DOCTOR RABBIT CALLS ON CHATTY SQUIRREL

Little Downy Owl¹ flew back to the tree. There was Ki-yi Coyote still lying below on the grass, all curled up just as if he were fast asleep. Downy Screech² Owl looked at him for a while and then, out of curiosity, flew down on a limb a little closer. Still Ki-yi Coyote did not move, so Downy Owl flew a little closer. Just then he saw sly Ki-yi move his ear the tiniest bit, and heard him mumble³ something to himself. Little Downy flew up high in the tree as quick as winking⁴.

“I’ll just wait,” he said very softly to himself, “and if old Ki-yi starts to go away, I’ll talk to him and try to keep him here until I see what Doctor Rabbit is going to do.”

[Pg 45]When it was almost morning, Doctor Rabbit got out of bed and peeped out toward the place where Ki-yi had been. Yes, sir! He was still there. Indeed, he was. Doctor Rabbit saw him stretch his head up and look toward the house in the tree.

Doctor Rabbit was so tickled⁵ he just laughed to himself. Then he slipped out at his back door and went very quietly through the woods until he came to the tree where Chatty Red Squirrel lived.

Chatty Red was still asleep, but when Doctor Rabbit thumped⁶ on the door, he came down to see who was there. When he saw Doctor Rabbit, he said, “Anyone sick over this way, Doctor?”

“No,” said Doctor Rabbit, “I just wanted you to help me out a little.”

“I certainly will, if I can,” Chatty Squirrel said. You see, he had once had[Pg 46] the colic very bad, and Doctor Rabbit had come right over and cured him, so he felt deeply grateful. “What do you want me to do?” Chatty asked.

“Well,” Doctor Rabbit said, “first I want to tell you that Ki-yi Coyote is in the Big Green Woods. In fact, he’s hiding near my house this very minute, and expects to make a breakfast of me when I go down to the Murmuring Brook⁷ for a drink.”

“Sakes alive!” Chatty exclaimed. “How did you find out?”

Then Doctor Rabbit told him that he had been awake and listening, and that Downy Screech Owl was up in the tree watching Ki-yi, and if necessary would talk to him to keep him there.

“Sakes alive!” Mr. Squirrel exclaimed. “How did you find out?”

“Well, well, well!” exclaimed Chatty Squirrel, rubbing his eyes. He had hardly been awake when Doctor Rabbit[Pg 47] knocked on the door, but now he was getting wider awake every minute. “What do you want me to do?” Chatty asked again, with his eyes wide open and very bright.

“First I want to play a joke on him,” said Doctor Rabbit, “and I’ll tell you how to do it. Ki-yi is now right under that big elm tree between my house and the Murmuring Brook. You slip over through the trees as quick as you can and climb up to that old nest Jim Crow used to live in. There’s a stone in the nest that Farmer Roe’s boy threw at you the other day. Do you remember?”

“Indeed I do remember, because Farmer Roe’s boy almost hit me with that stone,” Chatty Squirrel said.

“Very well, then,” said Doctor Rabbit, “you get into that nest and get hold of that stone, and when you have a good[Pg 48] chance, drop it down right on Ki-yi Coyote. Then lie flat on the limb and keep perfectly⁸ still, so he won’t know where the stone came from.”

“But where are you going to be, and what will you do?” Chatty Squirrel wanted to know. He was very nervous about it.

“You wait and see; I’ll attend to that,” Doctor Rabbit said softly. “And now you hurry along before Ki-yi Coyote decides to go away.”

1 owl   

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。

2 screech   

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。

3 mumble   

n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝

参考例句：

• Her grandmother mumbled in her sleep.她祖母含混不清地说着梦话。
• He could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.他能听到纳瓦罗在小声咕哝。

4 winking   

n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到，简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

6 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

7 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。