A long time ago, there lived a poor man
whose real name has been forgotten. He was little and old and his face was
wrinkled, and that was why his friends called him Mr. Vinegar. His wife was
also little and old, and they lived in a little old cottage at the back of a
little old field.
"John," said Mrs. Vinegar,
"you must go to town and buy a cow. I will milk her and churn（搅拌） butter and we shall never
want for anything."
"That is a good plan," said Mr.
Vinegar, so he started off to town while his wife waited by the roadside.
Mr. Vinegar walked up and down the street
of the town looking for a cow. After a time, a farmer came that way, leading
one that was very pretty and fat.
"Oh, if I only had that cow,"
said Mr. Vinegar, "I would be the happiest man in the world!"
"She's a very good cow," said the
farmer.
"Well," said Mr. Vinegar,
"I'll give you these 50 gold pieces for her."
The farmer smiled and held out his hand for
the money, "You may have her," he said, "I always like to oblige（施恩惠） , my friends!"
Mr. Vinegar took hold of the cow's halter
and led her up and down the street. "I am the luckiest man in the
world," he said, "for only see how all the people are looking at me
and my cow!"
But at one end of the street, he met a man
playing bagpipes（风笛） . He stopped and listened -- Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dee.
"Oh, that is the sweetest music I ever
heard," he said, "and just see how all the children crowd around the
man and give him pennies! If I only had those bagpipes, I would be the happiest
man in the world!!"
"I'll sell them to you," said the
piper.
"Will you? Well then, since I have no
money, I will give you this cow for them."
"You may have them," answered the
piper, "I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper
led the cow away.
"Now we will have some music,"
said Mr. Vinegar, but try as hard as he might, he could not play a tune. He
could get nothing out of the bagpipes but "squeak, squeak". The
children instead of giving him pennies laughed at him.
The day was chilly and in trying to play
the pipes, his fingers grew very cold. He wished he had kept the cow.
He just started for home when he met a man
who had warm gloves on his hands. "Oh, if I only had those pretty
gloves," he said, "I would be the happiest man in the world."
"How much will you give for
them?" asked the man.
"Oh, I have no money, but I will give
you these bagpipes," answered Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you
may have them for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar gave him the bagpipes and drew
the gloves on over his half frozen fingers. "How lucky I am," he said
as he trudged（跋涉）
homeward. His hands were soon quite warm, but the road was rough and the
walking hard. He was very tired when he came to the foot of the steep hill.
"How shall I ever get to the top?" he said. Just then he met a man
who was walking the other way. He had a stick in his hand which he used as a
cane to help him along.
"My friend," said Mr. Vinegar,
"if only I had that stick of yours to help me up this hill, I would be the
happiest man in the world!"
"How much will you give me for
it?" asked the man.
"Well, I have no money, but I will
give you this pair of warm gloves," said Mr. Vinegar.
"Well," said the man, "you
may have it for I always like to oblige a friend."
Mr. Vinegar's hands were now quite warm, so
he gave the gloves to the man and took the stout（结实的） stick to help him along. "How lucky I
am!'' he said as he toiled upward.
At the top of the hill he stopped to rest.
But as he was thinking of all his good luck that day, he heard someone calling
his name. He looked up and saw only a green parrot sitting in a tree.
"Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar," it
cried.
"What now?" said Mr. Vinegar.
"You're a dunce（傻瓜） , you're a dunce!''
answered the bird, "you went to seek your fortune and you found it,
then you gave it for a cow, and the cow for some bagpipes, and the bagpipes for
some gloves, and the gloves for a stick which you might of cut by the roadside.
He He He, you're a dunce! You're a dunce!''
This made Mr. Vinegar very angry. He threw
the stick at the bird with all his might. But the bird only answered,
"You're a dunce! You're a dunce!" And the stick lodged in the tree
where he could not get it again.
Mr. Vinegar went on slowly for he had many
things to think about. His wife was standing by the roadside and as soon as she
saw him, she cried out, "Where's the cow? Where's the cow?"
"Well, I just don't know where the cow is," said Mr. Vinegar. And
then he told her the whole story.
1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word
in the passage?
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