came those funny little noises —
Tip tap, tip tap, Tip tap tip!
“This is very peculiar,” said the Tailor of Gloucester; and he lifted up the tea-cup which was upside down.
Out stepped a little live lady mouse, and made a curtsey to the tailor! Then she
hopped2 away down off the dresser, and under the wainscot.
The tailor sat down again by the fire, warming his poor cold hands, and
mumbling3 to himself ——
“The waistcoat is cut out from peach-coloured satin — tambour stitch and rose-buds in beautiful floss silk. Was I wise to
entrust4 my last fourpence to Simpkin? One-and-twenty button-holes of cherry-coloured twist!”
But all at once, from the dresser, there came other little noises:
Tip tap, tip tap, tip tap tip!
“This is passing extraordinary!” said the Tailor of Gloucester, and turned over another tea-cup, which was upside down.
Out stepped a little gentleman mouse, and made a bow to the tailor!
And then from all over the dresser came a chorus of little tappings, all sounding together, and answering one another, like watch-beetles in an old worm-eaten window-shutter —
Tip tap, tip tap, tip tap tip!
“这是什么声音?”裁缝说着,从椅子上跳了起来。碗柜里满是瓷器,有小瓷罐、带柳
叶图案的盘子、茶杯和马克杯。
裁缝穿过厨房,悄悄靠近碗柜,一边竖起耳朵,一边小心翼翼地想看看到底发生了什
么。从茶杯底下,又传来那些细微的声响——
“叮当,叮当,叮当当!”
“这真是太奇怪了。”裁缝说着,拿起了一只倒扣着的茶杯。
一位活泼的老鼠女士走了出来,对着裁缝礼貌地弯下了腰!接着,她踮着脚跳下碗
柜,钻到了壁板下面。
裁缝又坐到火炉旁边去烘烤冰冷的双手,继续嘟囔着:“马甲是用桃红色的绸缎裁的
——在绒毛丝上用绷圈绣的玫瑰花瓣。我把最后四便士都给了辛普金明智吗?二十一个樱
桃色捻线的纽扣扣眼!”
就在这时,碗柜那边又传来另一些细微的声响:
“叮当,叮当,叮当当!”
“没有比这更奇怪的了!”裁缝说道,又去拿起了另外一只倒扣着的茶杯。
这回出现了一位老鼠先生。他向裁缝鞠了个躬!
然后,从碗柜的各个角落里传来一大片声响,这些声音汇集到一起,仿佛遭虫蛀的旧
百叶窗上爬满了甲虫。
“叮当,叮当,叮当当!”
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