儿童故事集：The Witch Who Was Frightened Of Halloween

 As every kid knows, Halloween is both spooky and sweet. It’s spooky because there are witches and wizards about, and it’s sweet because children go in search of treats.

 

This story is about a little girl who is a witch, and it’s fair to say that it’s more sweet than spooky. Her name is Katie, and her school mates think she is rather odd, and don’t really believe that she can do magic. She’s afraid of Halloween, because she thinks they will tease her more than usual, but in fact she has quite a few useful tricks and treats up her sleeve.

 

Read by Natasha. Duration 8.52

 

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Katie.

 

Katie was seven.

 

And she lived in nice house with her mum and a dog called Muffin.

 

And it was all quite normal really.

 

Except for one thing.

 

They were witches.

 

Well, except for Muffin, who was a D-witch, which is a dog who casts spells.

 

Anyway being a witch wasn’t so bad.

 

Mum would just twitch¹ her nose and all the cleaning would get done.

 

Dad would wave his stick, and the lawn would cut itself.

 

Muffin would click his paws, and a few dog treats would tumble out of the sky.

 

They’d even taught Katie some magic.

 

She knew how to make her homework do itself.

 

And her room got tidied just by twitching² her ear.

 

But there was just one thing Katie really didn’t like.

 

Halloween.

 

Once a year, when the leaves were falling off the trees, and the nights were getting longer, all the children in her school and along her street would get terribly excited about Halloween.

 

They made costumes of horrible looking witches.

 

With long pointy noses, and spots, and nasty black hats, and broomsticks.

 

And Katie said in school: “Witches aren’t like that, really. My mum looks quite nice.”

 

And all the other girls fell about laughing.

 

“Katie thinks she’s a witch,” they laughed. “She’s ugly and horrible, just like a witch.”

 

And when Katie went home that day, she was really upset.

 

She cried and cried and cried. And when her mum asked her what the matter was, she said: “Everyone hates witches. And they especially hate them at Halloween.”

 

And her mum tried to explain that although some people didn’t like witches, it was also quite useful sometimes, like when the washing up got done all by itself.

 

“I don’t ever want to have anything to do with witch-craft again,” said Katie angrily.

 

But on Halloween night, all the girls from her school were organising a trick or treat tour of the street.

 

And Katie didn’t want to go, because she’d decided³ she didn’t want to have anything to do with witch-craft.

 

Never, never, never….

 

But her mum said she had to.

 

Because a witch can hardly stay in on Halloween.

 

And she whispered something in Katie’s ear.

 

Do you know what it was?

 

Well, I’ll tell you in a minute.

 

Anyway, Katie went to join the other girls.

 

And some of them started laughing at her.

 

“Katie doesn’t have to dress up, because she’s already a witch,” they laughed.

 

And Katie felt cross.

 

And embarrassed.

 

But she decided to say nothing.

 

At the first house, they got a load of sherbet lemons.

 

At the second, a jumbo pack of sweeties.

 

At the third, loads and loads of crisps.

 

And at the forth⁴, a giant packet of chocolate biscuits.

 

But at the fifth house, there lived a man called Mr Bones.

 

And Mr Bones didn’t like children.

 

He certainly didn’t see why he should give them any treats.

 

“Buzz off, you stupid kids,” he said when they knocked on the door.

 

“Trick or treat, trick or treat…” cried the girls.

 

“Yes, well, I think I’ll take the trick, if it’s all the same to you,” said Mr Bones.

 

And a horrible smile creased⁵ up his face.

 

“Because you’re just a bunch of stupid little girls, and you don’t scare me.”

 

“But one of us is a real witch,” said Amelia, the biggest of the girls.

 

“Yes, yes, Katie’s a real witch,” they all cried.

 

But Mr Bones just laughed and laughed.

 

“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard,” he said.

 

“Go on, Katie,” said Amelia. “Let’s see if you really are a witch.”

 

And so Katie stepped forwards.

 

“You don’t look scary to me,” said Mr Bones. “You’re just a stupid little girl.”

 

But Katie remembered what her mum had whispered in her ear.

 

Do you know what it was?

 

A special spell.

 

So right then, Katie recited the magic words.

 

And she wriggled⁶ her ear.

 

And all the girls gasped⁷ in amazement⁸.

 

Because suddenly Mr Bones wasn’t Mr Bones anymore.

 

He was a little brown, fluffy⁹ hamster. Inside a cage. Running around and around on a wheel.

 

All the girls laughed and laughed.

 

Katie leaned into the cage. “Is it fun being a hamster?”

 

The little creature squeaked¹⁰ and shook its head.

 

And Katie spun¹¹ the wheel, so that he had to run faster and faster.

 

And then she recited the magic words and Mr Bones was turned back into a man again.

 

“I’ll get you some treats, girls,” he said very quickly and nervously¹².

 

And he came back with tons of chocolate bars, fizzy drinks, biscuits, and even a new Barbie DVD for each girl.

 

“Please come back next year girls,” he said. “I’ll have even better stuff for you.”

 

And he went back inside, looking very nervous.

 

And as they went down the rest of the street, everyone had heard that there was a real witch out trick and treating tonight, so they all gave the girls even more sweets and biscuits than usual, and even some toys.

 

And Katie was the most popular girl in her class.

 

“You know, maybe it’s not so bad being a witch after all,” she said when she got home. “And I think I’m going to enjoy Halloween from now on.”

1 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

2 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 creased   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴

参考例句：

• You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的报纸弄皱了。
• The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子弹只不过擦破了他肩部的皮肤。

6 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

9 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

10 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

11 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

12 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。