DOCTOR RABBIT THINKS OF A NEW SCHEME

Sophy Woodchuck was very, very glad that her Stubby had come through his terrible adventure safely, but she said she would be troubled now as long as Tom Wildcat was around. “I certainly do wish we could think of some plan to get rid of him”, she said, and Doctor Rabbit chuckled¹.
I have a plan, Mrs. Woodchuck

“I have a plan, Mrs. Woodchuck.”

“I have a plan, Mrs. Woodchuck,” he said. “It came to me only this morning, so you must give me a few days to get everything ready. And don’t you worry any more about Tom Wildcat being around. No, sir! Don’t you worry a bit! I’ve got an idea, and pretty soon old Tom will go tearing out of these woods, and he’ll stay out! Indeed he[Pg 65] will! Ha, ha, ha!” And Doctor Rabbit laughed until his fat sides shook.

This made the Woodchuck family feel pretty fine, and it made them curious, too. They knew that Doctor Rabbit was very wise in a good many things, and especially wise in planning ways to get rid of a very bad enemy. They remembered how he had got rid of troublesome Ki-yi Coyote. Of course Doctor Rabbit’s plan of getting rid of Tom Wildcat in that hole had failed; but we must admit it was a good scheme, anyway.

Well, of course the Woodchucks wanted to know right away what Doctor Rabbit’s new scheme was, but he only chuckled, and said he would have to be going now to get things ready. “I’ll need you and all our other friends and neighbors to help me,” Doctor Rabbit said. “None of you will have to do very much, but[Pg 66] what you do, you must do exactly right. Now I am going to slip around among our friends and get them to promise to be ready at any time, and to do just what I tell them.”

“You certainly can count on us!” exclaimed² Stubby and Sophy, in the same breath.

“I was sure of that,” Doctor Rabbit replied, and then bidding them a very good morning, he went swiftly³ away, hoppity, hoppity, to tell all the others.

In a short time all the little creatures of the Big Green Woods knew that Doctor Rabbit was working on a new scheme to get rid of Tom Wildcat. For several days Doctor Rabbit was mysteriously engaged in some kind of work at his house. He did not go out at all, except to Farmer Roe’s garden once or twice a day, to get some green peas to eat. And[Pg 67] Doctor Rabbit would not say a word to anyone. He was surely busy.

Blue Jay and Jim Crow, and several others, came to Doctor Rabbit when he was in the pea patch⁴ one morning and wanted him to tell them what the scheme was; but he only laughed, and said he would have to be going right home, because he was so busy.

“Pretty soon I’ll be ready, and then I’ll tell you about it,” Doctor Rabbit said as he hurried away.

Finally, after a day or two, Blue Jay became so curious he could not wait any longer. So he hid in a tree near Doctor Rabbit’s house and watched. Perhaps Blue Jay ought not to have done this, but it seemed as if he just couldn’t wait. He hid in the tree and watched all day, but he did not see anything until along toward⁵ evening. Then he saw Doctor[Pg 68] Rabbit open his kitchen door. He had in his hand a bucket of paint and a paint brush. But that was all that Blue Jay saw, for Doctor Rabbit wiped the sweat off his face and went back into the house, shutting the door behind him.

Well, that was a little news anyway, and busy Blue Jay slipped around and told what he had seen. Then all of the little creatures were curious. They couldn’t imagine what Doctor Rabbit was doing with that paint. Cheepy Chipmunk⁶ said perhaps Doctor Rabbit was going to paint himself all up terribly black, and scare Tom Wildcat away. But the others said this could not be so, because Doctor Rabbit had had plenty of time to paint himself, if that was what he intended. “No,” Blue Jay said, scratching his head, “that’s not it. I can’t figure out what he’s doing.”

1 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。

2 exclaimed   

vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊，惊叫，大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 swiftly   

adv.快地，迅速地

参考例句：

• He came in swiftly and placed the child in my arms.他匆忙走进来把孩子放到我怀里。
• The police must be able to react swiftly in an emergency.警方在面对紧急情况时必须能迅速作出反应。

4 patch   

n.补丁；斑；一小块地；vt.补，修补

参考例句：

• This patch looks a bit unprofessional.这块补丁有点像出自外行之手。
• We managed to patch our quarrel.我们设法平息争吵。

5 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

6 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。