"If a kiss could be seen I think it would look like a violet,"

said Priscilla.



Anne glowed.

"I'm so glad you SPOKE that thought, Priscilla, instead of just



thinking it and keeping it to yourself. This world would be a much

more interesting place. . .although it IS very interesting anyhow. . .



if people spoke out their real thoughts."

"It would be too hot to hold some folks," quoted Jane sagely.



"I suppose it might be, but that would be their own faults for

thinking nasty things. Anyhow, we can tell all our thoughts today



because we are going to have nothing but beautiful thoughts.

Everybody can say just what comes into her head. THAT is conversation.



Here's a little path I never saw before. Let's explore it."

The path was a winding one, so narrow that the girls walked in



single file and even then the fir boughs brushed their faces.

Under the firs were velvety cushions of moss, and further on, where



the trees were smaller and fewer, the ground was rich in a variety

of green growing things.



"What a lot of elephant's ears," exclaimed Diana. "I'm going to

pick a big bunch, they're so pretty."



"How did such graceful feathery things ever come to have such a

dreadful name?" asked Priscilla.



"Because the person who first named them either had no imagination

at all or else far too much," said Anne, "Oh, girls, look at that!"



"That" was a shallowwoodland pool in the center of a little open

glade where the path ended. Later on in the season it would be dried



up and its place filled with a rank growth of ferns; but now it was

a glimmering placid sheet, round as a saucer and clear as crystal.



A ring of slender young birches encircled it and little ferns

fringed its margin.



"HOW sweet!" said Jane.

"Let us dance around it like wood-nymphs," cried Anne, dropping her



basket and extending her hands.

But the dance was not a success for the ground was boggy and Jane's



rubbers came off.

"You can't be a wood-nymph if you have to wear rubbers,"



was her decision.

"Well, we must name this place before we leave it,"



said Anne, yielding to the indisputable logic of facts.

"Everybody suggest a name and we'll draw lots. Diana?"



"Birch Pool," suggested Diana promptly.

"Crystal Lake," said Jane.



Anne, standing behind them, implored Priscilla with her eyes not to

perpetrate another such name and Priscilla rose to the occasion



with "Glimmer-glass." Anne's selection was "The Fairies' Mirror."

The names were written on strips of birch bark with a pencil



Schoolma'am Jane produced from her pocket, and placed in Anne's

hat. Then Priscilla shut her eyes and drew one. "Crystal Lake,"



read Jane triumphantly. Crystal Lake it was, and if Anne thought

that chance had played the pool a shabby trick she did not say so.



Pushing through the undergrowth beyond, the girls came out to the

young green seclusion of Mr. Silas Sloane's back pasture. Across it



they found the entrance to a lane striking up through the woods and

voted to explore it also. It rewarded their quest with a succession



of pretty surprises. First, skirting Mr. Sloane's pasture, came an

archway of wild cherry trees all in bloom. The girls swung their hats



on their arms and wreathed their hair with the creamy, fluffy blossoms.

Then the lane turned at right angles and plunged into a spruce wood



so thick and dark that they walked in a gloom as of twilight, with

not a glimpse of sky or sunlight to be seen.



"This is where the bad wood elves dwell," whispered Anne. "They

are impish and malicious but they can't harm us, because they are



not allowed to do evil in the spring. There was one peeping at us

around that old twisted fir; and didn't you see a group of them on



that big freckly toadstool we just passed? The good fairies always

dwell in the sunshiny places."



"I wish there really were fairies," said Jane. "Wouldn't it

be nice to have three wishes granted you. . .or even only one?



What would you wish for, girls, if you could have a wish granted?

I'd wish to be rich and beautiful and clever."



"I'd wish to be tall and slender," said Diana.

"I would wish to be famous," said Priscilla. Anne thought of her



hair and then dismissed the thought as unworthy.

"I'd wish it might be spring all the time and in everybody's heart



and all our lives," she said.

"But that," said Priscilla, "would be just wishing this world

• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• dislike [dis´laik] vt.&n.不喜爱，厌恶 (初中英语单词)


• downstairs [,daun´steəz] ad.在楼下 a.楼下的 (初中英语单词)


• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)


• cheerful [´tʃiəful] a.快乐的；高兴的 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• sunshine [´sʌnʃain] n.日光，阳光 (初中英语单词)


• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)


• astonishment [ə´stɔniʃmənt] n.吃惊；惊异 (初中英语单词)


• supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)


• exception [ik´sepʃən] n.例外；反对，异议 (初中英语单词)


• orchard [´ɔ:tʃəd] n.果园 (初中英语单词)


• celebrate [´selibreit] vt.庆祝；表扬；赞美 (初中英语单词)


• delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)


• acquaintance [ə´kweintəns] n.相识；熟人，相识的人 (初中英语单词)


• anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)


• lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)


• conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)


• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)


• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)


• philosophy [fi´lɔsəfi] n.哲学；人生观 (初中英语单词)


• gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊；美术馆；长廊 (初中英语单词)


• graceful [´greisfəl] a.优美的，流畅的 (初中英语单词)


• shallow [´ʃæləu] a.肤浅的；表面的 (初中英语单词)


• slender [´slendə] a.细长的；微薄的 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)


• pasture [´pɑ:stʃə] n.牧场；放牧 v.吃(草) (初中英语单词)


• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)


• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)


• glimpse [glimps] n.&v.瞥见 (初中英语单词)


• sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)


• tenderness [´tendənis] n.娇嫩；柔软；温柔 (高中英语单词)


• considerably [kən´sidərəbli] ad.显著地；十分 (高中英语单词)


• thickly [´θikli] ad.厚厚地；密密地 (高中英语单词)


• mantle [´mæntl] n.斗蓬 v.覆盖；笼罩 (高中英语单词)


• charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)


• margin [´mɑ:dʒin] n.边缘；空白；余地 (高中英语单词)


• foster [´fɔstə] vt.促进；推动；鼓励 (高中英语单词)


• explore [ik´splɔ:] v.勘探；探索；探查 (高中英语单词)


• awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)


• inward [´inwəd] a.向内的；心灵上的 (高中英语单词)


• distrust [dis´trʌst] n.&vt.不信任，怀疑 (高中英语单词)


• concession [kən´seʃən] n.让步；租界 (高中英语单词)


• picnic [´piknik] n.郊游 vi.(去)野餐 (高中英语单词)


• woodland [´wudlənd] n.树林，林地 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• selection [si´lekʃən] n.选择；选拔；精选物 (高中英语单词)


• shabby [´ʃæbi] a.(衣服)破旧的 (高中英语单词)


• cherry [´tʃeri] n.樱桃(树) (高中英语单词)


• spruce [spru:s] n.云杉木 a.&v.整洁 (高中英语单词)


• hateful [´heitfəl] a.可恨的，可憎的 (英语四级单词)


• matchless [´mætʃləs] a.无敌的，无比的 (英语四级单词)


• frosty [´frɔsti] a.霜冻的；冷淡的 (英语四级单词)


• coincidence [kəu´insidəns] n.巧合；符合；一致 (英语四级单词)


• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)


• placid [´plæsid] a.平静的；温和的 (英语四级单词)


• saucer [´sɔ:sə] n.茶托；浅碟 (英语四级单词)


• triumphantly [trai´ʌmfəntli] ad.胜利地；洋洋得意地 (英语四级单词)


• liking [´laikiŋ] n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 (英语六级单词)


• upland [´ʌplənd] n.高地；山地 (英语六级单词)


• middle-aged [´midl´eidʒid] a.中年的 (英语六级单词)


• creamy [´kri:mi] a.含奶油的；米色的 (英语六级单词)


• fluffy [´flʌfi] a.绒毛似的 (英语六级单词)


• malicious [mə´liʃəs] a.恶意的；预谋的 (英语六级单词)