XVII THE PRAIRIE DOG VILLAGE

Having once found his way to the prairie dog village, Benny Badger¹ often visited it.

And it is said, by those who know, that while he was there he always had a much pleasanter time than the villagers themselves.

So little did the prairie dogs enjoy Benny Badger's society that whenever one of them spied Benny nearing the settlement he never failed to jerk² his tail up and down and call out the news.

At the sound of the alarm—a high-pitched chatter—every prairie dog who[82] wasn't at home scurried³ for his hole as fast as he could scamper⁴.

Benny Badger always had to smile when he saw the villagers tumbling⁵ through their doorways⁶. They couldn't have done anything that would have suited him better. Had there been a single one among the prairie dogs that wasn't a dunce he would have run away from his hole, outside the village, to hide somewhere until Benny Badger left the place.

But the prairie dogs were too stupid to think of such a trick. They knew no better than to rush into their houses—which was exactly what Benny Badger wanted them to do.

And if anything happened now and then to make matters specially⁷ unpleasant for the prairie dogs, it never troubled Benny Badger. He seemed to grow fatter and happier than ever as time passed.[83]

But at last he heard a bit of news one day that made him feel quite glum⁸.

A young deer mouse claimed to have overheard⁹ a rancher talking—the rancher that lived about a mile from Benny Badger's home. And the deer mouse reported that the man was going to get rid of the whole prairie dog family. "He says they eat too much grass, and dig too many holes," the deer mouse declared.

Though the news upset Benny, and quite took away his appetite, for a few moments, he began to cast about for a way to prevent such a sad affair. If you could have seen him with a worried look on his face, anxiously asking everybody he met to give him advice, you would have thought that he felt very, very sorry for the prairie dogs.

But such was not the case at all. Benny Badger was feeling sorry for himself; for[84] he knew that if the rancher drove the villagers away he would miss them terribly. Benny had almost given up hope of finding a way to put an end to the rancher's plan when the deer mouse told him another bit of news.

"He's going to build a new fence out this way—the rancher is!" the deer mouse informed Benny. "It's coming this side of the Prairie Dog village. And that's why the rancher wants to get rid of the Prairie Dogs."

"How do you know this?" Benny Badger asked his small friend. "Have you been eavesdropping¹⁰ again?"

The deer mouse blushed¹¹. And since he made no reply, Benny Badger had to believe him.

Still, Benny could see no way out of his difficulty. And he went home at day-break feeling quite out of sorts.

But when he awoke, right in the middle of the day, a happy thought popped into his head.

He was so excited by it that he couldn't go to sleep again, though the sun was shining brightly.

1 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

2 jerk   

n.（口语）笨蛋，性情古怪的人，急拉，肌肉抽搐；v.痉挛，急拉，急推，急动

参考例句：

• Just keep that jerk off me.让那个笨蛋离开我。
• The knife was stuck but she pulled it out with a jerk.那把刀子被卡住了，她猛地一拔，把它拔了出来。

3 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

5 tumbling   

n.摔跤，翻跟头，翻筋斗adj.歪斜状的v.倒塌( tumble的现在分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• His eyes were fastened on the boiling, tumbling waves. 他的眼睛凝视着汹涌的波涛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The earthquake sent buildings tumbling into one another like failing dominoes. 地震使大楼哗啦啦倒塌，就像正在倾倒的骨牌一般。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 doorways   

n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群，从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
• He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 glum   

adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。
• She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

9 overheard   

adj. 串音的, 偶而听到的 动词overhear的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• We talked quietly so as not to be overheard. 我们低声交谈，以免别人听到。
• I told Lucy the news under my breath, but Joyce overheard me. 我低声地把这个消息告诉露西，可还是被乔伊斯听到了。

10 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

11 Blushed   

n. 脸红，外观 vi. 泛红，羞愧

参考例句：

• She blushed at the mention of her lover's name. 她因说到她情人的名字而脸红。
• He blushed when the pretty girl gave him the eye. 那位漂亮的女孩向他抛媚眼时，他脸红了。