KI-YI COYOTE’S STRANGE HIDING PLACE

How Ki-yi Coyote did run when he got out on the Wide Prairie! He thought he would run as fast as possible, and so get out of sight and hide from the two hounds². Sure enough, sly³ Ki-yi did this very thing. He ran so fast that pretty soon he passed from sight over a little hill, and it certainly looked as if he had escaped. Old Ki-yi thought he had, and as he hid in some tall grass, he chuckled⁴ to himself to think how easy it was to get away from his enemies. “I’ll just wait and rest here,” he said. “Ha, ha, ha! I’ll get my rabbit for breakfast yet!”

But Ki-yi Coyote had no more than said that than here came Yappy and the[Pg 96] other hound¹ right on his trail. And they kept coming right on and sniffing⁵ and smelling Ki-yi’s tracks until they were so close that Ki-yi had to spring up and run again. Once more he ran fast and hid, but again he was trailed, and again he had to jump up and run.

They kept this up all morning, until Ki-yi Coyote was getting pretty tired. Then, a little later, he was so dreadfully tired that what do you suppose he did? No, he didn’t stop to fight, although cowardly Ki-yi sometimes does do that. He thought about it, but after he had looked back he said to himself, “No, I won’t stop to fight. I’m not quite able to tackle⁶ Yappy and that other big hound, too. I’m going to do something else. I’m going where I can rest.”

He ran straight for Mr. Farmer’s corn-crib

And he did. He ran straight for Farmer Roe⁷’s corn crib and squeezed[Pg 97] under it! The dirt was soft and cool under there, and tired Ki-yi stretched out and made himself very comfortable. Then Yappy and his friend ran up to the hole where Ki-yi Coyote had gone under the corn crib, and began barking for all they were worth; and presently Farmer Roe and his boy came out and looked under the corn crib. They were certainly surprised to see Ki-yi hidden under there, and they decided⁸ at once that they would try to catch him alive.

The two hounds kept on barking, and Farmer Roe and his boy went right to work fixing something outside; but Ki-yi did not know what they were doing, and he felt pretty safe.

All this time the little creatures of the Big Green Woods had looked on from the edge of the Wide Prairie. Blue Jay was in the very top of the big elm, and he[Pg 98] called down every now and then to tell just what was happening.

When Ki-yi Coyote ran under the corn crib, Doctor Rabbit slipped up pretty close to Farmer Roe’s house. He got a good hiding place in some weeds, where he could see all that happened.

After a while Farmer Roe and his boy got some kind of a box fixed⁹, and this they placed over the hole into which Ki-yi Coyote had run. Then they took the two hounds away and locked them in the barn. Doctor Rabbit slipped back to the woods.

“They’ve got it all fixed to catch Ki-yi alive!” he told the other little creatures of the Big Green Woods.

“How do you know?” they asked in a chorus¹⁰.

“I heard them say so; and now you just wait and see!” Doctor Rabbit said.[Pg 99] Then he slipped back again to hide in the weeds and watch.

Of course he had to be very careful, because Yappy might come tearing out into the weeds at any moment. But Doctor Rabbit’s eyes are very sharp. He was sure he could see any danger if it came near, so he was not much afraid.

1 hound   

n.猎狗，卑鄙的人；vt.用猎狗追，追逐

参考例句：

• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。
• The police have promised to hound down those responsible for the explosion.警方已保证要追查此次爆炸事件有责任的人员。

2 hounds   

猎狗，猎犬( hound的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The huntsman was whipping in his pack of hounds. 猎人正在用鞭子把他那群猎犬赶到一处。
• The hunter has twenty more hounds. 那猎人有二十几条猎狗。

3 sly   

adj.狡猾的，偷偷摸摸的

参考例句：

• You can't trust him,he's a sly old fox.你不能相信他，他是一只狡猾的老狐狸。
• I was ready to sly out the alley door.我准备从那边小门溜出去。

4 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。

5 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 tackle   

n.工具，复滑车，扭倒；v.处理，抓住

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your sports tackle with you tomorrow.别忘了明天带上你的体育用具。
• We have gained sufficient experience to tackle this problem.我们已经有了足够的经验来处理这个问题。

7 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

8 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。

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

10 chorus   

n.合唱，合唱队，齐声

参考例句：

• Never before have I heard this song sung in chorus.我从来没有听过这首歌的合唱。
• The children repeated the words after her in chorus.孩子们跟她齐声朗读单词。