Chapter 3

There are two breeds of sporting dogs: the Castorian and the fox-like.1 The former get their name from Castor, in memory of the delight he took in the business of the chase, for which he kept this breed by preference.2 The other breed is literally¹ foxy, being the progeny² originally of the dog and the fox, whose natures have in the course of ages become blent.3

Both species present a large proportion of defective³ animals4 which fall short of the type, as being under-sized, or crook-nosed,5 or gray-eyed,6 or near-sighted, or ungainly, or stiff-jointed, or deficient⁴ in strength, thin-haired, lanky⁵, disproportioned, devoid⁶ of pluck or of nose, or unsound of foot. To particularise: an under-sized dog will, ten to one, break off from the chase7 faint and flagging in the performance of his duty owing to mere⁷ diminutiveness⁸. An aquiline⁹ nose means no mouth, and consequently an inability to hold the hare fast.8 A blinking bluish eye implies defect of vision;9 just as want of shape means ugliness.10 The stiff-limbed dog will come home limping from the hunting-field;11 just as want of strength and thinness of coat go hand in hand with incapacity for toil¹⁰.12 The lanky-legged, unsymmetrical dog, with his shambling gait and ill-compacted frame, ranges heavily; while the spiritless animal will leave his work to skulk¹¹ off out of the sun into shade and lie down. Want of nose means scenting¹³ the hare with difficulty, or only once in a way; and however courageous¹⁴ he may be, a hound with unsound feet cannot stand the work, but through foot-soreness will eventually give in.13

Similarly many different modes of hunting a line of scent¹² are to be seen in the same species of hound.14 One dog as soon as he has found the trail will go along without sign or symptom to show that he is on the scent; another will vibrate his ears only and keep his tail15 perfectly¹⁵ still; while a third has just the opposite propensity¹⁶: he will keep his ears still and wag with the tip of his tail. Others draw their ears together, and assuming a solemn air,16 drop their tails, tuck them between their legs, and scour¹⁷ along the line. Many do nothing of the sort.17 They tear madly about, babbling¹⁸ round the line when they light upon it, and senselessly trampling¹⁹ out the scent. Others again will make wide circuits and excursions; either forecasting the line,18 they overshoot it and leave the hare itself behind, or every time they run against the line they fall to conjecture²⁰, and when they catch sight of the quarry²¹ are all in a tremor,19 and will not advance a step till they see the creature begin to stir.

A particular sort may be described as hounds which, when hunting or pursuing, run forward with a frequent eye to the discoveries of the rest of the pack, because they have no confidence in themselves. Another sort is over-confident — not letting the cleverer members of the pack go on ahead, but keeping them back with nonsensical clamour. Others will wilfully²² hug every false scent,20 and with a tremendous display of eagerness, whatever they chance upon, will take the lead, conscious all the while they are playing false;21 whilst another sort again will behave in a precisely²³ similar style out of sheer ignorance.22 It is a poor sort of hound which will not leave a stale line23 for want of recognising the true trail. So, too, a hound that cannot distinguish the trail leading to a hare’s form, and scampers²⁴ over that of a running hare, hot haste, is no thoroughbred.24

When it comes to the actual chase, some hounds will show great ardour at first starting, but presently give up from weakness of spirit. Others will run in too hastily25 and then balk²⁵; and go hopelessly astray, as if they had lost the sense of hearing altogether.

Many a hound will give up the chase and return from mere distaste for hunting,26 and not a few from pure affection for mankind. Others with their clamorous²⁶ yelping²⁷ on the line do their best to deceive, as if true and false were all one to them.27 There are others that will not do that, but which in the middle of their running,28 should they catch the echo of a sound from some other quarter, will leave their own business and incontinently tear off towards it.29 The fact is,30 they run on without clear motive²⁸, some of them; others taking too much for granted; and a third set to suit their whims²⁹ and fancies. Others simply play at hunting; or from pure jealousy³⁰, keep questing about beside the line, continually rushing along and tumbling over one another.31

The majority of these defects are due to natural disposition³¹, though some must be assigned no doubt to want of scientific training. In either case such hounds are useless, and may well deter³² the keenest sportsman from the hunting field.32

The characters, bodily and other, exhibited by the finer specimens³³ of the same breed,33 I will now set forth³⁴.

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 progeny   

n.后代，子孙；结果

参考例句：

• His numerous progeny are scattered all over the country.他为数众多的后代散布在全国各地。
• He was surrounded by his numerous progeny.众多的子孙簇拥着他。

3 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

4 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

5 lanky   

adj.瘦长的

参考例句：

• He was six feet four,all lanky and leggy.他身高6英尺4英寸，瘦高个儿，大长腿。
• Tom was a lanky boy with long skinny legs.汤姆是一个腿很细的瘦高个儿。

6 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 diminutiveness   

n.微小；昵称，爱称

参考例句：

9 aquiline   

adj.钩状的，鹰的

参考例句：

• He had a thin aquiline nose and deep-set brown eyes.他长着窄长的鹰钩鼻和深陷的褐色眼睛。
• The man has a strong and aquiline nose.该名男子有强大和鹰鼻子。

10 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

11 skulk   

v.藏匿；潜行

参考例句：

• It's a hard thing to skulk and starve in the heather.躲在树林里的挨饿不是一件好受的事。
• Harry skulked off.哈里偷偷地溜走了。

12 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

13 scenting   

vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Soames, scenting the approach of a jest, closed up. 索来斯觉察出有点调侃的味儿来了，赶快把话打断。 来自辞典例句
• The pale woodbines and the dog-roses were scenting the hedgerows. 金银花和野蔷薇把道旁的树也薰香了。 来自辞典例句

14 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

15 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

16 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

17 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

18 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

19 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

20 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

21 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

22 wilfully   

adv.任性固执地；蓄意地

参考例句：

• Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
• These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒，干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书

23 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

24 scampers   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Chi-li scampers off to play. 奇立蹦蹦跳跳，到处玩耍。 来自互联网

25 balk   

n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事

参考例句：

• We get strong indications that his agent would balk at that request.我们得到的强烈暗示是他的经纪人会回避那个要求。
• He shored up the wall with a thick balk of wood.他用一根粗大的木头把墙撑住。

26 clamorous   

adj.吵闹的，喧哗的

参考例句：

• They are clamorous for better pay.他们吵吵嚷嚷要求增加工资。
• The meeting began to become clamorous.会议开始变得喧哗了。

27 yelping   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping. 在桌子中间有一只小狗坐在那儿，抖着它的爪子，汪汪地叫。 来自辞典例句
• He saved men from drowning and you shake at a cur's yelping. 他搭救了快要溺死的人们，你呢，听到一条野狗叫唤也瑟瑟发抖。 来自互联网

28 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

29 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

30 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

31 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

32 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

33 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 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。