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Chapter 2
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 THERE wasn’t any sense to what I did then, because of the confusion in my mixed-up mind—if I had any mind at all—but the very minute the light of those three or four—or maybe there were seventeen—flashlights dropped over the edge of the hill and all of them at the same time splashed down upon me, hitting me in the face and all over my red-striped pajamas1, I let loose with a wild, trembling-voiced cry like a loon2’s eery, half-scared-half-to-death ghostlike quaver, loud enough to be heard as far away as the Sugar Creek3 bridge. I began to wave my arms wildly, to splash around in the water, and to yell to my watermelon-bronco, “Giddap!... Giddap! You great big green good-for-nothing bronco!”
 
I let out a whole series of those wild loon calls, splashed myself off the watermelon and out of the cement pool and made a fast, wet dash down the path to the opening in the board fence, through which Poetry had already gone ahead of me. I quickly shoved myself through, and a jiffy later was making a wild moonlit run up the winding4 barefoot boy’s trail through the forest of giant ragweeds toward the swimming hole, crying like a loon all the way until I knew I was out of sight of all those excited girls.
 
Even as I ran, flopping5 along in my wet pajamas, I had the memory of flashlights splashing in my eyes and some of the things I heard while I was going through the fence. Some of the excited words were, “Help! Help! There’s a wild animal down there in the spring!” Others of the girls had simply screamed like girls do when they are scared, but one of them had shrieked6 an unearthly shriek7, crying, “There’s a zebra down there—a wild zebra, taking a bath in our drinking water!”
 
That, I thought, as I dodged8 my way along the path, was almost funny. In fact, sometimes a boy feels fine inside if something he has done makes a gang of girls let out an unearthly explosion of screams—most girls screaming not because they’re really scared16 anyway, but because they like to make people think they are.
 
Where, I wondered as I zig-zagged along, was Poetry?
 
I didn’t have to wonder long. By the time I was through the tall weeds and at the edge of Dragonfly’s Pop’s cornfield I had caught up to where he was. His flashlight hit me in the face as he exclaimed in his duck-like voice, “Help! Help! A zebra! A wild zebra!”
 
I stopped stock-still with my wet pajama sleeve in front of my eyes to shield them from the blinding glare of his flashlight. “It’s all your fault!” I half-screamed at him. “If you hadn’t had the silly notion you had to have a drink!”
 
His voice in answer was saucy9 as he said back, “What a mess you made of things—falling into that water and yelling like a wild Indian! Now those girl scouts10 will tell your folks, and your father will really sharpen you up with his razor strap12!”
 
“Girl scouts?” I exclaimed to him with chattering13 teeth from being so cold and still all wet with spring water. Also for some reason I didn’t feel very brave—most certainly not very happy.
 
“Sure,” he said, “didn’t you know it? A bunch of girl scouts have got their tents pitched up there by the pawpaw bushes for a week. Old Man Paddler gave them permission; it’s his woods, you know.”
 
And then I was sad. Girl scouts were supposed to be some of the nicest people in the world—even if they were girls, I thought. What would they think of a red-haired freckle-faced creature of some kind that was part loon and part zebra, splashing around in their drinking water, riding like a cowboy on a watermelon and acting14 absolutely crazy? I would never dare show my face where any of them could see me, or some of them would remember me from having seen me in the light of their flashlights, and they would ask my mother whose boy I was. I knew that one of the very first things some of those girl scouts would do this week would be to come to the Collins’ house to buy eggs and milk and such things as sweet corn and new potatoes. Some of them would be bound to recognize me.
 
“We had better get back to the tent and into bed quick, before17 somebody comes running up to use your telephone to call the police, or the marshal, or the sheriff, to tell them some wild boys have been causing a disturbance15 at the camp!” Poetry said.
 
It was a good idea even if it was a worried one, so away we went—not the way we had come, but lickety-sizzle straight up through Dragonfly’s Pop’s cornfield, swinging around the east end of the bayou and back down the south side of it until we came to the fence that goes south to Bumblebee Hill. Once we got to Bumblebee Hill we would swing southwest to the place where we always went over the rail fence, which was across the road from our house. Then we would scoot across the road and past “Theodore Collins” on our mailbox, hoping we wouldn’t wake up Theodore Collins himself in the Collins’ west bedroom, and a jiffy after that would be safe in our tent once more!
 
The very thought of safety and the security of Poetry’s nice green tent under the spreading plum tree gave me a spurt16 of hope, and put wings on my feet, as I followed my lumbering17 barrel-shaped friend, not realizing there would be more trouble when I got home on account of my very wet red-striped night clothes.
 
We didn’t even bother to stop at Bumblebee Hill where the fiercest fastest fist-fight that ever was had taken place—and which you already know about if you’ve read the story called We Killed a Bear. At the bottom of the hill, you know, is the Little-Jim tree near which Little Jim, the littlest member of our Gang, killed the fierce old mad old mother bear; and at the top of the hill is the abandoned cemetery18 where the Gang has so many of its meetings. The wind I was making as I ran was blowing against my very wet 89-pounds of red-haired boy, making me feel chilly19 all over in spite of it being such a hot night.
 
It was a shame not to be able to enjoy such a pretty Sugar Creek summer night—the almost most-wonderful thing in the world. I guess there isn’t anything in the whole wide world that sounds better than a Sugar Creek night when you are down along the creek fishing and you hear the bullfrogs bellowing20 in the riffles, the katydids rasping voices calling to one another: “Katy-did, Katy-she-did;18 Katy-did, Katy-she-did!” the crickets singing away, vibrating their forewings together, making one of the friendliest lonesome sounds a boy ever hears. Every now and then, you can hear a screech21 owl22 crying “Shay-a-a-a-a!” like a baby loon learning to loon.
 
Oh, there are a lot of sounds that make a boy feel good all over, such as Old Topsy, our favorite horse, in her stall crunching23 corn, the queer sound the chickens make in their sleep, the wind sighing through the pine trees along the bayou, with every now and then somebody’s rooster turning loose with a “Cocka-doodle-do!” like he is so proud of himself he can’t wait until morning to let all the sleeping hens know about it—like it was a waste of good time to sleep when you could listen to such nice noisy music. From across the fields you sometimes hear the sound of a nervous dog barking, and somebody else’s dog answering from across the creek. You even like to listen to the corn blades whispering to each other as the wind blows through them.
 
Summer nights on our farm smell good, too—nearly always there being the smell of new-mown hay or fresh pine-tree fragrance24 which is always sweeter at night. If you are near the creek you can smell the fish that don’t want to bite, the wild peppermint25, the sweet clover and a thousand other half friendly, half lonely smells that make you feel sad and glad at the same time.
 
Things you think at night are wonderful, too. You can lie on the grass in the yard and, in the summertime, look up at the purplish blue sky that is like a big upside-down sieve26 with a million yellow holes in it and in your mind go sailing out across the Milky27 Way like a boy skating on the bayou pond, dodging28 this way and that so you won’t run into any of the stars....
 
But this wasn’t the right time to hear or see or smell how wonderful a night it was. It was, instead, a time for two worried boys, including a red-haired freckle-faced one to get inside the tent and into bed and to sleep.
 
Pretty soon Poetry and I were at the rail fence across from “Theodore Collins” on our mailbox. There we stopped stock-still and stood and studied the situation, keeping ourselves in the shadow19 of the elderberry bush that grew there. It seemed like the moonlight was never brighter and we couldn’t afford to let ourselves be seen or heard by anybody who hadn’t used a razor strap for a long time but who perhaps hadn’t forgotten how—and not on his razor, either.
 
I was shivering with the cold, and just that second I sneezed. Just that second also, Poetry shushed me with a shush that was almost louder than my sneeze, as he whispered, “Hey, don’t wake anybody up! Do you want your guest to get a licking? Your father has told us for the last time to—”
 
“Shush, yourself!” I ordered him.
 
We decided29 to go back up the fence, cross the road by the hickory nut trees, climb over into our cornfield and sneak30 down between the rows to arrive at the tent from the opposite side so nobody could see us from the house, which we did.
 
We had to pass Old Red Addie’s apartment hog31 house on the way, which is the kind of place on a farm that doesn’t have a nice, clean, sweet farm smell. Pretty soon, still shivering and wishing I had dry night clothes to sleep in, we were behind the tent waiting and listening to see if we could get in without being seen or heard.
 
Right then I sneezed again, and also again, and I knew I was either going to catch a cold or I already had one. I quick lifted the tent flap, swished through the plastic screen door, expecting Poetry to follow me, but he didn’t and wouldn’t. He stood for a second in the clear moonlight that came slanting32 through a branchless place in the plum tree overhead, then he said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” He started to start toward the house—in the moonlight, mind you, where he could be seen!
 
“Wait!” I called to him, in as quiet a whisper as I could. “Where are you going?”
 
“I’m thirsty,” he whispered back. “I forgot to get a drink at the spring.”
 
“You’ll wake up my father!” I exclaimed to him. “Don’t you dare pump that pump handle!”
 
Poetry couldn’t be stopped. I knew that if Pop ever waked up and came to prove he had meant what he said when he had said20 what he said, there’d really be trouble. Pop would hear me sneeze, or see my wet night clothes and wonder what on earth, and why.
 
So in a jiffy, like the story in one of our school books about a man named Mr. McGregor chasing Peter Rabbit who was all wet from having jumped in a can of water to hide—and Peter Rabbit sneezing—I was acting out that story backwards33: I myself was a very wet, very dumb bunny chasing Leslie Poetry Thompson to try to stop him from getting us into even more trouble than we were already in.
 
We arrived at the iron pitcher34 pump platform at the same time, where I hissed35 to him not to pump the pump, pushing in between him and the pump, blocking him from doing what his stubborn mind was driving him to do.
 
“I’m thirsty,” he squawked to me.
 
“The pump handle squeaks36!” I hissed back to him and shoved him off the pump platform. My left wet pajama sleeve pressed against his face.
 
What happened after that happened so fast and with so much noise it would have wakened seventeen fathers, as Poetry, my almost best friend who had always stood by me when I was in trouble, who was always on my side, all of a sudden didn’t act like he was my friend at all.
 
We weren’t any more than three feet from the large iron kettle filled with innocent water, which up to that moment had been reflecting the moon as clearly as if it had been a mirror—clearly enough, in fact, for you to see the man in the moon in it.
 
The next second Poetry’s powerful arms were around me and he was dragging me toward that big kettle. The next second after that, he swooped37 my 89 pounds up and with me kicking and squirming and trying to wriggle38 out of his grasp and not being able to, he sat me down kerplop-splash, double-splashety-slump right in the center of that large kettle of water.
 
“What on earth!” I exclaimed, my voice trembling with temper, my teeth chattering with the cold and my mind whirling.
 
My words exploded out of my mouth at the very minute Pop came out the back door. “‘What on earth!’ is right,” he exclaimed21 in his big father-sounding voice. “What on earth are you doing in the water?”
 
Poetry answered for me, saying politely like he was trying to save somebody from a razor strap, “It’s all my fault, Mr. Collins. We were getting a drink and I—I shouldn’t have done it—but I pushed him. I—.” Then Poetry’s voice took on a mischievous39 tone, as he said, “The water was so clear and the man in the moon reflected in it was so handsome, I wanted to see what a good-looking boy would look like in it. I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
 
Such an innocent voice! So polite! I was boiling inside as I splashed myself out of the kettle and stood dripping on the pump platform.
 
Then I did get a surprise. Pop’s voice, instead of being like black thunder, which it sometimes is at a time like that, was a sort of husky whisper: “Let’s keep quiet—all of us. We wouldn’t want to wake up your mother, Bill. You boys get back into the tent quick, while I slip into the house and get Bill a pair of dry pajamas. Hurry up! QUICK, into the tent!”
 
Pop turned, tiptoed to the back screen door, opened it quietly, while Poetry and I scooted to the tent. A second later, we were inside in the shadowy moonlight which oozed40 in through the plastic window above my cot.
 
Pop was back out of the house almost before I was out of my wet pajamas. He whispered to us at the tent door, “Here’s a towel. Dry yourself good. Put these fresh pajamas on—but, BE QUIET!” He whispered the last two words almost savagely41.
 
“Here, let me have your old wet ones. I’ll hang them on the line behind the house to dry—and remember, not a word of this to your mother, Bill. Do you hear me?”
 
“Don’t worry,” I said. It was easy to hear anything as easy to listen to as that.
 
And Pop was gone.
 
In only a few jiffies I was dry and had on my nice fresh clean-smelling, Mom-washed stripeless yellow pajamas, and there wasn’t even a sniffle in my nose to hint that maybe I would catch cold.
 
Boy oh boy, was it ever quiet in the tent—the only sounds being22 those in my mind. Everything had happened so fast, it seemed as if it had taken only a minute. It also seemed like a year had passed—so many exciting things had happened—crazy things, too, such as a boy galloping42 around in a pool of cold water on a green watermelon, and a gang of girls screaming like wild hyenas43 that there was a zebra taking a bath in the spring.
 
“Wait,” Poetry ordered, as I sat down on the edge of my cot and started to crawl in. “We can’t get in between your mother’s nice clean sheets with feet that have waded44 through mud and dusty cornfields. I’ll go get the wash pan from the grape arbor45, fill it with water, and bring it back.”
 
“You stay here!” I ordered. “I don’t trust you outside this tent one minute! I’ll get the water myself.”
 
Say, do you know what that dumb bunny of a fat boy answered me? He said in his very polite voice, “But I’m thirsty—I haven’t had a chance to get a drink—I—”
 
“Stay here!” I ordered. “I’ll bring you a drink.”
 
“After all I’ve done for you, you won’t even let me go with you?” he begged.
 
“What have you done for me, I’d like to know? You—with your plunking me into the middle of that kettle of water?”
 
Poetry’s strong fat hands grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. “Listen, Chum,” he said fiercely; “I saved you from getting a licking, didn’t I? I heard your father opening the back door, and I knew he’d be there in a jiffy. If he found you all wet with that spring water, he’d have asked you how come, and you’d really have been in a pretty kettle. So I pushed you in with my bare hands, don’t you see? Besides—look at this!” Poetry turned on his flashlight, reached over to the foot of his cot and picked up a long black something-or-other with a handle on it, and extended it to me. AND IT WAS POP’S RAZOR STRAP!
 
“He had it in his hand when he came out the door,” Poetry told me. “He accidentally left it on the pump platform when he went in for the fresh pajamas. Now, am I your friend, or not?”
 
Looking at the eighteen-inch-long blackish-brown leather razor strap in Poetry’s hand, and remembering the last time Pop had23 given me a few interesting strokes with it, I decided maybe Poetry really had been my friend. Besides, if I let him go to get a pan of water for washing our feet, and if Pop saw and heard him, Pop would probably not say a word—he not wanting to wake Mom up.
 
“All right,” I said to Poetry, “but hurry back.” Which he did.
 
Pretty soon we had our feet washed and dried on the towel, which I noticed when we got through might also have to be washed in the morning. In only a little while we were in our bunks46 again and sound asleep, and right away I began dreaming a crazy mixed-up dream in which I was running in red-striped pajamas through the woods, leaving the path made by barefoot boys’ bare feet and working my way around to the left along the crest47 of the hill where the pawpaw bushes were, just to see how many girl campers there were. Then it seemed like I was in the spring again, galloping around on a green no-legged bronco which somebody had stolen and plugged and maybe sold to the girls—or even given to them—or maybe some of the girls had invaded our melon patch that very night and stolen it themselves.
 
I hated to think that, though, ’cause any girl who is a girl scout11 is supposed to be like a boy who is a boy scout, which is absolutely honest. Besides as much as I didn’t like girls—not most of them anyway—and was scared of them a little—it seemed like there was a small voice inside of me which all my life had been whispering that girls are kind of special—and anybody couldn’t help it if she happened to be born one. Mom had been a girl for quite a few years herself, and it hadn’t hurt her a bit. She had grown up to become one of the most wonderful people in the world.
 
But who had stole my watermelon? And how had it gotten down there in the spring? It was my melon, of course!
 
The idea woke me up. Or else my own voice did, when I heard myself hissing48 to Poetry:
 
“Hey, you! Poetry! Come on, wake up!”
 
He groaned49, turned over in his cot, and groaned again. “Let me sleep, will you?”
 
“No,” I whispered, “wake up! Come on and go with me. I’ve got to go down into our watermelon patch to see—”
 
24 “I don’t want any more water,” he mumbled50, “and I wouldn’t think you would either.”
 
“That melon in the spring,” I said. “I just dreamed it was my prize melon! I think somebody stole it. I want to go down to our truck patch to see if it’s gone.”
 
Poetry showed he hadn’t been asleep at all then, ’cause he rolled over, sat up, swung his feet out over the edge of his cot and onto the canvas floor, and I knew we were both going outside once more—just once more.
 
What we were going to do was one of the most important things we had ever done—even if it might not seem so to a boy’s father if he should happen to wake up and see us in the melon patch and think we were two strange boys out there actually stealing watermelons.
 
Poetry and I were pretty soon outside the tent again in the wonderful moonlight where now most of the cicadas had stopped their wild whirrings and the crickets had begun to take over for the rest of the night. Fireflies were everywhere, too. It seemed like there were thousands of fireflies flashing their green lights on and off in every tree in our orchard51 and in all the open spaces everywhere. The lights of those that were flying were like short yellowish green chalk marks being made on a schoolhouse blackboard.
 
Poetry, with his flashlight, was leading the way as he and I moved out across our barnyard. When we were passing Old Red Addie’s apartment hog house, I was reminded again that all the smells around a farm are not the kind to write about in a story, so I won’t even mention it but will let you imagine what it was like.
 
At the wooden gate near the barn, Poetry said, “Listen, will you?”
 
I listened, but all I could hear was the sound of pigeons cooing in the haymow, which is one of the friendliest sounds a boy ever hears—the low lonesome cooing of pigeons.
 
There are certainly a lot of different sounds around our farm, nearly all of which I have learned to imitate so well I actually sound like a farmyard full of animals sometimes, Pop says. Mom also says25 that sometimes I actually look like a red-haired freckle-faced pig—which I probably don’t.
 
Say, did you ever stop to think about all the different kinds of sounds a country boy gets to enjoy?
 
While you are imagining Poetry and me cutting across the south pasture to the east side of our melon patch, I’ll mention just a few that we get to hear a hundred times a year, such as the wind roaring in a winter blizzard52, Dragonfly’s Pop’s bulls bellowing, Circus’s Pop’s hounds baying or bawling53 or snarling54 or growling55; Mixy, our black and white cat, meowing or purring; mice squeaking56 in the corncrib; Old Topsy neighing; Poetry’s Pop’s sheep bleating57; all the old setting-hens clucking; the laying hens singing or cackling; Big Jim’s folks’ ducks quacking58; honey and bumblebees droning and buzzing; crows cawing; and our old red rooster crowing at midnight or just at daybreak; screech owls59 screeching60; hoot-owls hooting61; the cicadas drumming, and the crickets chirping62. Yes, and Dragonfly sneezing, especially in ragweed season, which it already was in the Sugar Creek territory.
 
There are a lot of interesting sounds, too, down along the creek and the bayou, such as water singing in the riffles, the big night herons going “Quoke-quoke,” cardinals63 whistling, bob-whites calling, squirrels barking—and when the gang is together, the happiest sounds of all with everybody talking at once and nobody listening to anybody.
 
There are also a few sounds that hurt your ears, such as Pop filing a saw, Old Red Addie’s family of red-haired pigs squealing64, the death squawk of a chicken just before it gets its head chopped off for the Collins’ family dinner, and the wild screams of a bevy65 of girls calling an innocent boy in red-striped pajamas, a zebra!
 
In only a few jiffies we were out in the middle of our truck patch looking to see if any of the melons were missing. I was just sure that when I came to Ida’s vine, I’d find a long oval indentation where she had been—the dream I had had about her being stolen was so real in my mind.
 
“All this walk for nothing,” Poetry exclaimed all of a sudden,26 when his flashlight landed ker-flash right on the green fat side of Ida Watermelon Collins, as peaceful and quiet as an old setting hen on her nest.
 
I stood looking down at her proudly, then I said in a grumpy voice, “What do you mean, making me get up out of a comfortable bed and drag myself all the way out here for nothing! You see to it that you don’t make me dream such a crazy dream again—do you hear me!”
 
I felt better after saying that, then Poetry beside me grunted66 grouchily67, and said, “And don’t ever rob me of my good night’s rest again either!”
 
With that, we started to wend our barefoot pajama-clad way back across the field of vines and other melons in the direction of the barn again. We hadn’t gone more than fifteen yards when what to my wondering ears should come but the strange sound of something running—that is, that’s what I thought it sounded like at first. I stopped stock-still and looked around in a fast moonlit circle of directions, and saw away over by the new woven-wire fence not more than twenty feet from the iron pitcher pump, something dark about the size of a long, low-bodied extra-large raccoon, moving toward the shadows of the elderberry bushes.
 
I could feel the red hair on the back of my neck and on the top of my head beginning to crawl like the bristles68 on a dog’s or a cat’s or a hog’s back do when it’s angry—only I wasn’t angry—not yet, anyway.
 
A little later, I was not only angry but my mind was going in excited circles. If you had been me and seen what I saw, and found out what I found out, you’d have felt the way I felt, which was all mixed up in my thoughts, worried and excited and stormy-minded, and ready for a headfirst dive into the middle of one of the most thrilling mysteries that ever started in the middle of a dog day’s night.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pajamas XmvzDN     
n.睡衣裤
参考例句:
  • At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时,我脱去衣服,换上睡衣。
  • He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。
2 loon UkPyS     
n.狂人
参考例句:
  • That guy's a real loon.那个人是个真正的疯子。
  • Everyone thought he was a loon.每个人都骂他神经。
3 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
4 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
5 flopping e9766012a63715ac6e9a2d88cb1234b1     
n.贬调v.(指书、戏剧等)彻底失败( flop的现在分词 );(因疲惫而)猛然坐下;(笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地)移动或落下;砸锅
参考例句:
  • The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我,你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
6 shrieked dc12d0d25b0f5d980f524cd70c1de8fe     
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
  • Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫,陆子潇尖声叫:“告诉什么? 来自汉英文学 - 围城
7 shriek fEgya     
v./n.尖叫,叫喊
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
  • People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧,气愤或疼痛而尖叫。
8 dodged ae7efa6756c9d8f3b24f8e00db5e28ee     
v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 );回避
参考例句:
  • He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时,他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 saucy wDMyK     
adj.无礼的;俊俏的;活泼的
参考例句:
  • He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。
  • It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲,真是无礼。
10 scouts e6d47327278af4317aaf05d42afdbe25     
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员
参考例句:
  • to join the Scouts 参加童子军
  • The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组,然后开始巡逻这个地区。
11 scout oDGzi     
n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索
参考例句:
  • He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵,受了重伤。
  • The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。
12 strap 5GhzK     
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
参考例句:
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
13 chattering chattering     
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
  • I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。
14 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
15 disturbance BsNxk     
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调
参考例句:
  • He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
  • You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。
16 spurt 9r9yE     
v.喷出;突然进发;突然兴隆
参考例句:
  • He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
  • After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿,莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。
17 lumbering FA7xm     
n.采伐林木
参考例句:
  • Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
  • Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家,伐木业十分重要。
18 cemetery ur9z7     
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场
参考例句:
  • He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
  • His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。
19 chilly pOfzl     
adj.凉快的,寒冷的
参考例句:
  • I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
  • I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后,寒气逼人。
20 bellowing daf35d531c41de75017204c30dff5cac     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • We could hear he was bellowing commands to his troops. 我们听见他正向他的兵士大声发布命令。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He disguised these feelings under an enormous bellowing and hurraying. 他用大声吼叫和喝采掩饰着这些感情。 来自辞典例句
21 screech uDkzc     
n./v.尖叫;(发出)刺耳的声音
参考例句:
  • He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。
  • The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。
22 owl 7KFxk     
n.猫头鹰,枭
参考例句:
  • Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
  • I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚,经常半夜后才睡觉。
23 crunching crunching     
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 );嘎吱作响;(快速大量地)处理信息;数字捣弄
参考例句:
  • The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 fragrance 66ryn     
n.芬芳,香味,香气
参考例句:
  • The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
  • The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
25 peppermint slNzxg     
n.薄荷,薄荷油,薄荷糖
参考例句:
  • Peppermint oil is very good for regulating digestive disorders.薄荷油能很有效地调节消化系统失调。
  • He sat down,popped in a peppermint and promptly choked to death.他坐下来,突然往嘴里放了一颗薄荷糖,当即被噎死。
26 sieve wEDy4     
n.筛,滤器,漏勺
参考例句:
  • We often shake flour through a sieve.我们经常用筛子筛面粉。
  • Finally,it is like drawing water with a sieve.到头来,竹篮打水一场空。
27 milky JD0xg     
adj.牛奶的,多奶的;乳白色的
参考例句:
  • Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
  • I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。
28 dodging dodging     
n.避开,闪过,音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 );回避
参考例句:
  • He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
  • I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句
29 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
30 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
31 hog TrYzRg     
n.猪;馋嘴贪吃的人;vt.把…占为己有,独占
参考例句:
  • He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
  • Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。
32 slanting bfc7f3900241f29cee38d19726ae7dce     
倾斜的,歪斜的
参考例句:
  • The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
  • The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。
33 backwards BP9ya     
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地
参考例句:
  • He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
  • All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。
34 pitcher S2Gz7     
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
参考例句:
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
  • Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。
35 hissed 2299e1729bbc7f56fc2559e409d6e8a7     
发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 ); 发嘘声表示反对
参考例句:
  • Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过?
  • The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。
36 squeaks c0a1b34e42c672513071d8eeca8c1186     
n.短促的尖叫声,吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者
参考例句:
  • The upper-middle-classes communicate with each other in inaudible squeaks, like bats. 那些上中层社会的人交谈起来象是蚊子在哼哼,你根本听不见。 来自辞典例句
  • She always squeaks out her ideas when she is excited. 她一激动总是尖声说出自己的想法。 来自互联网
37 swooped 33b84cab2ba3813062b6e35dccf6ee5b     
俯冲,猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
38 wriggle wf4yr     
v./n.蠕动,扭动;蜿蜒
参考例句:
  • I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
  • Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。
39 mischievous mischievous     
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的
参考例句:
  • He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
  • A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。
40 oozed d11de42af8e0bb132bd10042ebefdf99     
v.(浓液等)慢慢地冒出,渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 );使(液体)缓缓流出;(浓液)渗出,慢慢流出
参考例句:
  • Blood oozed out of the wound. 血从伤口慢慢流出来。
  • Mud oozed from underground. 泥浆从地下冒出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
41 savagely 902f52b3c682f478ddd5202b40afefb9     
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地
参考例句:
  • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
  • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
42 galloping galloping     
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下,它就奔驰起来了。
  • Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速,日新月异。
43 hyenas f7b0c2304b9433d9f69980a715aa6dbe     
n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
  • We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏,干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句
44 waded e8d8bc55cdc9612ad0bc65820a4ceac6     
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
  • He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。
45 arbor fyIzz0     
n.凉亭;树木
参考例句:
  • They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里,边喝茶边聊天。
  • You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。
46 bunks dbe593502613fe679a9ecfd3d5d45f1f     
n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位( bunk的名词复数 );空话,废话v.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 );空话,废话
参考例句:
  • These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句
47 crest raqyA     
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖
参考例句:
  • The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
  • He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。
48 hissing hissing     
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
  • His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕
49 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
50 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
51 orchard UJzxu     
n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场
参考例句:
  • My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
  • Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。
52 blizzard 0Rgyc     
n.暴风雪
参考例句:
  • The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
  • You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。
53 bawling e2721b3f95f01146f848648232396282     
v.大叫,大喊( bawl的现在分词 );放声大哭;大声叫出;叫卖(货物)
参考例句:
  • We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊,让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子? 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
54 snarling 1ea03906cb8fd0b67677727f3cfd3ca5     
v.(指狗)吠,嗥叫, (人)咆哮( snarl的现在分词 );咆哮着说,厉声地说
参考例句:
  • "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你,"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是,汤姆一边大喊大叫,一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
55 growling growling     
n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼
参考例句:
  • We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
  • The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡,聚集在一起发牢骚。
56 squeaking 467e7b45c42df668cdd7afec9e998feb     
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者
参考例句:
  • Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 bleating ba46da1dd0448d69e0fab1a7ebe21b34     
v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的现在分词 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说
参考例句:
  • I don't like people who go around bleating out things like that. 我不喜欢跑来跑去讲那种蠢话的人。 来自辞典例句
  • He heard the tinny phonograph bleating as he walked in. 他步入室内时听到那架蹩脚的留声机在呜咽。 来自辞典例句
58 quacking dee15a2fc3dfec34f556cfd89f93b434     
v.(鸭子)发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • For the rest it was just a noise, a quack-quack-quacking. 除此之外,便是一片噪声,一片嘎嘎嘎的叫嚣。 来自英汉文学
  • The eyeless creature with the quacking voice would never be vaporized. 那没眼睛的鸭子嗓也不会给蒸发。 来自英汉文学
59 owls 7b4601ac7f6fe54f86669548acc46286     
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋,”我说,“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句
60 screeching 8bf34b298a2d512e9b6787a29dc6c5f0     
v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 );发出粗而刺耳的声音;高叫
参考例句:
  • Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
  • the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景
61 hooting f69e3a288345bbea0b49ddc2fbe5fdc6     
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 ); 倒好儿; 倒彩
参考例句:
  • He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
  • The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。
62 chirping 9ea89833a9fe2c98371e55f169aa3044     
鸟叫,虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫,把我们吵醒了。
  • The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。
63 cardinals 8aa3d7ed97d6793c87fe821585838a4a     
红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 ); 红衣凤头鸟(见于北美,雄鸟为鲜红色); 基数
参考例句:
  • cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
  • A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。
64 squealing b55ccc77031ac474fd1639ff54a5ad9e     
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。
  • The pigs were squealing. 猪尖叫着。
65 bevy UtZzo     
n.一群
参考例句:
  • A bevy of bathing beauties appeared on the beach.沙滩上出现了一群游泳的美女。
  • Look,there comes a bevy of ladies.看,一群女人来了。
66 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
67 grouchily cf22627b3e78072aefef34d8a2fd8c30     
adv.不高兴地,发牢骚地
参考例句:
68 bristles d40df625d0ab9008a3936dbd866fa2ec     
短而硬的毛发,刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
  • This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。


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