DOCTORING O. POSSUM AND STUBBY WOODCHUCK

As soon as he looked at O. Possum Doctor Rabbit knew positively¹ that he was not seriously sick, for he had seen him like that several times before. Doctor Rabbit said, “Let me see your tongue,” and O. Possum grunted² and put his tongue out. It was badly coated. “I see!” said Doctor Rabbit, wisely. Then he examined his patient by thumping³ his chest and his stomach and his back, and finally said, “Friend Possum, what have you eaten lately?”

“Oh, I haven’t eaten anything to speak of,” O. Possum groaned⁴. “Only a little piece of chicken.”

“Was that all?” asked Doctor Rabbit.

“Well, maybe I did eat two little[Pg 44] pieces,” O. Possum groaned again. “But that was all.”

“He ate a little pudding, too, Doctor,” ventured Mandy Possum, timidly.

“How much?” Doctor Rabbit asked.

“Just the smallest bit,” O. Possum began, but Doctor Rabbit interrupted him with, “Exactly how much?”

“Oh, not more than a small bowl full.”

“I see! I see!” exclaimed Doctor Rabbit, smiling, and his bright eyes twinkled. “Your bowls all hold a quart, Brother Possum. A bowl of pudding, two big pieces of chicken, some pie and some cake, and a plate of dumplings Mrs. Possum had left over from yesterday!” And Doctor Rabbit laughed, while O. Possum looked very, very much surprised, because that was exactly what he had eaten, and he wondered how Doctor Rabbit could tell.
Mr. Possum, what have you eaten lately

“Mr. Possum, what have you eaten lately?”

[Pg 45]“The fact is,” Doctor Rabbit said, “you have been making a pig of yourself, and you have acute indigestion. Here, Friend Possum; take this tablespoonful of medicine.”

O. Possum swallowed the medicine, and then coughed and choked, and said, “Whew! that’s the nastiest tasting medicine I ever swallowed. Mandy, my dear, I’ll have to trouble you for a drink of water.” After he had taken the water, he said he felt a great deal better.

“I can feel that medicine taking right hold,” he said. “Yes, sir, I can feel it, and I certainly am better.”

Doctor Rabbit looked with a wise glance over his glasses at Mandy Possum, and said, “Give him a tablespoonful of the medicine every hour until he has taken five doses; and he must not eat a thing for two whole days.”

[Pg 46]“Now, that’s pretty tough,” sighed O. Possum. He was already thinking about a big fat hen that Mandy Possum was going to cook that very day. But O. Possum said he realized he would have to do what the doctor ordered, and that ended it.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Sophy Woodchuck was there to say that Doctor Rabbit was wanted at her house at once, for Stubby Woodchuck was feeling pretty poorly.

Well, when Doctor Rabbit got over to the Woodchucks’ he found poor old Stubby in bed, and groaning⁵ just about the way O. Possum had been doing. And presently Doctor Rabbit found out Stubby’s trouble was about the same as O. Possum’s. He had gorged⁶ himself with too many nuts and other things he liked, until he had acute indigestion.[Pg 47] In fact, Doctor Rabbit had found out long before that most of the sickness among the little creatures of the Big Green Woods was due to the fact that they ate too much.

So Stubby Woodchuck had to take a bottle of terribly bitter medicine, and he too had to go two whole days without eating a bite. He said he felt better after he had taken the first dose of medicine; and Doctor Rabbit said that he would have to be going. First, however, he took three bottles of medicine from his case, mixed them all together, and put them in one bottle. When it was mixed that way the medicine was terribly bitter, and Doctor Rabbit chuckled⁷ all the time. “I’m getting ready to throw this medicine right into Tom Wildcat’s mouth if he gets after me,” Doctor Rabbit explained, and then he slipped out of[Pg 48] the door and went hoppity, hoppity, hoppity, as fast as he could go, toward home.

Now and then as he ran, Doctor Rabbit would stop and sit up and look and listen. He knew that every minute he must be watching out for Tom Wildcat.

1 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

2 grunted   

（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。

3 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 groaned   

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》

5 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

6 gorged   

v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕

参考例句：

• He gorged himself at the party. 在宴会上他狼吞虎咽地把自己塞饱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The men, gorged with food, had unbuttoned their vests. 那些男人，吃得直打饱嗝，解开了背心的钮扣。 来自辞典例句

7 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。