CHAPTER XVIII: Jerry Muskrat's Big Cousin

  Fiddle¹, faddle, feedle, fuddle!

 Was there ever such a muddle²?

 Fuddle, feedle, faddle, fiddle!

 Who is there will solve the riddle³?

 

Here was the Laughing Brook⁴ laughing no longer. Here was the Smiling Pool smiling no longer. Here was a brand new pond deep in the Green Forest. Here was a wall of logs and bushes and mud called a dam, built by some one whom nobody had seen. And here was Grandfather Frog asking Jerry Muskrat⁵ if his big cousin had come down from the North, when Jerry didn't even know that he had a big cousin.

 

“I—I haven't any big cousin,” said Jerry, when he had quite recovered from his surprise at Grandfather Frog's question.

 

“Chugarum!” exclaimed Grandfather Frog, and the scornful way in which he said it made Jerry Muskrat feel very small. “Chugarum! Of course you've got a big cousin in the North. Do you mean to tell me that you don't know that, Jerry Muskrat?”

 

Jerry had to admit that it was true that he didn't know anything about that big cousin. If Grandfather Frog said that he had one, it must be so, for Grandfather Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows a great deal. Still, it was very hard for Jerry to believe that he had a big cousin of whom he had never heard.

 

“Did—did you ever see him, Grandfather Frog?” Jerry asked.

 

“No!” snapped Grandfather Frog. “I never did, but I know all about him. He is a great worker, is this big cousin of yours, and he builds dams like this one we are sitting on.”

 

“I don't believe it!” cried Billy Mink⁶. “I don't believe any cousin of Jerry Muskrat's ever built such a dam as this. Why, just look at that great tree trunk at the bottom! No one but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy could ever have dragged that there. You're crazy, Grandfather Frog, just plain crazy.” Billy Mink sometimes is very disrespectful to Grandfather Frog.

 

“Chugarum!” replied Grandfather Frog. “I'm pretty old, but I'm not too old to learn as some folks seem to be,” and he looked very hard at Billy Mink. “Did I say that that tree trunk was dragged here?”

 

“No,” replied Billy Mink, “but if it wasn't dragged here, how did it get here? You are so smart, Grandfather Frog, tell me that!”

 

Grandfather Frog blinked his great goggly eyes at Billy Mink as he said, just as if he was very, very sorry for Billy, “Your eyes are very bright and very sharp, Billy Mink, and it is a great pity that you have never learned how to use them. That tree wasn't dragged here; it was cut so that it fell right where it lies.” As he spoke⁷, Grandfather Frog pointed⁸ to the stump⁹ of the tree, and Billy Mink saw that he was right.

 

But Billy Mink is like a great many other people; he dearly loves to have the last word. Now he suddenly began to laugh.

 

“Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!” laughed Billy Mink. “Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!”

 

“What is it that is so funny?” snapped Grandfather Frog, for nothing makes him so angry as to be laughed at.

 

“Do you mean to say that anybody but Farmer Brown or Farmer Brown's boy could have cut down such a big tree as that?” asked Billy. “Why, that would be as hard as to drag the tree here.”

 

“Jerry Muskrat's big cousin from the North could do it, and I believe he did,” replied Grandfather Frog. “Now that we have found the cause of the trouble in the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, what are we going to do about it?”

1 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

2 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

3 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

4 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。

5 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

6 mink   

n.貂，貂皮

参考例句：

• She was wearing a blue dress and a mink coat.她穿着一身蓝色的套装和一件貂皮大衣。
• He started a mink ranch and made a fortune in five years. 他开了个水貂养殖场，五年之内就赚了不少钱。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。