Chapter 75

　　Withthat kick and that blow Pinocchio gained everybody's favor.

　　Everyoneadmired him, danced attendance5 upon him, pettedand caressed6 him.

　　Asthe days passed into weeks, even the teacher praised him,for he saw him attentive7, hard working, and wideawake,always the first to come in the morning, and the lastto leave when schoolwas over.

　　Pinocchio'sonly fault was that he had too many friends.

　　Amongthese were many well-known rascals8, who carednot a jot9 for study or forsuccess.

　　Theteacher warned him each day, and even the goodFairy repeated to him many times:

　　"Takecare, Pinocchio! Those bad companions willsooner or later make you lose yourlove for study.

　　Someday they will lead you astray.""There's no such danger,"answered the Marionette,shrugging his shoulders and pointing to his forehead asifto say, "I'm too wise."So it happened that one day, as he waswalking to school,he met some boys who ran up to him and said:

　　"Haveyou heard the news?""No!""A Shark as big as a mountain hasbeen seen near the shore.""Really? I wonder if it could be the sameone I heardof when my father was drowned?""We are going to see it.Are you coming?""No, not I. I must go to school.""What doyou care about school? You can go there tomorrow.

经过脚这么一踢，胳膊这么一顶，皮诺乔马上得到全校学生的尊重和同情。他们都很喜欢他。
　　老师看见他上课专心，读书用功，肯动脑筋，总是第一个进学校，放学最后一个走，也很称赞他。
　　他唯一的缺点就是结交的同学太多。其中有不少是鼎鼎大名的小坏蛋，一点不想读书，一点不想有出息。
　　老师天天要他小心，善良的仙女也不断翻来覆去对他说：
　　“小心啊，皮诺乔！迟早有一天，你这种同学会使你不爱学习的，说不定有一天还会使你闯大祸。”
　　“不要紧！”木偶耸耸肩膀回答说，还用食指敲敲脑门，表示：“这里面有脑筋的！”
　　于是有一天，他在上学的时候，忽然遇到那一帮同学迎面走来，对他说：
　　“有一个重要的新闻你知道吗？”
　　“不知道。”
　　“这儿海边来了一条鲨鱼，大得像座山？”
　　“真的？……是那条鲨鱼吗，当时吃掉我可怜的爸爸的？”
　　“我们到海边去看。你也去吗？”
　　“我吗？不去。我要上学校去。”
　　“学校有什么要紧？咱们明天再上学吧。

5 attendance    

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

·The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。

·The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

6caressed 

爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

·His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。

·He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

7attentive 

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

·She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。

·The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

8rascals 

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

·"Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。

·"They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

9jot 

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

·I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。

·There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。