TOM WILDCAT DECIDES TO MAKE A VISIT

When Doctor Rabbit had all his signs tacked¹ up on the front doors, the homes of the little creatures of the Big Green Woods certainly presented a funny sight. That is, it was funny to Doctor Rabbit and his friends, but it would not be funny to Tom Wildcat when he saw those signs; I should say not! And now Doctor Rabbit was all ready for Tom Wildcat to come over from his home in the hollow tree near the Deep River.

For several mornings old Tom had come over to the Big Green Woods pretty early; but after he had had such bad luck in letting Stubby Woodchuck and Chatty Squirrel get away, he decided² not to come for a time. He thought perhaps[Pg 81] they would forget about him, and then he could slip in suddenly and surprise them.

Meanwhile he was fortunate in pouncing³ upon a foolish young chicken that had strayed from the farmer’s barnyard and gone too near the Deep River.

The next morning Tom Wildcat was fortunate again. A big, fat woodrat, that had been over to Farmer Roe’s feasting on a very young chicken, was hurrying back home when he ran too close to the tree where Tom Wildcat lived. You may be sure Tom gobbled up that woodrat in a hurry.

Afterward⁴ he smacked⁵ his lips and said, “That reminds me that I haven’t been over to the Big Green Woods for several days. Probably by this time those people over there have forgotten all about me. I’ll just pay them a visit[Pg 82] this very day. What I really need now is rabbit, and blue jay, and woodchuck, and things of that sort. One gets rather tired of chicken and rat. Yes, I need a change in diet, and I’ll just slip over and pay my friends a visit. They have not invited me, but I’ll slip over anyway, just to be friendly,” and sly old Tom smiled until he showed all of his very sharp teeth. He was surely pleased at the thought of stealing into the Big Green Woods again. And his sore foot was now entirely⁶ well.

1 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

2 decided   

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。

3 pouncing   

v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• Detective Sun grinned and, pouncing on the gourd, smashed it against the wall. 孙侦探笑了，一把将瓦罐接过来，往墙上一碰。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• We saw the tiger pouncing on the goat. 我们看见老虎向那只山羊扑过去。 来自互联网

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 smacked   

拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
• She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。